Done Deal: Mavericks Acquired Another Elite Talented Outstanding Star To….
Grant Williams joined the Dallas Mavericks during the offseason, but his tenure with the Western Conference franchise was short-lived. He struggled to gel with the team and to produce consistently. As such, the Mavericks traded him to the Charlotte Hornets as part of the P.J. Washington deal at the Feb. 8 trade deadline.
Williams has been thriving since moving to his hometown team. After the Boston Celtics secured a 118-104 win over the Hornets on Monday, Kristaps Porzingis shared his thoughts on Williams’ resurgence with Charlotte. Porzingis also had a difficult tenure with the Mavericks before moving to the Washington Wizards.“When my situation was happening, I thought Washington would be a decent place for me before even the trade happened,” Porzingis said. “But it was definitely a good situation for me to bounce back now from that time in Dallas, which kind of left like a bad reputation for me a little bit. … And I think in Grant’s situation, it can also help him to build his game back up a little bit and he’s already feeling good. He’s having a bigger role and he’ll be good.”
Porzingis likely understands how quickly your reputation around the NBA can be tarnished. His similarly rough stretch with Dallas coincided with some poor performances. It wasn’t until he was with the Wizards that he began to prove himself again and rebuild his value around the NBA. Williams will now have to do the same thing.
Fortunately for the former Celtics forward, he has hit the ground running. In the 24 games Williams has played for the Hornets, he’s averaging 13.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, shooting 49.8% from the field and 34.9% from 3-point range.
With a bigger role and more opportunity, Williams will likely thrive with the Hornets and continue to develop. Charlotte is a young team full of exciting talent, and Williams has landed in a good spot for his career to continue developing. Porzingis got his career back on track, and now Williams hopes to work off the same blueprint.
The Dallas Mavericks are in the middle of a seven-game win streak heading into tonight’s matchup with the Golden State Warriors, and everyone is clicking at the perfect time.
Luka Doncic is leading the way along with the help of Kyrie Irving, and Dallas’ two acquisitions from the trade deadline have complimented this team beautifully. P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford have truly been perfect fits and provided a massive boost to this team, but the Mavs haven’t always gotten that lucky with their trades.
Back in 2014, the Mavs made a blockbuster trade with the Boston Celtics for a point guard who was supposed to take them to the next level. Instead, he was a massive reason that the Mavs lost in the first round of the playoffs and today he announced his retirement.
Notorious former Dallas Mavericks point guard retires from the NBA
On Tuesday, Rajon Rondo announced his retirement from the NBA on the All The Smoke Podcast with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson. Rondo said the reason for his retirement was to spend more time with his children.
Over his 16-year NBA career, Rondo averaged 9.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 7.9 assists, and 1.6 steals per game while shooting 45.6 percent from the field. Rondo will go down as one of the greatest passers of all time, and he has tons of accolades to back up his greatness.
Rondo was a four-time NBA All-Star, three-time assists champion, one-time steals champion, and a two-time NBA Champion. He was excellent on both ends of the floor, but his time as a Maverick will always be remembered for the bad, not the good.
Rondo quit on his teammates in the 2015 NBA Playoffs and was never a good fit from the start. After game two of the playoffs against the Houston Rockets, it was reported that Rondo would be out with a back injury. It was later reported that there wasn’t a back injury at all, but the team and Rondo decided on a mutual split.
After the playoffs, Rondo was not offered a playoff share while the rest of his teammates were. His time in Dallas was a disaster, to say the least, and his often disagreements with former head coach Rick Carlisle made it worse.
While Rondo will always be remembered among NBA fans for his flashy passes and superb defense, Mavs fans will remember him differently as he retired today.
