NBA Teams Won’t Stop Claiming And Then Waiving Mo Williams

Mo Williams has not played a single minute this season, but is collecting checks and doing so from a number of different teams.

The veteran guard began his season with the Cavs, who owed him $2.2 million this season, and would not accept a buyout from his contract after having knee surgery. Williams was tossed into the Kyle Korver trade with the Hawks, who then turned around and shipped him off to the Nuggets for a traded player exception. The Nuggets waived Williams, who was then picked up off waivers by the Sixers in an effort to get closer to the salary floor.

On Monday, the Nuggets returned the favor to the Sixers, claiming Williams off of waivers in an effort to get closer to the salary floor themselves with the help of his $2.2 million contract, and Denver plans on waiving him again.

It’s pretty hilarious to watch Williams’ contract go across the country, while he sits at home collecting his checks and not really caring who is paying him. It’s also funny how the Nuggets have now played the Sixers into eating almost $40,000 of his salary, while not gaining any of the benefits of getting to the salary floor. This chart can, hopefully, help offer some clarity into what is happening.

I hope this saga never ends, and Williams’ contract gets batted back and forth between the Nuggets and Sixers like a game of salary tennis, or it would be even better if a third team jumps into the fray to get in on the salary floor fun. The new CBA will supposedly keep these kinds of shenanigans from taking place, but I will miss these really weird moments of claiming and waiving to finesse the salary cap.