Andrew Bynum Rumors: Sunday Morning

Cavs coaches and players grew angry during practice Friday as they watched a disinterested Andrew Bynum hurl wild shots at the basket, and that was apparently the tipping point that led the team to suspend him indefinitely, as Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Plain Dealer explains. The Cavs are seeking to trade Bynum as time ticks away toward January 7th, the last day Bynum can be waived before the $6MM partial guarantee on his contract turns into a full assurance of his $12.25MM salary. We rounded up yesterday’s Bynum rumors in a pair of posts, and we’ll keep track of at least the first several dispatches on the former All-Star center here:

• Bynum was technically suspended only for yesterday’s game against the Celtics, and he’s now simply excused from all team activities, as Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com clarifies. The suspension cost Bynum his salary for one game, worth about $111K, and he’ll now be away from the team until the Cavs release him or trade him, neither of which may happen until July, according to Windhorst (Twitter links).

Earlier updates:

• Bynum has no desire to play on a non-guaranteed deal for the Cavs, since they’re rebuilding, and wants to wind up with a contender, a source tells Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe.
• The Cavs organization had seen Bynum’s suspension as a possibility for a while, perhaps as early as the first week of the season, according to Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio.
• The Clippers and Heat are reportedly Bynum’s favored destinations, and those teams would indeed have mutual interest if Bynum were to become a free agent, as Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times confirms.
• If the Heat were to add Bynum, it would put the team’s commitment to Greg Oden into question, suggests Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
• Bynum’s attitude has worsened in recent weeks, and the Cavs decided they didn’t want that adding to off-the-court drama that’s included a players-only meeting and trade rumors surrounding Dion Waiters so far this season, writes Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal. Lloyd’s piece analyzes the organization’s emphasis on locker room culture that dates back to its decision to amnesty Baron Davis in 2011.
• Phil Jackson, Bynum’s former coach with the Lakers, took to Twitter to dispute the notion that Bynum has never been committed to the game. “I am reluctant to judge ABynum’s [basketball] intent. He is a man of many interests and has a life outside of [basketball], but he does like to compete,” Jackson wrote.
• Most Hoops Rumors readers don’t think the Cavs will find a trade partner, and a plurality believe he’ll end up becoming a free agent and signing with a team other than the Clippers and the Heat. Bynum’s also rumored to be open to joining the Celtics.