Cleveland Cavaliers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Contract Details: Mobley, K. Johnson, Bona, Matkovic

July 23rd, 2024 at 12:01pm CST by Luke Adams

The five-year, maximum-salary contract extension that Evan Mobley signed with the Cavaliers features multiple levels of Rose Rule incentives, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said during the last episode of The Hoop Collective podcast (YouTube link).

According to Windhorst, Mobley’s deal will begin at 27% of the 2025/26 cap if he makes the All-NBA Third Team next season. If he makes the All-NBA First or Second Team or wins Defensive Player of the Year, the starting salary in the extension would be 30% of the ’25/26 cap.

Assuming Mobley isn’t named Defensive Player of the Year and doesn’t make an All-NBA team, his deal would begin at the standard max for a player with four years of NBA experience (25% of the cap).

Here are more details on a few contracts recently signed around the NBA:

Keon Johnson‘s two-year, minimum-salary deal with the Nets is partially guaranteed for $250K in 2024/25, Hoops Rumors has learned. That partial guarantee will increase to $700K if Johnson remains under contract through the first day of the regular season. The second year is a team option that would be partially guaranteed for $271,614 if it’s exercised.
The four-year contract that No. 41 overall pick Adem Bona signed with the Sixers is worth the minimum across all four seasons and is only fully guaranteed in year one, Hoops Rumors has learned. Bona’s second-year salary of $1,955,377 is just 50% guaranteed, while his third- and fourth-year salaries are non-guaranteed. The fourth year is also a team option.
Karlo Matkovic‘s three-year contract with the Pelicans is worth $5.65MM and is fully guaranteed for the first two seasons, with a third-year team option, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. The terms reported by Scotto suggest that New Orleans used the second-round exception to give Matkovic a salary a little above the rookie minimum in 2024/25, with minimum salaries in years two and three.

Cavaliers Sign Evan Mobley To Five-Year Max Extension

July 22nd, 2024 at 6:22pm CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 22: The signing is official, the team announced in a press release.

“We are thrilled to sign Evan to a long-term extension, solidifying his place as a cornerstone of our franchise,” team president Koby Altman said. “Evan has quickly established himself as one of the premier defensive players in the league, and we’ve only scratched the surface of his overall potential. Since drafting him, he only knows winning basketball and has proven to be pivotal to our team’s success. His exceptional work ethic, versatility, and commitment to excellence both on and off the court truly embody what it means to be a Cleveland Cavalier.

“We believe Evan’s best basketball is still ahead of him, and we couldn’t be more excited to continue building something special together for many years to come.”

JULY 20: Evan Mobley has agreed to a five-year, maximum-salary rookie scale extension with the Cavaliers, agents Joe Smith and Thad Foucher of Wasserman Basketball tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The deal includes $224MM in guaranteed money and contains Rose rule language that gives it the potential to be worth up to $269MM, Wojnarowski adds.

The extension will begin with a projected $38,661,750 salary for the 2025/26 season, according to Yossi Gozlan (Twitter link). Mobley’s salary will increase to $41,754,690, $44,847,630, $47,940,570 and $51,033,510 over the following four years while his percentage of the cap declines from 25% at the start to 22.5% in 2029/30.

Gozlan notes that the Cavaliers project to be over the tax threshold for 2025/26, but aren’t currently in danger of crossing into second apron territory.

Mobley has become one of the franchise cornerstones in Cleveland since being selected with the third pick in the 2021 draft. Although injuries limited him to 50 games last season, he scored 15.7 PPG and set career highs by averaging 9.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists while shooting 58% from the field and 37.3% from three-point range.

Mobley will earn $11.2MM for the upcoming season in the final year of his rookie deal.

It’s the second significant signing of the summer for the Cavs, who inked Donovan Mitchell to a three-year extension earlier this month. Cleveland now has about $125MM committed to Mobley, Mitchell and Darius Garland for the 2025/26 season, notes Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link).

Mobley becomes the fourth member of the 2021 draft class to receive a max extension, following Toronto’s Scottie Barnes, Detroit’s Cade Cunningham and Orlando’s Franz Wagner. Teams can sign their 2021 first-round picks to extensions until the day before the start of the regular season. The full list of players eligible for rookie scale deals can be found here.

Cavs’ Darius Garland: “I Don’t Want To Be Traded”

July 15th, 2024 at 7:19am CST by Luke Adams

A May report from The Athletic suggested that if Donovan Mitchell were to sign a contract extension this offseason, Darius Garland‘s agent Rich Paul was expected to have a conversation with the Cavaliers about possibly finding a new home for his client. However, even though Mitchell signed his extension, Garland is uninterested in initiating that conversation, as he told Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscriber link).

“I don’t want to be traded,” Garland said. “Those are just rumors.”

Sources tell Fedor that Paul and Cavaliers head of basketball operations Koby Altman have spoken this offseason, but there has been no indication that Garland’s camp is seeking a change of scenery, and the team has made it clear it has no interest in moving the former All-Star.

According to Fedor, Garland was thrilled for Mitchell when his backcourt mate signed a lucrative new deal with Cleveland and was excited about the team’s hiring of Kenny Atkinson as its new head coach.

Garland has been in Las Vegas participating in some on-court workouts and meeting with Atkinson — during a dinner on Friday, the two men discussed offensive schemes and sets, as well as the 24-year-old’s role, Fedor notes.

“It sounds really good,” Garland said. “A lot of spacing and a lot of room for me and Don and all of the other guys to be able to thrive.”

Atkinson, who has spoken about Garland in glowing terms since being hired in Cleveland, shares his point guard’s enthusiasm.

“I can’t wait to work with them,” Atkinson said of the Cavs’ star guards. “I was a point guard and that’s the quarterback. Those guys are running the show and it’s such a huge position in this league. I identity with them. Huge fan of Darius. Always been a fan. Underrated. Underrated passer. I don’t think he gets enough credit for the feel. Then, Donovan we all know, he’s the real deal. The great ones have a different type of work ethic. He’s wired a little bit differently.”

Garland had a down year in 2023/24, as his averages of 18.0 PPG and 6.5 APG and his .446/.371/.834 shooting line were all below his career rates. But that was less about sharing the ball with Mitchell and more about other a handful of other factors, including a fractured jaw and the weight loss that resulted from drinking out of a straw for over a month. Garland’s grandmother also passed away, according to Fedor, which led to him leaving the team on off days multiple times.

“It was a lot,” Garland told Fedor. “Sometimes you just have to go through it. Always bumps in the road. This was a big speed bump. It was really tough last year. It was definitely a learning experience for me. Just tried to stay mentally locked in and tried to keep my head up and keep a smile on my face. I just had to stay mentally strong while going through a tough time in my life and having to fight adversity.”

Groups Revealed For 2024 NBA Cup

July 12th, 2024 at 7:28pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The NBA has announced the five-team groups for this year’s in-season tournament, now renamed the Emirates NBA Cup, the league announced in a release on Friday (Twitter link).

Like last year, there are six groups — three each from the Western Conference and Eastern Conference — and each conference was split into five groups based on last year’s standings. One team was selected at random from each group to determine the group round matchups.

The results are:

West Group A: Timberwolves, Clippers, Kings, Rockets and Trail Blazers
West Group B: Thunder, Suns, Lakers, Jazz and Spurs
West Group C: Nuggets, Mavericks, Pelicans, Warriors and Grizzlies
East Group A: Knicks, Magic, Sixers, Nets and Hornets
East Group B: Bucks, Pacers, Heat, Raptors and Pistons
East Group C: Celtics, Cavaliers, Bulls, Hawks and Wizards

The NBA Cup begins with group play, which runs from Nov. 12 to Dec. 3. Each team plays one game against each of the four opponents in its group. The NBA released a matchup matrix to help fans follow along (Twitter link).

Just like last season, the winner of each group advances to a knockout round alongside the team with the best record in each conference that didn’t win a group. The semifinals and finals will again be played in T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Last year, the Lakers won the inaugural in-season tournament over the Pacers. LeBron James was named the tournament MVP after dropping 24 points in the title game.

The full game and broadcast schedule for group play will be announced next month.

Eastern Notes: Bickerstaff, Allen, Travers, Bey, Sixers

July 12th, 2024 at 4:04pm CST by Rory Maher

It didn’t take long for J.B. Bickerstaff to find a new job after being fired by Cleveland, having been hired by the Pistons as their new head coach. At his introductory press conference on Wednesday, Bickerstaff discussed why he found Detroit’s vacancy appealing, per James L. Edwards III of The Athletic.

“It was my conversations with (president of basketball operations) Trajan (Langdon), to begin with,” Bickerstaff said. “I had a great feeling that this organization was heading in the right direction and was being led by the right people. For me, going through some of the things that I’ve gone through in the past, the people that you work with … being of a shared vision and willingness to commit to one another and partner with one another, I thought this group, as a whole, had a great vision. (team owner) Tom (Gores) has given every resource to go out and execute that vision.

“Then, obviously, you study the team. I took a deep dive as soon as I could. Obviously, I have experience of playing against them four times a year for so many years, but I knew the players well. I believed in their ability and talent. There is a steps process that we have to take, and we’re really aware of that and Trajan and I are united in that. It just doesn’t happen for everyone overnight.”

Bickerstaff pointed to his success with Cleveland as proof that he can turn the Pistons around, writes Larry Lage of The Associated Press. Detroit finished with the worst record in the NBA last season. Langdon said he was looking for a veteran coach to lead a young team, as Lage relays.

“You want somebody who can come in here and hit the ground running, and who’s done this before,” Langdon said. “Especially with a young team coming off a difficult season, positivity was important. We felt experience was important. The players needed to feel like the person coming in here knew what he was talking about.”

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

The Cavaliers have been receiving trade inquiries on former All-Star center Jarrett Allen, but they continue to rebuff those overtures, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on his Hoop Collective podcast (YouTube link). Allen, who averaged 16.5 PPG, 10.5 RPG, 2.7 APG and 1.1 BPG in 77 games last season (31.7 MPG), will earn $40MM over the next two seasons.
Australian wing Luke Travers, a second-round pick (No. 56) by the Cavaliers in 2022, is dealing with a sore hamstring that sidelined him for the team’s Summer League opener in Las Vegas on Friday, tweets Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. Travers has expressed a strong desire to come stateside in 2024/25, though it’s unclear if he’ll be able to earn a roster spot.
New Wizards forward Saddiq Bey will earn $6,440,678 in 2024/25, $6,118,644 in ’25/26, and $6,440,678 again in ’26/27, a source tells cap expert Yossi Gozlan (Twitter link). Bey will likely miss most — if not all — of his first season with Washington after tearing his ACL in March. The 25-year-old’s new three-year deal also includes $1MM in incentives.
Mike Sielski of The Philadelphia Inquirer argues that free agent signee Caleb Martin will bring a much-need infusion of “Heat Culture” to the Sixers, pointing to the 28-year-old’s success with Miami as evidence. According to Sielski, the 76ers have had plenty of talent in recent years, but the team has often lacked an identity, which Martin should help fortify with his willingness to make winning energy plays.
Former NBA forward Demetris Nichols has joined the Sixers as a player development coach, per Mike Waters of Syracuse.com (subscriber link). The No. 53 pick of the 2007 draft, Nichols appeared in 18 NBA games with Cleveland, Chicago and New York before spending several years overseas. The 39-year-old was an assistant with Wake Forest last season, Waters notes.

Central Notes: Mobley, Pacers, Bulls, Buzelis

July 11th, 2024 at 7:09pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Could Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley, who is eligible for a rookie scale extension, sign a deal to secure his long-term future in Cleveland this summer? During an appearance on ESPN Cleveland (YouTube video link), Brian Windhorst of ESPN expressed optimism that an agreement will be reached sooner rather than later.

“I would expect the contract to be done somewhat soon,” Windhorst said. “I think the Cavs are willing to give him the max, and quite frankly, they don’t have a leg to stand on now that the guys around him in their draft class with comparable statistics and comparable futures have gotten the max.”

Across 50 healthy contests last season for the 48-34 Cavaliers, the 6’11” power forward averaged 15.7 points, 9.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.4 blocks and 0.9 steals per game with a .580/.373/.719 shooting line. If he gets a maximum-salary extension, he would be the fourth player from the 2021 draft class to do so, joining Scottie Barnes, Franz Wagner, and Cade Cunningham.

There’s more out of the Central Division:

Fresh off their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance in a decade, the Pacers still have roster spots available, including all three of their two-way slots, writes Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. Three current Summer League players for Indiana are all in the mix for spots on the 18-man regular season squad. Swingman Kendall Brown is on a non-guaranteed contract, while guard Quenton Jackson and center Oscar Tshiebwe are both restricted free agents after serving on two-way contracts in 2023/24. Indiana also has a pair of unsigned second-round picks (Tristen Newton and Enrique Freeman) and has a decision to make on the fate of unrestricted free agent forward James Johnson, a veteran enforcer who is more of a locker-room presence than a rotation player at this stage of his career.
Although the Bulls have offloaded two of their veteran starters, six-time All-Star forward DeMar DeRozan and two-time All-Defensive Team guard Alex Caruso, in separate deals this summer, Chicago may need to make further roster moves to maximize their tanking opportunity, opines Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic.
Rookie Bulls point forward Matas Buzelis, the No. 11 pick out of the G League Ignite in this year’s draft, is hoping to make a major two-way impact in his first NBA season, as he revealed during a new interview on NBC Sports Chicago’s “Bulls Talk” podcast. “My rookie year, I’m not going to have any plays ran for me,” Buzelis said (hat tip to K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago for the transcription). “So I have to go play defense and be an energy guy and make open shots.”

Cavs Notes: Wade, Hendry, Geriot, Travers, Okoro

July 10th, 2024 at 1:44pm CST by Luke Adams

Dean Wade missed the last 19 games of the Cavaliers‘ regular season and was only able to suit up for three of the team’s 12 playoff contests due to a right knee sprain. However, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (Twitter link), Wade is no longer experiencing any pain in that knee.

As Fedor details, the veteran forward took a few weeks off after the Cavs were eliminated from the postseason and then resumed working out in mid-June. He has been conducting full-court workouts in recent weeks with no issues, Fedor adds.

Here’s more out of Cleveland:

Trevor Hendry, who worked under Kenny Atkinson for three years in Brooklyn, is joining Atkinson’s new staff in Cleveland as an assistant coach, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Hendry was Brooklyn’s head video coordinator during Atkinson’s tenure but was later promoted to an assistant coaching role under Jacque Vaughn.
The Cavaliers are still working through various coaching staff changes, according to Fedor, who tweets that veteran assistant Dan Geriot likely won’t remain with the team. The former head coach of Cleveland’s G League team, Geriot has been a Cavs assistant for several years, but appears likely to join the Pelicans in a front-of-the-bench role, says Fedor.
Luke Travers, the 56th overall pick in the 2022 draft, will be with the Cavaliers for a third straight Summer League in Las Vegas. A 22-year-old guard/forward, Travers remains under contract with Melbourne in Australia’s National Basketball League, but has an NBA out in that deal and would be interested in making the move to Cleveland if the opportunity arises, Fedor writes for Cleveland.com. “ASAP,” Travers said of his timeline for making the move to the NBA. “You’re trying to get there as soon as possible, and you don’t want to wait around and stuff. I’ve just been trying to put in the work. … It’s all been positive talks (with the Cavaliers). They’re always trying to help me in any way they can and give me a little feedback here and there.”
Sources tell Fedor that a spot on the Cavaliers’ roster for 2024/25 is unlikely for Travers, though there’s some curiosity within the organization about how he’d look in Atkinson’s system. The Cavs continue to negotiate with restricted free agent forward Isaac Okoro and are operating under the assumption that they’ll have just one roster spot left to fill if Okoro returns, Fedor explains. Cleveland currently has just 12 players on standard contracts, so that suggests the team doesn’t plan to immediately fill its 15th spot.

Cavs Sign Donovan Mitchell To Three-Year Extension

July 7th, 2024 at 4:54pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 7: The extension is official, according to a team press release.

“Signing Donovan Mitchell to an extension serves as a pivotal moment for our franchise and reinforces our vision and goals for sustainable success,” Cavs president Koby Altman said. “Donovan is one of the most dynamic All-NBA players in the league and we couldn’t be more excited that he chose Cleveland and this community to continue his basketball journey. We want to align ourselves with the best teams in the NBA and ultimately compete for championships, and we feel securing Donovan long-term provides us that opportunity.”

JULY 2: The Cavaliers and star guard Donovan Mitchell have agreed to terms on a three-year, maximum-salary contract extension projected to be worth more than $150MM, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. The deal will include a third-year player option, Wojnarowski adds.

Mitchell, who spent his first five NBA seasons in Utah, was traded to Cleveland in 2022 for a significant package of assets that included Lauri Markkanen and three future unprotected first-round picks. Since joining the Cavs, Mitchell has led the team to consecutive top-four seeds in the East and has averaged 27.5 points, 5.2 assists, and 4.6 rebounds in 35.6 minutes per night across 123 regular season games, with a shooting line of .475/.378/.866.

There was plenty of speculation over the past two years that playing outside of a major NBA market and not experiencing significant postseason success may prompt Mitchell to forgo an extension in Cleveland in order to seek a change of scenery. The Cavs were eliminated in the first round in 2023 and eked out a first-round win in Game 7 over the lower-seeded Magic in 2024 before being knocked out in round two.

However, Cleveland has long projected confidence that Mitchell would make a commitment to the franchise, with head of basketball operations Koby Altman publicly reiterating that message on Monday. The coaching change the Cavs made this offseason signaled that management was in alignment with Mitchell, who reportedly didn’t have full confidence in J.B. Bickerstaff and endorsed the hiring of Kenny Atkinson.

Within his full story on the extension agreement, Wojnarowski writes that Mitchell and agent Austin Brown feel good about the partnership with the Cavs and have confidence in the front office’s ability to continue building the roster into a championship contender

Mitchell’s new contract – which will begin in 2025/26, replacing the player option in his current agreement – could have been for up to four years. However, a three-year extension with a player option will put him on track to potentially sign a new deal beginning in 2027, when he has 10 years of NBA experience and will qualify for a maximum salary worth 35% of the cap (instead of 30%). Michael Scotto of HoopsHype first reported last month that Mitchell would likely take this route.

Based on the NBA’s most recent cap projection for 2025/26, Mitchell’s new deal would start at $46,394,100, with a guaranteed $50,105,628 salary for ’26/27 and a $53,817,156 player option for ’27/28. The total would be $150,316,884.

Now that they know they’ll have Mitchell under contract for at least the next three seasons, the Cavaliers can move forward with plans to address the rest of the roster around him.

There were rumors in the spring that the team may consider trades to address the overlapping skill sets in the backcourt (Mitchell and Darius Garland) and frontcourt (Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen) and to better balance the roster. On top of that, one report indicated that a Mitchell extension might prompt Garland’s agent – Rich Paul – to talk to the team about the possibility of finding a new home for his client.

However, Altman indicated in May that he’s not inclined to trade any of the club’s core four players, and reports since then have confirmed that stance hasn’t changed. Additionally, as Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com recently pointed out (via Twitter), some of the teams that were considered likely suitors for Garland have already addressed their point guard spot in other ways (e.g. Dejounte Murray in New Orleans; Chris Paul in San Antonio).

Johnnie Bryant To Be Associate Head Coach In Cleveland

July 6th, 2024 at 4:51pm CST by Arthur Hill

Knicks assistant Johnnie Bryant will become Kenny Atkinson‘s associate head coach with the Cavaliers, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Bryant, who has been on Tom Thibodeau’s staff for the past four years, was still under contract in New York, so he had to get approval from Knicks ownership before he could accept the new job, sources tell Ian Begley of SNY (Twitter link). Begley notes that Bryant interviewed for the head coaching job in Cleveland and has a strong relationship with Donovan Mitchell, whom he previously coached in Utah.

A college point guard at San Francisco and Utah, Bryant broke into the NBA as a player development assistant with the Jazz in 2012. He was promoted to assistant coach in 2014.

Bryant is the latest addition to a staff that is coming together quickly after Atkinson was hired in late June. Former NBA player DeMarre Carroll and ex-Lakers assistant Jordan Ott are also joining Atkinson’s staff as assistants.

Trade Rumors: DeRozan, Kings, Lakers, Grant, Cavs, Finney-Smith, Okoro, More

July 5th, 2024 at 11:05pm CST by Luke Adams

While the Kings are among the teams believed to have some interest in Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram, there has been a growing sense entering the weekend that Sacramento is more focused on free agent forward DeMar DeRozan, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

Earlier reporting from Adrian Wojnarowski named the Kings as a legitimate suitor for DeRozan, who would need to be acquired via sign-and-trade, with a third team likely taking on salary from Sacramento in the deal.

Sean Cunningham of FOX 40 Sacramento (Twitter link) confirms there’s “mutual interest” between DeRozan and the Kings, while James Ham of The Kings Beat (Twitter link) confirms Sacramento has talked to the Bulls about a sign-and-trade and suggests that a third team has been “lined up.”

However, there continues to be competition from rival suitors for the 34-year-old’s services, Ham adds. As John Hollinger of The Athletic writes, it also won’t be easy to construct a three-team trade that gets DeRozan the type of salary he wants, ensures the Bulls don’t take back much money, and has the Kings sending out enough assets to Chicago and a third team to incentivize them to make the deal.

Although there are other teams who could open up a little cap room, Detroit and Utah are the only two teams with significant space still available, and the Pistons are rumored to be keeping their room open for trade opportunities, so it wouldn’t surprise me if Chicago and Sacramento have been talking to Detroit in relation to a possible DeRozan deal.

Here are a few more trade rumors and notes from around the NBA:

The Trail Blazers and Lakers have had conversations about Jerami Grant, but if the Blazers are going to send him to Los Angeles, they’d want both of the future first-round picks the Lakers can trade (2029 and 2031), along with matching salaries, according to Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report. The Lakers have been unwilling to meet that price and Portland isn’t in any rush to move its top forward, so the talks haven’t gotten far, Highkin writes, noting that – outside of Rui Hachimura – the Blazers wouldn’t have much interest in the players L.A. could put in a package for Grant.
After Zach Lowe reported earlier today that Nets forward Dorian Finney-Smith is a possible trade target to watch for the Cavaliers, Scotto confirms that Cleveland likes Finney-Smith and has monitored him since Brooklyn acquired him in 2023. Scotto adds that Cavs restricted free agent Isaac Okoro is viewed as a potential sign-and-trade candidate (in general, not specifically for Finney-Smith).
Nuggets forward/center Zeke Nnaji and Sixers free agent KJ Martin are two trade candidates to keep an eye on, according to Scotto. Nnaji is beginning a four-year, $32MM contract after not playing a regular role in Denver last season, so his value on the market would be limited. As for Martin, his small cap hold could allow the Sixers to get creative by signing-and-trading him in order to take back more salary than they would be able to accommodate with the cap room they’ll have left over once their major signings are complete.
Speaking of the Sixers, they’re on track to add Paul George as a straight free agent signing rather than in a sign-and-trade, according to Marc Stein at Substack. That comes as no surprise, since acquiring George via sign-and-trade would hard-cap Philadelphia at the first tax apron, potentially limiting the team’s flexibility for the rest of 2024/25.