Cavs Notes: James, Mozgov, Harris

Judging by LeBron James‘ comment to Lee Jenkins of SI.com, it seems like the relationship between James and Heat president Pat Riley is slowly starting to improve, Ethan Skolnick of the Miami Herald writes. James has declined comment regarding Riley since leaving the Heat for the Cavs via free agency, Skolnick adds, so James making reference to “the great Pat Riley” to Jenkins suggests time may be healing some wounds. Riley, Skolnick adds, grew frustrated about the lack of communication from James prior to the superstar leaving.

Here’s more from Cleveland:

• Timofey Mozgov‘s right knee is still bothering him after offseason surgery, and it’s affecting his play, as Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal details. The Cavs aren’t panicking, but they’re concerned, Lloyd writes. Mozgov is in the final year of his contract, but Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer suggests that pressure not from looming free agency but from the no-nonsense atmosphere that James has imposed on his teammates is also detracting from the big man’s performance.
• Free agent Dionte Christmas, whom the Cavs waived shortly before the season started, is set to sign with Hapoel Holon in Israel, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The 29-year-old shooting guard averaged 6.8 points in 19.9 minutes per game over four contests in the preseason for the Cavs.
• The Cavs assigned shooting guard Joe Harris to their D-League affiliate, the team announced in a press release. Harris has played in five games for the Cavs this season.

Chuck Myron contributed to this report.