Deron Williams, Terrence Jones, Marcus Thornton clear waivers
Deron Williams, Terrence Jones and Marcus Thornton have all cleared waivers, making them free agents who can sign with other teams.
In the aftermath of the 2017 NBA Trade Deadline, a couple of veteran players hit the waiver wire after being bought out by their respective teams.
On Saturday, ESPN’s Marc Stein reported that Deron Williams, Terrence Jones and Marcus Thornton had all cleared waivers, making them free agents.
Marcus Thornton and Terrence Jones have also cleared waivers and are now free agents, according to league sources
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) February 25, 2017
Deron Williams has cleared waivers and is now expected to sign with the Cavaliers, according to league sources
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) February 25, 2017
Williams, who was bought out by the Dallas Mavericks to give more playing time to young guards Seth Curry and Yogi Ferrell, will be signing with the Cleveland Cavaliers. LeBron James will finally get the secondary playmaker he’s been asking for, while the 32-year-old veteran Williams will get a chance to play for his first legitimate title contender.
In his second season with the Mavs, D-Will was averaging 13.1 points and 6.9 assists per game while shooting 43 percent from the floor and 34.8 percent from three-point range. Though he’s no longer the star point guard from his Utah Jazz days, Williams should thrive in a bench role for a loaded team.
He holds career averages of 16.6 points, 8.2 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game, and his career 35.6 percent shooting from three-point range could help spread the floor as well.
Jones was waived by the New Orleans Pelicans in the aftermath of the DeMarcus Cousins trade. He had somewhat revived his league-wide value this season, averaging 11.5 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game while shooting 47.2 percent from the field.
Though he hasn’t quite panned out as the promising player he looked like with the Houston Rockets, he’s still only 25 years old. Someone smart will take a shot on him.
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As for Marcus Thornton, this could be close to the end of the line for the eight-year veteran. He was averaging 6.6 points in 17.4 minutes per game for the Washington Wizards this season, but was shooting just 40 percent from the floor. The Wizards were the seventh team of his NBA career.