Fantasy Basketball: How Will Mo Williams Do In Charlotte?

The Charlotte Hornets have acquired point guard Mo Williams from the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday afternoon. What does this mean for the fantasy world? Well, obviously it helps Williams, who was returned to a bench role with Ricky Rubio back in the picture for Minnesota. It also helps Charlotte, who will be without starting point guard Kemba Walker for at least another month after ungoing surgery for a torn meniscus.

The full trade looks like this:

Mo Williams should immediately take over the starting PG gig in Charlotte until the return of Kemba Walker. The 32 year old Williams is averaging 12.2 points, 6.4 assists, and 2.4 rebounds per game on the season. Those number put the numbers of current starting PG Brian Roberts (7.2ppg, 2.4 assists, 1.5 rebounds) to shame. Now, Roberts has not had nearly the playing time that Williams did. His averages since Walker went down are much better (13.8 points, 3.3 assists, 2.5 rebounds).

That said, the Hornets wanted someone who distributes the ball well, which is not Roberts’s strong point. Williams is a much better passer, which should help other Charlotte players such as Lance Stephenson and Al Jefferson.

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All of you in any type or size of league should go see if someone dropped Mo Williams after his playing time evaporated in Minnesota. If he is out there, pick him up without delay. I would even float out a few offers to the Williams owner in your league to see if you can get him at a fair price. Just keep in mind that he will return to a backup role sometime in mid to late March.

The obvious loser from this in a fantasy perspective is Brian Roberts. He will have more value than he did behind Kemba Walker because Williams will not play 35-40 minutes every game like Walker did. Mo’s minutes were right around 32 when he was starting for the Timberwolves in the absence of Ricky Rubio. He is 32 years old after all, which is ancient by PG standards. Williams will likely see around 32-35 minutes, so Roberts will still hold value in deeper leagues. He can be be dropped in all 10 and 12 team standard leagues though.

Jan 28, 2015; San Antonio, TX, USA; Charlotte Hornets shooting guard Gary Neal (12) shoots the ball against the San Antonio Spurs during the second half at AT&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

The sleeper here could be Gary Neal. Neal has averaged 9.6 points, 1.9 assists, and 2.2 rebounds per game in just over 18 minutes. If the Timberwolves ship out Kevin Martin as expected, Neal could see good minutes backing up Andrew Wiggins at SG. Neal could also see some time backing up Rubio as long as his minutes are limited. I expect Zach LaVine to still be the primary backup, but the Timberwolves aren’t going to let Neal rot away on the bench either. They wanted him because he can back up either guard position whereas Daniels and Williams were only point guards. This is further evidence that they are still actively trying to move Kevin Martin.

In deeper leagues, I would stash Neal if you have a bench slot available. Initially, he won’t have any extra value in Minnesota, but he will if they keep trading veterans. Troy Daniels’s value is the same as it was in Minnesota: he is still a third string point guard.

The big winner in fantasy terms is Mo Williams, at least for the next four to six weeks. The loser is Brian Roberts, someone who was not even involved in the trade.

Those of you in daily leagues such as FanDuel or DraftKings should also keep an eye on the production of the rest of the Charlotte players with Mo Williams running the offense. There could be some very good value plays in there for the short term until the price increase follows.

Stay tuned to FantasyCPR for all of the latest trade impacts as we near the deadline, and all of the FanDuel lineups!

Next: Five Deadline Deals We Would Love To See

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