Nate Duncan of Basketball Insiders runs down some possible options the Cavs have to fortify their struggling roster. Given Cleveland’s proximity to the luxury tax line, their spending flexibility is somewhat limited, so Duncan isn’t convinced that extending Anderson Varejao was the right decision.
Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:
- Earlier this week I ran down the highest paid players in the NBA and Kobe Bryant topped the list with his salary of $23.5MM for 2014/15. Chris Johnson of SI.com took a look at this same topic, but factored in taxes (city/state/Federal), NBPA fees, as well as the cuts that the players’ agents receive. According to Johnson’s new calculations the player who is actually taking home the most cash this season is the Nets‘ Joe Johnson.
- Patrick Patterson said that he was “very tempted” to sign with the Magic this past summer, Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports reports (Twitter link). Orlando’s pitch tried to sell Patterson on an opportunity to be a starter, but in the end the forward wanted to play for a contending team, something re-signing with the Raptors gave him a much better chance at this season, notes Lewenberg.
- Miami’s Dwyane Wade is much happier this season despite the Heat having lost LeBron James to the Cavs via free agency this past summer, Joseph Goodman of The Miami Herald writes. This isn’t because of any issues Wade had with James, but now Wade gets to have the ball in his hands more often, notes Goodman, something that makes Wade more comfortable as a player.
Charlie Adams contributed to this post.