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Cavaliers Notes: Garland, Love, Blossomgame, Mitrou-Long

June 22nd, 2019 at 8:41pm CST by Arthur Hill

Darius Garland won over Cavaliers management with an impressive shooting performance in a workout last week, relays Joe Vardon of The Athletic. The Cavs sent a sizable contingent to Los Angeles to watch Garland in his first pre-draft session. He didn’t disappoint, sinking shots from all over the court and reportedly going five or six minutes without missing.

“We saw him take 30-footers and flick them like it was nothing,” general manager Koby Altman said.

The Cavaliers had been hoping to draft De’Andre Hunter, but didn’t have the resources to trade up to No. 4. They also liked Jarrett Culver, but Garland changed their minds with his shooting display. Vardon reports that new coach John Beilein was seen cheering on the Vanderbilt guard as he hit one shot after another.

“It was like, ‘OK, how could this work out?’” Altman said. “We started to get fascinated with the idea.”

There’s more Cavaliers news to pass along:

Cleveland is talking to teams interested in Kevin Love, but hasn’t made any progress toward a trade, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said during an appearance this week on WKNR in Cleveland (hat tip to Joseph Zucker of Bleacher Report). “It’s hard to find the right deal for him,” said Windhorst, who put the odds of a trade at 50-50. He noted it would be easy to find a taker for Love if the Cavs just wanted to unload the four years and $120MM left on his contract, but because he’s one of their few tradable assets they want to get something of value in return.
The Cavaliers won’t extend a qualifying offer to two-way player Jaron Blossomgame, tweets Cleveland-based basketball writer Chris Manning. The 25-year-old small forward signed with the Cavs in December and played 27 games at the NBA level, averaging 4.2 PPG. He posted an 18.5/7.5/2.2 line in 35 G League contests. He will be an unrestricted free agent.
Naz Mitrou-Long, who had a two-way contract with the Jazz this season, will join the Cavaliers for Summer League, a source tells Eric Woodyard of The Deseret News (Twitter link). The 25-year-old shooting guard got into 14 games for Utah, averaging 6 minutes per night.

Team USA Announces 20-Player Camp Roster For World Cup

June 10th, 2019 at 10:22am CST by Luke Adams

USA Basketball has officially announced the group of 20 players that will participate in training camp this summer in advance of the 2019 FIBA World Cup. The camp will take place from August 5-9, and will be used to select the 12-man roster for this year’s World Cup in China.

The 20-man training camp roster is as follows:

Harrison Barnes (Kings)
Bradley Beal (Wizards)
Anthony Davis (Pelicans)
Andre Drummond (Pistons)
Eric Gordon (Rockets)
James Harden (Rockets)
Tobias Harris (Sixers / FA)
Kyle Kuzma (Lakers)
Damian Lillard (Trail Blazers)
Brook Lopez (Bucks / FA)
Kevin Love (Cavaliers)
Kyle Lowry (Raptors)
CJ McCollum (Trail Blazers)
Khris Middleton (Bucks)
Paul Millsap (Nuggets)
Donovan Mitchell (Jazz)
Jayson Tatum (Celtics)
Myles Turner (Pacers)
P.J. Tucker (Rockets)
Kemba Walker (Hornets / FA)

“I am excited about getting to training camp in August and working with all of the players that have been selected to attend the USA National Team training camp in Las Vegas,” Team USA head coach Gregg Popovich said in a statement. “We’ve got an excellent cross-section of veteran USA Basketball and NBA players, as well as some exciting younger players who possess amazing versatility.

“I’m appreciative of commitment that our National Team players continue to make, and the eagerness of the new players to become involved,” Popovich continued. “Selecting a 12-man team will be extremely difficult.”

It will be an eventful summer for many of the players on the 20-man Team USA training camp roster. Besides Harris, Lopez, and Walker, who are all headed for unrestricted free agency and could be on new teams by August, players like Barnes, Middleton, and Millsap could reach the open market if their player or team options are declined. Others – including Davis, Gordon, Kuzma, Tatum, and Tucker – have been mentioned in trade rumors.

Kuzma and Mitchell are the only players on the roster who haven’t played internationally for Team USA in the past. Five player on the roster (Barnes, Davis, Harden, Love, and Lowry) have won gold medals for USA Basketball at the 2012 or 2016 Olympics, while two others (Drummond and Gordon) have taken home gold at previous World Cups.

Previous reports indicated that Zion Williamson, John Collins, and Marvin Bagley are expected to be among the players named to a 10-man select team that will scrimmage with Team USA’s 20-man roster at the training camp in August.

More Names Revealed For Team USA World Cup Tryouts

June 5th, 2019 at 5:57pm CST by Arthur Hill

Team USA’s training camp roster for the FIBA World Cup will be announced next week, but four players have already been confirmed, tweets Marc Stein of The New York Times.

Anthony Davis, James Harden, Donovan Mitchell and Kemba Walker will definitely be part of the team, while the other 14 slots are still being worked out. The roster will be trimmed to 12 when the players gather in Las Vegas in early August to prepare for the tournament, which takes place from August 31 to September 15 in China.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski drops a few more names in a full story on the World Cup tryouts, which sources tell him are also expected to include Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum, Bradley Beal and Kevin Love. Others planning to be part of the camp include Eric Gordon, Jayson Tatum, Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez, LaMarcus Aldridge, Andre Drummond and Kyle Kuzma.

P.J. Tucker will attend training camp as well, tweets ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, and league sources tell Woj that Paul Millsap also plans to be there. Other names leaked for the camp are Tobias Harris (Twitter link from Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer) and Myles Turner (Twitter link from Scott Agness of the Athletic).

Zion Williamson, expected to be the first pick in the draft later this month, has been invited to camp as part of the 10-man select team that will scrimmage against the 18-man roster, Stein tweets. Williamson will be given a chance to play his way onto the final roster if he has a standout performance in that role, according to USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo (Twitter link).

The select team will also include John Collins and Marvin Bagley, tweets Tim Bomtemps of ESPN.

The camp will be held from August 5-8, with exhibition games to follow before the start of World Cup play. Gregg Popovich will serve as head coach.

Central Notes: Love, Clarkson, Pacers, Brown

June 2nd, 2019 at 10:29am CST by Arthur Hill

The Cavaliers continue to view Kevin Love as an important part of their rotation and are unlikely to make him available in trade talks this summer, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. In addition to his on-court production, Cavs management likes having the five-time All-Star around as a veteran leader as the team continues to rebuild after losing LeBron James.

Fedor adds that when the front office gave Love a four-year extension last summer, it viewed him as part of the foundation for the future, along with Collin Sexton, Cedi Osman, Larry Nance Jr. and this year’s first-rounder, which landed at No. 5. Love played just 22 games last season, and Fedor doesn’t believe it’s likely that a team would make a significant offers to the Cavaliers given Love’s age, contract and injury risk.

There’s more from the Central Division:

Jordan Clarkson could be a valuable trade piece heading into the final year of his contract, and the Cavaliers may start talks as early as this summer, Fedor adds in the same piece. Clarkson averaged a career-high 16.8 points per game off the bench this season and has an affordable $13.4MM salary for next year. Fedor states that Cleveland may have to take on long-term salary, but he expects the organization to receive a first-round pick or a pair of second-rounders in exchange for Clarkson.
With the Pacers facing six important free agent decisions this summer, J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star examines the pros and cons of keeping each player. What the team does with Thaddeus Young, Cory Joseph, Darren Collison, Kyle O’Quinn, Bojan Bogdanovic and Wesley Matthews will shape the offseason, and it could create about $45MM in cap room by letting them all go.
The city of Milwaukee is considering a $400K settlement with Sterling Brown regarding an incident in which police officers allegedly used a stun gun to arrest him over a parking violation, writes Ivan Moreno of The Associated Press. Brown, who sued the city over the incident, received an apology from Police Chief Alfonso Morales. Milwaukee’s Common Council has a June 10 vote scheduled on the proposed settlement.

Cavaliers Notes: Barrett, Gilbert, Shunnar, Love

May 25th, 2019 at 6:19pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Cavaliers believe R.J. Barrett might be the leading scorer among next year’s rookies, but the prospect of trading up to the No. 3 pick would be difficult, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. A front office representative told Fedor that the Cavs put Barrett on the same level as Ja Morant, who is expected to be selected second, with a clear drop-off in talent after the top three.

The main obstacle to moving up, according to Fedor, is the Knicks’ potential asking price. The Mavericks executed the exact same scenario last season, moving from No. 5 to No. 3, and had to give up this year’s first-rounder to Atlanta. New York’s desire to deal the pick is unclear because the Knicks are counting on hitting the jackpot in free agency, which won’t begin until 10 days after the draft.

Cleveland already has a top-10 protected first-rounder headed to Atlanta next year from the Kyle Korver trade, so the Cavs won’t be able to offer a first-round pick prior to 2022’s selection in any deal.

There’s more today out of Cleveland:

Owner Dan Gilbert is willing to pay the luxury tax to help the team improve, Fedor adds in the same piece. GM Koby Altman has received approval to enter tax territory if necessary, and the Cavs displayed a willingness to add salary this season, taking unwanted contracts from the Bucks and Rockets to get extra draft assets. Cleveland is looking at cap relief after the 2019/20 season, with only $42MM currently committed.
Michigan graduate manager Jay Shunnar could be the next addition to the Cavaliers’ staff, Fedor adds. At 28, Shunnar may be too young to become an assistant coach, but Fedor states that John Beilein values his input and might give him some other job in the organization. A source tells Fedor that Wolverines assistant Luke Yaklich is unlikely to join the Cavs.
One season into his four-year, $120MM contract, Kevin Love is unlikely to be traded this summer, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN (Insider account). Marks believes Love’s contract is still an issue because he wouldn’t get a similar deal if he were on the free agent market. Also, Cleveland isn’t in line to compete for the top players in free agency, so there’s not much value in unloading Love’s salary. After missing 105 games in the past three seasons, Love has to prove he can stay healthy before teams start to show interest.

Central Notes: Bledsoe, Pachulia, Love, Bucks

March 4th, 2019 at 6:58pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The final year of Eric Bledsoe’s $70MM contract extension with the Bucks has a $3.9MM partial guarantee in the final season, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. The extension became official on Monday.

Bledsoe’s $19.375MM salary that season would be fully guaranteed if he’s on the roster beyond June 30, 2022, Charania adds. The cap hits for the first three years of the extension are $15.62MM, $16.87MM and $18.12MM, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets.

Bledsoe, who is not eligible to be traded until September 4, will rank 13th in salary next season among point guards around the league, and that doesn’t include impending free agents Kemba Walker, Kyrie Irving and D’Angelo Russell, Marks adds.

We have more news from around the Central Division:

Pistons reserve center Zaza Pachulia has been fined $25K by the league for confronting and verbally abusing a game official and failing to leave the court in a timely manner upon being ejected, according to an NBA press release. Pachulia was tossed against Toronto in the second quarter on Sunday after arguing a no-call and getting assessed two technicals.
Kevin Love has no regrets about signing an extension with the Cavaliers this summer but he wishes he could have been a bigger part of their season, as he explained to Jason Lloyd of The Athletic. Love missed a chunk of the season after undergoing foot surgery and the Cavaliers soon went in rebuild mode. “There have been some bright spots in terms of younger guys getting better,” he said. “But it’s been tough, especially stepping into a leadership role and then you’re not out there for three months.” Love also weighed in on the Zion Williamson situation, saying the Duke star and likely No. 1 overall pick shouldn’t return this season from his knee sprain, “If I were him, I’d probably say, especially after a scare like this, I’d heavily consider telling the NCAA to pay us or else shutting it down and doing what’s best for his family,” Love said. “That kid is really an exceptional talent … I would lean toward not coming back.”
Bucks GM Jon Horst deserves more credit for the team’s success, Matt John of Basketball Insiders argues. Trades and free agent signings that brought in Bledsoe, Ersan Ilyasova, Brook Lopez and Nikola Mirotic greased the skids for Milwaukee’s rise to the top of the Eastern Conference. Horst also made other moves that improve the team’s salary-cap flexibility going forward, John adds.

Kevin Love Wants To Play Every Remaining Game

February 20th, 2019 at 7:26pm CST by Arthur Hill

Kevin Love sat out 50 games because of foot surgery, but the Cavaliers‘ star forward doesn’t expect to miss any more, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.

Love told reporters today that he plans to play in all 24 remaining games, even though the Cavaliers have fallen far out of the playoff race and are in a four-way competition to be among the three teams with the best odds at landing the top pick in the draft.

“I think you’ll see me more on a steady basis and not miss games after the break, I’m hoping,” Love said. “So just continue to improve the minutes and make sure that I’m feeling good and go from there.”

Love has seen brief action since making his return on February 8. He played about six minutes that night against the Wizards, skipped the next game, then played 16 minutes February 11 against the Knicks. The Cavs rested him for the final contest before the All-Star break.

Love will be kept on a minutes restriction until team doctors clear him for full-time duty, coach Larry Drew told Fedor. He was able to play five-on-five today without any physical problems and is working to regain his conditioning.

Love has four years and more than $120MM left on the extension he signed last summer. He has insisted he wants to remain in Cleveland even as the team undergoes a rebuilding process.

Central Notes: Pacers, Love, Dunn

February 3rd, 2019 at 5:26pm CST by Austin Kent

The Pacers, fresh off of a season-worst four-game losing streak, lack swagger without star Victor Oladipo, J. Michael of the Indianapolis Star writes. And it’s not just at the end of close games.

Michael notes that plenty of the Pacers’ struggles could be addressed by the addition of an established shot-maker, the likes of which could very realistically be available when the buyer’s market typically ramps up after the trade deadline.

If a player like Wesley Matthews, who was recently acquired by the Knicks in their Kristaps Porzingis‘ trade, has his expiring contract bought out, he could be of great service to a team like the Pacers.

There’s more from the Central Division:

For the first time in over three months, Cavaliers forward Kevin Love is taking part in 5-on-5 contact practices, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com writes. Love’s last taste of action was on Oct. 24, prior to undergoing surgery to repair a toe injury. Guard David Nwaba, who has missed 18 games of his own, did not fare as well in the practice — the Cavs have pulled back somewhat on his rehab process.
Despite reports that the Bulls will be gauging Kris Dunn‘s worth over the final 30 games of the regular season, the 24-year-old former fifth-overall pick is unfazed. The third-year-guard tells Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times that he’ll compete anywhere he ends up, just as he has this year, through a knee injury and mid-season coaching change.
Newly appointed All-Star Khris Middleton had high praise for the Bucks organization, Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tweets. “For us,” Middleton told Velasquez, referring to himself and Giannis Antetokounmpo,”It’s not being in the right market, it’s being with the right team. This organization laid down everything that they can to make sure we succeeded.”

Latest On Kevin Love

January 24th, 2019 at 1:15pm CST by Luke Adams

It was exactly six months ago today that Kevin Love signed a four-year contract extension with the Cavaliers that locked him up through the 2022/23 season. That means, since players who sign veteran extensions can’t be dealt for six months, Love is now once again eligible to be traded.

With two weeks left until the February 7 deadline, it’s possible the Cavs will explore the trade market in search of a Love deal, but there are two potential roadblocks in the way of such a move. Love’s health is one of those roadblocks. The other? Cleveland may just not want to trade him.

Sources tell Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com that the Cavaliers’ stance on Love hasn’t changed since he signed his extension, and that the club wants to keep him in Cleveland for the foreseeable future. According to Fedor, the franchise values his leadership and his “set-the-tone work ethic” in addition to what he can do on the court when he’s healthy.

Even if the Cavs wanted to move Love, his health would be a red flag for any potential trade partner, though he appears to be making progress toward a return from his foot injury. According to Joe Vardon of The Athletic (Twitter link), the veteran power forward participated fully in a non-contact practice for the Cavs today.

Last we heard, Love was unsure about his recovery timeline, speculating that he may be ready to play again sometime around the All-Star break. Head coach Larry Drew said that there’s still no timetable for Love’s return, per Vardon.

Central Notes: Burks, Hood, Bullock, Cavs, LaVine

January 21st, 2019 at 6:31pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Guards Alec Burks and Rodney Hood are the players most likely to be moved by the Cavaliers before the trade deadline, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic. Burks was acquired from Utah last month because of his movable $11.5MM expiring contract. He can provide scoring off the bench, defense and ball-handling for a playoff contender. Hood is a skilled player on an expiring $3.4MM contract, though he can’t be traded without his approval since he’s playing on a qualifying offer. Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson and Jordan Clarkson are other Cleveland players who could be moved at the right price. GM Koby Altman is seeking draft picks, multi-year contracts of expensive players who could be traded in the future, and young players with potential, Vardon adds.

We have more from around the Central Division:

Pistons shooting guard Reggie Bullock and backup point guard Ish Smith are garnering trade interest, Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press reports. Detroit would like to re-sign both players, who are on expiring contracts, Ellis continues. Bullock is making $2.5MM this season and Smith is pulling in $6MM. An offer of a first-round pick could entice Detroit to move Bullock, Ellis adds.
The steady diet of losses is weighing on the Cavaliers, Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes. The injury-riddled Cavs went 1-5 on their just concluded road trip. The Cavaliers don’t want to think that the rest of the season will be a slog to the finish line. “I don’t accept that,” Clarkson said. “I’m trying to compete in games. It’s tough. But we don’t even have a team. You’re playing Channing (Frye) right now and he wasn’t even getting no minutes this year. All these guys dealing with injuries and stuff like that. Sometimes coming into the game a little overmatched. But I’m not set on this is how we are.”
Bulls guard Zach LaVine took a veiled shot at coach Jim Boylen after the team’s loss to Miami over the weekend, Michael Walton of NBC Sports Chicago reports. LaVine expressed his frustration that the team is playing worse despite getting some key pieces back in the lineup in recent weeks. “Something is obviously wrong,” he said. “We weren’t losing by double digits earlier in the season.” Many of the team’s issues can be attributed to Boylen’s unimaginative offensive scheme, Walton adds.