Memphis Leading the Race for Mo Williams

Apr 9, 2013; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz point guard Mo Williams (5) controls the ball during the second half against the Oklahoma City Thunder at EnergySolutions Arena. The Thunder won 90-80. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

One weird and fairly interesting part about this offseason has been the clear lack of interest by a lot of teams in free agent point guard Mo Williams, formerly of the Utah Jazz and Cleveland Cavaliers. Williams was never a particularly great point guard, though he’s always been solid in most areas of the game. Solid, but not great, shooter. Solid, but not great, passer. Solid decision maker. Solid-Bad defender.

So, he’d make a pretty good point guard.

Luckily, Marc Stein reported this last night:

This should be another bit of really exciting news for Memphis basketball fans. The Mike Miller signing was huge in it’s own right, but adding Mo Williams to the current cast would be a huge coup.

As I mentioned in the depth chart posted a couple days ago, where the Grizzlies are currently weak is at point guard. Behind Conley, there’s no true point who can really expect to get play time, except maybe Calathes should he actually come over from Russia. To fill in the extra minutes, Bayless will probably spend way too much time at point (instead of at the 2, where he’s much more comfortable) to cover up — though at least there’s some more flexibility at the 2 position now, so the Grizz aren’t scrambling with Bayless in control of the ball.

Mo Williams would really do a wonderful job plugging the last real hole. He’s a career 38% three-point shooter, further fixing MEM’s problem from beyond the arc, and as a simply solid backup contributor, he can hold down a few minutes of play starting, shooting, and good decision making at the one position the Grizz still needs just a little flexibility from.

Where Williams would raise a few eyebrows is at the defensive end. Signing Williams could promise a few minutes per game of a bench lineup of Williams-Bayless-Miller-Davis-Koufos which is pretty terrifying to think about, defensively. Koufos is the only player in that lineup who is even average at defense, and he’s certainly not good enough to make up for the other’s mistakes.

Really, the backup point guard is one of the only positions that’ll need defensive prowess from the bench. They just need someone who can hold the fort for a few minutes with Koufos (or even better, Gasol) while Bayless and probably Miller get their playing time together.

On the other hand, what good two-way backup point guards are there left on the market? Delonte West? That’d be interesting, to say the least.

So, Mo Williams is probably the best that the Grizzlies can get now, and he’s still a pretty good upgrade. Great job guys. Just pull Williams in, and then lets go kick some ass.