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Cavs Ink Mfiondu Kabengele To Three-Year Deal

May 1st, 2021 at 10:47am CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

MAY 1: The Cavaliers have made their deal with Kabengele official, per a press release on Saturday.

APRIL 30: With the second 10-day deal for Cavaliers big man Mfiondu Kabengele set to expire tonight, Cleveland plans to retain him for the rest of the season, with an opportunity to stick around for two more years, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Woj reports that the Cavaliers will ink Kabengele for the rest of the 2020/21 and will add non-guaranteed salaries for the ’21/22 and ’22/23 seasons to the deal. A three-year contract would mean that the Cavaliers are using a portion of their mid-level exception to complete the move.

Selected with the No. 27 pick out of FSU in 2019, Kabengele spent his rookie season and half of the 2020/21 season with the Clippers. He was included in a trade deadline deal to the Kings and ultimately waived, after which he caught on with Cleveland.

Across six games with the developing Cavaliers thus far, the 6’9″ 23-year-old is averaging 7.3 MPG.

Luke Adams contributed to this story.

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Anderson Varejão To Return To Cavs

April 30th, 2021 at 6:35pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Longtime Cavaliers center Anderson Varejão is returning to the franchise for the rest of the 2020/21 season, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Selected with the No. 30 pick in 2004 out of Brazil, Varejão proved to be a crucial two-way force on several LeBron James-fronted Cleveland clubs. Varejão’s tenure in Cleveland reached its personal peak when he made a 2009/10 All-Defensive Second Team. The veteran would be plagued by injuries that would cause him to miss more than half of his games during four of the next five seasons.

All told, the Brazilian big man logged nearly 12 full seasons with the team, in addition to spending parts of two years with the Warriors. Varejão last suited up in the NBA for 14 games with Golden State during the team’s eventful 2016/17 season. He holds career league averages of 7.3 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 0.9 SPG and 0.6 BPG.

Varejão most recently served stints in 2018 and 2019 with Brazilian club Flamengo.

The 38-year-old vet could see spot minutes behind starting center Jarrett Allen and his primary backup Isaiah Hartenstein, on a rebuilding Cleveland roster with its eye on the lottery. At 21-41, the Cavaliers are the No. 13 seed in the East, seven games behind the tenth-seeded Wizards for a shot at the NBA’s play-in tournament. Bringing back a fan favorite now will be a fun wrinkle as the team embraces its fate and prepares for the 2021 draft.

Given their plans to re-sign Mfiondu Kabengele, the Cavs won’t technically have an open spot on their 15-man roster to sign Varejão, but the club is hoping to receive approval for a hardship exception to add a 16th man, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, who refers to Varejão’s anticipated deal as a “celebratory contract.” It may end up being a 10-day pact rather than a rest-of-season contract, depending on when it’s completed, Fedor adds.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Cavs Still Lack Rebuild Centerpiece

April 30th, 2021 at 10:34am CST by Luke Adams
  • The Cavaliers have some promising young talent on their roster, but still lack a potential franchise player who can be the centerpiece of the rebuild, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, who points out that the Cavs’ recent skid should put them in a better position to draft one of those players this summer.
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Prince Considered Surgery BeforeSeason; Appraising Cleveland's Offseason Options

April 29th, 2021 at 5:32pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum
  • Though Cavaliers forward Taurean Prince only underwent season-ending ankle surgery this past Tuesday, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com tweets that the issue is relatively long-term. The swingman considered surgery to address the issue even prior to the start of the 2020/21 season, per Fedor.
  • With a 21-41 record, the Cavaliers are currently the No. 13 seed in the East and are bound for the 2021 draft lottery in what looks to be a stacked year. Kelsey Russo and Sam Vecenie of The Athletic appraise the various draft scenarios and trade options available to Cleveland as it heads into the offseason. The Athletic’s duo also considers which players among their intriguing roster that includes Darius Garland, Collin Sexton, rookie Isaac Okoro, and Jarrett Allen are keepers and which could be more valuable in trades.
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Kevin Love Discusses Inbounds Incident

April 28th, 2021 at 2:31pm CST by JD Shaw

Cavaliers forward Kevin Love had no malicious intent behind his inbounds play that resulted in an easy Raptors basket in the team’s 112-92 loss to Toronto on Monday, he told USA TODAY’s Mark Medina.

The incident occurred toward the end of the third quarter after Raptors big man Freddie Gillespie bumped into Love, who subsequently traveled into the basket stanchion. Love, upset about a non-call, angrily swatted at the ball when a referee threw it to him to inbound. Raptors forward Stanley Johnson stole Love’s spiked pass on the play, dishing to a trailing Malachi Flynn for three.

The Cavaliers handled the matter internally and Love apologized for his poor attitude, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.

“Not to say too much that could get me fined, but it was the officiating,” Love told Medina. “When I snagged that ball, I didn’t realize it wasn’t even inbounds. I was a little thrown off. I was going to go grab it and throw back into passing the ball to DG (Darius Garland) and move on. I get the optics. That’s something I have to take on the chin and understand that was a very bad look.”

Love, a 13-year veteran, has two years and $60.2MM remaining in his deal after the season. He was a valuable floor-spacer and locker room voice in the team’s championship run just five years ago. However, he has expressed his frustration on the court multiple times in recent years,

“I never want that to be who I am,” Love told reporters on Wednesday, as relayed by Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. “I don’t want to be here and defend my character. Everything I do comes from a good place. This isn’t woe is me. These guys ride with me. I apologized. We’ve moved on. We even talked about it today, but I mean I know the perception and the way people want to make this. Me being a leader for the team and I know I’m going to take that on the chin. I’m going to be a man and take it on the chin.”

The Cavaliers are just 21-40 with 11 games left on the schedule. The team ranks six games behind the Wizards for the No. 10 seed and has only seen Love play in 18 games this season due to injury.

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Cavs Sign Jeremiah Martin To Two-Way Contract

April 28th, 2021 at 10:21am CST by Luke Adams

APRIL 28: The Cavaliers have officially signed Martin to his two-way deal, a source tells our JD Shaw (Twitter link).

APRIL 22: The Cavaliers intend to fill their open two-way slot by signing free agent guard Jeremiah Martin to a two-way contract, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Cleveland promoted two-way player Lamar Stevens to the 15-man roster last week, and a report at the time suggested that the club would sign a new two-way player soon.

Martin, 24, spent part of the 2019/20 season on a two-way contract with Brooklyn, averaging 7.1 points and 2.0 assists in nine games (11.0 MPG) for the Nets. He joined Brooklyn’s G League affiliate, the Long Island Nets, for the ’20/21 bubble season and played well, recording 18.5 PPG, 5.1 APG, and 2.3 SPG in 15 contests (31.8 MPG).

Once his deal with the Cavs is official, Martin will join Brodric Thomas as the team’s players on two-way contracts.

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Taurean Prince Undergoes Arthroscopic Ankle Surgery

April 28th, 2021 at 10:03am CST by Luke Adams

Cavaliers forward Taurean Prince has undergone arthroscopic surgery on his left ankle, the team announced today in a press release. The procedure took place on Tuesday in New York.

Prince had been experiencing ongoing discomfort in his left ankle for several weeks, and there had long been an expectation that he’d undergo surgery during the offseason. However, as was reported last week, he and the team opted to move up that procedure, completing it before the end of the 2020/21 season.

The Cavaliers didn’t provide a specific timeline for Prince’s recovery, simply stating that he has been ruled out indefinitely. It’s safe to assume his season is over and that he’ll aim to be ready by the fall, but the club says his return to basketball activities will be updated as appropriate.

Prince, who started the season in Brooklyn, was sent to Cleveland in the four-team James Harden trade in January. He has appeared in a total of 41 games for the Nets and Cavs this season, averaging 9.5 PPG and 3.5 RPG with a very solid .400 3PT% in 22.1 minutes per contest.

Prince will be entering a contract year in 2021/22 — his expiring $13MM salary could make him a trade candidate either in the offseason or at next year’s deadline.

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Kevin Love Apologizes To Team For Monday Outburst

April 27th, 2021 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Cavaliers forward Kevin Love apologized to his team after committing a turnover out of frustration during Monday night’s game that led to an easy Raptors three-pointer, writes Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. Love, who was upset about a non-call, angrily swatted at the ball when a referee threw it to him to inbound — that swat put the ball in play, where it was snatched up by Raptors forward Stanley Johnson, leading to a Malachi Flynn three (video link).

It was a childish outburst from a player who is ostensibly one of the Cavaliers’ veteran leaders, contends Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. According to Haynes, the club intends to handle the matter internally and may fine Love, though Jason Lloyd of The Athletic suggests a one-game suspension might be a more appropriate penalty.

Haynes writes that the incident – which isn’t the first time that the former All-Star has expressed frustration with his in-game actions – will lead to questions about whether Love’s time in Cleveland may come to an end this offseason, and Lloyd also wonders if the two sides should discuss parting ways. However, Love still has two years left on his contract after this season, and the $60MM in guaranteed money left on that deal will make it challenging for the Cavaliers to find a favorable trade.

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Checking In On Active 10-Day Contracts

April 27th, 2021 at 8:48am CST by Luke Adams

Since the NBA’s 10-day signing window for the 2020/21 season officially opened in February, a total of 54 separate 10-day deals have been finalized. Many of those signings have be completed since the trade deadline passed a month ago — 36 10-day contracts have been signed in April alone.

With so much action on the 10-day market, we’re taking a little time today to check in on the 10-day deals that are still active, exploring which of those players are eligible for additional 10-day contracts and which teams are still shuttling players in and out of their back-end roster spots.

Here, with the help of our 10-day tracker and our roster counts page, are the players on active 10-day deals:

Players on their first 10-day contracts:

These players will all be eligible for a second 10-day contract once their current deals expire. In the case of Brown, it’s possible the Thunder would just sign him to a rest-of-season deal if they’re comfortable keeping him around, since a second 10-day deal would run through at least May 14. The regular season ends on May 16.

Players on their second 10-day contracts:

These players won’t be eligible for a new 10-day contract when their current deals expire, since a player can’t sign three 10-day deals with the same team in a single season. It’s a safe bet that some of these players will receive rest-of-season contracts though — I’d be shocked if the Raptors let Gillespie get away, for instance.

Any team here that opts not to re-sign a player to a rest-of-season contract would open up a roster spot, which could be used on another 10-day trial before the regular season ends. Golden State and Portland are carrying just 14 players at the moment, so they’d have each two open roster spots if they don’t re-sign Payton and Hollis-Jefferson, respectively.

There are a handful of other teams that could still take advantage of the 10-day contract before the end of the season. The Heat, Timberwolves, Pelicans, Kings, Spurs, and Wizards all have at least one open roster spot.

The Heat and Pelicans are right up against the luxury tax line and may be done with 10-days for the season, preferring rest-of-season commitments if and when they fill their roster openings. The Wolves, Spurs, and Wizards may end up going that route too, but for now they’re still decent candidates for 10-day signings.

The Kings, meanwhile, had Damian Jones on a pair of 10-day contracts before his second deal expired on Monday night. Head coach Luke Walton spoke positively about Jones’ contributions to the team, as Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee relays (via Twitter), so the veteran center could end up getting a rest-of-season contract. If so, Sacramento would have a full roster and would likely be done with 10-days for the season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Osman Returns To Rotation, Fares Well

April 26th, 2021 at 5:27pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Cedi Osman has temporarily regained a rotation spot, giving the Cavaliers forward another shot to prove his value before the season ends, Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes. Due to injuries, Osman made his first start since March 26 and his first appearance since April 14 on Sunday. Osman, whose front-loaded contract lasts through the 2023/24 season, had 19 points and five assists in 37 minutes.

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