NBA Trade Deadline: Cavaliers Make Baron Davis Trade Official

Feb 24 12:41p by John Bena

The Cleveland Cavaliers have acquired the Los Angeles Clippers’ first round pick in the 2011 NBA Draft and guard Baron Davis from the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for guard Mo Williams and forward Jamario Moon, Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant announced today.

“We’re excited to make this move. Baron is a very talented player at a position that’s a difficult position in this league,” said Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant. “We’ve also created another very good opportunity for ourselves as we continue to build this franchise moving forward with another high first round draft pick.”

Davis, 31, is averaging 12.8 points on .416 shooting, 2.8 rebounds, 7.0 assists (14th in the NBA) and 1.4 steals in 29.6 minutes per game in 43 games (35 starts) this season. In his 12 seasons in the NBA, he has career averages of 16.5 points on .409 shooting, 3.9 rebounds and 7.3 assists in 34.9 minutes per game in 791 games (669 starts). Among all active players, he ranks fourth (J. Kidd, S. Nash and A. Miller) in total assists (5,798) and is one of just seven players with over 13,000 career points and 5,000 assists (J. Kidd, S. Nash, C. Billups, M. Bibby, A. Miller and K. Bryant). The 6-foot-3, 212-pound point guard was named an all-star on two occasions (2002 and 2004).

The 2011 first round pick acquired from the Los Angeles Clippers is unprotected, meaning the Cavaliers own the pick in the upcoming draft no matter what selection it is.

“As an organization, ownership, all the way down, we’d like to thank Mo and Jamario and wish them and their families the best,” said Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant. “We appreciate their contributions to our franchise, both on the court and off, as they helped take us to some pretty high levels over the last two years.”

Williams is averaging 13.3 points on .385 shooting, 2.7 rebounds and 7.1 assists in 29.6 minutes per game in 36 games (34 starts) this season. In 186 career games (183 starts) with Cleveland, he averaged 16.2 points on .443 shooting, 3.1 rebounds and 5.1 assists in 33.7 minutes per game. He ranks second in franchise history in free throw shooting (.890), sixth in three-point percentage (.408) and seventh in three-pointers made (378).

Moon has averages of 4.7 points on .402 shooting, 3.0 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 19.1 minutes per game in 40 games (13 starts) in 2010-11. In 101 career games (15 starts) with the Cavaliers, he averaged 4.8 points on .436 shooting and 3.1 rebounds in 18.0 minutes per game.