The Cleveland Cavaliers received some stunning news today from General Manager David Griffin.Point guard Mo Williams pulled a complete 180 from his “One More Year” stand last week with his agent informing Griffin that the guard will opt for retirement as opposed to going for one final year in the NBA.
The news came as a surprise to literally everyone, as Griffin said he received the call just before the start of Cavs’ Media Day. How do the Cavs move forward?
To start, the Cavs want to see what they can do with all-star Kyrie Irving and rookie Kay Felder. On top of that, Cleveland could look to use young guard Jordan McRae at the point guard position. LeBron James also does a bulk of ball-handling for Cleveland, but the club could look to sign another point guard as a backup until Felder works through his rookie year.
According to Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com, the Cavs have been in touch with three point guards this offseason.
“While Griffin said he felt “comfortable” with the Cavs’ current point guard situation — behind Kyrie Irving now is only rookie Kay Felder — the team has on its radar free agents Norris Cole, Mario Chalmers, and Kirk Hinrich.
The Cavs have been in contact with all three players this summer, a source said, in anticipation of Williams’ move. But the team, at least at this point, is in no rush to sign one of them, preferring to let the 5-9, 21-year-old Felder get his feet wet in camp and see if Lue can work his rotation properly without them.”
Any of the three guards would be a great pickup, but who would be the best compliment for this defending champion Cavs team?
Norris Cole, the Cleveland State product, has developed a strong relationship with the Cavs and LeBron James. Cole has had his struggles with his shot before, but the opportunity to play for an NBA Championship may be too hard to pass up for Cole, who is also receiving interest from the Philadelphia 76ers.
Mario Chalmers is coming off an Achilles tear, which is never going to be an easy road back. Chalmers, however, claims that he’s 100% ready for a return to the NBA and has been in touch with the Cavs. His three point shooting may be the part that fans want to know about, they’re just not intrigued.
The final point guard is Kirk hinrich, who has spent the bulk of his career as a member of the Hawks/Bulls being against LeBron and the Cavs/Heat. Hinrich has shown stellar abilities to defend at a high level, but is he actually ready to compete or an NBA Championship.
We’ll see if the Cavs opt to fill up a roster spot with one of these guys or wait to see what Felder and McRae can do at point guard for the defending NBA champs.