Nuggets Claim Mo Williams Off Waivers

Mo Williams has been claimed off waivers by the Denver Nuggets, Marc Stein of ESPN reports (Twitter link). Denver is expected to immediately waive Williams, opening up a roster spot to retain Alonzo Gee on a 10-day contract, per Stein (Twitter link).

Williams, thought to be retired, has been involved in a number of transactions over the last month. The 34-year-old was dealt from Cleveland to Atlanta as a part of the Kyle Korver trade, and then flipped to Denver for the draft rights to Cenk Akyol. Williams was then waived, claimed by Philadelphia on January 20, and claimed once more by Denver today.

If the Sixers want to claim Williams off waivers again this week, they’ll have to either terminate Chasson Randle‘s 10-day contract early or waive one of the other 14 players on their roster — the team no longer has an open roster spot at its disposal.

As Bobby Marks noted in an article for The Vertical, the newly agreed upon CBA would make this type of transaction obsolete. As of July, the player’s days of service will determine his cost against the minimum team salary; not his full cap hit. Williams’ circumstance is the type of “loophole,” Marks describes, in which teams will keep low payrolls on the roster only to make waiver claims or trades in an attempt to reach the salary floor.

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