- Even though both Larry Nance Jr. and the Cavaliers wanted to complete an extension before Monday’s deadline, negotiations were challenging, according to reports from Joe Vardon of The Athletic and Terry Pluto of Cleveland.com. Agent Mark Bartelstein tells Vardon that he and the Cavs were “still engaged with 10 minutes to spare,” while Pluto writes that Nance had trouble eating and sleeping in the days leading up to the deadline, since he was anxious to get a deal done. The two sides ultimately agreed to a four-year, $44.8MM extension.
- A pair of Cavaliers trade exceptions expired when they went unused on Monday. The exceptions were modest — one created by trading Richard Jefferson last October was worth $2.5MM, while the other, created by trading Kay Felder, was worth approximately $1.3MM.
- It’s a moot point now, but if LeBron James had committed to staying with the Cavaliers this summer, Cleveland would have sent the No. 8 pick in the draft to the Hornets as part of a trade package for Kemba Walker, according to Lowe.
[SOURCE LINK]
9:08pm: The signing is official, according to the NBA.com transactions log. The contract is four years and $44.8MM, Joe Vardon of The Athletic tweets. Vardon adds (via Twitter) that the deal will have declining annual salaries, so year one will be worth $12.7MM while the fourth-year salary will be just $9.6MM.
3:55pm: The Cavaliers and Larry Nance Jr. have agreed to a rookie scale contract extension, beating today’s 5:00pm CT deadline, reports Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). League sources tell Haynes that Nance’s new deal with Cleveland is worth $45MM over four years.
Nance, 25, was acquired by the Cavs at last season’s trade deadline as part of a deal with the Lakers that also sent Jordan Clarkson to Cleveland. The athletic young big man struggled a little to adjust to his new team, playing just 15.4 minutes per game in the postseason, but he provided the Cavs with the sort of energy and athleticism that their frontcourt had been lacking.
For the season, Nance established new career highs with 8.7 PPG, 6.8 RPG, and a .581 FG%, showing an ability to run the floor, finish at the rim, and guard multiple positions on defense. He appeared to have a noticeable impact on defense — the Cavs had a 102.7 defensive rating during his minutes, compared to a 110.9 mark for the rest of the season.
We heard all the way back in June that there was “mutual interest” between the Cavaliers and Nance in a long-term extension, so he always seemed like one of the likeliest candidates among the players eligible for rookie scale extensions to get a deal done. His connection to Cleveland – where his father played and earned multiple All-Star nods – was likely a factor in those extension talks too.
While an average annual value of $11MM+ may seem steep for Nance, it’s not far off from the rookie scale extensions we’ve seen comparable players sign in recent years. When I previewed Nance’s case for an extension in August, I estimated an annual salary in the $12-12.5MM range on a four-year deal.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
- Larry Nance Jr.‘s rookie scale extension descends during the life of the contract, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. Nance signed a four-year, $44.8MM extension with the Cavaliers that kicks in next season. Joe Vardon of The Athletic was the first to report that Nance’s salary would steadily decline (Twitter link). His salary will go from $12.7MM next season to $11.7MM, $10.6MM and $9.6MM. That could help the Cavaliers open significant cap space in 2020, when it’s projected to rise to $116MM, Wojnarowski adds.
4:52pm: The Cavaliers have also waived Taylor, according to a second press release from the team. That leaves the club with 14 players on standard contracts and a pair on two-way deals.
3:47pm: The Cavaliers have waived guard Kobi Simmons and forwards Bonzie Colson and Emanuel Terry, the team announced today in a press release. Cleveland’s roster now stands at 17 players, including 15 on standard contracts.
Simmons, 21, spent last season on a two-way contract with the Grizzlies, appearing in 32 games for the NBA squad. In 20.1 minutes per contest, the rookie point guard contributed 6.1 PPG, 2.1 APG, and 1.6 RPG. However, he was waived by Memphis this summer and joined the Cavs for camp.
Colson spent the 2017/18 season at Notre Dame before going undrafted this spring, with foot injuries hurting his stock as a prospect. Terry signed with the Nuggets earlier this offseason but was cut by Denver and inked a deal with the Cavs on Thursday. Both players are candidates to join the Canton Charge, Cleveland’s G League affiliate.
If no more roster moves are forthcoming for the Cavs, that’s good news for guard Isaiah Taylor, the team’s only other player on a non-guaranteed deal. Taylor recently suffered a stress fracture in his leg, which is expected to sideline him for about a month, so it wasn’t clear whether or not he’d make the team.
- Cavaliers swingman Larry Nance Jr. suffered a right ankle sprain on Thursday and will undergo treatment before being re-evaluated, the team announced. Also, Isaiah Taylor received additional imaging on his left leg that revealed a stress fracture. Taylor could miss upwards of a month, putting his hope of making Cleveland’s roster in jeopardy, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com writes.
- Discussing his decision to ask the Cavaliers for a trade, Kyrie Irving called it the “best thing” he’s done. Howard Beck of Bleacher Report has that quote and much more in an in-depth feature on the Celtics‘ starting point guard.
Three days after being waived by the Nuggets, rookie forward Emanuel Terry has signed a second NBA contract. The Cavaliers issued a press release today announcing a deal with Terry.
Terry, who went undrafted in the 2018 NBA draft, spent four years playing college ball at Division II school Lincoln Memorial. In his senior year, he averaged 16.9 PPG, 10.3 RPG, and 2.2 BPG in 27.6 minutes per contest, leading the program to a South Atlantic Conference championship. He joined the Nuggets for Summer League play in July.
The Nuggets gave Terry a $35K guarantee when they signed him, and presumably hoped to make him a G League affiliate player. However, by signing him after he cleared waivers, the Cavaliers will now have Terry’s G League rights if he goes unsigned after he’s released again.
Cleveland may represent a better G League opportunity for Terry than Denver, since the Nuggets don’t have their own NBAGL affiliate. The rookie likely signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Cavs, which allows for a bonus worth up to $50K if a player spends at least two months with an NBA team’s G League affiliate after being cut by that team. The Nuggets weren’t permitted to include an Exhibit 10 bonus in their deal with Terry due to their lack of G League affiliate.
The 2018/19 NBA regular season will get underway in just five days, which means it’s time to get serious about predictions for the upcoming campaign. With the help of the lines from Bovada and the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook, we’re running through the predicted win totals for each of the NBA’s 30 teams, by division, to have you weigh in on whether you think those forecasts are too optimistic or too pessimistic.
Having started with the Atlantic and Southwest divisions this week, we’re moving onto the Central today…
Indiana Pacers
- 2017/18 record: 48-34
- Over/under for 2018/19: 47.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
(Trade Rumors app users, click here for Pacers poll)
Milwaukee Bucks
- 2017/18 record: 44-38
- Over/under for 2018/19: 47.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Ersan Ilyasova, Brook Lopez, Donte DiVincenzo, Pat Connaughton
- Lost: Jabari Parker, Jason Terry, Brandon Jennings
(Trade Rumors app users, click here for Bucks poll)
Detroit Pistons
- 2017/18 record: 39-43
- Over/under for 2018/19: 38.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
(Trade Rumors app users, click here for Pistons poll)
Cleveland Cavaliers
- 2017/18 record: 50-32
- Over/under for 2018/19: 30.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: David Nwaba, Channing Frye, Collin Sexton, Sam Dekker
- Lost: LeBron James, Jeff Green, Jose Calderon, Okaro White
(Trade Rumors app users, click here for Cavaliers poll)
Chicago Bulls
- 2017/18 record: 27-55
- Over/under for 2018/19: 29.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
(Trade Rumors app users, click here for Bulls poll)
Previous voting results:
- Boston Celtics (59.5 wins): Over (53.63%)
- Toronto Raptors (55.5 wins): Over (56.95%)
- Philadelphia 76ers (54.5 wins): Under (51.19%)
- Brooklyn Nets (31.5 wins): Under (56.04%)
- New York Knicks (28.5 wins): Under (54.13%)
- Houston Rockets (56.5 wins): Over (69.33%)
- New Orleans Pelicans (45.5 wins): Under (53.4%)
- San Antonio Spurs (44.5 wins): Under (60%)
- Dallas Mavericks (34.5 wins): Over (55.16%)
- Memphis Grizzlies (34.5 wins): Under (60.87%)