Cavs Suspend Andrew Bynum, Trade Possible

1:45pm: The Cavs had planned to cut Bynum’s playing time, and he expressed displeasure about that, according to Terry Pluto of the Plain Dealer. The center has also been upset with Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters, believing they hogged the ball and didn’t look for him down low, Pluto writes. The Plain Dealer’s Mary Schmitt Boyer and Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe pass along Irving’s input on Bynum. (Twitter link).

“It’s just a terrible situation internally with our team,” Irving said. “It’s just something we have to get over. Coach’s decision, came from management. That’s kind of where it stays is with management.”

1:25pm: The Cavaliers are “determined” to trade Andrew Bynum, as Wojnarowski and Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports write, adding that he’s almost certainly played his final game as a Cavalier. Wojnarowski and Spears hear that Bynum has lost his motivation to play and that the Cavs had to talk him out of quitting. The Yahoo! report also raises the notion that Bynum may seek a buyout so he can sign elsewhere. That possibility seems unlikely, since the Cavs appear ready to waive him on or before January 7th to avoid guaranteeing his full $12.25MM salary, even if they don’t find a trade partner.

Tension between the Cavs and Bynum has been building for the last month, and his lack of commitment to the team reached a tipping point in Friday’s practice, tweets Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today.

11:47am: After he didn’t travel with the Cavs for their game in Boston on Friday afternoon, the club announced that Andrew Bynum has been suspended indefinitely for conduct detrimental to the team.  This certainly isn’t how Cleveland hoped their Bynum deal would work out.  Luckily for the Cavs, his deal is only partially guaranteed, and they can cut ties with him by January 7th to recoup $6MM of what he’s owed for this season.

The Cavs believe that the New jersey native has been a “disruptive” presence in the locker room and have lost hope that their partnership can be salvaged, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter).  Teams that looked at Bynum over the offseason were equally as concerned with his motivation as his knee troubles, Wojnarowski tweets.

The Cavs will “aggressively” look to ship Bynum out of town, writes Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com.  In what was perhaps a telling moment, coach Mike Brown would not respond when asked if Bynum had played his last game with Cleveland.

League sources tell Sam Amico of FOX Sports (on Twitter) that a deal will be challenging, but possible for the Cavs.  The Clippers are one club that would have interest in Bynum, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today, if he’s released outright and there should be several more in that line.  Bill Simmons of ESPN.com (on Twitter) hears that he would consider the Celtics, but the Heat and Clippers would be his preferred destinations.  For Bynum to land with the latter two, he’d have to be released, and the Cavs want to trade him.  The Celtics have the right combo of expiring deals and assets to get a deal done.

Even though the Nets are in need of a big man in the wake of Brook Lopez‘s injury, they are not interested in Bynum, tweets David Aldridge of NBA.com.  With an already unstable locker room in Brooklyn, that might be for the best.

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