The Portland Trail Blazers and free-agent guard Mo Williams reached agreement on a two-year, $5.6 million contract Wednesday, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports. Worth the full room mid-level exception, Williams' deal may be the final fully guaranteed agreement reached this offseason.
NBA free agency: Mo Williams to sign with Trail Blazers, according to report
After a lengthy wait, Williams found his multi-year contract in Portland.
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For the Blazers, this is a nice way of getting value for their room exception. Given a smaller budget to work with than the usual mid-level exception provided to teams, Portland still landed a quality veteran guard who can help fill out the team’s backcourt.
Because Portland entered the offseason so far below the salary cap, it only received the room mid-level exception this summer. Teams already near the salary cap enter the summer with a mid-level exception valued at $5 million in Year 1, but the Blazers could only offer a first-year salary of $2.575 million using the exception.
This rule prevents teams from quickly spending the cap at the beginning of the summer to get the full mid-level. Once a team starts the offseason well below the cap, it doesn’t get the benefit of a full mid-level exception.
With the limited funds, Williams is a nice addition even if he's not a perfect fit. The Blazers already have a pair of undersized scoring guards in Damian Lillard and rookie C.J. McCollum, making Williams a tad redundant, but after a lack of depth ruined Portland's 2012-13 campaign, it's clear the team wanted to avoid the same issues.
It’s also worth noting that Lillard, as a rookie, played more minutes than anyone in the league last year. Having a veteran to spell him at times seems like a reasonable get.
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