Pistons, Bucks Interested In Dellavedova?
The Pistons and the Bucks are both interested in Cavs unrestricted free agent Matthew Dellavedova, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst relayed during an appearance on ESPN colleague Zach Lowe’s podcast. “They [Cleveland] could’ve signed Matthew Dellavedova to a $2MM or $3MM a year contract and now I think someone is coming in with a $10MM offer sheet. For some reason, and I got a pretty good idea why, the Milwaukee Bucks attended Cavs games in the playoffs like they were a fan of the team. They had scouts there…[coach] Jason Kidd came to one of the games. I think the Bucks have zeroed in on Dellavedova. I think they intend to offer him a bunch of money. The Detroit Pistons were hanging around in the playoffs a lot, sending scouts. They weren’t sending scouts to evaluate J.R. Smith, I think they intend to go after Dellavedova,” Windhorst opined.
Richard Jefferson To Retire?
WEDNESDAY, 11:01am: Jefferson has backtracked a little on his initial announcement, suggesting that he hasn’t totally finalized his decision to retire. As Kurt Helin of Pro Basketball Talk outlines, Jefferson discussed his decision on The Dan Patrick Show on Wednesday.
“No, it’s is not set in stone,” Jefferson said. “My teammates, ‘Bron and those guys, keep trying to talk me out of it. They say I’m crazy if I retire, so we’ll see. It’s still up for debate.”
SUNDAY, 10:49pm: Moments after winning his first NBA championship, Cavaliers forward Richard Jefferson said he plans to retire from the league, tweets Ryan Wolstat of The Toronto Sun. “Hell of a way to go out,” the 15-year veteran said shortly after Cleveland prevailed in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
Jefferson, who will turn 36 on Tuesday, played in 74 games for the Cavs this season, mostly in a reserve role. He averaged 5.5 points and 1.7 rebounds in 17.9 minutes per night.
Jefferson started his career in the 2001/02 season with the New Jersey Nets. He also played for the Bucks, Spurs, Warriors, Jazz and Mavericks. He signed a one-year deal with the Cavaliers in August.
“I’m done. I’m done,” Jefferson told Michael Grange of Rogers Sportsnet. “I need a cigar.” (Twitter link).
LeBron James To Return To Cavs For 2016/17
LeBron James has a player option for 2016/17, allowing him to opt out and potentially sign with another team in July. However, on the heels of leading the Cavaliers to the first championship in franchise history, James tells Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com that he doesn’t intend to leave Cleveland.
“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.”
While James intends to return to the Cavaliers for next season, that doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll exercise his player option. That option is worth just over $24MM, and with the salary cap on the rise, opting out and signing a new deal with Cleveland probably makes more sense for the Finals MVP.
As James alludes to, the “logistical things” he’ll let his agent handle are somewhat complicated when taking into account Cleveland’s lack of Bird Rights for LBJ, the rising salary cap, and the looming CBA negotiations. There are a handful of possible scenarios in play for LeBron’s next contract, but if he prioritizes being able to opt out and re-up again in 2017, he likely won’t be able to earn a true max salary in 2016/17, though he’ll be able to sign for more than his player option is worth. Bobby Marks of The Vertical explains the possible scenarios for LeBron’s next contract.
Although James didn’t receive any first-place MVP votes this past season, he looked like the best player in the world during the postseason, as the Cavaliers lost just five of their 21 playoff games. In those 21 contests, LeBron averaged 26.3 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 7.6 assists in 39.1 minutes per game, along with a .525 FG%.
Cavaliers To Listen On Kevin Love Inquiries
After winning a championship, the Cavaliers may not be as inclined to retool their roster as they otherwise might have been, but the team is still expected to listen to any trade inquiries it receives on Kevin Love, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. Appearing on Zach Lowe’s podcast (hat tip to RealGM.com), Windhorst identified the Celtics as the ideal trade partner for Love, suggesting that the Cavaliers “really like” Avery Bradley and could also ask for Marcus Smart and a draft pick (not the No. 3) if Boston shows interest in making a deal.
LeBron Unlikely To Play In Olympics
After leading the Cavaliers to a historic NBA Finals comeback, and the first championship in franchise history, LeBron James likely won’t be attempting to lead Team USA to Olympic gold later this summer. According to Chris Mannix of The Vertical, the Finals MVP is leaning toward not participating in the 2016 Olympics in Brazil. As Mannix details, James has yet to inform USA Basketball of his decision, one way or the other. However, team officials are operating under the expectation that the 31-year-old superstar is unlikely to play in Rio.
Blatt Still Bitter About Ouster
Former Cavaliers coach David Blatt is still bitter about his ouster in Cleveland, as he told Ynet.com (h/t Kurt Helin of NBCSports.com). “I can’t think of any reason in the world [that he was fired],” Blatt said. “Maybe for them, thinking forward, I wasn’t the person to lead. It hurt me very bad. It surprised me, I didn’t feel well, but you move on. There are disappointments in life, the question is what do you do when you take a blow. I could have coached in the NBA next season. It’s more about timing . Sometimes great coaches have to sit outside. I didn’t fail in my job, I failed keeping my job ”
Unsigned Draft Picks: Central Division
As the 2016 NBA draft rapidly approaches the term draft-and-stash will be mentioned quite often in regard to international players and late second-rounders. While some of these athletes will eventually sign with an NBA team, it seems like the majority of them stay overseas and never make it to the league. Those players in the latter category aren’t without value as they become trade assets for the teams holding their rights.
While many players fail to work out the way teams expect them to, they can at least become tradeable assets for teams that don’t want to part with a future second-round pick in a deal. Each team must give up something in a trade, which is why many swaps include top-55 protected second-round picks. Older draft rights held players who clearly will never come over to the NBA are essentially the same as flipping those heavily protected second-rounders, for all intents and purposes.
Listed below are the current unsigned draftees for the teams of the Central Division:
Chicago Bulls
- Tadija Dragicevic — Selected No. 53 overall in 2008.
- Milovan Rakovic — Selected No. 60 overall in 2007.
- Vladimir Veremeenko — Selected No. 48 overall in 2006.
Cleveland Cavaliers
- Edin Bavcic — Selected No. 56 overall in 2006.
- Ilkan Karaman — Selected No. 57 overall in 2012.
- Milan Macvan — Selected No. 54 overall in 2011.
- Cedi Osman — Selected No. 31 overall in 2015.
- Sir’Dominic Pointer — Selected No. 53 overall in 2015.
- Ejike Ugboaja — Selected No. 55 overall in 2006.
Detroit Pistons
- None
Indiana Pacers
- Stanko Barac — Selected No. 39 overall in 2007.
- Andrew Betts — Selected No. 50 overall in 1998.
Milwaukee Bucks
- Andrei Fetisov — Selected No. 36 overall in 1994.
- Albert Miralles — Selected No. 39 overall in 2004.
- Eurelijus Zukauskas — Selected No. 54 overall in 1995.
Community Shootaround: NBA Finals Game 6
The sixth game of the 2016 NBA Finals takes place tonight in Cleveland, exactly one year after the Warriors dispatched the Cavaliers in Game 6 of the 2015 NBA Finals to win their first championship in 40 years. The Cavs are hoping history won’t repeat itself tonight — a Cleveland win would force a Game 7 in Oakland on Sunday.
After the series opened with a pair of dominant wins by the Warriors, the two teams have looked a little more evenly matched over the course of the last three games. The Cavaliers won at home in Game 3, then each team stole a game on the other club’s home court to give Golden State a 3-2 lead as the series returns to Quicken Loans Arena.
The Cavaliers have looked excellent at home throughout this year’s postseason, with the lone exception of their Game 4 loss to the Warriors, and they’re coming off an impressive Game 5 win in which LeBron James and Kyrie Irving each exploded for 40+ points. However, the Warriors were missing Draymond Green in that game, and if shots aren’t falling quite so easily for either James or Irving tonight, things could look very different.
Today’s Community Shootaround discussion question is a simple one: How do you expect Game 6 to play out? Will LeBron and Kyrie carry the Cavaliers to another win? Could another Cleveland player to step up to help lead the Cavs to victory? Or is tonight’s game going to be the final contest of the 2015/16 season? Will Green’s return result in the Warriors’ second straight road victory? Will the Stephen Curry and/or Klay Thompson show win out?
Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on Game 6. We look forward to hearing what you have to say.
J.R. Smith Won’t Exercise Player Option
June 16th could be the last day of the Cavaliers’ season, but it also represents a key date for Cleveland guard J.R. Smith for another reason — it’s the deadline for Smith to pick up his player option. And according to Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com, Smith will let that deadline pass without exercising his option, putting him on track for free agency in July.
[RELATED: Player option decisions for 2016/17]
Given the key role he has played for the Eastern Conference champs this season, and the relatively modest salary on his 2016/17 option, it’s not too surprising that Smith will turn it down. Had he exercised it, the 30-year-old would only have initially been guaranteed $2.2MM of his $5.375MM salary — the rest would have become guaranteed in September.
Opting out of his contract will allow Smith to explore the market for more sizeable offers, or to re-up with Cleveland at a higher rate. The Cavaliers hold Smith’s Bird rights, so cap space won’t be an issue if the team wants to re-sign him, and for his part, it sounds like the ex-Knick is happy in Cleveland. “This is where I want to be,” Smith told Haynes. “The fans love me; I love them and my teammates.”
In his first full season as a Cavalier, Smith averaged a career-high 6.6 three-point attempts per game and made 40% of them, the second-best mark of his 12-year NBA career. He has improved upon those numbers in the postseason, with a .444 3PT% on seven attempts per game from beyond the arc.
Smith is one of three Cavs veterans with decisions to make on player options this summer. Mo Williams reportedly intends to opt in, while LeBron James‘ decision has yet to be reported or announced.
Cavaliers’ Mo Williams To Pick Up Option
Veteran Cavaliers point guard Mo Williams will pick up his option for 2016/17, reports Chris Haynes of The Northeast Ohio Media Group. Williams will receive $2.2MM for next season, the last of a two-year, $4.3MM contract he signed with Cleveland last summer.
Williams faces a Thursday deadline to opt out and test the free agent market. Haynes writes that the Cavaliers have been notified that he intends to bypass that option.
Williams appeared in 41 games with the Cavaliers this season, averaging 8.2 points per night while shooting 35% from 3-point range. Physical problems involving inflammation of the cartilage under his left kneecap limited Williams’ availability. Next season will be his 15th in the NBA.