- Free agent J.R. Smith doesn’t appear to be close to signing a contract, according to Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The Cavs’ shooting guard is deferring all questions about his free agency to agent Rich Paul. Smith is expected to rejoin Cleveland and is believed to be seeking a multi-year deal worth approximately $15MM per season, Fedor continues. There’s been little interest from other teams because of Smith’s past antics, Fedor adds.
4:40pm: The third year is a player option, Chris Broussard of ESPN.com relays (on Twitter).
4:26pm: The last major free agent has finally come off the board, with the Cavaliers and LeBron James reaching an agreement on a new deal, Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter). According to the scribe it will be a three-year, $100MM arrangement. There is no indication yet if the deal includes any options, be it player or team.
The agreement will see James become the highest paid player in the league for the first time in his career, with the veteran set to earn approximately $31MM this coming season, Windhorst notes. The deal will pay him in excess of $33MM in 2017/18, which would be the highest single-season contract in league history, per the ESPN scribe.
There was little intrigue this offseason regarding James making his return to Cleveland, despite the superstar remaining unsigned until now. With the Cavs securing the NBA title this past season, it was merely a matter of when James would sign, not if.
James appeared in 76 games this past campaign, averaging 25.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and 6.8 assists in 35.6 minutes per outing while shooting .520/.309/.731 from the field. The 31-year-old was equally impressive in the postseason, logging 26.3 PPG, 9.5 RPG and 7.6 APG in 21 contests.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Channing Frye penned a piece for the Player’s Tribune discussing his Finals run with the Cavs this past season, as well as his previous path throughout the league. Regarding the joy he felt upon joining Cleveland, Frye wrote, “When I got traded to the Cavs in February, I knew it was going to be special. I almost cried on the plane because I was getting the chance every player wants — a shot at the title. From the jump, I told myself that I was not gonna waste a day. I was not going to waste a moment. I was going to enjoy everything.”
Reflecting on his contributions to the Cavs’ culture, Frye relayed, “We’re one of the closest teams I’ve ever been on. We have text chains about all types of stuff. Everybody’s always talking [expletive] to each other, except we don’t really say too much to LeBron James. Sometimes I’ll say like, Bron, you weak. You only got 40? Then he’ll go out and try to drop 50.”
- J.R. Smith remains a free agent, and while his return to Cleveland isn’t a lock like it is for LeBron James, there’s still a belief on both sides that Smith and the Cavaliers will eventually reach an agreement. According to Kyler, there’s a belief that Cleveland put an offer in the $10MM-per-year range on the table a few weeks ago — Smith and his camp are waiting to see if a bigger offer comes in, but will likely end up getting something done with the Cavs.
- Cavaliers sources have pointed out to Kyler that if and when James and Smith sign new deals, the club figures to be in luxury-tax territory. That would make trades a little trickier to complete, so the Cavs may simply be exploring all their options on that front before locking in new contracts for James and Smith.
[SOURCE LINK]
- J.R. Smith remains a free agent, and while his return to Cleveland isn’t a lock like it is for LeBron James, there’s still a belief on both sides that Smith and the Cavaliers will eventually reach an agreement. According to Kyler, there’s a belief that Cleveland put an offer in the $10MM-per-year range on the table a few weeks ago — Smith and his camp are waiting to see if a bigger offer comes in, but will likely end up getting something done with the Cavs.
- Cavaliers sources have pointed out to Kyler that if and when James and Smith sign new deals, the club figures to be in luxury-tax territory. That would make trades a little trickier to complete, so the Cavs may simply be exploring all their options on that front before locking in new contracts for James and Smith.
- The first season of Kay Felder‘s three-year pact with the Cavs is fully guaranteed, Pincus tweets. The scribe also notes that $456,529 of his $905,249 salary for 2017/18 is guaranteed.
- DeAndre Liggins‘ two-year deal with the Cavaliers includes a partial guarantee of $25K for 2016/17 and the second year is a team option, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders relays (via Twitter).
1:50pm: Felder’s deal is for three years and is worth $2.49MM with a partial guarantee of $1MM included, Tony Paul of The Detroit News reports.
9:01am: The Cavaliers have officially signed 2016 second-rounder Kay Felder, the team announced. The exact length and terms of the arrangement are not yet known, but it is likely a minimum salary pact that include a partial guarantee.
Cleveland acquired the rights to the diminutive guard on draft night from the Hawks in exchange for $2.4MM, so the team already has made a significant investment in the rookie. LeBron James was reportedly a supporter of the move to nab Felder, which certainly doesn’t hurt his chances of sticking with the Cavs this season, though he’ll likely be ticketed for some extended D-League time early in the season to help speed up his development.
Felder, 5’9″, impressed with his play in the Las Vegas Summer League for Cleveland’s squad. In seven contests he averaged 15.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 29.9 minutes per outing while shooting .420/.227/.783.
During the 2015/16 campaign, Felder appeared in 35 contests for Oakland, averaging 24.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, 9.3 assists and 2.0 steals. Over his three-year collegiate career, all with Oakland, he played in a total of 101 games with averages of 17.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 7.8 assists and 1.6 steals in 35.9 minutes per contest. His career shooting line was .426/.345/.822.
Over the course of the last week, we’ve been breaking down 2016 NBA free agent spending by division, examining which teams – and divisions – were the most active this summer.
These divisional breakdowns won’t present a full picture of teams’ offseason spending. Some notable free agents, including LeBron James, remain unsigned, so there’s still money out there to be spent. Our lists also don’t include money spent on this year’s first- and second-round picks or draft-and-stash signings. There are a few free agent names missing in some instances as well, since those deals aren’t yet official or terms haven’t been reported.
Still, these closer looks at divisional spending should generally reveal how teams invested their money in free agency this summer, identifying which clubs went all-out and which ones played it safe.
With the help of our Free Agent Tracker and contract info from Basketball Insiders, we’ll focus today on the Central division. Our breakdowns of all five other divisions can be found linked at the bottom of this post.
Let’s dive in…
1. Detroit Pistons
- Total money committed: $207,171,313
- Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $207,171,313
- Largest expenditure: Andre Drummond (five years, $127,171,313)
- Other notable signings:
- Jon Leuer (four years, $41,000,000)
- Boban Marjanovic (three years, $21,000,000)
- Ish Smith (three years, $18,000,000)
- Notes:
- Ray McCallum’s deal is not included in these totals, since it’s a summer contract which won’t count toward the Pistons’ cap unless he makes the regular-season roster.
2. Milwaukee Bucks
- Total money committed: $119,530,000
- Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $119,530,000
- Largest expenditure: Miles Plumlee (four years, $49,600,000)
- Other notable signings:
- Matthew Dellavedova (four years, $38,430,000)
- Mirza Teletovic (three years, $31,500,000)
- Notes:
- Dellavedova’s contract was technically the result of a sign-and-trade deal by the Cavaliers, but we’re considering it a Milwaukee signing.
3. Chicago Bulls
- Total money committed: $78,532,117
- Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $65,215,696
- Largest expenditure: Dwyane Wade (two years, $47,000,000)
- Other notable signings:
- Rajon Rondo (two years, $27,397,000)
- Isaiah Canaan (two years, minimum salary)
- Notes:
- Rondo’s second-year salary of $13.397MM is partially guaranteed for $3MM.
4. Indiana Pacers
- Total money committed: $32,700,000
- Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $26,700,000
- Largest expenditure: Al Jefferson (three years, $30,000,000)
- Other notable signings:
- Aaron Brooks (one year, $2,700,000)
- Notes:
- Jefferson’s third-year salary of $10MM is partially guaranteed for $4MM.
5. Cleveland Cavaliers
- Total money committed: $9,573,362
- Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $6,960,862
- Largest expenditure: Richard Jefferson (three years, $7,612,500)
- Other notable signings:
- Chris Andersen (one year, minimum salary)
- James Jones (one year, minimum salary)
- Notes:
- Andersen and Jones will earn $1,551,659 apiece on their minimum-salary deals, but will only be paid $980,431 each by the Cavaliers, with the NBA on the hook for the rest.
- Jefferson’s third-year salary of $2,612,500 is fully non-guaranteed.
- DeAndre Liggins‘ deal has been officially signed, but exact terms of that contract haven’t been reported, so we haven’t included it in the Cavs’ totals for now.
- The Cavs have also yet to formally re-sign LeBron James, whose new contract will bump up the club’s free agent expenditures significantly. A new deal for J.R. Smith may also be on the horizon.
Previously:
WEST:
EAST:
The Cavaliers have officially signed shooting guard DeAndre Liggins to a contract, ensuring that he’ll come to training camp with the team, according to a RealGM report. Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer wrote last month that Liggins would be among the Summer League players to go to camp with the Cavs.
[RELATED: Cavaliers re-sign James Jones]
While terms of the deal aren’t yet known, RealGM’s transactions log suggests that it’s a multiyear pact for Liggins. Given the Cavaliers’ cap limitations, a two-year, minimum-salary contract seems likely. It remains to be seen whether Liggins got a small guarantee as part of the agreement.
Liggins, 28, was selected in the second round of the 2011 draft by the Magic, and appeared in 57 total NBA games with Orlando, Oklahoma City, and Miami. However, he has spent most of his time in recent years in the D-League, winning Defensive Player of the Year in two of the last three seasons.
Playing for the Sioux Falls Skyforce in 2015/16, Liggins averaged 13.0 PPG, 7.0 APG, 6.3 RPG, and 2.1 SPG, shooting 43.4% on three-point attempts.
AUGUST 3: The Cavaliers have issued a press release formally announcing that they’ve re-signed Jones.
“We’re very happy to have James back with the Cavaliers,” GM David Griffin said in a statement. “He is a Champion in every sense of the word and his leadership and professionalism over the last two years have translated with our team in many different ways that have helped us reach our goals. ‘Champ’ delivers a clear reflection of what success at the highest level should embody and his contributions and commitment to our team are something we need and appreciate greatly.”
AUGUST 2: The Cavaliers have agreed to terms on a new deal for their veteran forward who has appeared in six consecutive NBA Finals — no, not LeBron James. According to Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link), it’s James Jones who is in agreement with the Cavs, striking a one-year, $1.55MM deal to return to the team.
Jones, who will turn 36 this fall, appeared in 48 regular-season contests for the Cavaliers last season, averaging 9.6 MPG and chipping in 3.7 PPG, 1.0 RPG, and a .394 3PT%. The three-time NBA champion didn’t see much action in the postseason, and doesn’t have a huge role in Cleveland, but his locker-room presence and veteran leadership is valued by the franchise and by James, his longtime teammate.
Based on the Cavaliers’ cap limitations and Charania’s report, Jones will almost certainly receive a minimum-salary contract from the club, which will be worth $1,551,659 for a player with his experience. Because it’s a one-year deal, the minimum salary exception will allow the Cavs to assume a cap hit of just $980,431, while the NBA foots the rest of the bill.
With Jones locked up, the Cavs will continue to work on securing their other free agents, such as James and J.R. Smith.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Veteran guard Ben Gordon, who will suit up for Great Britain during the Eurobasket qualifiers in the coming weeks, tells Ian Begley of ESPN.com that he’s still looking for an opportunity to return to the NBA.
“I would definitely love to get back in the league after being out for a year,” Gordon said. “Just watching the way the game is being played, up and down. Obviously, the 3-point shot is always a big deal but it seems like just now, more than ever, that shot is being used more and more. So I feel like I can still play at a high level and shoot that 3-ball and add that kind of depth to a team that may be looking to fulfill that need. So yeah, I definitely have hopes of making a return with an NBA team or just playing period, wherever that may be.”
Here are a few more free agency notes and rumors from around the basketball world:
- According to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link), the Spurs have been the “most vocal” team when it comes to showing interest in free agent power forward Thomas Robinson. A former fifth overall pick, Robinson spoke to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders about the strides he feels he has made on and off the court since entering the league in 2012.
- The Rockets made Andrew Goudelock a free agent last month by waiving him before his 2016/17 salary became guaranteed, and the veteran point guard has since found a new home. According to international basketball journalist David Pick (Twitter link), Goudelock has agreed to a $1.2MM deal with Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv. Emiliano Carchia of Sportando had passed along a report on the agreement between the two sides earlier today. Meanwhile, Pick tweets that Goudelock turned down a slightly larger offer from Turkish team Galatasaray.
- LeBron James remains the top player who technically remains unsigned, but his free agency is such a non-story that Lee Jenkins’ latest piece on SI.com about the Finals MVP barely mentions it, with Jenkins noting that signing a new contract with the Cavaliers is merely a “formality.” Still, Jenkins’ story on LeBron is worth reading in full.