Mo Williams Signing Depends on MLE

There are rumors circulating right now that Mo Williams is going to opt to take less money and play for the Miami Heat.

It seems more reasonable to assume that Mo Williams won't sign with anyone until the final cap figures are known.

That will be announced sometime within the next 24 hours.

Why the wait? Basically, how much less money Mo Williams would take to sign with the Heat is unknown. Papers out of Milwaukee report that the Bucks have offered a 5 year deal worth $40M total, while the most Miami could offer is 5 years for $30M.

Then you have the South Florida papers stating the Heat figure could be as much as $35M.

Why the discrepancy? Well, it isn't anything sinister, so don't get your hopes up. Of course, both papers are going to slant their stories to their advantage but the fact remains that the final figure for the cap, as well as the minimum level exception (MLE), have not been determined.

Currently, the MLE is $5.6M. If the cap is raised (which is should be) then the MLE figure should be raised as well. It has been speculated to be around $6M, and if that is the case, it could be enough money to satisfy Mo Williams' interest in playing for the Heat.

Also of note, Mo Williams might be taking less money, but he would not pay state income tax in Florida. There could be added incentives like a player option after 3 seasons (when Shaq and Wade's contracts are up) which could also allow him to reevaluate where the team is at that point and still be young enough (28) to dictate a pretty good contract.