From Mo Williams' perspective, the Cleveland Cavaliers didn't look out for his best interests, allowing him to play hurt and not encouraging him to have surgery on his knee. That's the story he told on social media, anyway.
From the Cavaliers' perspective, the story is completely different. While Williams' agent apparently told them that he was retiring, he has not filed his paperwork to do so. This means he will remain on their roster and their payroll as he recovers from surgery, unless Cleveland trades or releases him. In the meantime, the Cavs have a glaring hole at backup point guard, especially if rookie Kay Felder, the No. 54 pick in the draft, isn't ready to contribute right away. Trying to fix this situation, the Cavs are "scouring the league" for trades involving Williams and guard Jordan McRae, per ESPN's Brian Windhorst:
Williams is owed $2.2 million for this season and he did not report to training camp. The Cavs, who were caught off guard by the decision, have not had meaningful discussions with Williams on a buyout agreement, sources said.
...
Needing both a roster spot and a backup point guard, the Cavs are in a squeeze as the regular season opener looms. They are looking to attach guard Jordan McRae to Williams in trades, sources said. The team openly showcased McRae during the preseason and he led the team in scoring at 14 points a game.
If the Cavs waive Williams now to create a roster spot, Williams would receive his full salary and the Cavs would have to pay the full tax amount. Currently, the Cavs are projected to have a $32 million tax bill.
...
The Cavs have the option of suspending Williams and not paying him; his first paycheck is not due until Nov. 15. Team suspensions do not affect the salary cap and they would still be taxed on the full salary. There also could be a lengthy legal process that would follow. Meanwhile, Williams would use a roster spot.
It's not all that uncommon for teams to simply waive players who step away from the game and pay them the rest of their salary. That's what the San Antonio Spurs and Minnesota Timberwolves did with legends Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett this offseason. This circumstance is unusual, though, because Cleveland reportedly would have released Williams using the stretch provision before the end of August had he let the team know he was done. The Cavs didn't plan to be in this situation, and they don't have any appealing options to get out of it.
McRae, 25, joined Cleveland last season after scoring a D-League record 61 points in January and failing to stick with the Phoenix Suns. Given that he has almost no track record in the NBA outside of garbage time, it makes sense that the Cavaliers tried to showcase him in the preseason. The results, however were mixed. McRae had an efficient game against the Orlando Magic where he scored 20 points on 8-for-13 shooting in 24 minutes, but he also had a 1-for-14 night against the Atlanta Hawks where he played 40 minutes and turned the ball over six times.
According to cleveland.com's Joe Vardon, the Cavs are in "advanced discussions" with at least one team about a trade to acquire another point guard, and they could pull off multiple trades. They reportedly want to get something done before the start of the season. It sure seems like things would be easier if they had just matched the Milwaukee Bucks' offer to Matthew Dellavedova and used the stretch provision on Williams.
