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Former Los Angeles Clipper Mo Williams is signing a two year deal with the Portland Trailblazers. Williams was probably the best guard still on the free agent market and his signing probably leaves that honor to Beno Udrih.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski:
Free-agent guard Mo Williams has reached agreement with the Portland Trail Blazers on a two-year, $5.6 million contract, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.
The second year of the contract is at Williams' option.
Williams was acquired by Neil Olshey in the Baron Davis trade when Olshey was running the Clippers' front office -- Olshey is now the Blazers' GM and apparently he still likes Mo and vice versa.
Aside from Williams' Clipper ties, this signing matters for another important reason -- it means Williams won't be signing with Memphis. The Blazers have a lot of talent and have improved their bench immeasurably this summer, but they remain very young and are unlikely to be a threat at the top of the Western Conference any time soon. The Grizzlies on the other hand are coming off a trip to the Western Conference Finals and desperately needed outside shooting and a decent backup point guard, both of which Williams could have provided. Likewise he would have been an upgrade for the Thunder bench. By spending a little more on Mo, Olshey did the Clippers a favor in keeping him off some more dangerous rosters.