The roster spot of Cavs veteran forward Richard Jefferson is in jeopardy, according to The Athletic’s Jason Lloyd. The signing of Dwyane Wade gives the Cavs 16 fully guaranteed contracts, along with Kay Felder’s partial guarantee. Even if Felder is traded or released, the Cavs will have to rid themselves of a guarantee contract and Jefferson is a likely candidate, Lloyd continues. Jefferson, 37, has a $2.5MM contract but if he’s released it will cost the club approximately $10.5MM in luxury taxes since it is a repeat offender, Lloyd points out. A second-round pick may have to be packaged to move Jefferson, Lloyd adds.
In other news around the Eastern Conference:
- Center Dewayne Dedmon probably won’t be with the Hawks beyond this season but he can help them in the short term, as Michael Cunningham of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution explains. Dedmon, who played with the Spurs last season, will make $6MM this season with the Hawks and holds a $6.3MM player option for next season. But Dedmon would probably benefit from testing the market again if he has a solid season, Cunningham continues. He’s adept at rolling to the basket in the pick-and-roll and he’s efficient in transition but needs to cut down on his fouls, Cunningham adds.
- The Pacers will start Darren Collison and Victor Oladipo at guard, Thaddeus Young and Bojan Bogdanovic at forward, and Myles Turner at center in their preseason opener on Wednesday, coach Nate McMillan told Clifton Brown of the Indianapolis Star. The surprise on the second unit, as Brown notes, is forward Damien Wilkins. The 37-year-old hasn’t played in the league since the 2012/13 season. He’s signed to a one-year, veteran’s minimum deal.
- Hornets backup guard Michael Carter-Williams expects to be cleared for contact early next week, he told the Charlotte Observer’s Rick Bonnell. Carter-Williams received platelet-rich plasma injections in both knees to promote healing of patella tears, Bonnell continues. He’s been restricted to noncontact drills during the first week of training camp.
Jefferson was such an important piece in the playoffs for Cleveland, definitely possible to see him hook on with the Spurs or go back to one of his old teams like Dallas or Brooklyn
I agree, I hope he stays, if anyone should go i would probably shumpert he expressed his intentions to he traded/released a few months right after irving announced his.
I agree, I hope he stays, if anyone should go it would probably shumpert he expressed his intentions to be traded/released a few months right after irving announced his anyway.
I would prefer to keep Shumpert, for his PG D, and Fedor said he looked good in scrimmage. He would benefit from moving on but too bad I guess. If he’s playing to audition for other teams, thats fine, lets see him play to that $11mil level.
Imho. It would be a huge mistake. He has a good iq and is surprisingly great shape for 37. You’d honk someone could use Shumpert. Zizic played really well during the wine & gold game. I’d say bye bye to Perkins, Felder, Tavares and Shump. If there has to be another, Calderon.