Wednesday Notes: More Mo, Olympic roundup, early East rankings

by Frank Madden on Aug 13, 2008 1:58 PM CDT in Daily Notes

All you need to know about the Mo Williams-to-Cleveland rumors. Well, most of it at least.
For the Cleveland perspective, be sure to check out both CavsBoard and Waiting for Next Year.
Team USA cruised to another group victory in group play, downing Angola 97-76. Mike Redd was just 1/4 for two points in 14 minutes. Nobody recaps better than Kelly Dwyer, so just read what he wrote.
Also at BDL, Skeets has a priceless pic of Michael Redd.
Andrew Bogut and Australia were dealt their second loss in as many games by Argentina, falling 85-68. Bogut continues to look a bit out of sorts and underutilized, scoring just seven points with four boards and three blocks. Charlie did a liveblog for us with all the details from the game. Really, all of them.
The Bratwurst takes on the Mo rumors.
How would this trade affect the Bucks? I don’t think they will win more with Ridnour than they would with Mo. But they wouldn’t lose more, and they would have much more roster flexibility going forward.
I liked former Indiana PF D.J. White a lot before the draft, so Brett's suggested deal that adds him to the equation works for me. I think OKC needs more than just Szczerbiak's expiring deal, though.
The Bob Boozer Jinx breaks it down, too. One thing to note is that teams aren't required by the CBA to take a minimum amount of salary back. Usually they need to in order to make the deal work for a trade partner, since the maximum a team can acquire is 125% of the salaries they send out plus $100,000. For example, the Bucks can't trade Mo ($8.353 million) for Luke Ridnour ($6.5 million) straight up, but it's not because league rules forbid them from shedding the salary. Rather, OKC in that scenario would be taking on more than 125% of Ridnour's $6.5 million + $100,000, so it's the OKC perspective which would cause the problem.

In a three-team trade like the one being proposed, the Bucks could effectively swap Mo for Ridnour so long as none of the other teams were taking back too much. However, in the reported Joe Smith, Mo Williams, and Luke Ridnour version of the deal, Cleveland is only sending out $4.795 million and taking back $8.353 million. That'd be OK if they were far enough under the cap, but like most teams they're not. If Cleveland were to add players worth a little more than $1.8 million to the deal--whether to OKC or Milwaukee wouldn't matter for cap purposes--then it would work.
Marty Burns at SI has MIlwaukee ranked 12th in the East...for now.
New GM John Hammond made one of the big trades of the summer, acquiring Richard Jefferson from the Nets for Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons. Jefferson, along with new coach Scott Skiles, should help improve a woeful Bucks defense. With Michael Redd, Mo Williams, Andrew Bogut, Desmond Mason and Charlie Villanueva, Milwaukee already had enough firepower to score with any team. The trick will be just how fast Skiles can implement his system, and whether there is enough bulk in the frontcourt.