Cleveland Cavaliers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Central Notes: Dellavedova, Tellem, Hunter

June 11th, 2015 at 11:30am CST by Chuck Myron

Some in the Cavaliers organization wanted to waive Matthew Dellavedova during training camp in 2013, but former GM Chris Grant believed in the undrafted guard and stuck by him, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. That decision has never been more important than it is now, current GM David Griffin acknowledges, as the soon-to-be restricted free agent has been a surprise star of the Finals.

“The fact that Chris believed in Delly to the level that he did is paying off for the organization in spades,” Griffin said. “Everyone benefits from everyone that comes before them.”

While we wait to see what Dellavedova can do for an encore tonight after scoring 20 points in Game 3, here’s more from around the Central Division:

It appears that incoming Pistons vice chairman Arn Tellem will be taking more of an advisory role with the Wasserman Media Group than that of a traditional agent this summer, tweets Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. That’s not thoroughly surprising, considering the potential conflict of interest, but it nonetheless adds another layer of intrigue to the free agency of Wasserman clients like LaMarcus Aldridge, Marc Gasol and Michigan native Draymond Green.
The Bucks, who have the 17th pick, have made Georgia State shooting guard R.J. Hunter their primary draft target, according to some NBA personnel, as Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times hears.
Jason Kidd is apparently targeting Clippers shooting coach Bob Thate for the Bucks coaching staff, Woelfel writes in the same piece.
Marquette guard Matt Carlino, Oklahoma State power forward Michael Cobbins, Michigan State forward Branden Dawson, Temple guard Jesse Morgan and Northern Iowa power forward Seth Tuttle are working out today for the Bucks, the team announced. So is UCLA power forward Kevon Looney, who mentioned Milwaukee among his many workout stops when he spoke with Zach Links of Hoops Rumors. Woelfel first reported Looney’s Bucks workout.

Draft Notes: Okafor, Russell, Lyles, McCullough

June 10th, 2015 at 2:28pm CST by Chuck Myron

Duke center Jahlil Okafor was atop most draft rankings for most of the season, but Kentucky big man Karl-Anthony Towns eclipsed him during the NCAA Tournament, and now Ohio State combo guard D’Angelo Russell has leapfrogged him for No. 2 on Chad Ford’s ESPN Insider Board. There isn’t unanimity on Russell’s ascension, as Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress has him going fourth to the Knicks, with the Sixers taking Latvian power forward Kristaps Porzingis third. More clear is that this year’s draft isn’t hurting for intrigue with two weeks and one day to go before teams start picking. Here’s the latest:

The Pistons, who hold the eighth selection, are the team picking highest among those interested in Kentucky power forward Trey Lyles, Ford hears and writes within his rankings (linked above). There’s almost no chance that Syracuse power forward Chris McCullough slips past the Nets at pick No. 29, Ford also hears.
Slovenian center Ziga Dimec has worked out for the Sixers and will do so for the Mavericks, Celtics and Bucks, according to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia. Dimec, who’s automatically draft-eligible as a 22-year-old from overseas, is Ford‘s No. 96 prospect, but he’s outside the top 100 for Givony, who has him as the 19th-best international prospect born in 1993.
Josh Newman of SNY.tv adds the Jazz, Nuggets, Rockets, Wizards, Cavaliers and Bulls to the list of teams reportedly working out Syracuse big man Rakeem Christmas.

2015/16 Roster Counts: Cleveland Cavaliers

June 9th, 2015 at 6:30pm CST by Eddie Scarito

During the offseason it’s OK for teams to carry as many as 20 players, but clubs must trim their rosters down to a maximum of 15 by opening night. In the meantime, some teams will hang around that 15-man line, while others will max out their roster counts. Some clubs may actually have more than 15 contracts that are at least partially guaranteed on the books. That means they’ll end up paying players who won’t be on the regular season roster, unless they can find trade partners.

With plenty more movement still to come, here’s the latest look at the Cavaliers’ roster size, the contract guarantee status of each player, and how each player came to be on Cleveland’s roster.

(Last Updated 3-9-16, 3:00pm)

Fully Guaranteed (14)

Matthew Dellavedova (G) — 6’4″/24 years old. Free agent signing.
Channing Frye (F) — 6’11″/32 years old. Acquired via trade from Magic..
Kyrie Irving (G) — 6’3″/23 years old. Drafted with No. 1 overall pick in 2011.
LeBron James (F) — 6’8″/30 years old. Free agent signing.
Richard Jefferson (F) — 6’7″/35 years old. Free agent signing.
James Jones (F) — 6’8″/34 years old. Free agent signing.
Sasha Kaun (C) — 7’0″/30 years old. Draft rights acquired from Thunder.
Kevin Love (F) — 6’10″/26 years old. Acquired via trade from Timberwolves.
Jordan McRae (G) — 6’5″/24 years old. Free agent signing.
Timofey Mozgov, (C) — 7’1″/28 years old. Acquired via a trade with Nuggets.
Iman Shumpert (G) — 6’5″/25 years old. Acquired via trade from Knicks.
J.R. Smith (G) — 6’6″/29 years old. Acquired via trade from Knicks.
Tristan Thompson (F) — 6’9″/24 years old. Drafted with No. 4 overall pick in 2011.
Mo Williams (G) — 6’1″/32 years old. Free agent signing.

10-Day Contracts (0)

None

TOTAL ROSTER COUNT (14)

Cavs Notes: Love, Draft, Dellavedova

June 9th, 2015 at 11:46am CST by Chuck Myron

Team officials around the league are split on whether Draymond Green or Kevin Love is the better player, and no one on the Warriors would trade Green for Love straight-up these days, Grantland’s Zach Lowe writes. That represents a dramatic shift from the beginning of the season, but Cavs GM David Griffin, whose team had been discussing Love trades with the Timberwolves two years prior to last August’s trade, is adamant that the Cavs want to keep Love, according to Lowe. There’s more on Love, who likewise continues to insist that he wants to stay in Cleveland, amid the latest on the Cavs:

Cleveland’s willingness to have given up Andrew Wiggins for Love in the first place was tied to the choice LeBron James made to return to Cleveland, Griffin admitted in his interview with Lowe. “You have a finite window when you’re dealing with a player that’s 30,” Griffin said, citing James’ age. “The organization had wanted Kevin for a while, but we paid the price we paid entirely because of LeBron’s presence.”
Lowe nonetheless suggests that the Cavs could have kept Wiggins and acquired Thaddeus Young from the Sixers instead of Love, sending salary filler to Philadelphia along with the same first-round pick that ended up going to Sixers in the three-team Love trade.
The Cavs had workouts scheduled Monday with Arizona power forward Brandon Ashley, Michigan State guard Travis Trice, Wisconsin-Green Bay point guard Keifer Sykes, Louisville swingman Wayne Blackshear and Stanford small forward Anthony Brown, sources told Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (Twitter link).
Matthew Dellavedova is proving former Cavs GM Chris Grant wise as he makes an outsized impact in the Finals at the tail end of the two-year minimum-salary deal Grant signed him to in 2013, as Chris Mannix of SI.com examines. Dellavedova is set for restricted free agency this summer.

Coaching Rumors: Nuggets, Donovan, Cheeks

June 9th, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Michael Malone‘s candidacy for the Nuggets head coaching job is gathering momentum, but an increasing number of coaches around the league envision interim coach Melvin Hunt getting the position, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. In any case, it appears that Denver is drawing closer to a hire, as it’s believed that the team would like to have its new coach help with draft prep, writes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. Here’s more coaching news from around the NBA:

Mike Miller lauded Billy Donovan‘s demeanor, preparation and communication when Kevin Durant asked him about the incoming Thunder head coach, as Miller tells Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman. Miller makes it clear he harbors no shortage of affection for his college coach, saying to Slater that it will be “very weird” to go against Donovan in the NBA. Miller wouldn’t necessarily have to do so if he declines his player option, worth nearly $2.855MM, and signs with the Thunder this summer, of course, but the Cavs reserve didn’t suggest that such a scenario was on his mind.
The Thunder are increasingly serious about rehiring Maurice Cheeks as an assistant coach, according to Stein, who notes the strong relationship between Cheeks and Russell Westbrook (Twitter links). Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports first identified Cheeks as a possible candidate for an assistant’s job in Oklahoma City, a role that would reprise the one he filled from 2009/10 to 2012/13.
Remaining with the Magic to serve as an assistant under Scott Skiles remains a “strong option” for James Borrego, Stein also reports (Twitter link). Borrego, who was Orlando’s interim coach and a candidate to remain in the head coaching position on a long-term basis before the Skiles hire, has drawn interest from the Pelicans and had talks with the Thunder about assistant coaching jobs, as Stein previously reported.

And-Ones: Kaun, Pacers, Wells

June 8th, 2015 at 10:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Draft-and-stash prospect Sasha Kaun is moving to the United States and will explore his NBA options, his agent J.R. Hensley tells David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). The 30-year-old Kaun, who played for CSKA Moscow last season, has retired from the Russian League, Pick adds in a separate tweet. The 6’11” center was originally drafted in 2008 by the SuperSonics — the last draft pick made by the franchise before moving to Oklahoma City — and his rights were later traded to the Cavaliers for cash considerations.

In other news around the league:

Kentucky forward Trey Lyles is among the group of players scheduled to work out Thursday for the Pacers, according to Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star. He’ll be joined by three other forwards — Arkansas’ Bobby Portis, LSU’s Jordan Mickey and Wyoming’s Larry Nance Jr. — along with Ohio State point guard Shannon Scott and D-League guard Jarvis Threatt. Indiana owns the No. 11 overall pick.
Maryland shooting guard Dez Wells pulled out of a scheduled workout with the Jazz on Friday with an undisclosed injury, Randy Hollis of the Deseret News reports. Wells is rated No. 69 by ESPN Insider Chad Ford and No. 84 by DraftExpress’ Jonathan Givony on their lists of Top 100 prospects.
Delaware State center Kendall Gray will work out with the Heat on Tuesday, Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops tweets.

Celtics Not As Keen On Pursuit Of Kevin Love

June 8th, 2015 at 4:05pm CST by Chuck Myron

Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge no longer has a “borderline obsession” with acquiring Kevin Love even as Ainge remains interested, sources tell Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. The Celtics will be more careful than they were last year about offering picks and players in trade proposals for Love, should he opt in, and about offering Love a lucrative long-term deal, Bulpett hears.

Love has a degree of interest in Boston, a source tells Bulpett, advancing an earlier report from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports that suggested the C’s had made gains on the Lakers as Love’s favored non-Cavs destination. Still, the power forward has repeatedly insisted that he plans to remain in Cleveland. A league executive who isn’t Ainge spoke to Bulpett and predicted that Love will stick with the Cavs, and the exec believes that the 26-year-old is concerned about his health and wants to sign a long-term deal. Love told Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group in January that he planned to pick up his player option worth more than $16.744MM for next season.

Bulpett cites knee issues for Love, though the forward is out for the playoffs because of a shoulder injury. In any case, a Celtics roster that no longer includes a star is helping tamp down Ainge’s enthusiasm to pursue Love, whom Ainge eyed last year as a complement to Rajon Rondo, who was then still considered a marquee player, as Bulpett explains. Still, significant changes to the roster are a near certainty for Boston, so there’s a decent chance that Ainge becomes re-energized about going after Love, Bulpett cautions.

Central Notes: Prigioni, Bucks Arena, Draft

June 8th, 2015 at 11:28am CST by Chuck Myron

The Cavaliers made an aggressive play at trading for Pablo Prigioni at the deadline, a source tells Marc Berman of the New York Post. Instead, the Knicks sent him to the Rockets instead, leaving Cleveland’s backup point guard duties to Matthew Dellavedova. That worked out just fine for the Cavs on Sunday, when Dellavedova, set for restricted free agency this summer, started in place of the injured Kyrie Irving and hit the game-winning free throws. There’s more on the Cavs, who’ll look to take the lead in the Finals on Tuesday, amid the latest from the Central Division:

The deal that state, county and city leaders struck last week for a new Bucks arena must still meet Wisconsin Legislature and Milwaukee Common Council approval, so construction remains far from assured, as Tom Daykin of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel points out. Still, the Bucks have promised to pay for operating and maintenance costs by selling naming rights, as Daykin examines. The NBA is pressuring the sides to ensure a new building, lest the league exercise its right to buy the team and move it to another city.
UNLV power forward Christian Wood will be among those working out for the Cavs today, league sources tell Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (Twitter link).
Scotto also hears that Syracuse big man Rakeem Christmas will show off for the Pistons today (Twitter link). North Carolina shooting guard J.P. Tokoto, Virginia power forward Darion Atkins, Georgetown small forward Greg Whittington, and point guards Marcus Thornton from William & Mary and Pierria Henry of Charlotte will be in Detroit’s workout, too, according to Keith Langlois of Pistons.com (Twitter links).

Cavs Notes: Varejao, James, Irving

June 7th, 2015 at 4:56pm CST by Dana Gauruder

A potential comeback during the NBA Finals by Anderson Varejao is extremely unlikely, Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets. Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com said late last month that Varejao could be activated during the Finals if the Cavaliers were in a dire situation. The 32-year-old center, who played in 26 regular-season games this season, has been sidelined since late December after tearing his left Achilles’ tendon.

In other news regarding the Cavs:

LeBron James looks glum about the Cavs’ predicament of trying to win the NBA championship without Kyrie Irving, who underwent knee surgery on Saturday, Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News reports. The Warriors seem destined to win the NBA Finals against the depleted Cavs and Cleveland’s somber mood reflects that, Kawakami continues. “I said it’s going to be one of the most challenging seasons of my career from the beginning, and this just adds on to it,” James said to the media covering the Finals. “You know, we’re undermanned right now. But we’ve got guys in the locker room that are ready for the challenge, and we look forward to the challenge [Sunday] night.”
J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert, Matthew Dellavedova and Tristan Thompson will have to ratchet up their production to overcome the loss of Irving, Jarrett Bell of USA Today opines. The Cavaliers’ role players must provide scoring options for James to have any hope of defeating the Warriors, Bell continues. James’ 38 shot attempts in Game 1 were a product of his teammates too often standing around and watching their franchise player rather than looking for open spaces, Bell adds.
The raw data suggests the Cavs can be competitive without Irving or injured Kevin Love, Joe Vardon of Northeast Ohio Media Group points out. Cleveland outscored its opponent by 149 points in 545 minutes when James played without Irving and Love, including the postseason, Vardon adds. It did not matter much whether James was used as the primary ball-handler, on the wing or down low in those situations, according to Vardon.

Central Notes: Middleton, Pistons, Cavaliers

June 6th, 2015 at 6:31pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Bucks‘ Khris Middleton can expect a huge jump in salary when he hits restricted free agency next month, according to Gene Sapakoff of The Post and Courier. The versatile 24-year-old, who made $915K last season, could command an annual salary in the range of $13M to $15M, Sapakoff writes. After seeing limited playing time as a rookie in 2012/13, Middleton blossomed into a valuable player the past two seasons, ranking among the top 10 this year in ESPN’s Real Plus-Minus ratings. “I didn’t play too many games my first year,” Middleton said. “I was a little nervous. Well, I wouldn’t say nervous but I just wasn’t comfortable I guess. Now I feel like I know what I’m doing out there and I know my style and the game comes to be a lot easier.” Milwaukee is hoping to keep Middleton as part of a young foundation that includes Giannis Antetokounmpo, Michael Carter-Williams and Jabari Parker.

There’s more news from the Central Division:

The Pistons aren’t counting on signing Golden State’s Draymond Green in free agency this summer, tweets Vincent Ellis of The Detroit Free Press. Although Detroit would love to add Green to its roster, the front office believes the Warriors will match any offer the restricted free agent receives.
Tristan Thompson has eased the Cavaliers’ pain after losing Kevin Love to injury in the first round of the playoffs, according to Carl Steward of the San Jose Mercury News. Love, who can opt out of his contract and become a free agent July 1, tore his shoulder while chasing a loose ball in an April 26 game against Boston. Thompson stepped into the starting lineup and has averaged a double-double in his place. “It’s my job to be a little nasty, bring the energy, protect the paint and protect our guys,” he said. Thompson will be a restricted free agent this summer.
The Cavaliers’ Kyrie Irving had successful surgery this morning on his fractured left kneecap, the team announced. He is not expected to resume basketball activity for three to four months.