Cavaliers Rumors

Central Notes: Williams, Kirk, Douglas

August 12th, 2015 at 5:41pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The opportunity to play for an NBA title is what ultimately led to Mo Williams‘ decision to sign with the Cavs, Chris Fedor of The Northeast Ohio Media Group writes. “It feels home,” Williams said of Cleveland during an interview on SiriusXM NBA Radio. “There’s just that team where you kind of feel like, ‘You know what? I would never want to leave this organization.’ Obviously the business of basketball changes the landscape of a lot of people’s careers and mine was no different, but to have the opportunity to come back and finish my career there and have the opportunity to go out on top, I couldn’t ask for a better situation. There’s no monetary factor involved in any of my decisions. At this point of my career now it’s just playing winning basketball, playing for championships.”

The Cavs’ young backcourt will also benefit from the addition of Williams, Fedor adds. “The reasons why the Cavs were confident to bring me back, I’m a strong voice and a team guy,” Williams said. “It’s about bringing everybody together collectively for one goal. That’s kind of my approach and just being around guys every day obviously you’re going to learn personalities. It’s just like any coach. You have to be able to manage those personalities and you have to be able to have everybody on your team like you. I think those things are important. Be able to relate to our guys. I’ve been the star of my team. I’ve been the second guy and the third guy. I’ve been the sixth man and the guy [expletive] off that he’s not playing. I can kind of relate to each guy.”

Here’s more out of the Central Division:

Alex Kirk, who made five appearances for the Cavaliers during the 2014/15 season, is expected to sign a deal with an Italian team in the near future, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders relays (Twitter link).
The Pacers guaranteed $600k of Toney Douglas‘ $1,185,784 salary for the 2015/16 season, and another $275k becomes guaranteed if the guard is on the roster come the season opener, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
Former Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau says he was not surprised by the team’s decision to fire him, Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com tweets. Thibodeau also relayed that he had no regrets regarding his tenure with Chicago, and said he had no reaction to the disparaging comments made by team owner Jerry Reinsdorf when the Bulls announced his termination, notes K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune (on Twitter).

Eastern Notes: Thompson, Dragic, Pistons

August 10th, 2015 at 10:39pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Agent Rich Paul may represent both LeBron James and Tristan Thompson, but the influence Thompson’s negotiations have on LeBron’s decision-making is overstated, opines Hoops Rumors contributor Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net, who believes Thompson shouldn’t overplay his hand.

In other news around the Eastern Conference:

Zoran Dragic‘s representatives wanted to secure his release from the Celtics so that he could return to Europe and play regularly, sources told ESPN.com’s Marc Stein (Twitter link). The Celtics announced on Monday that they had waived Dragic, whom they acquired in last month’s trade with Miami.
The Cavaliers are the Eastern Conference’s top team in terms of roster construction but there are several surprises in the Top 5, according to an analysis by ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle in an Insider-only piece. The Pacers rank second in tier score, which is based on a team’s anticipated 10-man rotation. The Raptors, Pistons and Hawks round out the Top 5 while the Nets, a playoff team last season, are near the bottom at No. 13.
The Pistons could go with a wing trio of Marcus Morris, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Stanley Johnson against certain opponents, which would mean reduced playing time for Jodie Meeks, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com reports. The production from that trio will have a major influence on the team’s goal to reach the playoffs for the first time since the 2008/09 season, Langlois adds.

Latest On Tristan Thompson

August 10th, 2015 at 2:21pm CST by Chuck Myron

Tristan Thompson wouldn’t re-sign with the Cavaliers as an unrestricted free agent next year if he were to take sign his qualifying offer, worth nearly $6.778MM, this summer, as agent Rich Paul tells Michael Grange of SportsNet (Twitter links). That would appear to indicate that the Canadian native is adamant about signing a lucrative, long-term deal before the start of this coming season rather than trying his luck next summer, even though the cap is expected to surge. The former No. 4 overall pick is believed to be seeking maximum-level salaries, writes Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com, but a starting salary of the $16,407,500 max for a player of his experience would cost the Cavs more than $35MM in tax penalties on top of that amount this year, Windhorst estimates.

The Cavs probably haven’t seen the qualifying offer as their preferred route, Windhorst speculates, and given Paul’s statement today, Cleveland has further reason to strike a long-term deal. Still, the Cavs have been offering significantly less than the max, according to Windhorst, and shelling out the max over the long term for a player who chiefly came off the bench behind the newly re-signed Kevin Love might be reason for pause. Thompson averaged only 8.5 points per game in the regular season this past year, though his strength is rebounding and off-the-ball work.

Paul is no stranger to tough negotiations with restricted free agents after last season’s tense back-and-forth with the Suns that resulted in Eric Bledsoe signing a five-year, $70MM deal. Kevin Seraphin, another Paul client, signed his qualifying offer from the Wizards last summer and wound up inking with the Knicks last week. Still, it’s surprising to see Paul and Thompson take such a hard line against the qualifying offer, even though it would entail a playing for a discount this season, since signing it would set up Thompson to become a member of a fairly thin crop of 2016 free agents, outside of Kevin Durant and a few other notables, just as the salary cap is projected to spike to $89MM.

The Cavs are in a tough spot, since LeBron James, Paul’s marquee client, has expressed that he wants Thompson in Cleveland, and James can opt out of his new contract in a year. Thompson and the Cavs were reportedly close to a deal worth more than $80MM on the first day of free agency, but progress stalled. Thompson reportedly asked for $85MM over five years, after initial reports indicated that Draymond Green received that much from the Warriors, but Green wound up with $82MM instead.

In any case, Cavs GM David Griffin said in mid-July that he remained confident the sides would strike a deal. The Trail Blazers and Sixers are the only teams left with enough cap flexibility to approach the max for Thompson, and Windhorst identified the Blazers as the one team remaining that’s a “remote option” for Thompson this year, aside from the Cavs, who hold his Bird rights.

Do you think Thompson and Paul are wise to dismiss the qualifying offer, or do you think it would be advantageous for him to sign it? Leave a comment to let us know.

Pacific Notes: Crawford, Bass, Russell, Weems

August 9th, 2015 at 4:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Clippers‘ Jamal Crawford would be open to playing for the Cavaliers, according to Chris Haynes Cleveland.com, whose podcast remarks are transcribed by Dan Feldman of ProBasketballTalk. Crawford may have become “superfluous” in L.A. with the acquisitions of Lance Stephenson and Pablo Prigioni, Feldman writes, and the Clippers may be willing to move him in exchange for cap relief. Dealing Crawford would save the team his $5.675MM salary and a projected luxury tax payment of more than $10.5MM. The Cavaliers could fit Crawford into the larger of the two trade exceptions they got in the Brendan Haywood deal, and their interest might rise if they are unable to re-sign free agent J.R. Smith.

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

Brandon Bass is looking forward to his opportunity with the Lakers, Terrance Harris of The Times-Picayune writes. “I think it’s a great opportunity for me to take Brandon Bass as a player and as a brand to the next level,” said Bass. “Los Angeles is such a big market and you have the Lakers that’s a big stage, especially if we can turn it around, make the playoffs and just change the culture back around like it was a few years ago.” Bass signed with L.A. as a free agent last month.
Lakers rookie D’Angelo Russell isn’t worried about his high turnover rate during summer league play, according to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. “It’s just a matter of settling down,” Russell said. “A lot of those turnovers are from risk-taking and it’s successful sometimes, but at this level it’s being able to settle down and be patient. It’s about slowing down as a team, being patient.” Russell, the second pick in this year’s draft, may join Kobe Bryant and Jordan Clarkson in a three-guard offense once the season starts.
Phoenix had been scouting Sonny Weems for two years before signing him this summer, writes Jake Fischer of SI.com. The only player not to receive an opt-out clause in his European contract during the 2011 lockout, Weems agreed to a two-year, $5.8MM deal with Phoenix. He’s hoping his long journey to the NBA finally pays off. “I belong, that’s all,” Weems said. “I’m a rotation guy or a starter, that’s my goal. Nothing else.”

Chris Crouse contributed to this post.

Northwest Notes: Brooks, Jones, Burke, Exum

August 9th, 2015 at 3:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

Billy Donovan was a smart coaching hire for the Thunder, but Scott Brooks never should have been let go, former NBA coach Jeff Van Gundy tells Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman. Van Gundy, who served as a graduate assistant at Providence during Donovan’s senior season, said Brooks did an “awesome” job, taking Oklahoma City to three Western Conference Finals appearances and one trip to the NBA Finals during his eight seasons. He was fired after OKC missed the playoffs last year in a season marked by injuries to Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka. “I just can’t say enough great things about Scott,” Van Gundy said. “I thought with his body of work, I was shocked that he wasn’t given a contract extension.”

There’s more news out of the Northwest Division:

The Wolves seem to be growing impatient with Ricky Rubio as their point guard and may be grooming rookie Tyus Jones to take his place, writes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Jones, who was acquired in a draft-night trade with the Cavaliers, would fit into Minnesota’s young core that includes Andrew Wiggins, Karl-Anthony Towns, Zach LaVine, Gorgui Dieng, and Shabazz Muhammad. “We’ve got a lot of young guys who are talented,” Jones said. “We’ve got a good group of veterans who are going to help us learn. The good thing about us is the young guys are willing to learn and ready to learn and don’t think they know it all, so it’s a good mixture.”
The Jazz are reluctant to give their starting point guard job to Trey Burke after the ACL injury suffered by Dante Exum, Washburn relates in the same story. The belief in Utah is that Burke shoots too much and often doesn’t run coach Quin Snyder’s offense, according to Washburn, but the team may have no choice but to turn to Burke if it can’t trade for a replacement. The Jazz acquired Burke in a 2013 draft-day trade with the Blazers.
Exum is still getting other opinions on his torn ACL before scheduling surgery, tweets Jody Genessy of The Deseret News. The Jazz aren’t expected to release any sort of timeline on his return until after the surgery takes place.

Free Agent Stock Watch: J.R. Smith

August 9th, 2015 at 12:47pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The summer of 2015 provided one of the craziest starts to NBA free agency in recent memory. The projected salary cap rise for a year from now encouraged franchises to spend big on free agents and teams responded by doling out over $2 billion in contracts. J.R. Smith and his agent, Leon Rose, surely anticipated this and expected to draw from the free agency money tree. Thus far, that plan has not borne fruit.

Jan 23, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith (5) reacts after hitting a three-point shot against the Charlotte Hornets during the first quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

The Cavs would like to have him back, but apparently only on a modest one year deal. The team cautioned Smith against declining his $6.4MM option. While Cleveland has the ability to offer him a deal as lucrative as the one he turned down because it owns his Bird rights, the tax implications behind making such an offer would be pernicious from a financial standpoint. Assuming the Cavs sign Tristan Thompson to the mammoth contract he is holding out for, the team would be well into the luxury tax, meaning every dollar they shell out to Smith would cost them $3.75 or more in tax penalties.

The former Sixth Man of the Year is has reportedly been angling for a three-year contract. The Cavs simply cannot accommodate his request unless owner Dan Gilbert is willing to foot a massive tax bill over the next few years. Cleveland doesn’t have any significant money coming off the books in the next couple of seasons and it will have to account for a monstrous new contract for center Timofey Mozgov. Mozgov’s arrival turned a below-average defense into a stable unit, and he played a integral role in the team’s slaughtering of Eastern Conference foes en route to the NBA Finals. Gilbert may be willing to pay a large bill a year from now to retain a difference maker in Mozgov, but he’s most likely not going to do that for Smith.

Cleveland will reportedly let the market dictate what kind of contract it offers Smith, in an example of a team properly forecasting the NBA economy. The Cavs recognize that New York had to attach Iman Shumpert to the deal that sent Smith to Cleveland in order to move him, and if any team thought Smith was worth the price of his previous contract, it would have just taken him off Phil Jackson‘s hands for nothing.

The Jazz, Trail Blazers and Sixers are the only teams that are hoarding enough cap space to entertain a salary comparable to the option that Smith turned down. Philadelphia had ill-matched interest in Smith, but that interest has faded, according to Hoops Rumors contributor Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net. Smith wants to be somewhere he can make a difference and he is just not a fit for any of the teams that are left with cap space.

Charlotte has the ability to offer the 29-year-old the full value of the mid-level exception, worth $5.464MM, as the team’s Salary Cap Page shows. The free agent market has dried up considerably and few remaining players outside of Smith can reasonably anticipate receiving a contract for nearly that amount. Let’s assume Smith is willing to concede on the value of his annual salary in favor of a longer deal that has more guaranteed money. The Hornets present an alluring situation for the shooting guard.

The team made a few gleaming upgrades this offseason with an eye on improving its overall shooting. New addition Nicolas Batum could slide into the starting two spot next to Michael Kidd-Gilchrist at the three to solidify the team’s starting five. The team added Jeremy Lin, in a team-friendly deal, to presumably run the second unit. After the top six players, the roster gets murky. The big man rotation looks to be adequate, especially if Frank Kaminsky’s game can translate immediately as expected, but the chatter about playing Kidd-Gilchrist at the four could further extend an already thin wing rotation.

The Hornets picked up Jeremy Lamb as a follow-up to the Lance Stephenson trade. Lamb showed flashes of becoming a serviceable rotation piece last season, but his inconsistency led him to see the bench more often than not for a Thunder team that was derailed with injuries. P.J. Hairston could be a contributor, but after a less-than-stellar rookie season in which he shot 30.1% from behind the arc, the prospect of increasing his role doesn’t bode well for a team looking to make the playoffs.

Smith can be a reliable and somewhat efficient offensive weapon. After being traded to Cleveland, his slash line improved from .402/.356/.692 in New York to .425/.390/.818. He was simply taking better shots. He went from being a second option on offense for the Knicks to arguably the fifth option (LeBron James is option one and two), and he mostly played within his lane. Kemba Walker, Al Jefferson and Batum would all rank ahead of him on offensive totem pole should he sign with Charlotte, which would give him a poor man’s version of what he had on the court with the Cavs. Signing with the Hornets would aid Smith in centralizing his focus on basketball as well.

“I think [Cleveland] is the best situation for me, ’cause there’s nothing but basketball. There’s nothing you expect but basketball. There’s nothing, there’s no going out, there’s no late nights. There’s video games, basketball and basketball. So it’s a great thing, ’cause I go back to where I came from,” Smith said after being traded last season.

Nobody is mistaking the city of Charlotte for New York, Los Angeles or Miami in terms of its nightlife scene, so relocating to the Queen City may give the 29-year-old a similar environment to the one in which he thrived in Cleveland.

This is purely speculative, as the Hornets have not been linked to Smith in free agency, but adding the shooting guard makes sense for the team from an on-court perspective. Smith’s off-court antics, coupled with the franchise’s recent disaster signing of Stephenson, as Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors discussed in his weekly chat, may impede a potential pairing. Charlotte clearly intends to compete for a playoff spot this season, but the team has noticeable flaws on its roster. The expected rise in the salary cap over the next few seasons, along with the team’s ability to use the stretch provision, should mitigate the risk of offering Smith a two-year deal worth the mid-level exception, and the Hornets should take the opportunity to add talent at such a minimal cost.

What kind of deal do you think Smith will end up signing? Leave a comment to let us know.

And-Ones: Brooks, Contracts, Spurs

August 5th, 2015 at 10:36pm CST by Eddie Scarito

With the bulk of the offseason free agent signings in the rearview, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders examined whom he believes to be the best values amongst the free agent contracts doled out this Summer. The Cavs‘ re-signing LeBron James snagged the top spot, but Pincus also is a fan of the Celtics inking Amir Johnson, David West signing with the Spurs, and Brandan Wright‘s pact with the Grizzlies. The Basketball Insiders scribe notes that the best aspect of Johnson’s deal with Boston is that the second year is non-guaranteed, making him a potentially valuable trade chip next season.

Here’s more from around the league:

MarShon Brooks, who last played in the NBA with the Lakers during the 2013/14 season, has signed with the Jiangsu Dragons of the Chinese Basketball Association, Shams Charania of RealGM reports (Twitter link).
The Rockets sent the Nuggets $440k as part of the trade for Ty Lawson, and the Thunder forked over $1.5MM to the Celtics as part of the trade for Perry Jones III, Pincus relays (Twitter links).
Danny Green believes that the combination of the Spurs signing free agent LaMarcus Aldridge, and re-signing both Kawhi Leonard and Tim Duncan, will likely keep coach Gregg Popovich from retiring in the near future, Mike Monroe of The San Antonio Express News relays. “Without LaMarcus and Kawhi I think he’s out the door when Timmy [Duncan] leaves,” Green said. “Them being here I think extends his tenure just a little bit longer. Pop loves the game, obviously. I don’t see him stepping away fully. Even if he ever did he’d always be in the front office, or around or something.”

Cavaliers Sign Richard Jefferson

August 5th, 2015 at 5:15pm CST by Chuck Myron

AUGUST 5TH, 5:15pm: The signing is official, the team announced.

2:56pm: Stein’s full story includes Cuban’s response.

“He called and talked to me,” Cuban said. “RJ said he had an opportunity with an Eastern Conference team. He said he would honor what he [originally agreed to with the Mavs] but thought the other was a better fit. I told him I was OK with it and understood.”

2:43pm: Jefferson called Mavs owner Mark Cuban prior to choosing Cleveland over Dallas, so the Dallas organization was aware of this before it happened, as Cuban tells Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

JULY 21ST, 2:01pm: Richard Jefferson is breaking off his deal with the Mavericks to sign with the Cavaliers instead, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Jefferson was to sign a one-year deal for the minimum with Dallas, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reported earlier this month. It’s the second time this summer that the Mavs have had a free agent commit to them and later back out, as DeAndre Jordan notoriously did earlier this month. Jefferson won’t see any more money with the Cavs than he would have if he’d stayed on his deal in Dallas, as the Cleveland pact is also for the minimum salary, reports Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group (Twitter link). The Cavs deal is for one year, a league source told Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal.

It appears Dallas was at least somewhat on board with Jefferson’s change of heart, as opposed to Jordan’s, as a source told Lloyd that the Mavs gave the free agents who committed to them the chance to back out in the wake of Jordan’s flip-flop (Twitter link). Wesley Matthews said earlier that Dallas afforded him the same luxury, but he instead recommitted for about $13MM more. The Mavs also bumped the value of J.J. Barea‘s deal significantly higher. It’s unclear if Dallas offered a better deal to Jefferson than the one he originally agreed to.

The minimum for Jefferson, a veteran of 14 NBA seasons, is worth $1,499,187, but, since the deal is only for one season, the Cavs only owe him $947,276, the equivalent of the two-year veteran’s minimum. That’s key, since Cleveland is poised to go deep into the tax. Still, the Jefferson deal will cost Cleveland about $3.6MM in tax penalties on top of his salary, as former Nets executive Bobby Marks points out on Twitter.

It’s the second consecutive summer in which the Cavs are signing a veteran forward who spent the previous season with Dallas. Cleveland did so last year with Shawn Marion, who retired after this past season.

Jefferson ends up with the same salary as he would have made in Dallas, but his switch is not without consequence. He’ll have to pay state income tax for Ohio, as he wouldn’t have had to do in Texas, and his Mavs deal would have given him the power to block trades afforded by rule to players who return to their teams on one-year contracts. Jefferson will also be eligible only for Non-Bird rights with the Cavs next summer, instead of the Early Bird rights the Mavs would have held with him.

Latest On J.R. Smith

August 4th, 2015 at 11:03am CST by Chuck Myron

The Sixers earlier expressed interest in signing J.R. Smith, but that interest has faded, reports Hoops Rumors contributor Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net (Twitter link). Cleveland still wants to re-sign him and is letting the market dictate his price, Amico adds.

Smith most recently expressed a desire to play somewhere he could be a difference-maker, and while he also said he’d like to start, he mentioned the Cavs as an example of a team for which he’d be willing to come off the bench. The former Sixth Man of the Year started in most of his regular season appearances for the Cavs this past season but returned to a bench role in the playoffs. The Leon Rose client said to Joe Vardon of the Northeast Ohio Media Group in mid-July that he “definitely” wants to return to Cleveland, adding that while he had engaged in talks with the Blazers, that discussion didn’t go anywhere.

The Cavs have wanted Smith back on a modest one-year deal, as Terry Pluto of the Plain Dealer wrote last month, and Smith had been looking for a three-year deal, according to Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group, both of whom cast a reunion between the sides as unlikely. Still, LeBron James wants him back in Cleveland.

A key stumbling block no doubt involves the exponential tax penalties that Cleveland faces with every signing. The Cavs are about $4MM above the tax threshold for now, but they still haven’t re-signed Tristan Thompson, a move they seem likely to make. A deal around the max for Thompson would mean Smith’s contract would cost the Cavs $3.75 or more in tax penalties for every dollar it’s worth. However, only the Sixers, Blazers and Jazz have the cap room available to give Smith a salary comparable to the nearly $6.4MM option he turned down in June, so Cleveland doesn’t have to worry about too many suitors.

How much do you foresee Smith ending up with in a new deal? Leave a comment to tell us.

Eastern Rumors: James, Wells, Pistons

August 3rd, 2015 at 10:32pm CST by Dana Gauruder

LeBron James will attend the USA Basketball minicamp meeting next week but will not attend the workouts, the team’s executive director Jerry Colangelo told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports. Colangelo is uncertain of whether James wants to pursue another Olympic gold medal, Joe Vardon of Northeast Ohio Media Group reports. “One thing I need to find out: is he desirous, is he committed,” Colangelo told Vardon. “I don’t know that right now, and I need to find out at some point. An indicator will come next week when we see who shows up.” Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love are expected to attend, though neither Cavs star will participate in the workouts or a scheduled scrimmage because they are still on the mend from their playoff injuries, Colangelo added to Vardon.

In other news around the Eastern Conference:

Dez Wells has been extended a training camp invite by the Wizards but he’s likely to turn it down, J. Michael of CSNWashington.com reports. The rookie guard from the University of Maryland was on Washington’s summer league roster but dislocated his right thumb prior to the Las Vegas summer league and did not play. Wells has five other training camp offers and feels his prospects with the Wizards are dim because they already have 15 players with guaranteed contracts, the story adds.
Adonis Thomas is guaranteed $60K of his $845,059 contract with the Pistons, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets. The 6’7” shooting guard will be battling second-round pick Darrun Hilliard, among others, for a roster spot in training camp.

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