Mo Williams Gets 6 years, $52 million

Well, it's done. The Bucks avoided the PR disaster of losing Mo Williams to the Heat for the MLE but had to pony up big time, giving him a six year, $52 million deal likely with an opt-out after four years and player option for the sixth season. I had guessed $45 million over five years, so at $8.67 million per season it's fairly palatable if Mo can continue to improve on his breakout season last year.

That said, the early termination option and sixth year player option increase the value to Mo since he can look for a bigger deal if he continues to improve or take the money if he's a disappointment. For that reason it will be interesting to see how the deal is structured. So long as the Bucks, Mo, and his agent don't announce the terms the Bucks will still be able to use their cap space on free agents, though it's looking increasingly likely that they will not go after any big names. If the Bucks' deal for Williams were to be announced officially they'd still have the MLE to spend on free agents.