This bit of news should make my Twitter trolls laugh.
Back in June of 2011 (yes, nearly 6 years ago) I made this horrendous take on Twitter regarding the Cavaliers and the NBA Draft:
I warn you Cleveland…taking Kyrie Irving will be a HUGE mistake…take Derrick Williams…WAY more upside
— Anthony DiMoro (@AnthonyDiMoro) June 22, 2011
Yikes, that was bad. My thinking was that Irving would be better served to stay in college for another year and that the Cavs were taking a big risk based on the short sample of Irving in college. Irving was brilliant but injury limited him.
Well, the Cavs took Irving, Williams turned out to be a bust and 5 1/2 years, a Cavs title and an Irving evolution into a superstar later, I am still reminded about this bad tweet.
But the universe works in mysterious ways and when I came upon this news today, I couldn’t help but stop what I was doing to pen this article. It seemed right. It seemed just and it seemed like I was meant to do it.
Cavaliers General Manager David Griffin announced on Thursday that they have signed forward Derrick Williams to a 10-day contract. Yes, that Derrick Williams.
Over his six-year NBA career, Williams has played in 401 games (112 starts) with Minnesota, Sacramento, New York and recently with Miami, while averaging 9.1 points and 4.1 rebounds in 21.0 minutes. Williams was waived by the Heat on February 6.
I’ll stop short of making any bold proclamations about Williams being the answer to LeBron James’ cries for talent infusion. But it seems like if this were the 2011 version of me, I would be considering this a potential steal of the century and wondering about how the Cavs got so darn lucky.
For now, i’ll keep my mouth shut.
But for future reference, and I’m talking to you trolls, it’s much better to debate me at the time of a take instead of safely doing so almost 6 years after the fact when things are clearly decided. Afterall, what’s the fun in debating these takes if we take that approach.
Nonetheless I say you’re welcome Cleveland, you finally got the man I originally thought you should have taken and you still have Irving. Sorry Kyrie, sometimes we airball the shots we take.