Former Dallas Mavericks point guard Deron Williams has cleared waivers and has made it known through his agent that he will join the Cleveland Cavaliers according to multiple media outlets.

He will sign with the team on Monday according to Yahoo Sports and the Vertical.

Williams was waived by Dallas following Thursday’s NBA trade deadline. He was linked to Cleveland almost immediately and I think was the only team he planned on going to once Dallas made him available. 

The 11 year veteran and former third overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft spent the last season and a half with the Mavericks, averaging 13.7 points and 6.2 assists per game in 105 games (103 starts).

This season he’s averaging 13.1 points and 6.9 assists per game in 40 games (40 starts). Williams has averaged 16.6 points and 8.2 assists per game over his NBA career. He’s a career 44% shooter and 35.6% from three point distance. 

He also has a history of playing alongside Lebron James. They were teammates for Team USA basketball from 2007 to 2012 winning the FIBA Americans championship and two gold medals in the Beijing and London summer games, the latter of which Cavaliers forward Kevin Love was also a teammate.

Cleveland.com is reporting that Kyle Korver, who was a teammate of Williams in Utah, helped recruit him to Cleveland.

The three time All Star fills a major void on the Cavaliers roster at the backup point guard spot which has been patched together with DeAndre Liggins and Kay Felder but hasn’t been the same since Matthew Dellavedova left in free agency last summer. 

The addition of Williams will be good news for Kyrie Irving who will see his minutes decrease as we head down the stretch of the second half of the season and the postseason. 

The current second unit for the Cavaliers projects now as:

• PG-Deron Williams
• SG-Kyle Korver
• SF-Richard Jefferson
• PF-Derrick Williams

The backup center position is still up in the air for the moment. The Philadelphia 76ers haven’t completed a buyout for center Andrew Bogut and have until March 1 to do so in order for him to be eligible for playoff rosters.
It has been reported by multiple NBA writers that Bogut will join the Cavaliers once he becomes a free agent.