Live Thread: Cavs vs Bulls/ The Cavs picked up Deron Williams

The Bulls are in town to play the Cavs on a Saturday night nationally televised game. This game will be a fun one. LeBron James is sitting it out due to illness, and the Bulls have beat the Cavs in their previous two meetings. This year the Cavs are 0-3 without LeBron. They’re on the hunt for the first nlbw (Non-Lebron-Based-Win).

The Bulls made a little bit of noise at the trade deadline, but they didn’t get better. They sent Taj Gibson and Doug McDermott to the Thunder for Cameron Payne, Anthony Morrow, and Joffrey Lauvergne. They also shopped super star Jimmy Butler. It’s going to be worth watching how he reacts to having been shopped. Is he going to play with even more fire, or is this the beginning of the end for his relationship with the Bulls? The Cavs need to hope he’s slumming it tonight, because no one on the team can contain him. Butler will also have unlimited energy for the offensive end, since he doesn’t have to worry about stopping the King.

Richard Jefferson will start for LeBron this evening.

In other news, the Cavs will add Deron Williams to the roster. Williams was released by the Mavericks and just cleared waivers after averaging 13.1 points and 6.9 assists this year in 29.3 minutes a night. Williams is no longer the athlete he once was in Utah, a time in his career where you could argue he was as good as Chris Paul, but he knows how to pass the ball (8.2 career assist average), and he’s big enough to be a decent defender most nights.

He also knows how to run a pick a roll to perfection. If he get the opportunity to unleash James as a roll man, he won’t disappoint. Even if he’s just stuck running the second unit, the Cavs have some athletic guys like Derrick Williams and old man Richard Jefferson that he could work with. He’s not the biggest signing in the world, but he’s about the most above average point guard the Cavs could have wished for. He’s not going to back down from dribbling the ball in the final minutes of a game and he won’t blow a game either.

I’m picking the Cavs tonight, 121-111. They have to win without LeBron at some point, and I can’t see the Bulls getting a third straight win against them this year.