Cleveland Cavaliers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Sidney Lowe Joins Staff

August 13th, 2021 at 5:54pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Sidney Lowe is joining the Cavaliers’ staff as an assistant, Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. Lowe, 61, was most recently on the Pistons’ staff. Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff lost an assistant when Lindsay Gottlieb left the organization to become the women’s head coach at USC. Lowe has coached in the league for 30 years.

We have more on the Central Division:

The sign-and-trade with the Pelicans brought Lonzo Ball to an organization that wanted him — the Bulls. Acquired in a sign-and-trade, Ball appreciates how his new bosses feel about him, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times writes. “Just me personally, I feel like they wanted me,” he said. “And I want to play for someone that wants me to play for them. So that was attractive.’’
When DeMar DeRozan saw that Bulls were bringing in Ball, they didn’t need to do a hard sell to convince him to join the team, Cowley notes in the same story. DeRozan also came aboard in a sign-and-trade. “You could see what they were working toward, and it was something I wanted to be a part of,’ he said. “It wasn’t too much of a pitch that they had to make after that.’’
The Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the Pacers’ G League affiliate, will play nine games in Indianapolis next season, Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files reports. The Mad Ants will also play 15 games on their home court. Those games in Indiana will make it easier for the Pacers to shuttle players back and forth between the NBA and the G League, if necessary.

Mobley's Passing Can Diversify Offense

August 12th, 2021 at 9:56pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Bucks gave up two second-round picks in the Grayson Allen deal with the Grizzlies. The picks they’re giving up are owed to Milwaukee from previous deals, Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian tweets. The first of those picks will either the Pacers’ pick or the less favorable of Cavaliers’ or Jazz’s pick in 2024. The second will be conveyed in 2026, the highest of either the Pacers’ or Heat’s pick.
The No. 3 overall pick, Evan Mobley, is showing the Cavaliers in summer league play how he can impact their offense in a number of ways, Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes. His passing ability, in particular, can diversify their attack. “He’s going to be an extremely integral piece for us throughout the season and his willingness to share the ball and then also be able to get his own shot when he wants it is extremely important,” Cavaliers summer league coach J.J. Outlaw said. “But as you can see his teammates trusted that he would deliver the ball on time, on target when they would cut and they just kept cutting.”

Central Notes: Pistons Contracts, McConnell, Allen, Bulls

August 8th, 2021 at 7:41pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pistons‘ three-year deal with Kelly Olynyk has a partial guarantee in year three, with only $3MM of the big man’s $12.2MM salary assured in 2023/24, according to Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link). Detroit also gave Trey Lyles a two-year, $5.125MM deal that includes a second-year team option, Smith adds (Twitter link).

While those contract details are similar to what was reported earlier in free agency, the specifics on the Pistons’ deals for Saben Lee and second-round pick Isaiah Livers didn’t surface until today.

According to Smith (Twitter link), the Pistons used cap space to give Lee a three-year, minimum-salary contract that includes two fully guaranteed years followed by a third-year team option. As for Livers, his new deal with Detroit is also for three years with a third-year team option, tweets Smith. The No. 42 pick got slightly more than the rookie minimum in his first year, followed by the veteran’s minimum in years two and three.

Here’s more from around the Central:

T.J. McConnell‘s new four-year contract with the Pacers, originally said to be worth $35MM, actually has a base value of $33.6MM and includes some unlikely bonuses, according to Smith (Twitter link). The fourth-year salary of $9.3MM is partially guaranteed for $5MM.
Contract negotiations between Jarrett Allen and the Cavaliers “never grew contentious,” writes Jason Lloyd of The Athletic. The team always wanted to lock up Allen, and the big man wanted a nine-figure deal, so the five-year, $100MM agreement made both sides happy.
Eric Nehm of The Athletic explores what role newly-acquired wing Grayson Allen will play for the Bucks in 2021/22, noting that Allen would be in line for more minutes if Donte DiVincenzo, coming off ankle surgery, still has limitations to start the season.
K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago explains why the NBA is looking into the Bulls‘ sign-and-trade agreement with Lonzo Ball and what to expect from the investigation.

Eastern Contract Details: Lowry, Birch, Heat, Dinwiddie, Niang, More

August 8th, 2021 at 4:30pm CST by Luke Adams

Kyle Lowry‘s new three-year, $85MM contract with the Heat is a standard increasing deal, starting at about $26.98MM and rising annually by 5%, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac.

Based on Lowry’s 2021/22 salary, we now know the value of the traded player exception the Raptors created in their sign-and-trade deal with the Heat, tweets Blake Murphy of The Athletic. That TPE will be worth $4,832,848, which is the difference between Lowry’s new salary and the combined cap hits of Goran Dragic and Precious Achiuwa.

Murphy also confirms that Khem Birch‘s three-year, $20MM deal with the Raptors is a standard increasing contract with no options or partial guarantees — it eats up about $6.35MM of Toronto’s mid-level exception, leaving $3.187MM on that MLE.

Here are more contract details from around the East, courtesy of Smith:

As expected, the new deals for Max Strus, Omer Yurtseven, and Gabe Vincent with the Heat are each two-year, minimum-salary contracts with one year guaranteed and the second year non-guaranteed (Twitter link). P.J. Tucker, meanwhile, got a two-year, $14.35MM contract that uses $7MM of Miami’s mid-level exception in year one. Tucker’s second year is a player option (Twitter link).
Spencer Dinwiddie‘s three-year contract with the Wizards only has a base value of $54MM, rather than the previously-reported total of $60MM+ (Twitter link). The deal, which features unlikely incentives that could push its value higher, has a partial guarantee worth $10MM (of $18.86MM) in year three.
Georges Niang‘s deal with the Sixers came in at $6.765MM over two years, both of which are fully guaranteed (Twitter link).
Trae Young‘s five-year, maximum-salary extension with the Hawks includes a 15% trade kicker (Twitter link).
The numbers are also in for the finalized deals between Jarrett Allen and the Cavaliers (Twitter link), Bobby Portis and the Bucks (Twitter link), George Hill and the Bucks (Twitter link), and Danny Green and the Sixers (Twitter link), with no surprises among that group. As expected, Green’s second year is non-guaranteed and Portis has a second-year player option, while Allen and Hill have fully guaranteed salaries.

Southeast Notes: Bamba, Oubre, Gill, Wizards

August 7th, 2021 at 10:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

Mohamed Bamba won’t play for the Magic when Summer League starts on Sunday, but he’s practicing with his teammates in Las Vegas, writes Chris Hays of The Orlando Sentinel. The third-year center got a path to regular minutes for the first time in his career when Orlando unloaded its veteran centers last spring and turned the position over to Bamba and Wendell Carter Jr.

“For me it was no-brainer,” Bamba said of his decision to come to Las Vegas. “We got a new coach, new system, new guys and I just wanted to get well acclimated way before training camp.”

Jamahl Mosley, who has taken over as head coach, said this week that it was encouraging to see Bamba join the team on his own. Bamba said he’s looking forward to playing under Mosley.

“He’s made it clear that my presence (on the floor) is needed, is wanted and it’s just all about getting out there and putting in the right amount of work,” Bamba said. “Practicing with the team only helps the chemistry of the team. Coming out here … I had a choice, either to stay in Orlando and work with the coaches that didn’t come to Summer League or come here and add in these good deposits from the team.”

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

Free agent forward Kelly Oubre received offers from eight other teams before deciding to sign with the Hornets, tweets Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. Oubre’s agent, Torrel Harris of Unique Sports International Management, says the Knicks, Lakers, Clippers, Bucks, Nuggets, Nets, Trail Blazers and Cavaliers all presented offers to Oubre.
Today marked the guarantee date for Wizards power forward Anthony Gill, tweets Fred Katz of The Athletic. Gill will make $1,517,981 in 2021/22, giving Washington 13 fully guaranteed contracts. That doesn’t include center Daniel Gafford, whose $1,782,621 won’t be guaranteed until the league-wide guarantee date of January 7.
Wizards Summer League players Cassius Winston, Issuf Sanon and Isaiah Todd have all been placed in the NBA’s health and safety protocols, according to Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington (Twitter link). Their replacements include former NBA players Cheick Diallo and Derrick Walton Jr. (Twitter link)

Cavs Re-Sign Jarrett Allen To Five-Year Contract

August 6th, 2021 at 3:41pm CST by Luke Adams

AUGUST 6: The Cavaliers have issued a press release formally announcing Allen’s new deal with the club.

“We spent the last few years maintaining our financial and roster flexibility to put ourselves in a position to acquire and now re-sign a player of Jarrett’s caliber,” general manager Koby Altman said in a statement. “Since his arrival, Jarrett has fit seamlessly into our culture and almost instantly, he earned the respect of his coaches and teammates. We took another positive step forward in our pursuit of sustainable success with this signing, as we see Jarrett as an integral piece of our future moving forward.”

AUGUST 2: The Cavaliers and restricted free agent center Jarrett Allen are in agreement on a five-year, $100MM contract, his agents tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).

A report earlier today had stated that Cleveland was preparing a $100MM offer for Allen. All five years on the new deal will be guaranteed, tweets Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.

Cleveland traded a first-round pick for Allen in the four-team James Harden blockbuster this past season with the intent of retaining him for years to come. Even after drafting USC big man Evan Mobley with the No. 3 overall pick last Thursday, the Cavs prioritized a new deal for Allen, since the team believes he and Mobley are capable of playing alongside one another.

The Raptors were considered the Cavaliers’ top threat for Allen, but Cleveland wasted no time in negotiating directly with the 23-year-old rather than letting him go out and get an offer sheet.

Allen averaged 13.2 PPG, 9.9 RPG, and 1.4 BPG across 51 contests after the Cavs acquired him. He had been the No. 4 free agent on our top-50 list.

Eastern Notes: Love, Livers, Heat, D. Robinson, Drummond

August 5th, 2021 at 12:20pm CST by Luke Adams

After drafting Evan Mobley with the No. 3 overall pick and agreeing to re-sign Jarrett Allen to a five-year, $100MM contract, the Cavaliers appear to have locked up their frontcourt of the future, prompting Jason Lloyd of The Athletic to suggest that if Kevin Love is going to remain in Cleveland, he should be prepared to accept a role off the bench.

According to Lloyd, the Cavaliers have already spoken to Love about his minutes and role moving forward. The first step will be getting the veteran power forward healthy following the calf strain that has nagged him for much of the year, but even if that calf injury is no longer an issue in the fall, Cleveland will have to closely manage Love’s minutes, writes Lloyd.

While a buyout could ultimately be in both sides’ best interests, those discussions have not yet taken place, according to Lloyd, who suggests Love would likely have to be willing to give back at least $12-15MM for the Cavs to consider buying him out. He’s owed just north of $60MM over the next two seasons.

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

Rookie Pistons forward Isaiah Livers, who was selected 42nd overall in last Thursday’s draft, continues to recover from the right foot surgery that ended his college career, but remains optimistic that he’ll be fully cleared around the start of the 2021/22 season, writes Rod Beard of The Detroit News. “For five-on-five, I expect to be fully cleared, hopefully, at some point in October,” Livers said. As Beard observes, Detroit will likely play it safe with Livers and have him start the season with the Motor City Cruise in the G League.
Although the Heat might not get much out of Victor Oladipo in 2021/22, their minimum-salary agreement with the two-time All-Star will put them in good position to re-sign him next summer if he earns a raise, since they’ll hold his full Bird rights, as Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald details. Oladipo is recovering from surgery on his quad tendon and the Heat aren’t expecting him to be ready to return until sometime in 2022.
After agreeing to a five-year, $90MM deal with the Heat as a restricted free agent, sharpshooter Duncan Robinson said on The Long Shot podcast that he entered the week focused on getting a deal done with the only NBA team he has ever played for. “Miami ultimately, for me, felt like it was going to be the best situation because it was something I was really familiar with,” Robinson said, per Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. “I felt like I had built equity with an organization, the coaching staff, the front office, the fans even, the city.”
Despite their past squabbles on and off the court, new Sixers center Andre Drummond doesn’t anticipate teaming up with Joel Embiid will be an issue, he told reporters today. “For me, there was never any real beef,” Drummond said (Twitter link via Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com). “The way we play, sometimes we talk. I don’t think it goes any further than that. … We’re on the same team now.”

Sixers Re-Sign Danny Green

August 4th, 2021 at 11:25pm CST by Luke Adams

AUGUST 7: The Sixers have officially re-signed Green, the team announced today in a press release.

“Bringing Danny back was a top priority for our organization this offseason,” president of basketball operations Daryl Morey said in a statement. “He has proven to be an important leader on and off the floor, and he knows what it takes to win an NBA title as a three-time champion. We are very happy that he’ll continue to remain a crucial part of the 76ers.”

AUGUST 4: The Sixers have agreed to terms with veteran swingman Danny Green on a two-year deal that will bring him back to Philadelphia, according to his Inside The Green Room podcast co-host Harrison Sanford (Twitter link). A league source confirms the news to veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein (Twitter link).

Because the 76ers have Early Bird rights on Green, they won’t need to use their mid-level exception to complete the signing.

Agent Raymond Brothers tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link) that the 34-year-old’s new deal won’t include any options. However, a follow-up tweet from Sanford suggests the second year will be non-guaranteed, with a July 1, 2022 guarantee date.

According to Sanford (Twitter link), Green had discussions with the Nets, Celtics, Bucks, Bulls, and Warriors, among other teams, during free agency this week. He turned down a two-year offer from the Cavaliers, Sanford adds.

A 12-year NBA veteran who has won titles with three different teams, Green started all 69 games he played for Philadelphia in 2020/21, averaging 9.5 PPG, 3.8 RPG, and 1.3 SPG with a .412/.405/.775 shooting line in 28.0 MPG.

Green has long been a reliable three-and-D wing, having knocked down 40.1% of his career attempts from beyond the arc.

The Sixers waived George Hill this week and lost Dwight Howard to the Lakers, but have now lined up deals to bring back both Green and Furkan Korkmaz. The club also signed Andre Drummond to a minimum-salary contract on Wednesday and has agreed to a deal with forward Georges Niang.

Free Agency Rumors: R. Jackson, Cavaliers, Suns, Wizards

August 4th, 2021 at 7:39pm CST by Arthur Hill

Reggie Jackson is getting a lot of interest on the free agent market after his strong playoff run, but the Clippers remain hopeful about re-signing him, tweets Jordan Schultz of ESPN.

Jackson, 31, is coming off a strong season and playoff run with the Clippers — he topped 20 points nine times during the playoffs and shot a career-high 43.3% from three-point range last season. Los Angeles holds his Early Bird rights and can offer him a starting salary worth up to nearly $10.4MM.

Money will be a key factor in Jackson’s decision, according to Schultz (via Twitter), who adds that the Pelicans may be a “sleeper team” in the race for the veteran point guard. New Orleans general manager Trajan Langdon is known to be a fan of Jackson.

There’s more news on free agency:

After completing a trade for Ricky Rubio, the Cavaliers are still searching for another point guard, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. Sources tell Fedor that Cleveland has looked at Raul Neto, who played for the Wizards last season, and Brad Wanamaker, who finished the season with the Hornets. Fedor lists a few other names still on the market, such as Frank Ntilikina, Ryan Arcidiacono, Tim Frazier, Jeff Teague, Elfrid Payton and Mike James. The Cavs still have their $9.5MM mid-level exception left, along with the flexibility to open spots on the roster.
Neto is among the backcourt options the Suns might consider in completing their roster, tweets John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7. Some others are Elfrid Payton, Dante Exum, Quinn Cook and Ryan Arcidiacono. Up front, Phoenix will likely look at Paul Millsap and possibly Isaiah Hartenstein, although Gambadoro isn’t sure about a potential reunion with Aron Baynes (Twitter link).
The Wizards have remade their roster in the past week, but the major moves may be done for now, according to Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link). He notes that the Spencer Dinwiddie trade will leave Washington too close to the luxury tax line to consider using its mid-level exception.

Cavaliers Interested In Danny Green

August 4th, 2021 at 1:37pm CST by Eli Cohen

Add the Cavaliers to the list of teams interested in Danny Green, reports ESPN’s Jordan Schultz. Schultz also confirms, in a follow-up tweet, that the Lakers remain interested in a reunion with Green, which Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports previously reported. It doesn’t appear the Lakers will be able to offer Green more than the veteran’s minimum though.