Clippers not shopping Mo Williams

[mkwest]

Mo Williams can do the math. On a roster of 15 players, the Clippers have five players who have started at point guard in the NBA. Two of them -- Chris Paul and Chauncey Billups -- could be future Hall of Famers. Which leaves Williams as a highly paid ($8.5 million salary this year and next) former All-Star coming off the bench.

Trade bait, right?

Maybe not. Williams has been so good for the Clippers this season, averaging 14.8 points and 3.8 assists in 27.3 minutes off the bench, that they are loathe to trade him now or even aggressively shop him in advance of the March 15 trade deadline.

In fact, Clippers general manager Neil Olshey has promised Williams that he would consult with him on any offers the team receives for him.

"Every day Mo comes in and does what he's doing, doesn't give us any impetus to want to trade him," Olshey told ESPNLosAngeles.com "I want him to be here and I want him to be happy. He's had so much of an impact on our win total at this point, that hopefully he's embracing (his new role)."

According to ESPN Stats and Information, among players who have started two or fewer games this season Williams has the third-highest PER at 20.5, behind only Oklahoma City's James Harden (21.9) and Philadelphia's Lou Williams (21.5).

As for the agreement he has with Williams, Olshey said it's been in place since the two had lunch in mid-December, shortly after the Clippers acquired Billups off waivers and traded for Paul.

"When we went out, I anticipated him saying, 'This isn't what I signed up, I want you to trade me,' and it was the complete opposite. He was like, 'I like it here, I love the organization, please don't send me to a bad situation,' " Olshey recalled.

"And I told him, 'I give you my word, I'm not making any proactive phone calls about you. If I receive phone calls about you and it's something where I think we can come away with a fair deal, I will come to you and say, 'What do you think of this situation?' "

Ramona Shelburne, ESPN Los Angeles

[Kyle]

Why in the world would we even consider trading the 6th man of the year? No shot. We would have to get a very good player in return and thats not gonna happen. Mo has been spectacular this year.

[mkwest]

This article gives a little more insight into the situation. Most people (that aren't fans of the team) just see Mo as a whiner and a complainer. It's much more to it than that. He sees the potential that this team has moving forward and wants to be a part of it. He put in a lot of work on himself (lost 20 pounds) and took the proper leadership role in helping guide the rest of the players during the lockout. He and Blake were the ones that organized all of the team practices/camps only to see his situation quickly become in doubt. It's more than just coming off of the bench.

He may not be happy coming off of the bench, but it's better than being traded into a horrible situation. The trade possibilities is what really had him on edge. The situation that he's currently in is like the penthouse (e.g. location, warm weather, team outlook, etc.) and it is only natural that he doesn't want to be traded to the outhouse (e.g. cold/rainy weather, lotto team, etc.).

I like Mo and have since we acquired him. I would love to see us be able to keep him even beyond this season. Obviously, there's a possibility that an offer that we can't refuse comes along. Then we'll be put into a situation where we will have to seriously entertain an offer that he may or may not like. I do like the fact that Neil has been straight with him so that there won't be any doubt and that Mo can just focus on playing basketball.