Poll: Should Cavs Be The 2014/15 Favorite?
LeBron James spoke to the media on Friday night for the first time since announcing he would return to Cleveland. With the arrival of Kevin Love and the potential additions of Shawn Marion and Ray Allen to a roster that already includes the best player on the planet and a budding superstar in Kyrie Irving, the Cavaliers are undoubtedly a title contender in 2014/15. But should they be the favorites?
The Las Vegas oddsmakers say yes, and many of them were firmly in that position long before the addition of Love. However, there are plenty of external variables that go into creating those odds, some of which have nothing to do with what happens on the court. So what about from a basketball standpoint? Remember, it took LeBron’s first super squad two seasons to capture a title and that team, with an in-his-prime version of Dwyane Wade, probably had a bit more star power than this group. After all, neither Love nor Irving have played in a playoff game at this point in their careers.
Speaking of LeBron’s former Miami team, they were just dismantled by a Spurs group that looked unbeatable and remains largely intact. When it comes to things like oddsmaking and public perception, small market San Antonio has never been a sexy selection nationally. While few would doubt their potential to repeat, the idea that they aren’t hands down favorites for next season’s title suggests that their triumph in June didn’t have the impact that it should have.
With the injury to Paul George and the always-uncertain status of Derrick Rose, the Cavs might just have a clear path through the Eastern Conference. But as we saw a few months ago, that might not mean much against the loaded West. So what do you think? Does Love rightfully make the Cavs the NBA favorite in 2014/15 or should the Spurs still be the pick? Or is it someone else? Please let us know the reasoning behind your vote in the comments section.
LeBron James: “I’m Not Going Anywhere”
Speaking at a charity homecoming event in his native Akron, LeBron James insisted to reporters on Friday night that he planned to stay put in Cleveland despite signing only a two-year deal that includes an opt-out clause next summer, writes Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal. The public comments were the first by James since announcing he would return to the Cavaliers via Sports Illustrated’s Lee Jenkins.
“I’m not going anywhere,” James said. “I don’t have the energy to do it again.”
As Lloyd points out, James implied that his decision to opt for a shorter deal with the Cavs had more to do with the impending league television contract rather than a desire to keep his options open destination-wise. Depending on what happens with that TV deal, a shorter contract should put James, and other free agents with fortunate timing, in line for a significant raise should they warrant a maximum salary contract.
“At the end of the day I’m a businessman as well and I know what’s going on in our league,” James added.
James tiptoed around making comments about Kevin Love‘s arrival in Cleveland, since the deal cannot become official until August 23. LeBron did go as far as calling Love a “great piece” that “played a huge role” in Team USA capturing the gold medal in London’s 2012 Summer Olympics. Should Love help him bring Cleveland its first championship in over 50 years, James said it “would be the greatest achievement in my life as far as on the court,” as USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt writes.
As Brian Windhorst and Marc Stein of ESPN remind us, the Cavs were not initially willing to include No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins in a deal for a Love, a stance that quickly changed after the addition of James became official. Cleveland’s confidence in retaining Love for the long-term has grown, mostly because of James, and it now appears that they’ll also be keeping the NBA’s biggest star for the foreseeable future as well.
How Salary Matching Affects Kevin Love Trade
The Kevin Love trade agreement seemed like a straightforward two-team swap Thursday, when Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported that the Wolves would send Love to the Cavs for Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett and a protected 2015 first-round pick. That structure came as something of a surprise, since rumors had indicated that a third team would be involved. There will indeed be a third team in the mix, according Mark Perner of the Philadelphia Daily News, who wrote that Sixers will jump in the deal to send Thaddeus Young to the Wolves and that Bennett will be rerouted to Philadelphia. Still, fellow Daily News scribe Bob Cooney indicates that the Young-Bennett exchange will take place as a separate transaction after the Love deal is official, a report that leaves the precise structure of the Love trade in flux.
Regardless of where Love, Wiggins, Young and the rest end up, all the moves will have to meet the NBA’s salary-matching requirements. The Sixers are unbound by the rules, since they’re under the cap, but the Wolves and Cavs are over the cap, so they must adhere to them. The stipulations germane to the Love-related moves hold that teams under the tax but over the cap, like the Cavs and Wolves, can receive 150% plus 100K of the salary that they trade away, as long as the salary they part with adds up to no more than $9.8MM. Should the Cavs or Wolves trade away more than that, they can receive up to $5MM more than the salaries they give up. A further rule applies if either the Cavs or Wolves relinquish $19.6MM or more. In that case, they’d only be able to take back 125% plus $100K of what they give up, but this limit is unlikely to come into play.
The two-team deal in the form that Wojnarowski originally reported works because the salaries for Wiggins and Bennett add up to $11,074,560. That’s more than $9.8MM, so it triggers the $5MM rule for Cleveland. Love is set to make $15,719,063 this coming season, which is $4,644,503 more than Wiggins and Bennett will make put together. It’s a tight squeeze beneath $5MM, but it still fits.
The addition of the Sixers and Young would add a layer of complexity, but it would still make for a legal trade. The Wolves would be taking back Wiggins and Young, whose salaries add up to $14,921,509, simply moving them closer in line with the salary for Love that they’re relinquishing. The only salaries the Cavs would be giving up would be those of Wiggins and Bennett, and they’d be acquiring only Love. It doesn’t matter that Bennett would be going to a different team in this scenario, as long as it’s all part of the same transaction. The Cavs would still be taking back less than $5MM more than the amount they’re giving up, which exceeds $9.8MM, so it’s kosher. The Sixers would be reducing their salary with this trade structure, dropping them farther beneath the cap.
What wouldn’t work is if the Wolves and Sixers simply swap Young and Bennett after making the Love trade that Wojnarowski originally outlined. Bennett’s $5,563,920 salary is less than $9.8MM, so Minnesota could only trade for 150% plus $100K of what Bennett makes, which would come to $8,445,880. Young’s $9,410,869 salary exceeds that, so the Wolves and Sixers couldn’t make this deal.
Minnesota is hoping to trade J.J. Barea, Luc Mbah a Moute and Alexey Shved, as Wojnarowski added when he reported the Love agreement Thursday, and Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune said the Wolves would like to unload Barea and Mbah a Moute in a deal for Young. Still, NBA rules would prohibit the Wolves from packaging Bennett along with Barea, Mbah a Moute, Shved or anyone else on the roster for two months after acquiring Bennett from the Cavs. Capped-out teams like the Wolves can flip a player for whom they just traded, but only if they send the player out by himself. Since trading Bennett alone for Young wouldn’t work, either, the Cavs and Sixers would have to wait until the two months pass for Minnesota to add enough salary to the deal to make it work.
Any trade involving Wiggins can’t be complete until August 23rd because of the 30-day waiting period the Cavs must endure after signing him, as has been much publicized. So, a separate deal that sends Young to Minnesota and Bennett to Philadelphia couldn’t be consummated until late October, weeks after the start of training camp. That wouldn’t make it impossible, of course. But it would be less than ideal.
The Sixers and Wolves could try to split the Bennett-Young deal into parts, so that Bennett would go out on his own for a draft pick. If they attempt that, there’s a decent chance the league would object on the grounds that such a maneuver would be an attempt to circumvent the rules, as Tom Moore of Calkins Media explains.
If the Sixers would consent to taking Barea, Mbah a Moute, Shved or some combination of those players back in a deal that sends out Young and nets them Bennett, Minnesota and Philadelphia could more easily accomplish this as part of the Love trade. It wouldn’t muddy the salary-matching waters for the Wolves or Cavs, and the Sixers have enough room to give up Young and take Bennett and the entire trio of Barea, Mbah a Moute and Shved without going over the cap. The Sixers probably wouldn’t agree to taking all of them, but regardless of how many of them, or even if any of them, were involved, it would be much easier for Young to end up in Minnesota and Bennett to wind up with the Sixers if it happened as part of the Love trade. If the Wolves and Sixers have that aim, expect them to accomplish it at the same time Love heads to Cleveland.
ShamSports and Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ were used in the creation of this post.
Cavs Offer First-Round Pick For Timofey Mozgov
The Cavs targeted Timofey Mozgov, offering a first-round pick to the Nuggets to entice them to part with the 7’1″ center, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports said in an appearance Thursday on WFAN Radio in New York, according to Tommy Beer of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). It’s not clear whether that offer remains on the table for Denver, but the Cavs, who are over the cap and without a trade exception, would have to send salary to the Nuggets in order for such an exchange to be feasible under the league’s salary matching rules. The Kevin Love trade agreement, in its current form, wouldn’t change that.
Cleveland has been eyeing big men to supplement Love and Anderson Varejao, as Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio reported Thursday. Mozgov would be a potential starter, having made 30 starts for the Nuggets this past season to go along with career highs in points (9.4), rebounds (6.4) and minutes (21.6) per game. The 28-year-old sealed off the rim, notching 2.0 blocks per 36 minutes, and his 16.7 PER demonstrated above-average efficiency. He’ll make $4.65MM this coming season, and his contract includes a $4.95MM team option for 2015/16.
Still, the Cavs have faith that Brendan Haywood, whom they acquired last month from the Hornets, can contribute this season, as Amico noted in the same report. Haywood’s unusually structured contract will also become an intriguing trade asset next summer, as I explained.
The Nuggets are halfway through a four-year, $44MM deal with center JaVale McGee, and Denver’s management has been anxious for him to get minutes. He’s returning from having missed most of last season because of injury, and the team also has Jusuf Nurkic, this year’s No. 16 overall pick, at center. J.J. Hickson is another option at the position, even though he’s undersized.
And-Ones: Durant, Shved, Warriors, Love
Kevin Durant has withdrawn from the USA Men’s National Basketball team, the Thunder announced. There’s no indication that the reigning MVP’s decision to pull his name from summer competition has anything to do with the season-ending injury Paul George sustained in a scrimmage earlier this month, but the move will certainly help Oklahoma City GM Sam Presti sleep easier at night. More from around the Association:
- Alexey Shved‘s agent wouldn’t take umbrage if the Wolves struck a deal to move his client, passes along David Pick of Eurobasket.com (on Twitter). Reports have indicated that Minnesota has been looking to trade Shved.
- Warriors coach Steve Kerr thinks the makeup of his team is by and large set for the upcoming season, as he tells Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group.
“All indications are that this is the group we’re going forward with, but you never say never,” Kerr said. “You never know what’s going to happen, and ultimately that’s not my job… but there’s no question that we feel very confident and comfortable with the group that we have.” - At least one Eastern Conference executive credits LeBron James as a major catalyst behind the Kevin Love deal, writes Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. “They are putting all these pieces around LeBron, saying, ‘We’re trying to win it now,’” the executive said. “And I’m sure that was part of LeBron’s wish for when he went back there. LeBron has juice in Cleveland.”
- Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com explores why Love’s presence in Cleveland will only further complicate Phil Jackson‘s quest to turn the Knicks into a championship-caliber club.
Reaction To Kevin Love Trade Agreement
The big news of the day was the reported agreement between the Cavaliers and the Timberwolves, which would send Kevin Love to Cleveland for Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett, and a protected 2015 first-round pick. Here’s the latest commentary from around the league regarding the soon-to-be blockbuster trade:
- Potential carries no guarantees, writes Bill Livingston of the Plain Dealer, who applauds the Cavs’ decision to turn consecutive No. 1 overall draft picks into Love, a proven veteran.
- Love could bolt after one season, just like LeBron James, but odds are he won’t, and one of Cavs owner Dan Gilbert’s guiding principles in business is to pounce on an opportunity even if it’s not perfect, as fellow Plain Dealer scribe Terry Pluto points out.
- The Timberwolves’ 2014/15 season will be about their core of young talent trying to reach their potential, writes Tom Powers of the Pioneer Press.
- During his time in Minnesota, Love has been criticized for his poor defense, the perception that he wasn’t a team player, and the Wolves failure to reach the playoffs. Now that he’ll be playing alongside a much more talented cast, Love is officially out of excuses, writes Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report.
- The trade cannot become official until August 23rd at the earliest. Yannis Koutroupis of Basketball Insiders runs down five things you need to know about the deal.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Fallout From Kevin Love Trade Agreement
The time between now and August 23rd, when the Kevin Love trade agreement can become an official transaction, makes it possible that the deal could fall apart, but the Cavs and Wolves are under “enormous pressure” to honor the pact, writes Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. A source tells Berger that Wolves coach/executive Flip Saunders would listen if the Warriors decided to offer Klay Thompson, but Golden State has been steadfastly against doing so. The Warriors haven’t spoken with Minnesota for weeks, according to Berger, and Sam Amick of USA Today hears that Golden State doesn’t intend to jump back into the fray (Twitter link). Here are more aftershocks from the Love deal:
- Even if the Warriors did offer up Thompson to Minnesota, it wouldn’t cause the Cavs deal to come apart, as the Wolves prefer what Cleveland is set to send them, tweets Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press.
Earlier updates:
- The Wolves gave the Cavs permission more than two weeks ago to negotiate with Love about a long-term future with the Cavs, reports Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. There are conflicting reports about whether Love has committed to signing a max deal with Cleveland next summer.
- Minnesota maintains interest in Thaddeus Young, but the Wolves wouldn’t end up sending Anthony Bennett to Philadelphia if such a deal materializes, Zgoda writes in the same piece. Minnesota hopes instead to ship the 2015 first-rounder it’s acquiring from Cleveland in the Love trade to the Sixers for Young, Zgoda writes. The Wolves would also like to shed J.J. Barea and Luc Mbah a Moute in a deal for Young, according to Zgoda, who speculates that Minnesota might include Shabazz Muhammad, too.
- Kevin Martin was in plenty of Love rumors, but there’s no indication that the Wolves are looking to trade him or Corey Brewer, Zgoda tweets.
- Most around the league believe that the addition of Love will convince Ray Allen to sign with Cleveland at some point before camp, according to Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio, and Chris Broussard of ESPN.com tweets that he heard weeks ago that Allen would come aboard if the Cavs traded for Love. Still, Allen has dismissed similar rumors and his criteria for signing with a team appear to exclude the Cavs, as I explained Wednesday.
- The Cavs aren’t looking to trade Dion Waiters, who was one of the first within the Cavs organization to whom LeBron James spoke after he made his decision to return from the Heat, Amico writes in his piece.
- Cleveland is targeting big men, but the team has faith that Brendan Haywood can contribute, as Amico also notes.
Cavs Consider Signing E’Twaun Moore
Free agent guard E’Twaun Moore is the subject of strong consideration from the Cavs, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). Moore reportedly held off on signing a deal with Olimpia Milano of Italy amid interest from two NBA teams. It appears Cleveland is one of those clubs, though the identify of the other remains unclear.
Moore spent the last two seasons with the Magic, carving out a role in the team’s rotation. Orlando nonetheless declined to tender a qualifying offer worth roughly $1.148MM, making him an unrestricted free agent. The 25-year-old Mark Bartelstein client put up 7.1 points in 20.7 minutes per game during his time with Orlando.
Cleveland has an agreement in place to acquire Kevin Love, but that won’t change the team’s inability to offer more than the minimum salary. The Cavs have pursued swingman Ray Allen, but he’s spoken of a desire for more than the minimum. Moore, whose 35.4% three-point percentage is right in line with his career average of 35.0%, is nowhere near the long-range marksman that Allen has been over his career, but it’s possible that Cleveland sees Moore as a fallback option. That’s just my speculation, however.
Cavs Work Out Chauncey Billups
7:28pm: Billups’ visit with Cleveland was a result of his interest in playing there, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). Billups worked out for the Cavs, and looked rusty but productive, per Spears’ source. No offer has been extended from Cleveland at this point.
12:09pm: The Cavs have met with free agent Chauncey Billups, tweets Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops, confirming an earlier report by Scott Sargent of WaitingForNextYear. It’s unclear whether the sides discussed a playing, coaching or front office role for the 37-year-old who’s spoken openly of the notion of retiring as a player while stopping short of ruling out a return to the court.
Billups acknowledged in March that multiple NBA teams had been in touch about a front office role and said he would consider such an opportunity with the Pistons should the team make it available. The Pistons and Cavs were both reportedly high on him for a job in the front office, though that was before the Pistons removed Joe Dumars, with whom Billups is close, from his role as president of basketball operations.
Nuggets GM Tim Connelly recently had a broad discussion with Billups, but it’s not clear if they spoke about any kind of role Billups might take on in Denver. Coaching holds no appeal to Billups, though Flip Saunders apparently envisioned hiring him as an assistant for the Wolves earlier this summer.
The Pistons declined their team option on Billups for this coming season, and renounced his rights as well, though they’d still be able to offer him the minimum salary, which is likely all he could command after appearing in just 19 games in an injury-wracked 2013/14. The Cavs wouldn’t be able to pay him more than the minimum should they sign him to play.
Cavs Notes: Allen, Waiters, Irving, LeBron
Ray Allen once seemed destined to join the Cavs, but he insists that he’s unsure whether he’ll play again or where he’d do so if he were to return for a 19th season, as I examined earlier today. His apparent criteria for a would-be next team seem to rule out the Cavs, but some of the club’s players hope he’ll reconsider, as we note amid the latest from Cleveland:
- James Jones spent time recently with Allen in Connecticut and is “pretty sure” Allen knows that LeBron James and many of the Cavs would like him to play with Cleveland this year, as Jones told reporters Wednesday, including Tom Withers of The Associated Press. “We talked about those things that are important to us, which are families, our legacies and our careers,” Jones said. “So he has a decision to make. Of course we’d love to have Ray. Hopefully he makes a decision that’s best for him, and hopefully it’s a decision to continue to play. But as far as where he goes and what he’s thinking, I don’t know.”
- James called Dion Waiters a few days before he made his choice to leave the Heat and return to Cleveland, telling the Cavs shooting guard to “be ready,” as Waiters tells Brendan Bowers of SLAM Online. Waiters also dismissed the idea that he and Kyrie Irving can’t co-exist on and off the court.
- The ability for James to hit free agency again next year and his apparent desire for the Cavs to trade for Kevin Love belies the four-time MVP’s assertion that he would patiently await the growth of the team’s young players, argues Bill Livingston of the Plain Dealer. It’s clear that James is exerting his leverage over GM David Griffin and company, Livingston writes.