Cleveland Cavaliers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Cavaliers Notes: Schedule, James, Sexton, Dekker

August 8th, 2018 at 6:19pm CST by Arthur Hill

As expected when LeBron James announced he was leaving for Los Angeles, the Cavaliers have fallen out of the mix for the NBA’s spotlight games. In the partial schedule announced earlier today, Cleveland isn’t included in any of the nationally televised games for the opening week, Christmas Day or Martin Luther King Day, notes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. It’s quite a change for the Cavs, who hosted last season’s opener and whose matchup with the Warriors had become a yuletide tradition.

Cleveland will have at least once marquee game on November 21 when James returns with the Lakers for his only appearance in the city this season, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN.

There’s more Cavaliers news to pass along:

First-round pick Collin Sexton tells Ben Stinar of Amico Hoops that he’s excited about the opportunity awaiting him in Cleveland. The eighth selection in this year’s draft, Sexton will be counted on to eventually become the primary creator in the Cavaliers’ offense. “My role will just be able to come in and learn and have an impact on the team,” he said. “No matter what it is, being a distributor, being a scorer. Just going out there playing my game and being the best me I can be.”
The Cavs get a B grade from ESPN’s Kevin Pelton for their acquisition of Sam Dekker. Cleveland needed to find someone who could fill both forward spots after losing James and Jeff Green to free agency, and Dekker, who was picked up from the Clippers at minimal cost, has shown an ability to handle both roles. Pelton states that Dekker is better than anyone the team could have signed in free agency.
Standing pat until the season starts may be the Cavaliers’ best strategy at this point, according to Evan Dammarell of Forbes. He says the Cavs wouldn’t have benefited from a rumored Kyle Korver for Jerryd Bayless swap with the Sixers and doubts that the Rockets, who have reportedly expressed interest in J.R. Smith have much to offer that Cleveland would want.

Cavs Had Interest In Trevor Booker Before He Signed With Shanxi

August 8th, 2018 at 3:09pm CST by Luke Adams

Alex Kennedy passes along a follow-up note on Trevor Booker‘s deal with China’s Shanxi Brave Dragons, tweeting that Booker received interest from the Cavaliers, Heat, and Timberwolves, and also turned down an offer from Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv before signing with Shanxi.

Clippers Trade Sam Dekker To Cavaliers

August 7th, 2018 at 11:10am CST by Luke Adams

AUGUST 7: The Cavaliers have officially acquired Dekker from the Clippers, the club announced today in a press release. The Clippers will receive the draft rights to Vladimir Veremeenko in exchange for Dekker, the draft rights to Renaldas Seibutis, and cash.

Veremeenko and Seibutis were drafted in 2006 and 2007, respectively, and aren’t expected to ever play in the NBA.

AUGUST 5: The Cavaliers are finalizing a trade with the Clippers that would see forward Sam Dekker dealt from Los Angeles to Cleveland, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). According to Wojnarowski (via Twitter), the two teams are still working out the specifics, but the trade will essentially allow the Clips to start clearing their roster logjam.

Dekker, 24, spent his first two NBA seasons in Houston after being selected 18th overall in the 2015 draft by the Rockets. He was included in last June’s Chris Paul blockbuster between the Rockets and Clippers, part of a package that also included Lou Williams, Patrick Beverley, and Montrezl Harrell, among others.

Dekker saw his minutes cut back on his new team in 2017/18, averaging just 12.1 MPG in 73 contests for the Clippers. The former Wisconsin standout recorded 4.2 PPG and 2.4 RPG with a .494 FG% for L.A.

Having re-signed several key players and added a few new ones this offseason, the Clippers were carrying 16 players on fully guaranteed contracts, a total that didn’t include Beverley and his non-guaranteed deal. As such, the club had been expected to trade or release a couple veterans before the start of the regular season in October. The Clips will get a head start on that cutdown process by moving Dekker and his guaranteed $2,760,095 salary. The move will also give the team a little extra breathing room below the tax line.

The Cavaliers won’t have to send out any salary in exchange for Dekker, since they have a traded player exception large enough to accommodate his salary. Cleveland created a $5.8MM trade exception last August in their Kyrie Irving trade with the Celtics — it’s the biggest of four TPEs currently held by the club, and is the only one sizable enough to fit Dekker’s salary. The Clips figure to create a new TPE of their own worth Dekker’s salary.

The move to Cleveland will give Dekker a chance at a fresh start, according to Jordan Schultz of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link), who hears from one source that “a lack of maturity and focus regarding basketball” have been issues for the young forward early in his career.

It will be interesting to see how the Cavaliers plan to use Dekker — he has served primarily as a four, but has spent a little time at the three as well. There may be a clearer path to playing time for Dekker at small forward, where Kyle Korver and Cedi Osman currently sit atop the Cavs’ depth chart, with David Nwaba perhaps entering the mix as well. But Dekker could potentially play at power forward alongside bigs like Kevin Love or Larry Nance in smaller lineups.

While the Cavs’ team salary will inch a little closer to the tax threshold with the acquisition of Dekker, it shouldn’t be a major concern for the team unless Nwaba is getting a lucrative deal and/or Rodney Hood receives a substantial raise.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

And-Ones: ROY Predictions, Offseason Rankings, NBAGL

August 6th, 2018 at 4:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Mavericks guard Luka Doncic has the best chance to win the Rookie of the Year award, according to an ESPN panel. Doncic will fill up the stat sheet and might wind up with the ball more often than second-year guard Dennis Smith Jr., according to Mike Schmitz. Top overall pick Deandre Ayton ranks second on the poll, with Schmitz noting that the Suns big man likely to get more playing time than any other rookie. Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr., Cavaliers point guard Collin Sexton and Bulls center Wendell Carter Jr. round out the top five.

We have more from around the league:

Retaining Paul George in free agency and dumping Carmelo Anthony‘s contract while receiving projected sixth man Dennis Schroder in return earned the Thunder the top spot on NBA.com’s David Aldridge’s offseason rankings. The rankings are based upon what teams have done during the offseason. The Lakers ranked No. 2 by virtue of signing LeBron James and handing out one-year contracts to other players, thus allowing them to be a force again in next year’s free agent market. The Nuggets gained the No. 3 spot by locking up Nikola Jokic and making trades that cleared roster spots and eased their luxury-tax situation.
Forwards DJ Hogg (Texas A&M) and Malik Pope (San Diego State) and swingman BJ Johnson (LaSalle) are among the top 10 prospects at the G League Invitational, according to Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype. The invitational takes place Sunday in Chicago and over a dozen of last year’s prospects received training camp invites afterward.
The Warriors’ over-under odds for wins next season is 62.5, according to Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook. The Celtics ranked second overall with a 57.5 over-under win total with the Rockets third at 54.5. The Hawks have the lowest projected win total at 23.5. The odds for each NBA team were passed along by ESPN’s Ben Fawkes.

Cavaliers Waive Okaro White

August 5th, 2018 at 3:07pm CST by Luke Adams

The Cavaliers have waived Okaro White to avoid guaranteeing half of his 2018/19 salary, according to Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com.

White, who signed a multiyear contract with the Cavs during the final week of the 2017/18 season, had a non-guaranteed salary for the coming year. However, $772,476 of that $1,544,951 salary would have become guaranteed if he had remained under contract through August 5. That essentially made today decision day for the Cavs — according to Vardon, the team asked White if he’d considering pushing his guarantee date back to the start of the regular season, but he declined.

Formerly a member of the Heat, White has appeared in 41 NBA games over the last two seasons for Miami, averaging 2.9 PPG and 2.3 RPG in 13.4 minutes per contest.

The Florida State alum, who missed a good chunk of the 2017/18 campaign with a broken foot, talked earlier this month about how he’s still working to mentally get over that injury. If another team is confident that he’s fully healthy, White could get another shot on a training camp invite or a two-way deal.

The Cavaliers have already lined up a replacement for White on their roster, as they’re in the process of finalizing a deal to acquire Sam Dekker from the Clippers.

Cavaliers Notes: Smith, Korver, White, Love

August 5th, 2018 at 10:21am CST by Arthur Hill

The Cavaliers’ expected deal with free agent guard David Nwaba doesn’t change the status of J.R. Smith or Kyle Korver because both players were already on the trading block, according to Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com. Appearing on a podcast with Chris Fedor from the same organization, Vardon says the Cavs would like to unload at least one veteran guard to cut down on their cap commitments. Smith will make $14.72MM in the upcoming season and has a $15.68MM player option for 2019/20. Korver has a $7.56MM salary with a $7.5MM player option the following year.

Cleveland is looking for a first-round pick in exchange for Korver, says Vardon, who adds that Philadelphia’s reported offer to swap Jerryd Bayless straight up for Korver wouldn’t have benefited the Cavs.

There’s more news from Cleveland:

Today marks a salary guarantee date for Okaro White, Vardon tweets. Half of the $1,544,951 he is owed for the upcoming season will become guaranteed if he isn’t waived by 5pm Eastern time. White, who missed much of last season with a broken foot, didn’t see any game action after signing with the Cavaliers in March, but he was able to play for their Summer League team.
LeBron James‘ departure has left Kevin Love as clearly the top talent on the roster, but he shouldn’t try to go back to being the player he was in Minnesota, writes Terry Pluto of Cleveland.com. Although Love put up impressive numbers with the Timberwolves, averaging 26.1 PPG in his final season there, he was often lazy on defense and was never able to lead that team to the playoffs, Pluto notes. He suggests that Love should embrace the lessons he has learned in four years with the Cavaliers and become an example to younger players of how to play winning basketball.
While losing James is obviously a huge step back for the organization, Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report identifies a few Cavaliers who could benefit from LeBron’s absence. He states that more playing time and a greater responsibility in the offense should help Love, along with Cedi Osman, Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance Jr. and Rodney Hood.

Ongoing Extension Talks Between Cavs, Nance

August 2nd, 2018 at 5:39pm CST by Luke Adams

Weeks before LeBron James officially announced his decision to head west, a report indicated that the Cavaliers and Larry Nance Jr. had mutual interest in working out a long-term contract agreement this offseason. According to Jordan Schultz of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link), the Cavs and Nance’s camp are now engaged in ongoing discussions about a possible extension, with both sides still hoping to get something done.

Nance, acquired from the Lakers by the Cavaliers in a trade-deadline deal in February, set new career-highs in PPG (8.7), RPG (6.8), FG% (.581), and several other categories during the 2017/18 season in 66 total games (24 for Cleveland).

Although Nance looked good down the stretch for the Cavs, he struggled to make a consistent impact in the postseason, particularly after the club’s first-round series against the Pacers. In Cleveland’s final three series, Nance averaged just 13.0 MPG in 13 contests, averaging 4.6 PPG and 4.5 RPG.

Still, the Cavs liked what they saw from the 25-year-old big man after surrendering a first-round pick to trade for him and Jordan Clarkson. Having already locked up Kevin Love to a long-term extension this summer, the club apparently views Nance as another potential future building block. If they want to get an extension done with Nance, the Cavs will have to do so before the 2018/19 regular season begins.

Nance entered July as one of 23 players eligible for a rookie scale extension. That number is down to 22 now that Devin Booker and the Suns have finalized a new deal. Nance looks like one of the prime candidates from the group to sign an extension before the deadline — Karl-Anthony Towns (Timberwolves), Bobby Portis (Bulls), Kristaps Porzingis (Knicks), Myles Turner (Pacers), and Justise Winslow (Heat) are among the other players who figure to at least engage in extension talks with their respective teams this offseason.

If Nance doesn’t sign an extension in the coming months, he’ll be eligible for restricted free agency in 2019, at which point the Cavs would retain the right of first refusal if they extend him a qualifying offer. That qualifying offer can be worth up to about $4.92MM if Nance starts at least 41 games for Cleveland next season.

Cavaliers Finalizing Deal With David Nwaba

August 1st, 2018 at 12:39pm CST by Luke Adams

The Cavaliers have agreed to sign free agent swingman David Nwaba, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter). According to Charania and Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com (Twitter link), Nwaba and the Cavs are still in the process of finalizing the details of the deal.

A former undrafted free agent, Nwaba had a solid season for the Bulls in 2017/18, averaging 7.9 PPG and 4.7 RPG while playing strong perimeter defense in 70 games (21 starts). He opened the month of July as a restricted free agent, but when Chicago made a series of cost-cutting moves to create the cap room necessary to sign Jabari Parker, rescinding Nwaba’s qualifying offer was one of those moves.

After Nwaba became an unrestricted free agent, Vardon reported that there was mutual interest between the 25-year-old and the Cavaliers. Nwaba also reportedly drew interest from the Lakers and Spurs, and Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News tweets that there was “lots of dialogue” with the Timberwolves, but Cleveland was aggressive in its pursuit.

According to Charania (via Twitter), the Cavs were in touch with Nwaba from the very first day of free agency and recruited him hard, meeting last week with the Los Angeles native.

While the terms of Nwaba’s deal with the Cavs aren’t yet known, the team has plenty of options for what it could have offered. Cleveland is over the cap, but still has its full mid-level and bi-annual exceptions available.

Nwaba will only be the 12th Cavaliers player on a fully guaranteed contract for 2018/19, though the club also has decisions to make on Rodney Hood‘s restricted free agency and Okaro White‘s non-guaranteed salary. With approximately $108MM in guaranteed money on their books before signing Nwaba or accounting for Hood or White, the Cavs will have one eye on the $123.73MM tax line as they fill out their roster.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Rockets Remain In Market For Wing Player

August 1st, 2018 at 10:18am CST by Luke Adams

The Rockets are poised to finalize a deal with Carmelo Anthony after he clears waivers later today, but signing Anthony won’t necessarily complete Houston’s offseason. As ESPN’s Zach Lowe details in a recent podcast conversation with Chris Herring of FiveThirtyEight, the Rockets remain in the market for at least one more wing player.

“They are going to get another wing,” Lowe said of the Rockets. “It’s going to happen.”

The Rockets lost two key forwards last month when Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute signed with new teams in free agency. Despite re-signing Gerald Green, adding James Ennis, and lining up a deal with Anthony, Houston could use another player with the ability to make threes on offense and guard talented perimeter players on defense.

Earlier this week, we heard that Houston has interest in Hawks swingman Kent Bazemore — Lowe and Herring discuss that possibility, with the ESPN analyst suggesting that the Rockets would likely offer Atlanta a package of Ryan Anderson and their 2019 first-round pick. However, the Hawks aren’t the only team the Rockets are keeping an eye on.

According to Lowe, the Rockets have also talked to the Heat. While Lowe doesn’t identify any specific Miami players that Houston is targeting, he speculates that perhaps the Rockets would be willing to offer that same package of Anderson and a pick for someone like Tyler Johnson.

The Rockets have also “kicked the tires” on Cavaliers shooting guard J.R. Smith, per Lowe. At $14.72MM, Smith has a smaller 2018/19 salary than players like Bazemore and Johnson, so the Cavaliers wouldn’t be able to trade him straight up for Anderson ($20.42MM) and a pick. Smith also only has a modest partial guarantee on his 2019/20 salary, making his contract much more palatable than Anderson’s. That could complicate any trade discussions between the two teams.

Although Lowe doesn’t go into more details on any other trade talks the Rockets might be having, there are a handful of other players around the NBA who would be logical targets as Houston dangles Anderson and a draft pick. Nicolas Batum, DeMarre Carroll, Marvin Williams, Danilo Gallinari, and Courtney Lee are other wings who make between $12-24MM in 2018/19 and are under contract for multiple seasons, though some players in that group are more realistic trade candidates than others.

Contract Talks Between Cavs, Hood Have Stalled

July 30th, 2018 at 1:43pm CST by Luke Adams

Contract talks between the Cavaliers and restricted free agent Rodney Hood have stalled for the time being, a source familiar with the negotiations tells Jordan Schultz of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). According to Schultz, Hood seems to be seeking a short-term deal that he feels is “fair,” but the Cavs have yet to put an offer on the table that he deems acceptable.

The Cavaliers appear to have earmarked a roster spot and a portion of team salary below the luxury-tax threshold for Hood, but have been unable to find common ground with one of the last two restricted free agents on the market. A recent report indicated that Cleveland is interested in re-signing Hood to a three-year deal — it’s not clear if that would work for the 25-year-old or if he’s seeking an even shorter term in order to return to free agency sooner.

Hood’s leverage is limited due to the lack of viable suitors left for him around the NBA. The Kings are the only team with significant cap room still available, but Sacramento has 15 players on guaranteed contracts and seems unlikely to make a play for the Cavs swingman at this point.

Hood can’t even realistically seek an offer sheet worth the full mid-level exception, since only two teams still hold that $8.641MM exception — one is the Cavs and one is the Jazz, who reportedly don’t have interest in a reunion with their former first-round pick.

The threat of signing his one-year, $3.47MM qualifying offer may help improve Hood’s position in negotiations, since he’ll be in line for a larger role in Cleveland in 2018/19 and could increase his stock in time for unrestricted free agency next summer. Still, taking that path would be a risk for Hood, since there’s no guarantee he’ll get better multiyear offers in 2019 than what the Cavs are offering now.