Cleveland Cavaliers sign veteran point guard Deron Williams
CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed guard Deron Williams, Cavaliers General Manager David Griffin announced Monday from Cleveland Clinic Courts.
Williams (6-3, 200), who was waived by Dallas on February 23, averaged 13.1 points, 6.9 assists and 2.6 rebounds in 29.3 minutes through 40 games (all starts) with the Mavericks this season. He also shot .348 from the three-point line and .821 from the foul line, while scoring in double figures on 27 occasions and dishing out 10 or more assists five times. He will wear jersey number 31 with the Cavs.
Playing in his 12th NBA season, Williams owns career averages of 16.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, 8.2 assists and 1.1 steals in 34.6 minutes over 821 games (767 starts) for Utah, New Jersey/Brooklyn and Dallas.
Overall, he has shot .444 from the field, .356 from three-point range and .822 from the free throw line. The 6-3 guard has dished out at least 20 assists in a game on six occasions throughout his career and ranks 19th on the NBA’s all-time assists list (6,733).
A three-time NBA All-Star (2010, 2011 and 2012), Williams has also made the All-NBA Second Team twice (2008 and 2010) and won gold medals as part of Team USA at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
He was originally drafted out of Illinois by the Jazz with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft and earned All-Rookie First Team honors in 2006. During the 2007-08 season, Williams became the third player in NBA history to have at least 1,500 points and 800 assists while shooting .500 or better from the field in a single season, joining Magic Johnson (1986-87 and 1988-89) and Kevin Johnson (1988-89).
