Mo's deal ensures that he'll be with the Bucks for the next several years . (Getty Images)

The Milwaukee Bucks announced on Tuesday, July 24, that they had signed Mo Williams to a multi-year contract. Williams and General Manager Larry Harris addressed the media that morning.

Opening statement by Larry Harris:
It’s a great day for this organization and I know for Mo Williams as well. You guys have seen him play for three years now. We just signed the contract and the one thing I said to Mo … when you’re there in Utah and he’s a second round pick you see him play off and on there and he comes into his free agent year and you have a chance to bring him from Salt Lake City to Milwaukee and he decides to sign the offer we gave him. He comes here even though he didn’t know much about Milwaukee. He knew that it was the team that wanted him and gave him an opportunity. Here we are three years later and he’s a very wealthy man. I will tell you this: we’re glad to have him. I know he had choices. I know the one thing when you’re dealing (with a) restricted (free agent) you have the advantage if you’re the team. But when you’re unrestricted, you have to do a little bit more of a sales job. You have to put yourself in a position each and every year knowing that the time will come. That he has a chance to make a choice whether Milwaukee is going to be his home or somewhere else, I think it says a lot about the character of our team, whenever your point guard has a chance to go wherever he wants. And he was wooed by some of the best. I tried to get Shaq (O’Neal) and Dwyane (Wade) on this team but they didn’t want to come here. He wanted to check it out down there and that was okay. That is what free agency is all about. We went through that with Michael Redd as well. I think his heart was always here. He can tell you that himself. But I think he certainly showed that and demonstrated that by returning here. He never put his house up for sale. It was never one of those things. It was one of those things where he truly wanted to be here. I think it was a long process. There were a lot of sleepless nights for him and probably for his family was well. Certainly for us as an organization because you never know. They could pick up the phone at anytime and say we’ve changed our mind. But he hung in there throughout. I’m sure he would have loved to have had this done on July 11, but today is a magical day for everyone.

Opening statement by Mo Williams:
I just want to start off by saying how appreciative I am of this opportunity. To be in a financial position to put my family in a situation to better themselves for the rest of their lives is something I am appreciative of. Senator Kohl has done a lot for me. Being here three years, it’s more like a home to me. The organization is family to me. I feel like I can talk to Senator Kohl, Larry (Harris) and anybody in the organization. It goes all the way down from (Director of Player Personnel) Dave Babcock, (Vice President of Business Operations) John Steinmiller and even the coaches. I feel at home here and that played a major part in the decision. You get caught up in free agency being a player. For myself, this is the first time I’ve been in a position like this. When you go into something (like this), you really don’t know what’s going on so you try to get somebody with the experience. Basically (just) like basketball. You want to listen to the coach. He’s the man. He’s the leader. That’s how free agency was for me. It was kind of a headache. I was kind of just sitting and waiting, trying to get advice from here and there. It was tough but at the same time it was an easy decision. I don’t know if that made a lot of sense but (there were) a whole lot of things going on. But the decision was so easy when it boiled down to it, if you look at it in a bigger frame of things. Furthermore, I would just like to say that I am extremely excited about this opportunity and the thought of spending the rest of my career here. You never know what happens down the road, but the thought of it warms your heart up, knowing you’re at a place that loves you on and off the court.

Take us through the free agency process.
MW: A lot of sleepless nights. That kind of sums it up in a nutshell. It was basically (like) when you’re trying to buy that car, when you want that $1000 off. It’s basically just negotiations from both sides and it’s great it turned out the way it did. Both sides are happy. Negotiations can go the other direction in a hurry but at the same time with the Bucks and my camp of people that work for me in this situation it’s been open arm conversations. It never got to a point where people took it personal to a level where something wasn’t going right. We were extremely happy of how the process went and we got it done.

How tempting was Miami?
MW: My agent did a great job for me. He gave me enough information but not too much. I don’t know anything about all the calls. I just knew they were interested in me and I did take a visit there. But at the same time it’s just part of free agency and the funny thing about it was that I didn’t want to go. I was steady saying lets get it done with Milwaukee. Like I said before its just free agency, enjoy it. Basically it was just a mini vacation to me.

Did your agent tell you to check Miami out?
MW:Well it’s free agency. I’ve never been here before. He (my agent) sat down and explained to me how free agency works and hopefully I will never be in this position again. You just want to weigh your options. He tried to explain it to me. We were going back and forth. But at the same time it was just something to experience free agency.

What about the Bucks made you say "yes"?
MW: Talent level. Being here in Milwaukee is different than going to a new team. We all see Miami on the outside looking in, seeing they have Pat Riley and they are in Miami. But people don’t know that everything that looks good on the outside isn’t always peaches and cream on the other side of the field. I felt like at the same time I know what to expect here. I feel like with the angle we’re going and with the talent that we have here, with bringing Desmond (Mason) back and Bobby (Simmons) coming back I am extremely excited about that, as well as the thought of playing for Larry Krystkowiak, who is a great coach and motivator. Things are looking really good. I knew that this team was going to be a good team next year. That was never a doubt.

Did you catch a lot of flack for saying that Miami was your favorite city in the Bucks Media Guide?
MW: I guess you should watch what you say sometimes I guess. Miami is a beautiful city especially when we go because it is cold in Milwaukee at the time. On terms of when I said that it was kind of a vacation spot. I will tell you a funny story about Miami. Coming out for the draft, I was working out for a lot of teams. It was three days before the draft and my second-to-last workout was for Miami and I cancelled it. That was the only workout that I cancelled during my workouts for the draft.

Why did you cancel the pre-draft workout with Miami?
MW: I was worn out. I had 18 workouts with 18 teams and it was two days before the draft and I was just worn out. I had heard about the Miami workouts and I had nothing left in me. It was also two days before the draft. Teams had pretty much made up their minds of who they were going to draft. It was just kind of funny how all this turned out.

Did you get to talk with Dwyane Wade and Shaq O'Neal when you were down in Miami?
MW: No, neither was in town. I never was involved with the negotiations at all. My agent did a great job of that, keeping me away from it (and) keeping my emotions out of it as much as possible. He just brought me the information that I needed to know but as far as a lot of other things I wasn’t involved in it.

What do you think about Pat Riley?
MW: He’s an interesting guy. He’s a legend obviously. If you sit down with Pat (Riley) you’ll appreciate him. He’s a great guy. But I really don’t know him that well. I just know him from the 24 hours I spent with him. You kind of hear what other people say about him but I don’t know him personally. It was fun when we went down there. We had a nice conversation. But at the same time I had to make a decision that was best for me, my career and my family. I had to do the best thing that would make us happy.

What's going to get you to the next level at the point guard position?
MW: That’s my goal each and every summer. This summer and season is a key one for me personally. As far as Desmond (Mason) goes I couldn’t be happier that we are bringing him back. (He’s) my lob guy and I miss that. I think he knows we kind of have a chemistry playing together. We kind of know where each other is at on the court and we know each other’s timing. That is good to get back to and it is also great for the crowd.

What about playing with Michael Redd? That's a backcourt that can really score some points.
MW: Oh for sure. That is without question. Mike (Redd) and I know that as well. That (scoring) is going to come easy to us. It’s just a matter of Mike and I taking challenges in other areas. That is what’s going to make us better. Being the best scoring backcourt in the league, look where that got us last year. That doesn’t really mean too much to me personally. Looking at a stat and being able to talk about it during the pre-game, yeah that sounds good, but you have to do what it takes to win games.

How important is it to you to get back into the Milwaukee community?
MW: Well we have a lot of things going on in the community. Even if everything had gone sour I still would have been in the community of Milwaukee because I do still have things going on here and my heart is here. I’m not just here just to be here. Its great. I love doing it. I never get tired of it. I might be tired before I go but I never get tired of helping somebody and being in the position to do it.

Was there a time when you thought you were going to lose out on Mo?
LH: Oh yeah. It’s funny and again Mo can tell you I didn’t speak to him during this time. Only one time did we speak and it was more of a group thing. When you get into that you don’t want it to be personal and it is a business. He has to understand that that’s where you have to kind of separate yourself and it becomes agent representatives and myself and (the) organization. We take the player out of it because it’s too emotional for him. It’s beyond anything you can imagine. Money is important, but (it’s really just) the whole magnitude of all of it, being it is his first time in free agency and everybody is pulling him in all different directions. Players will talk and tell him to go here and go there. They’re telling him I’m hearing they’re offering this I’m hearing they’re offering that. The one thing that was going to be a problem for us was that if there was a team that could recruit him, if there would be a team that felt like they were a step away and (that they needed) a point guard. There were two teams that I feared the most and they were Cleveland and Miami. I thought when he got to Miami that it was going to be a one-way ticket and that was the thing that concerned me. I know Pat (Riley) can sell it. Not to say Coach K can’t do it either, but you have two guys that are Hall of Famers down there. But, again, with all due respect I think Mo answered it the best - longevity wise, long-term wise. (Going to Miami) might be a short-term fix. But long term for his career the best was to be back here in Milwaukee. I believe that. He knew the kind of team we were. He knew we were injured (last season). He basically agreed to come back and then he found out about Desmond Mason. For him he knew when we entered free agency, as I told Michael Redd (two years ago), my job is to get better players around you. You’ll want to come back and basically that’s what I tried to sell to him and his agent. That this is the place we want him to be. I can say we gave him his first chance and we did all this stuff, but you know at the end of the day someone was going to sign him. That was going to happen. It’s just that he got a chance to start when T.J. (Ford) was hurt. He got a chance to start that year and he got a chance to start this year. You know what, it’s just unfortunate with him as the starting point guard (that) he got (two bad spots). He got in two injured years for us (as a team). But you know what he persevered and I think the best is yet to come.

How will you take all of your experience and turn it into a playoff year next season?
MW: Just getting better. Combining all three of my years here in Milwaukee. Even my second year when T.J. (Ford) was back, I learned a lot from that year, too. I try to play every game, every year and try to just keep getting better every summer but at the same time put everything together. I think next season I feel mentally I think my game will go to another level. Basically, in my mind, it’s my team. If things don’t go right, I’m the point guard. I’m the leader on the floor. I’m an extension of the coach. I put a lot of pressure on myself in that sense. So mentally I have to be prepared and ready for those situations. I have to take my game to another level.

Are expectations going to be higher for you now because of the money?
MW: Well, expectations are always high once you’re put in a position like this. They say that’s why they pay you the big bucks. That’s true. That’s why – for you to go out and be consistent every night (and) have some games where I kind of show off. This team is different. We have so much talent that might not be what I have to do. This is going to be different because this is basically a new team next year. We have a lot of guys coming back, but it’s going to be a new team because we have a new coach who is going to demand different things. We’ll get into training camp and see how everything goes. Everybody is going to have to find their niche and find their role. That’s what’s going to determine how good we’re going to be.