27-year old Mo Williams finally looks like his old self again after looking rusty coming off a long layoff due to a strained shoulder. In his last two games, Williams is averaging 34.0 minutes, 20.5 points, 1.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.0 steal per game. He is 11 of 20 (55%) from three point range in his last two games and that is outstanding. Williams has played in 49 games (48 starts) for the Cavaliers this season and he is averaging 34.9 minutes, 16.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Williams is also shooting 43.2% from three point range this season with is outstanding. Williams is making opposing teams pay for ganging up in the paint to stop the Cavaliers’ frontline.

Starting center Shaquille O’Neal will be out for a little while due to a sprained right thumb. He has played in 53 games (all starts) for the Cavaliers this season and he is averaging 23.4 minutes, 12.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.2 blocked shots per game. With Zydrunas Ilgauskas out of town the Cavs will turn to Anderson Varejao as the starting center while Shaq is out. Varejao has played in 57 games (6 starts) for the Cavs this season and he is averaging 29.3 minutes, 8.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 1.0 blocked shot per game. The Cavs will need J.J. Hickson to step up and replace Varejao as the first big man off the bench until Shaq returns to action. He has played in 58 games (51 starts) for the Cavaliers this season and he is averaging 19.4 minutes, 7.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. The Cavaliers should be o.k. until Shaq is ready to return to action.

UPDATE: O’Neal will miss the next 6-8 weeks as he recovers from thumb surgery. The Cavaliers are hoping that Zydrunas Ilguaskas will re-sign with them in the next 3-4 weeks.

Rookie SG/SF Danny Green has played o.k. when he has gotten the chance but the Cavaliers’ roster is so deep that he is often inactive for games. Green has played in 13 games (0 starts) for the Cavs this season and he is averaging 5.2 minutes, 2.5 points, 0.7 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. Green looks like a keeper for the Cavaliers but he might not get legit playing time for at least a couple of years.

Antawn Jamison got his first start for the Cleveland Cavaliers last night and helped the Cavs end a season-high three-game losing streak.  Jamison played 37 minutes, going 7-14 from the field and finishing with 18 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals in a 105-99 win over the New Orleans Hornets.  Jamison has now put together two good games after a horrendous debut with the Cavs.  In his first outing after being acquired in a trade from the Washington Wizards, he went 0-12 and finished with just 2 points.  He bounced back well in the next game and had 19 points, 8 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 block in 31 minutes off the bench.  It looks like Jamison quickly forgot about that terrible debut and is already settling in nicely with the Cavs.  He has looked like the Antawn Jamison everyone has grown accustomed to seeing in his 11 years in the NBA, where he has career averages of 19.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.0 steals, and 46% FG shooting.  .

The Cavaliers are going to insert Antwan Jamison into the starting lineup at power forward for tomorrow’s game at home against the Hornets. Jamison has played in 2 games (off the bench) for the Cavs so far and he is averaging 28.5 minutes, 10.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 1.0 steal on 34.6% shooting from the floor. Jamison looked lost in his debut with the Cavs against the Bobcats when he was 0 for 12 shooting finishing with 2 points, 7 rebounds and 1 assist in 26 minutes. But yesterday against the Magic in Orlando the Cavaliers got a glimpse of the real Antwan Jamison. He played 31 minutes before fouling out and he finished up with 19 points and 8 rebounds on 9 of 14 shooting from the floor. Look for the offense to be in high gear for the Cavaliers with Antwan Jamison bumping J.J. Hickson to the bench.

Starting point guard Mo Williams is back for the Cavaliers as he healed more quickly than originally projected and that’s great news. Williams has played in 44 games (43 starts) this season for the Cavaliers and he is averaging 35.2 minutes, 16.7 points, 3.2 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Williams is shooting 43.2% from three point range and he will definately help the Cavs get the offense in full gear especially now with another brand new shiny weapon in Antwan Jamison.

The Cavaliers are likely to start giving Shaquille O’Neal more minutes with Big Z off to Washington. O’Neal has played in 49 games (all starts) for the Cavs this season and he is averaging 23.2 minutes, 11.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.2 blocked shots per game. I look for Shaq’s production to really increase now as Antwan Jamison likely won’t be clogging up the paint with him the way that J.J. Hickson was. The Cavs were really smart to watch the Diesel’s minutes early in the year to keep him fresh down the stretch when the games count more.

The Cavaliers also included 2009 draft pick Emir Preldzic to the Wizards in the Antwan Jamison trade. Here is what was said about him when the Cavs picked him up:

The Cavs bought Emir Preldzic from the Suns on draft night. The 21-year old small forward is a typical soft European player. He played in 156 games in five seasons in Europe and he averaged 8.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. Don’t expect him to make much of a impact for a long time….if at all.

He has not played in the NBA yet so the Cavs see him as no loss.

24-year old point guard Sebastian Telfair might not get to play much for the Cavaliers the rest of the way but he strengthens the bench. Telfair played in 39 games (1 start) for the Clippers this season and he averaged 14.9 minutes, 4.3 points, 1.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. He has now played in 388 games (181 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 23.6 minutes, 7.8 points, 1.6 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game. Telfair’s main problem has been his shooting in his NBA career as he has only made 39% of his shots from the floor. Telfair will probably be behind Mo Williams, Delonte West and Dennis Gibson on the depth chart at point guard.

34-year old center Zydrunas Ilgauskas was traded to the Wizards tonight likely ending his career with the Cavs. Big Z played in 53 games (6 starts) for the Cavaliers this season and he was averaging 20.5 minutes, 7.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. Ilgauskas has played in 760 games (673 starts) in his career with the Cavaliers and he averaged 28.4 minutes, 13.9 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.7 blocked shots per game. Ilgauskas likely finishes his career with the Cavs as their #2 leading scorer all-time with 10,540 points behind only LeBron James. Ilgauskas is the Cavs all-time leader in games played (760), minutes played (21,568), rebounds (5,841) and blocked shots (1,259). Talk was rampant before the trade deadline that the Cavs would just bring back Z in 30 days if the team he traded him to bought him out. That was with the idea that J.J. Hickson would be leaving with Z. With Hickson backing up Jamison and Varejao backing up Shaq it seems like the Cavs have slammed the door on big Z. He was a class act and he will be missed.