Suns Swap Majerle, 2 Others To Acquire Williams From Cavs

The Phoenix Suns traded three-time All-Star Dan Majerle, second-year forward Antonio Lang and a firstround draft choice to Cleveland on Saturday for center John “Hot Rod” Williams.

The Suns said the Cavaliers could exercise the draft choice any time over the next three years.

Williams, 6-foot-11 and 245 pounds, had been a power forward but played center for the Cavs last season after Brad Daugherty hurt his back. The 33-year-old averaged 12.6 points and 6.9 rebounds in 74 games last season, and Phoenix coach Paul Westphal said he should give the Suns more scoring inside.

“He’s obviously not Patrick Ewing or Hakeem (Olajuwon), but he’s a lot better than your average center,” Westphal said. “He’s a shot-blocker and a guy that fits in well, because you don’t have to run a lot of plays for him, but he still scores. You have to guard him.”

Joe Kleine, Danny Schayes and Wayman Tisdale played center for the Suns last year. Schayes’ contract wasn’t renewed at camp this year, and the Suns are looking at rookies Jon Coker of Boise State and Italian League star Stefano Rusconi as backups to Kleine.

Majerle, 30, was a first-round draft choice (No. 14) in 1988.

He earned the nickname “Thunder” for his spectacular dunks and drives to the basket early in his career, but his role changed to a prolific 3-point shooter in recent seasons. He was No. 2 in 3-pointers made last season, with 199 to John Starks’ record 217. Westphal considered Majerle the team’s best defensive player.

Lang, a second-round draft choice in 1994, got into just 12 games because of injuries.