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Magic Waive Jared Cunningham

February 22nd, 2016 at 4:30pm CST by Chuck Myron

4:30pm: The move is official, the Magic’s public relations department announced via Twitter.

4:13pm: The Magic have waived Jared Cunningham, according to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link). The team hasn’t publicly acknowledged the move, but it took place today, according to Robbins. The release was expected, with Magic-employed beat writer John Denton going so far as to write that Orlando would cut the former 24th overall pick who came via Thursday’s trade with the Cavaliers. The reason Cunningham lingered on the Magic roster for as long as he did is because they were waiting on Channing Frye, who went to Cleveland in the swap, to pass his physical. He did so earlier today, according to Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Cunningham won his way onto the regular season roster for the Cavs with a strong preseason, averaging 12.4 points in 25.3 minutes per game, enough of a case for Cleveland to risk paying approximately $3.8MM in extra luxury tax penalties on top of their $947,276 obligation on his minimum salary. That risk became even more profound when the Cavs kept him past the date in January when his one-year contract became fully guaranteed. His tight bond with LeBron James surely didn’t hurt his case to stick around in Cleveland, but he averaged only 2.6 points in 8.9 minutes during the regular season, and the Cavs ultimately moved off his salary, and all the tax implications connected with it, on the final day possible, shipping him to the Magic.

The 24-year-old is still in line to make his full $981,348 salary, with the Magic on the hook for $947,276 of it and the league picking up the rest. That assumes he clears waivers, however. Every team except Orlando and Cleveland is eligible to claim him off waivers, as long as they have an open roster spot, and he seems like a decent candidate for a claim, given his first-round pedigree, relative youth and preseason performance.

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Pacific Notes: Green, Varejao, Dawson

February 22nd, 2016 at 3:35pm CST by Chuck Myron

Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers reportedly plans to try to re-sign Jeff Green this summer, and he’s glad to be reunited with his former Celtics player for several reasons. Rivers was effusive in his praise of Green to Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com, calling him one of the best NBA people ever (Twitter link), and he’s also a fan of what the combo forward can do on the court, as Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee details.

“I really wanted more length,” Rivers said of his goals going into the trade deadline, according to Jones. “When you look at the teams we have to beat, we need to get longer, more athletic, and we need to increase our shooting. And I think with Jeff we did all three of those things. … I thought of all the things that were offered, he was the best available for us.”

See more from the Pacific Division:
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Central Notes: Turner, Frye, Van Gundy

February 22nd, 2016 at 2:30pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Pacers have climbed to fifth place in the Eastern Conference and just how far they go this season rests heavily on how quickly and profoundly Myles Turner continues to develop, coach Frank Vogel told Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star. Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy, who took Stanley Johnson at No. 8, three spots before the Pacers drafted Turner, thinks Indiana’s rookie big man looks like a steal, Buckner notes.

“You would have to say fairly that he’s one of the most, if not the most, surprising players in the draft,” Van Gundy said. “I think everybody pretty much knew he was going to be a good player, but I think a lot of people thought it would take more time than this and he’s playing very well.”

Van Gundy had more to say about his own team, as we pass along amid news from the Central Division, where the Pistons aren’t the only ones liable to veto a trade:

  • The Cavaliers are being more cautious than usual as they put Channing Frye through a medical evaluation, cognizant of the heart condition that knocked him out for all of the 2012/13 season, multiple sources told Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com, but the Cavs aren’t concerned, a source tells Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com (ESPN Now link). Cleveland has until Tuesday to finish examining Frye before the trade with the Magic is ratified. The swap is separate from the one in which the Cavs dealt away Anderson Varejao.
  • The Pistons aren’t a top free agency destination, and Van Gundy knows it, which is why he’s willing to pay a premium for talent via trade, as he told TNT’s David Aldridge for the NBA.com Morning Tip. “I think for us, quite honestly, you’ve got to know who you are and where you are,” Van Gundy said. “We knew when we came, or had a pretty good idea when we came, our chances were the draft, which you only get one or two a year, and trades were going to be better for us. Especially in a summer where basically everybody is going to have money. We’re not at the point yet — we haven’t won enough yet, established enough yet, quite honestly — where we’re going to be at the top of the [free agent] list. So we’re going to end up overpaying for lesser players, is where we thought we’d be. And we got a chance to get really good players in trades. It fit exactly what we thought was the best path for us and the best strategy for us.”
  • Van Gundy deflected credit for the team’s trades to GM Jeff Bower and others in the Pistons front office, suggesting that he essentially just rubber-stamps the deals that Bower and company put together, as Aldridge and MLive’s Aaron McMann detail.
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Eastern Notes: Morris, Magic, Pistons

February 21st, 2016 at 7:45pm CST by Will Joseph

The Magic could create $45MM in cap space for this summer if Orlando makes a series of moves that include waiving Ersan Ilyasova by July 1st and renouncing the free-agent cap holds on Dewayne Dedmon, Brandon Jennings, Andrew Nicholson and Jason Smith, Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel details. The Magic like Ilyasova and Jennings, however, according to Robbins, so it is not a certainty that the team won’t retain them beyond this season.

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

  • The Pistons have until 6pm Eastern on Monday to further evaluate Donatas Motiejunas’ back condition after the league granted their request for a 24-hour extension of the typical 72-hour post-trade window, Detroit coach/executive Stan Van Gundy confirmed to reporters, including Keith Langlois of NBA.com (Twitter link).
  • The Wizards acquired Markeiff Morris on Thursday because of his versatility and toughness, Washington president Ernie Grunfeld told J. Michael of CSN Mid-Atlantic. Grunfeld also confirmed an earlier report from Michael that by acquiring Morris, the amount the Wizards can offer under the Disabled Player Exception they still have from waiving Martell Webster has dropped, lest the Wizards pass the luxury tax threshold. After this deal with Morris, the most the Wizards can offer through the DPE to a free agent without going over the tax is just slightly more than $1MM, according to Michael. “We feel like we needed a jolt at this time,” Grunfeld told Michael in reference to the addition of Morris.
  • Jeff Teague and Al Horford are the only remaining Hawks from Kirk Hinrich’s first tenure with the team, and both players are glad to see Hinrich return, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution relays.
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Clippers Notes: Wilcox, Pick, Stephenson

February 21st, 2016 at 12:51pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Clippers and Bulls discussed a C.J. Wilcox for Tony Snell swap that would have also cost Los Angeles a second round pick, Dan Woike of the Orange County Register reports. The Magic also reached out to the team, offering point guard Shabazz Napier in exchange for Wilcox, Woike adds. The Clippers declined both deals and the team believes that the shooting guard can be a contributor down the road.

“I think [Wilcox] can play. He has a lot of guys in front of him,” executive/coach Doc Rivers said. “He’s a great kid, a high-character kid. He works hard at it and I think that’s a kid that you hang on to.”

Here’s more from Los Angeles:

  • Rivers didn’t hesitate to deal away the Clippers‘ 2019 first-round pick because of the protections they had agreed to place on the pick, Woike relays in the same piece. “If we’re bad enough to be a lottery team, we get the pick,” Rivers said. “That wasn’t that awful for us.” 
  • The Clippers had nothing but praise for Lance Stephenson, who was dealt to Memphis in the Jeff Green trade, Rowan Kavner of NBA.com writes. “He was different than what I expected from afar,” Jamal Crawford said. “You see the blowing in the ear and stuff from a distance, and you’re like, ‘Oh, man.’ But when you get him, he’s a fun-loving guy. He’s always having fun, high energy. He was great.”
  • Rivers spoke highly of Stephenson as a person, but admitted he was a poor fit from a basketball standpoint, Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times relays via Twitter.
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Central Notes: Gasol, Bryant, Frye, Pistons

February 20th, 2016 at 8:42pm CST by Arthur Hill

The final third of the season will influence Pau Gasol‘s decision on whether to stay with the Bulls, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. The 35-year-old plans to opt out this summer, passing up $7,769,520 next season to take a shot at free agency. His future will largely be affected by how the injury-plagued Bulls perform in the crowded Eastern Conference race for playoff spots. “How these games play out will give me information of how I want to … or how my decision will be influenced for sure,’’ Gasol said. “How we handle this situation and if we’re able to overcome it, get more together and united and stronger or we give up or are content with it. Because that tells a lot, it tells you a lot about the character of a team and the people you are around.’’

There’s more news from the Central Division:

  • Kobe Bryant, who will play his final game in Chicago Sunday, came close to joining the Bulls in 2004, according to K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune. In the wake of the Lakers’ loss in the NBA Finals, and with relationships strained with coach Phil Jackson and teammate Shaquille O’Neal, Bryant wanted to use his free agency to get out of Los Angeles. He held a secret meeting with Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and executive John Paxson and strategized about how to get a sign-and-trade deal done with the Lakers. However, a few days later O’Neal asked for a trade, and Bryant spent 12 more years in L.A.
  • Channing Frye still hasn’t been cleared to play for Cleveland, but the organization isn’t concerned about his status, writes Tom Withers of The Associated Press. Frye, who was obtained from Orlando in a trade on Thursday, went through more medical exams today and did not accompany the Cavaliers on their trip to Oklahoma City. Coach Tyronn Lue said the franchise has “no concern at all” about Frye, who sat out the 2012/13 season with a heart condition.
  • The Pistons created a minuscule $211,795 trade exception equivalent to the difference between Joel Anthony‘s $2.5MM salary and the $2,288,205 salary for Donatas Motiejunas as a result of their trade Thursday, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter). Detroit took Marcus Thornton‘s salary into the minimum-salary exception.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

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Southeast Notes: Magic, Jennings, Morris, Hinrich

February 20th, 2016 at 7:35pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Magic scored an impressive $8,193,029 trade exception, equivalent to Channing Frye‘s salary, from Thursday’s trade with the Cavs, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). Orlando is poised to have enough cap room to sign two players to maximum-salary contracts this summer, so it’s likely that the team renounces that exception in July, but the Frye exception could still come in handy for trades around draft time. The Magic could choose to remain technically over the cap by keeping the cap holds for their own free agents and using sign-and-trades to bring in outside free agent targets. That would allow them to keep the sizable Frye exception until it expires next February, but sign-and-trades are inherently more difficult to pull off than conventional signings.

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

  • Magic coach Scott Skiles has been monitoring the progress of Brandon Jennings for years, writes John Denton of NBA.com. Orlando added depth to its backcourt this week by picking up Jennings in a trade with the Pistons. Skiles has been keeping an eye on the seventh-year guard, whom he coached for three and a half years in Milwaukee, and said Jennings “was playing the best basketball of his career’’ before the Achilles injury in January of 2015 that kept him out of action for about a year.
  • New Wizard Markieff Morris already feels at home in Washington, relays Keely Diven of CSNMidAtlantic. The power forward was traded Thursday from the Suns after a rocky season in Phoenix. He said reuniting with Marcin Gortat and Jared Dudley, who were his teammates on the 2011/12 Suns, made the transition easy.
  • Kirk Hinrich was caught off guard by a trade right before Thursday’s deadline that sent him from the Bulls to the Hawks, according to Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. This is the second stint in Atlanta for Hinrich, who was also traded there by the Wizards in 2011. “I was shocked but after it settled in I’m excited for the opportunity, whatever it may be,” Hinrich said of his latest trade. “I just didn’t see it coming. I’m in Cleveland doing my game-day routine and I got the phone call. I was a little surprised.”

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

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Eastern Notes: Morris, Frye, Varejao

February 20th, 2016 at 1:10pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy said he had no clue that Markieff Morris‘ situation in Phoenix would take the turn that it did when he acquired his twin Marcus Morris this past offseason, writes Ben Standig of CSNMidAtlantic.com. “I didn’t have any idea,” Van Gundy said. “We just knew that we liked Marcus. He was a good player, a professional guy, hard worker. We never had any problems from our end with it. I mean, Marcus was upset when it happened, upset at Phoenix, but it never had any effect on what we were doing in Detroit. He was a real professional.”

Markieff intends to approach his new situation with the Wizards the same way, Standing adds. He already has the support of Marcin Gortat and Jared Dudley, both of whom relayed positive things about Morris, the scribe notes. “You know, it’s just guys that actually know me, and not on the outside looking in,” Morris said. “Guys that I’ve actually played with and been in the locker room with. Things happen. It’s in my past. All I can do is move forward and learn from it. I’m happy to do it. And getting compliments from those guys means a lot. We’re good friends, we keep in touch. They know me as a person.”

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

  • The Cavaliers were able to land Channing Frye on Thursday despite having less in the way of assets to offer Orlando than the Clippers, who were also interested in the stretch-four, Jason Lloyd of The Akron Beacon Journal notes. Los Angeles backed away from Frye because of the two years and approximately $15MM remaining on his deal, a contract that Cleveland instead views as an asset with the cap set to jump this offseason, Lloyd adds.
  • The Hawks would be wise to consider signing center Anderson Varejao, whom Portland waived after acquiring him from the Cavaliers, Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders opines. Atlanta needs a backup center with Tiago Splitter lost for the remainder of the season, and inking Varejao would carry little risk and wouldn’t impact the franchise’s cap flexibility heading into the offseason, Greene notes.
  • Despite a somewhat slow start to his NBA career, Hornets coach Steve Clifford believes Frank Kaminsky will become a solid starter in the league thanks to how hard he works off the court, Gary D’Amato of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel relays. “He has an NBA game right now,” said Clifford. “His biggest issue is he’s physically not strong enough to play every night against the starters. He’s worked hard in the weight room. I think in another year you’ll see him take off because of his work ethic.” The 2015 No. 9 overall pick has appeared in 53 games this season and is averaging 7.6 points and 4.1 rebounds in 21.5 minutes per night.
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Magic, Al Horford Have Mutual Interest

February 19th, 2016 at 11:02am CST by Chuck Myron

The Magic and Al Horford share interest in each other with free agency looming for the big man and Orlando having opened plentiful cap room with its trades this week, a source told Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. Zach Lowe of ESPN.com tweeted Wednesday that he expects the Magic to push hard for the Jason Glushon client this summer. Horford remains with Atlanta, though he was reportedly in play for a trade as late as two hours before Thursday’s deadline.

Atlanta was nonetheless setting a high price in trade talks for the former University of Florida standout who holds the Hawks in high regard. His Bird rights are tied to Atlanta, meaning the Hawks are the only team that can offer him a fifth year in a contract, a factor that Lowe hears will be of utmost importance to the 29-year-old. The Hawks can also give him 7.5% raises instead of the 4.5% raises other teams are limited to, so a five-year package from Atlanta would be worth $36.852MM more than a four-year deal from the Magic or anyone else, based on the NBA’s projection of a $24.9MM maximum salary for players with Horford’s level of experience. However, Florida’s lack of a state income tax mitigates that difference, at least to some degree.

Deveney speculates about the prospect of Horford and fellow soon-to-be free agent Joakim Noah, Horford’s college teammate, joining forces in Orlando. Noah is unlikely to re-sign with the Bulls, Deveney writes, a view that conflicts with Bulls GM Gar Forman‘s optimism on the matter, which Forman expressed Thursday to reporters, including Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com (Twitter link). Noah and Magic coach Scott Skiles didn’t always see eye-to-eye when they were together on the Bulls, but much has changed since then, according to Deveney, and players generally like working under coach Scott Skiles despite his reputation as a hard-liner, Deveney writes.

The Magic have the flexibility necessary to spend on multiple high-profile free agents if they can attract them to Orlando. They have only about $36MM in guaranteed salary against a salary cap for next season that’s estimated to be between $89MM and $95MM. The Magic will also go after DeMar DeRozan, according to Deveney, but he’s consistently made it clear he wants to re-sign with the Raptors.

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Cavs Acquire Frye, Trade Varejao To Blazers

February 18th, 2016 at 11:54pm CST by Chuck Myron
Kim Klement / USA Today Sports Images

Kim Klement / USA Today Sports Images

4:52pm: The Cavaliers have acquired Channing Frye and traded Anderson Varejao to the Trail Blazers in a deal that’s officially structured as two separate trades, the Cavs announced via press release. The Blazers and Magic have also formally acknowledged their respective sides of the arrangement. The Cavs sent Varejao and their top-10 protected 2018 first-round pick to the Trail Blazers for their own 2020 second-round pick, which Cleveland had relinquished to Portland in a previous trade. Cleveland then sent it to the Magic, without protection, along with Jared Cunningham, for Frye. The Blazers subsequently waived Varejao, and John Denton of Magic.com confirms an initial report from Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports that the Magic will waive Cunningham (Twitter link).

The Cavs hadn’t been optimistic about landing Frye, believing the Clippers would outbid them, notes Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal (on Twitter), but L.A. wouldn’t bite on a reported proposal that reportedly involved Lance Stephenson and C.J. Wilcox. The Magic had been trying to trade Frye, according to an earlier report from Marc Stein of ESPN.com, who suggested the effort to find a taker for the 32-year-old would accelerate once the team traded Tobias Harris, Frye’s cousin. Frye has two years and nearly $15.228MM left on his contract after this season.

“Channing Frye is someone we know well. His length, floor spacing ability and locker room presence will impact us positively,” Cavs GM David Griffin said in the team’s statement. “He is a great fit with our group, both on the court and off, and we look forward to Channing, his wife Lauren, and their children, Hendrix and Margaux joining us here in Cleveland.”

The 32-year-old Frye has long been a prototypical floor-stretching big man, nailing 39.7% of his 3-pointers this season and 38.7% for his career. He averaged 17.1 minutes per game this season in Orlando, the second fewest of his career but more than Varejao, who saw 10.0 minutes per game this year in Cleveland, where he’s spent all of his 12 NBA seasons. The longtime confidant of LeBron James, who entered the league the same year Varejao did, saw his playing time slashed to new lows this season as he returned from an injury that prematurely ended last season for him.

“Anderson is a special player, teammate and person,” Griffin said. “Few players have earned the respect, support and admiration of an entire organization, fan base and community as Andy did here. Those are all things that made this a difficult deal to do. At the same time, we have a deep obligation to do whatever we can to reach our ultimate goal and we believe this was a deal that improves our team now and positions us better in the future as well. We thank Andy for his hard work, dedication and contributions to the Cavaliers and our community and wish him and his wife, Marcelle, the very, very best.”

The Cavs reportedly offered Varejao for Frye to the Magic, who were reluctant, but the Cavs insisted that they be able to offload Varejao somehow if they were to come away with Frye, wary of the tax implications of having both on the roster. Thus, the Blazers came into the picture, absorbing Varejao into their ample cap space and turning a second-rounder into a first for their trouble. Varejao has close to $10MM in guaranteed salary for after this season remaining on the extension he signed with the Cavaliers in 2014.

“This was an opportunistic way to use our cap room to acquire a valuable asset,” Blazers GM Neil Olshey said.

The pair of swaps save the Cavaliers an estimated $10MM in combined salary and projected luxury tax penalties, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com notes (Twitter link). Frye makes $8,193,029 this season, while Varejao has a $9,638,554 salary that increases slightly thanks to a 5% trade kicker. Cunningham makes the three-year veteran’s minimum salary of $981,348 but only costs $947,276, the equivalent of the two-year veteran’s minimum, to the Magic because he is on a one-year deal. Orlando will be stuck with that figure on its books, though that’s scarcely burdensome, since the subtraction of Frye takes the Magic significantly below the salary cap.

It’s somewhat surprising that Orlando isn’t keeping Cunningham, the 24th overall pick from 2012 whose NBA career was in jeopardy before a strong preseason performance in which he averaged 12.4 points per game allowed him to make Cleveland’s opening-night roster on what was initially a non-guaranteed deal. He forged a close kinship with LeBron. Regardless, neither he nor Varejao will be allowed to rejoin Cleveland this season even if they clear waivers and become free agents.

The Cavaliers used their $10,522,500 Brendan Haywood trade exception to accommodate the Frye trade, reducing its value to $2,329,471. The Varejao trade allows them to create a new sizable trade exception, worth $9,638,554, that won’t expire for another year. Offloading Cunningham allows the Cavs another new trade exception, worth $947,276.

Frank Isola of the New York Daily News first reported the Cavs would acquire Frye from the Magic (Twitter link). Sam Amick of USA Today had news of Varejao going to the Blazers (Twitter link), while Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports reported that the Blazers would waive him (Twitter link). USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt heard Cunningham was going to Orlando (Twitter link), while Marc J. Spears of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports relayed that he’d also be waived (Twitter link). McMenamin had word that the first-rounder was going to Portland (Twitter link), and Eric Gunderson of The Columbian heard that the first-rounder headed to Portland was top-10 protected (Twitter link). Spears reported the Magic would get a second-round pick (Twitter link). RealGM shows it’s Cleveland’s own 2020 pick and unprotected, and also confirms that the 2018 first-rounder going to Portland is Cleveland’s own.

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