DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Cavaliers Off-Season Continues

Twitter source:
Dave McMenamin ‏@mcten 37m37 minutes ago
Matthew Dellavedova will return to the Cavs on a one-year deal worth approximately $1.2 million, source w/ knowledge of the deal tells ESPN


... Kind of a gutsy call for him. He's going to be getting reduced minutes playing behind both Kyrie and Mo. I didn't think his value would be any higher. I guess being a RFA really killed his chances of another team calling.

Trading Miller and Haywood to save cash, signing Delly to the RFA qualifying offer, still haggling with TT and JR ... this team may as well be owned by the Dolans. [/purple]

https://twitter.com/mcten

Much better than the $4M/year rumor floating around the internet.

I saw someone suggest on another forum that this may just be a move in the best interest of both parties. Delly could stand to make a lot more money next year if he can show he's still the pesky lock-down defender we saw in the playoff while working on his offensive game. The Cavs can also afford to pay him a bit more next year when the salary cap/luxury line will be a lot higher than it is right now.

Thats why I gave you the links instead of having my red neck trying to explain them lol

If we don't resign JR, I bet Della moves to backup SG.

I didn't think that it could be split. I thought I read that last year when we did the 2 big trades.

It can't be combined with another exception. It can be split though.

I'll take your word for it, because I tried wading into the morass of the NBA CBA once and consider myself lucky to have gotten out alive and with all of my limbs still attached.

Welcome back Delly! Asking/wanting 4million, yeah - I knew that was a far stretch the instant I read it. Glad you came to your senses. We can throw Delly in when/if we need a point guard with focus on defense.

I like the one year deal for Delly... he had flashes in the post season... give him a 1 year deal to see if he can be a consistent contributor and bring that energy all the time before you start talking about longer term deals. If he wants to see more PT then he needs to improve on running the offense.... He was a liability as a PG because any pressure on him at all really caused our offense to stall, it took us too long to get into a set and nobody really fears him beating them off the dribble.

Hopefully with Delly on board for cheap and Miller's Millions off the books, JR and Gilbert (because it's just about money at this point) can come up with something that works for both of them.

I'm wondering if JR will get a similar deal to Delly. One year but for a few more million. Both wanted a pay raise and multi-year deals, but with us being way over the luxury tax line, any deal they get is going to be 2.5x the actual salary. By taking a one year deal, they can both "prove it" for one more season, and then take a multi-year pay raise next season when the luxury tax line will be much higher than it is now.

JR should have opted in on his deal. Man, that's a big mistake on his part. Well, unless another team offers him near the same amount.

Just read that Delly's one year deal will still make him a Restricted Free Agent next season as well. So not only do we get to see a "prove it" season for him, we can likely retain him by matching any other offer someone else gives him.

Just something crazy to think about, would New Orleans have enough cap space to sign Kevin Durant next year? If Durant is serious about a title, I'd play with AD over Westbrook.

It's going to be interesting to watch what happens with him and Westbrook. Both of them are great, though I think everyone would rather have Durant, but I have a feeling they'll both leave OKC.

Actually, maybe I'm wrong about everyone wanting Durant. That foot could become a career changing injury. Maybe Westbrook is a better pick.

Off topic, but how on Earth has ESPN not hired Adrian Wojnarowski yet? You can argue he's the best there is.

Woj probably likes the niche he carved for himself. Being your own boss, not reporting what you're told to report, and being a sole source of info seems much more appealing than selling yourself out to ESPN.

Woj has some sort of vendetta against ESPN. I don't think he would ever go there.

He has self-respect, perhaps?

He likes to own his soul?

If you follow him on twitter, he has had two or three tweets over the last 12 months going after ESPN and their practice of telling their reporters not to report draft picks, and instead letting the audience find out via the commissioner.

I see both sides to it, because the NBA and NFL draft are giant productions these days, but reporting is reporting, and those guys should be allowed to do their job. Woj damn near leaked every single pick in June's NBA draft. I can only imagine what the suits at ESPN were doing in their offices while watching it.

I myself don't really care either way. Schefter is kind of a d-bag so it's nice to see him caged (Glazer is far better anyway) during the draft.

ESPN is obviously the biggest sports conglomerate out there, but Yahoo is still huge. I'm sure he's doing fine with his pay. This isn't Windy going from the PD to ESPN. I don't Woj cares about being on that stage. He's got a million plus followers, and the ear of every NBA junkie out there. He's got it made right now.

Onrait and O'Toole remain the unsung heroes of sports reporting/presentation. Too bad FS1 really hasn't caught on.

Not much here ..... but it's the quiet spot in te NBA off-season ....

J.R. Smith participates in Guam basketball clinic, says 'I want to be somewhere I can make a difference' | cleveland.com
http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2015/08/jr_smith_taking_part_in_basket.html#incart_m-rpt-1

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- J.R. Smith's future remains uncertain after he declined his player option with the Cleveland Cavaliers for the 2015-16 season.

While he's been forced to watch other players ink deals, the uneasiness doesn't seem to be bothering him much. Smith recently joined Cleveland Cavaliers director of player development Phil Handy and newly-signed Miami Heat swingman Gerald Green as instructors at the Guam Basketball Clinics, part of Handy's 94 Feet of Game program.

"I just want to be somewhere I can make a difference," Smith said of his contract situation according to the Pacific Daily News. "I don't want to be somewhere I can't have an affect on the team."

Smith, 29, arrived in a three-team midseason trade and helped Cleveland surge up the standings in the second half of the season. He averaged 12.7 points and shot 39 percent from 3-point range during the regular season with the Cavs. But was a playoff enigma -- his much-needed scoring outbursts mixed with a two-game suspension and a dreadful Finals performance where he shot 31 percent from the field.

A full-time starter in the regular season, Smith came off the bench for much of the postseason run, giving way to Iman Shumpert.

"I would love to be a starter, but it depends on the situation and what team I'm on," Smith said. "Cleveland is in a situation where they don't really need me to start. I can come off the bench and bring the energy and stuff like that."

Smith's career has been dotted with costly shenanigans that have forced teams to shy away in free agency. Others in the past have given up entirely, but LeBron James and head coach David Blatt have been staunch in their support. The 2013 Sixth Man of the Year has a unique ability to ignite the team's second unit and his catch-and-shoot stroke helps provide spacing offensively, something the Cavs covet.

For those reasons and other salary cap realities, Smith re-signing with the Cavs still seems likely. In Las Vegas a few weeks ago for the NBA players' union summer meeting, Smith told our Joe Vardon that he would like to return, even if it means settling for less than the $6.4 million he walked away from in June.

"I definitely want to come back to Cleveland," Smith said. "The coaches, the team, everything about the situation, it's perfect for me."

It's been a busy summer for the Cavs as they have re-signed Shumpert, James, Kevin Love and Matthew Dellavedova. Most recently, the team traded Brendan Haywood and Mike Miller to the Portland Trail Blazers for two separate trade exceptions, which expire one year from the acquisition date. The Cavaliers have also agreed to deals with a pair of free agents -- Mo Williams and Richard Jefferson -- hoping to boost the lowest scoring second unit from this past season.

But Smith continues to wait.

He's keeping his mind off this summer's negotiations, but staying close to the basketball court. In the Pacific with Green, a longtime friend who inked a one-year deal with the Heat despite his numbers slipping this past season, the duo demonstrated drills and played defense against the kids.

Of course, Smith also carved out time to dazzle on the court with a dunking show that was posted to Instagram.

Sorry JR, you gambled and lost. Kind of epitomizes his career,

Yeah, i wonder if he will get much more than the veteran's minimum.

He really screwed hismelf ... especially if the Cavaliers don't bring him back.

Yeppers. I see a veteran minimum is his future, or something extremely close, and probably not even with the Cavs.

I was pretty shocked he didn't pick up his option, especially after his Finals performance.

I think that pretty much everyone was shocked by that.

Half a season and half the playoffs were not enough to wash him clean of his prior problems. I suspect that the words of a guy like Phil Jackson only added to the poor impression many had of him.

Swinging in the Boston series didn't help him in trying to redraw his 'image' either. I must admit, watching him do that I lost a lot of the positive vibe I was building there with JR.

That was good.

I understand the sentiment.. but if he'd rather make a difference on a lesser team than do what he can to contribute on a championship contender, then he has made his choice.

J.R. Smith is not known for making the best decisions. In fact, he is known for making the wrong decisions more often than not. With that said, I don't think we can put all the blame on Smith in this situation. His agent probably told him he would get more money on the open market (pretty much every free agent did). What the agent (and Smith) should have anticipated is that no one really wants a knucklehead like Smith on their team.

The Cavs are pretty much the only team that want Smith. That's where he'll [probably] end up.

My guess is before the playoffs/finals they were probably feeling pretty good about opting out. He was playing well, and also doing it in a starting role.

And I really wonder if after the finals, his agent maybe suggested to take that final year and try to do it again. Maybe JR was just too dead set on getting extra years.

Nothing changed about JR from the point that we got him through the finals. He was just asked to do more than he should have. He's not an all star at this point. He's a spot up shooter who fits in well when this team is clicking. There's so much space available when Lebron, Kyrie and Love are on the floor. He's a damn perfect fit there. When being asked to be the second option, not so much.

I'd take him back at the vet minimum in a heartbeat. The more the merrier. Cavs probably came out best on this, because I don't think they have to give him extra years. His best bet is to prove it another year on an elite team and maybe you get better fortune next summer.

Agreed.

Something that kinda surprises me- Not a lot of NBA players tear their ACLs. Only 87 players total over 40+ years. It's not because guys are becoming better athletes either. It's actually gotten worse in the 90's and 2000's.

http://t.co/Uf3Sjs1lTS

only 87 total?! that astounds me

Me too, but it makes sense. There's a lot less traction on a basketball court than a football field. Easier on the knee to cut on the court than on a field.