NBA teams
Brian Windhorst, ESPN Senior Writer 8y

Cavs' Moe Williams retiring; J.R. Smith absent from training camp

NBA, Cleveland Cavaliers

Mo Williams surprised the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday when his agent called hours before the start of training camp to inform the team that Williams will be retiring.

After dealing with chondromalacia (chronic knee pain) last season and debating his future throughout the summer, Williams announced last week that he would return for a 14th season. He then reversed course.

Also Monday, J.R. Smith was absent as he and the Cavaliers were unable to reach an agreement on a contract. Smith has been seeking a long-term deal with the Cavs since July.

Smith is an unrestricted free agent, so his situation is not considered a holdout. But this is the fourth time in the past 10 years a contract dispute has led to a Cavs player missing part of training camp. The team previously settled with Anderson Varejao, Sasha Pavlovic and Tristan Thompson -- eventually -- though all three missed all of the preseason.

"We think very highly of J.R., we love him as a member of our team," Cavaliers general manager David Griffin said. "As a member of our locker room, he was essential to our success. For that reason, we've made an incredibly competitive and aggressive offer to re-sign him. We hope that gets done in relatively short order. At the same time, we've been accustomed to a next-man-up mentality, and we expect this will be no different."

The Cavs were aware of Williams' indecision as the summer unfolded, but they have still lost their two primary backups to starting point guard Kyrie Irving. Matthew Dellavedova signed a four-year, $38.5 million deal with the Milwaukee Bucks, and Williams has now retired.

"It was in debate what Mo was going to do; he vacillated a little bit," Griffin said. "So we were planning for this eventuality. We're comfortable with where we are at the point guard position."

The Cavs drafted a point guard, Kay Felder, with the No. 54 pick last summer. They also have Jordan McRae, a player who finished the season with the team last year after being called up from the D-League. Of course, LeBron James also is expected to get significant minutes at point guard.

The Cavs' lack of depth at point guard was a factor in Williams briefly decision to continue playing.

"I just thought about repeating, thought about another championship and I didn't want to put the Cavs in a situation where [they didn't have a] guy [who] could come in and play five to 10 minutes that could help them win and be a difference," Williams told ESPN.com last week.

Williams is owed $2.2 million in the upcoming season. Griffin declined to comment on whether the team would seek to buy out the contract as part of a retirement settlement.

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