- The NBA’s “over 36 rule” is behind LeBron James‘ decision to decline his player option, explains Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. James would be subject to that rule if he signs a two-year deal just as he did last summer with the intention of opting out after one season. For players who have turned 36, their final annual salary in a four- or five-year contract is counted proportionally against the team’s cap each season. The rule was adopted to discourage teams from giving long-term contracts to players who are unlikely to be in the league for the entirety of them. The rule prohibits James from accepting a five-year, $200MM contract from the Cavaliers after this offseason because the pro-rated part would put him above the maximum salary. However, Zillgitt points out that the rule could be amended if the players or the league opts out of the current collective bargaining agreement in December.
- The Cavaliers aren’t concerned about losing their stars, but they have decisions to make on six free agents, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com. Cleveland will have to determine how many years it wants to commit to J.R. Smith and whether it wants to outbid competitors to keep Matthew Dellavedova. Also, Richard Jefferson and James Jones have to decide if they want to play another season at the veterans minimum.
- The Cavaliers tendered point guard Matthew Dellavedova a qualifying offer worth $1,434,095, making him a restricted free agent, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
- The Rockets, Heat, Warriors, and Spurs are among the teams with interest in Timofey Mozgov, joining the Cavaliers and Knicks, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com. Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today Sports adds (via Twitter) that the Lakers also could be in play for Mozgov, depending on how free agency plays out.
Although LeBron James has indicated he’ll return to the Cavaliers for the 2016/17 season, he won’t do so on his current contract. Agent Rich Paul tells Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com that his client will decline his player option and sign a new deal.
James’ decision doesn’t come as a real surprise, since opting out and re-upping with the Cavs ensures that he’ll get a larger raise than he otherwise would have. LeBron’s player option for 2016/17 was worth just over $24MM. Depending on what type of deal he signs, the reigning Finals MVP figures to earn a salary closer to $30MM on a new contract.
According to Haynes, Paul says no decision has been made on what type of contract James will sign, and there’s no timetable for when that new deal will be made official. The situation is a little complicated, since Cleveland only holds Early Bird rights on LeBron. An Early Bird deal would allow for a 30% raise on his 2015/16 salary, but the contract would have to be for at least two years, with no options. A Non-Bird agreement would allow him to opt out again in 2017, but would mean accepting a more modest raise.
With the salary cap set to rise again in 2017/18, and James earning Bird Rights with the Cavaliers at that point, it makes sense for him to wait one more year to sign a longer-term contract, since Cleveland doesn’t have the cap room to accommodate a long-term, max contract at this point. No matter what type of contract LeBron signs, he intends to sign it with the Cavs — he and Kyrie Irving and the rest of his Cleveland teammates will look to defend the first title in franchise history.
“I love it here. I love being here. I love my teammates,””James said on the day of the Cavs’ championship parade through downtown Cleveland. “Obviously my agent will take care of all the logistical things but, I’m happy. I’ve got no plans to go nowhere at this point.”
The Cavaliers will exercise their team option for 2016/17 on guard Jordan McRae, league sources tell Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com. The team’s decision, which was due later this week, will ensure McRae remains on the roster for now, but doesn’t necessarily guarantee him a roster spot for the regular season. According to Haynes, McRae’s ’16/17 salary isn’t fully guaranteed.
After initially signing McRae to a 10-day contract earlier in the year, the Cavs liked what they saw from the Tennessee product, ultimately inking him to a two-year deal. McRae didn’t see much action for the champs in the regular season or the playoffs — he briefly appeared in garbage time in two postseason games, and averaged 7.5 minutes in 15 regular-season contests.
Still, one of those in which McRae appeared was the regular-season finale, when the Cavs rested their regulars and gave their bench players an opportunity to start. McRae went off for 36 points in that game, easily a new career high.
Unlike most teams around the NBA, Cleveland doesn’t expect to have or use any room under the cap this summer. As such, turning down McRae’s option wouldn’t have freed up any cap space to sign a replacement, particularly since it’s only a minimum-salary option, worth about $875K. So it makes sense that the Cavs picked it up.
With McRae’s option set to be exercised, there are only a couple more team option decisions remaining, as our free agent list shows. NBA clubs typically don’t use team options in free agent contracts too often, since non-guaranteed salaries have a similar function, and give teams more flexibility, since they aren’t limited to a June decision deadline.
Richard Jefferson has reconsidered his post-Finals retirement declaration, tweets Chris Mannix of The Vertical. According to Mannix, not only is Jefferson not retiring, but he’s now planning to play for two or three more seasons.
Jefferson’s retirement “announcement” came just minutes after Cleveland’s Game 7 win over Golden State, when he told reporters that his career was done, adding that it was a “hell of a way to go out.” A few days later, the veteran forward admitted that his decision to retire was hardly set in stone, adding that his Cavaliers teammates were trying to talk him out of it, and that it was “still up for debate.”
A Finals win with the Cavs would indeed have been a storybook ending for Jefferson, who turned 36 last Tuesday and hadn’t previously won a championship over the course of his 15-year NBA career. Still, he played a crucial role in Cleveland’s victory, playing key minutes in the postseason, including in the Finals. Coming off a season in which he appeared in 95 total regular-season and playoff games, Jefferson – a pending free agent – still looks to have something left in the tank.
While he inked a minimum-salary contract with the Cavaliers last year, Jefferson could very well receive larger offers this time around, with the salary cap set to increase by nearly $25MM per team. Of course, if his number one goal is to win a second title, he could also be happy settling for another minimum-salary deal for a contender. Either way, it appears Jefferson won’t be calling it a career quite yet after all.
- Point guard Kay Felder‘s chances of making the Cavaliers roster next season are enhanced by the fact that they paid the Hawks $2.4MM to draft him, Lev Facher of USA Today reports. The 5’9” Felder out of Oakland University was selected with the No. 54 overall pick. “That means a lot to give up all that money for one pick,” Felder told Facher. “Man — I owe them.” Felder’s would have an even better shot at making the opening-night roster if restricted free agent Matthew Dellavedova receives an offer sheet that Cleveland won’t match.
- Former NBA head coach Mike Brown is a “strong contender” to become an assistant coach with the Warriors, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Brown and Tyrone Corbin were believed to be the finalists for the position, but Corbin will join Earl Watson’s staff in Phoenix. Brown has a 347-216 record as head coach of the Cavaliers and Lakers.
- Cavaliers GM David Griffin doesn’t expect to make any major changes to the NBA champs this summer, Stein tweets. “We intend to keep this group together and see what we’re capable of,” Griffin said today during an appearance on ESPN Radio.
- Kevin Love received an invitation to play in the Olympics this summer, but he has declined, opting to rest after the Cavs‘ long playoff run, Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets.
- Love took to Instagram earlier today to write an open letter thanking Cavs teammate James Jones for teaching him how to be a better teammate and how to put the team first. Such a sentiment could be foreshadowing Jones’ potential retirement, although that is merely my speculation. Jones and Love both arrived in Cleveland during the 2014 offseason.
- The Cavaliers, Grizzlies, and Celtics all called the Pistons about acquiring the No. 49 pick, according to Jake Fischer of Liberty Ballers (via Twitter). As we heard earlier on Thursday, Cleveland was looking to land Kay Felder, and was eventually able to grab the No. 54 selection to nab him.