Mo Williams
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Mo Williams is retiring after all.
(Gus Chan, The Plain Dealer)
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- Mo Williams changed his mind, yet again.
Williams, 33, informed the Cavaliers just before Media Day Monday that he was retiring from basketball, not even a week after announcing via Twitter that he would return for one more season.
Cleveland general manager David Griffin said at the top of his press conference that Williams' agent, Raymond Brothers, informed the Cavs of Williams' latest decision.
For now, the Cavs owe Williams $2.2 million this season. Griffin declined to answer whether the team would pursue a settlement, but said "we were planning on something like this being possible."
Cleveland couldn't have been that prepared for Williams' about face -- the team released its training camp roster around 12:30 p.m. and Williams was on it.
Williams had been leaning strongly toward retirement this summer, then reversed course on the eve of training camp. With Williams retiring, the only true point guard on the roster behind Kyrie Irving is rookie Kay Felder.
Williams averaged 8.2 points, 2.4 assists and shot 35 percent from deep last season in a role that diminished as the year wore on. He found his way back onto the floor when it mattered most -- in Games 6 and 7 of the NBA Finals -- when coach Tyronn Lue turned to him for spot duty as Matthew Dellavedova (who now plays for Milwaukee) struggled.
Williams, who turns 34 in December, is averaging 13.2 points, 4.9 assists, and 37.8-percent shooting from 3-point range and 87.1 percent from the foul line -- which is 23rd best in NBA history.
He struggled with a left knee injury last season, an issue that actually predated his second tenure with the Cavs.
An All-Star in 2009, Williams played a total of 31/2 seasons with the Cavs over two stints, the first from 2008-2011, when he was the point guard for the two best regular-season teams in franchise history alongside LeBron James. His 14.8 points and 40-percent shooting from 3-point land during his time in Cleveland were career bests.
Williams signed a two-year deal with a player's option to return to the Cavs prior to the start of last year.
Griffin also said J.R. Smith, the Cavs' starting shooting guard the last two years, is not in camp. He remains a free agent.