Hooped Up

The Cleveland Cavaliers landed some offensive help for LeBron James in the backcourt on Wednesday, as they picked up point guard Mo Williams in a three-team trade with the Milwaukee Bucks and Oklahoma City.

The Cavs acquired Williams while parting ways with guard Damon Jones and forward Joe Smith.

Jones will land in Milwaukee, along with former Oklahoma City point guard Luke Ridnour and swingman Adrian Griffin. Oklahoma City will receive Smith and Bucks forward Desmond Mason.

A five-year veteran, Williams averaged 17.2 points, 6.3 assists, and 3.5 rebounds per game for the Bucks last season. A second-round pick by the Utah Jazz out of Alabama in 2003, the 6-foot-1, 185-pound Williams has five years and $43 million left on a contract he signed last summer with Milwaukee after posting similar numbers in the 2006-07 season — 17.3 points, 6.1 assists, and 4.8 rebounds per game.

Seattle Post Intelligencer

I reported just before the season-opener that Emeka Okafor passed on a contract extension worth an average of more than $12 million a season. The reaction from those scouts was shock; shock both that the Bobcats offered that much and that Okafor said no. The greater shock was that Okafor, who’s making about $5.4 million this season, turned it down. One scout predicted there’s a greater chance Okafor would seriously injure himself this season than there was that he’d improve enough to attract a significantly higher offer — from the Bobcats or any other team. The real question here is if Okafor has Joe Smith in his 5 and if not he should get on it.

Charlotte Observer