Written by Rich Swerbinsky

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The Cavaliers made a trade last night.  They dealt Mo Williams and Jamario Moon to the Los Angeles Clippers for Baron Davis and a first round pick in this year’s upcoming NBA Draft.

The Cavs will now have two lottery picks in the 2011 NBA Draft, which by all accounts is considered weak at the top.  But still.  It’s a nice thing to have.  The Cavs will have a great shot at securing one, or possibly even two of the top four picks in the draft.  If they end up with the worst record in the NBA, the lowest their own pick can be is #4.

Davis is a two-time all-star point guard out of UCLA that has generally been one of the more talented (and more mercurial) point guards in the game during his 12-year NBA career.  He’s averaging 12.8 points, 7.0 assists, and 2.8 rebounds per game for the Clippers … figures that are down considerably from the 21.8, 7.6, 4.7 numbers he posted three years ago … right before signing a 5 year, 65 million dollar deal in LA.  He’s still owed 29 mill over the next two years, and there’s a chance the Cavs could just buy out his contract and let him go, especially if he becomes a problem here, as he has in other places throughout his career.  The addition of Davis would have no impact on the Cavs potentially selecting Duke PG Kyrie Irving, who is generally considered the top prospect in this year’s draft, even given the fact he’s expected to miss the rest of the college hoops season with a knee injury.  Kudos to Dan Gilbert for taking on a lot of money in salary in exchange for the draft pick.  He essentially bought the pick from the Clips.

As far as Mo goes, sadly, I feel no emotional reaction to his departure.  He’s always been and always will be a matador defensively.  And outside of game two of the Boston series last year, he’s generally no-showed in the playoffs.  Rajon Rondo treated him like he was a turnstile in that series last year.