WEDNESDAY, 12:00pm: The Cavs remain an intriguing option for Marion, tweets Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio, even amid Tuesday’s report that the Pacers are in heavy pursuit and that the combo forward is scheduling meetings with other clubs.
MONDAY, 5:22pm: As the Cavs gear up for their most highly-anticipated season in years they’re looking into ways that they can bolster their frontcourt depth. With that in mind, the Cavs are hosting Shawn Marion on a recruiting visit today, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
Marion, 36, started 76 regular season games for the Mavs last season and also started in all seven games of the Mavs’ losing first-round effort against the Spurs. While Marion would be a natural target for the Pacers in the wake of Paul George‘s gruesome injury, LeBron James‘ presence gives the Cavs the upper hand in the chase (link).
The Heat had been expected to make a push for The Matrix when free agency began, apparently viewing him as the sort of player whose addition could help convince LeBron to stick around. Now that LeBron is in Cleveland, the Cavs are the ones looking to pair Marion with the game’s top player.
The veteran can still play, but he put up a career-worst 13.7 PER this past season, a drop from his 18.0 mark in the year prior. Marion has ostensibly been holding out for something higher than the minimum salary but Cleveland is one of about a dozen NBA teams that can only pay the minimum. Our own Chuck Myron recently looked at the market for Marion, including possible landing spots.