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

It's only natural for a guy like that, who had been in Europe, playing, then coaching for 3 decades, to underestimate how hard it is in the nba, even with a roster like the Cavs.

A good start and consistency will keep folks off his back. I thought he had a really good playoff run, outside of the almost blunder in Chicago.

Especially when they don't play the amount of games NBA does

Agreed. This team proved that they can completely steamroll the eastern conference. Just send Kyrie and Love to some tropical island for most of the season.


And lock Lebron inside a padded room

Welcome back JR. I was okay if he left and okay if he stayed...

And a strong off-season continues ....

Sasha Kaun agrees to two-year deal to join Cleveland Cavaliers | cleveland.com
http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2015/08/sasha_kaun_agrees_to_two-year.html#incart_2box

CLEVELAND, Ohio – A few days removed from visiting Cleveland to take care of personal matters with his wife, 6-11 center Sasha Kaun reached a deal with the Cavaliers on Saturday afternoon.

The 30-year-old center's deal is for two years with no team or player option, Northeast Ohio Media Group is being told. The salary has yet to be disclosed.

This is Cleveland's second agreement in the last three days. J.R. Smith also agreed to a two-year deal on Thursday.

Financial compensation was not expected to problem once the Russian center announced his plans to play in the NBA this season. Cleveland has held his rights since the 2008 NBA Draft, and Kaun has played for European powerhouse CSKA Moscow ever since.

He earned $2.9 million per season. His salary with the Cavaliers is likely near that figure.

In Las Vegas last month, Cavs General Manager David Griffin confirmed the team's interest in bringing Kaun into the fold, saying "we would love to have him if something could be worked out."

Griffin said then that the 7-foot Kaun, who posted career highs in points (9.9 per game) and rebounds (4.5) in the Euroleague last season, was "somebody who could be rotational for us and if it could work out, great."

Kaun was a member of the 2012 Russian National team coached by the Cavaliers' David Blatt. He would join Timofey Mozgov, Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson and Anderson Varejao as big men on the roster.

Thompson, still looking for a multi-year deal near the maximum, is the last domino that needs to fall for the Cavaliers.

C: Mozgov, Varejao, Kaun
PF: Love, Thompson (?)
SF: James, Jones, Jefferson
SG: Shumpert, Swish
PG: Kyrie, Mo, Delly

That looks like fun.

Looks good, feels good... hell, even smells good lol!

WOOHOO I hope the NBA is ready for "THE WRATH OF KAUN"

i love this move and knew it was just a matter of time.. I think he'll suprise people. He's very good around the rim, better than anyone we have now..still has trouble defending in space, but defense/offense around rim is great..he's a great pickup

looks like he has pretty good hands..hopefully he can teach mosgov how to catch an entry pass..lol

Harris will be SG depth. I think that Andy can swing between the 4 and 5. We also have SirDominic Pointer, though i am unsure if he will make the team or not. We will need to fill our the roster, though I think that the Cavs can go with 14 on he roster if they chose.

I don't see any advantage in not having a full roster. I'd also bet the players association would have a problem with that as well, though I don't know that as fact. I don't think the NFL as an example can decide to just go with 50 players if they wanted. When in doubt for that roster spot, either keep a guy who can block some shots and be like a goon in hockey(Perkins) or keep someone who has a decent ability to get hot and drain a few 3's off the bench.

Jones plays PF. So he'd be the 3rd string PF. I'd put Joe Harris as a 3rd string SF and Sir Pointer as a 3rd string SG.

I think that it had to do with the tax situation. A minimum player, who sits on the bench could cost 3 times his salary in tax. A minimum salary can be anywhere from $473K to $1.35 million. So that final player on the bench could cost $1.6 to $5.4 million, once salary cap tax is factored in.

If they needed a 15th player, they could go sign one, but I don't know that they need to keep that 15th player all year round.

Just sign a good lockeroom guy.

That's Andy. He's our best sideline cheerleader and bench vocal support too.

Yeah. There's a reason he sat in the front row next to the coaches during the playoff run. He's always the first guy off the bench to greet guys during a time-out.

The point is that they aren't going to sign a 15th player just to be "a guy".

They also may add a player down the road using their trade exemption, and not worry about paying a guy for no reason just to have a 15th player. That 15th player costs the team a lot more than just his salary when the salary tax is taken into account.

Yeah, I tend to agree with you Ytown. You get to dress 12 guys and have 15 roster spots. So I'm guessing we leave that last roster spot open until we need to fill it with somebody due to an injury. It wouldn't really make sense to pick up a D-level guy and pay 3 times his minimum salary for the sake of having him on the bench. We pretty much have the 12 guys we need now.

I mean, if we have no injuries going into Game 1, who doesn't dress at this point? Joe Harris is probably the first choice, but then it's probably going to be either Kahn, James Jones, Jefferson or Delly. Which of those four do you hold out? Do we really need to add someone else to sit undressed?

Could be Harris ... and he probably goes to the D league to get more time on the court.

Many teams carry fifteen guys and then just release the fifteenth each time they need a replacement. That could be the Joe Harris roster spot.

We only have 14 spots filled, so we already have an open spot.

And Y-Town, Harris is definitely the first guy that doesn't dress, but we still need to hold out one more to get to 12. I'm guessing it will be Kahn to start the season.

Yeah, this is all that will be in my head EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. his name is called.

Kyrie might not be back until January, yikes!
http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2015/08/kyrie_irving_cleveland_cavaliers.html

Then again, part of me says ... we don't really need him to play until April anyway, so let's just wait till then.

I'm totally OK with him not coming back until after ASB, we have Mo whos more than capable...if it was just Delly I'd be alot less comfortable.. a healthy lebron/love with mo. I think we'll be fine..if we could make playoffs with kyrie lebron and love only playing in April I'd be fine with that too..lol

Mo is rock solid. Let kyrie get healthy. Lebron + Love + A solid supporting cast is more than enough for the regular season.

Yeah, although it sucks, we have the supporting cast to still get the job done. The Mo signing is looking all the better now.

Plus ...... we have those trade exemptions as well.

LOL..........everyone is looking at this in a positive light and that is admirable, but I do think that it is worrisome that Kyrie always seems to miss games.

At some point, people might have to start questioning his durability. If it is in question, a fall-back plan should be in place.

I don't think that htere is an at some point about it. It has been questioned for years. Started when he was at Duke.

We did get Mo Williams. What's your suggestion for a fall-back plan?

At any rate, you were adamant about trading for Kevin Love last year. He's actually missed more games per season than Kyrie has.

Hmm ... interesting possibility here. Maybe Thompson's camp is making things difficult because Thompson wants to play at home next year? Or, of course, maybe this is all just hot air being blown about by reporters..... but I thought that Sheridan-Hoops was pretty well respected.

Tristan Thompson, agent Rich Paul could be eyeing the Toronto Raptors in 2016: Report | cleveland.com
http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2015/08/tristan_thompson_agent_rich_pa.html#incart_m-rpt-1

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- In a little less than a month the Cleveland Cavaliers will begin training camp, the first step on a journey they hope lasts until June.

Whether free agent power forward Tristan Thompson joins his teammates still remains a mystery. All is quiet between the Cavs and Thompson, a restricted free agent who is looking to cash in after stepping into a bigger role during the Cavs' playoff run and finishing top 5 in Sixth Man of the Year voting.

Thompson's agent Rich Paul, a strong-minded negotiator who also represents LeBron James, recently told our Chris Haynes that if Thompson plays this upcoming season on the qualifying offer it would be his last in Cleveland. Thompson would then become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2016 when the salary cap is expected to balloon.

If that scenario plays out, Thompson and Paul could have sights on signing with the Toronto Raptors, according to Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops.

Thompson was born in Toronto, and started his high school career in nearby Brampton, before moving to the states for more exposure. His good friend, former college teammate at Texas, Paul client and Toronto native, Cory Joseph, signed a four-year deal with the Raptors this off-season.

According to Scotto, executives around the NBA have already started to connect the dots, thinking about the marketing possibilities for Canadian-born, potential high-priced free agent pickup Thompson in Toronto.

"[Thompson] is a Toronto kid and I'm sure he has a strong following at home," an Eastern Conference executive told Sheridan Hoops.

"I always thought he was going to end up (in Toronto)," an Eastern Conference GM said. "There's going to be so much money next year so I think he will get it."

Of course, signing the one-year qualifying offer would be a risk for Thompson. An ironman throughout his career, an injury could happen at any moment and derail his chances at a big payday. A poor season could do the same. While Thompson remains an importance rotational player, Cleveland's deep frontcourt leaves his role unclear.

Kevin Love re-signed quickly and will be the starting power forward. Center Timofey Mozgov, who became an important piece during the Cavs' postseason surge, should be much more comfortable in his second season. That means Thompson will be fighting for backup minutes along with now-healthy Anderson Varejao and Sasha Kaun. James also spends time at power forward when the team employs its small-ball lineup. All of those realities could lead to Thompson receiving sporadic minutes, causing a dip in production following his breakout campaign during 2014-15.

But Thompson bet on himself once already, rebuffing a reported four-year, $52 million contract extension before last season. Thompson is also the same player James called a "key piece" to Cleveland's hopes of winning a title while also admitting signing Thompson is the team's No. 1 off-season priority.

If he plays on the one-year QO and things go well, Toronto, and others, will be waiting.

"We're a Canadian team," Raptors GM Masai Ujiri said a few months ago. "And I think to have Canadian players I think would be phenomenal. I have no doubt in my mind, it's something we think about every day, it's something we study -- the guys in the NBA, the ones outside the NBA, the younger kids, the kids in college, the kids playing overseas. We're just waiting for that one to come."

Toronto went on a spending spree this summer, agreeing to a four-year, $60 million deal with DeMarre Carroll. They also locked up big man Jonas Valanciunas to a four-year, $64 million extension. Joseph received a four-year, $30 million contract to leave San Antonio. That means, even with the rising cap, the Raptors would have to get creative to add Thompson in 2016.

All of the Toronto speculation could be squashed if Thompson gets his desired long-term deal with the Cavs. But as long as the Cavs and Thompson continue to be in a staredown the rumors will persist.

I wasn't criticizing the Cavs. I was making an observation. Is that okay?

Mo Williams is not young. He won't play forever. I am talking about the future.

I really liked Delon Wright from Utah, but he was taken at #20. I liked Rozier, but figured he would be gone and of course, he was.

I was happy when we drafted Jones and confused when we traded him.




I always get the feeling that you have a sneer on your face when you are addressing me.

What's your point about Love missing more games than Kyrie? Does that change the concern about Kyrie's durability? Additionally, our frontcourt is deep. We have Moz, TT, Andy, and Kaun. Furthermore, losing a PG is a lot more disruptive to a team's offense than losing a PF.

Just as a side note...

I'm very happy Bennett and Waiters are gone. Hated them both.

Just skimming through the Irving / Love debate..and it is one I'd much rather have than debating the potential improvement of those bums.

I don't know enough about Bennett to add much, but I really agree w/you about Waiters. I think moving him was one of the big reasons the Cavs started playing better.

We traded the Jones pick because of the salary cap implications. He would have received a guaranteed contract, and would have cost the team 3 times his salary in salary tax.

They added Mo Williams, a player with experience, for far less money. They also have the trade exemptions from trading Christmas and Haywood. (the Pacers gave Christmas a 4 year deal, with the 1st 2 years guaranteed)

Anyway, the Cavaliers will have Mo and Delly at PG, with the ability to slide Shumpert over on defense, and also the ability to use Lebron as the "point Forward".

I think that they preferred to bring in Mo Williams, with a world of experience, as opposed to trusting the team to a rookie. That really was the choice, because it would have been hard to do both. If they need to, they can shop for another player with the massive trade exemption(s) they have.

Bennett really has just done nothing, even being given opportunity after opportunity in Minnesota, averaging only 5.2 PPG, and 3.8 RPG. He is only 22, but the T'wolves have reportedly already given up on him as well. The have reportedly made him available in a trade, but I have to wonder who will take his contract at this point.

He does seem to be the dreaded "tweener", without a true position in the NBA. On he other hand, he is only 22, so maybe he'll mature a bit and learn to be a contributor.

Maybe he winds up going home to Toronto too?

I think Paul is creating a name for himself in the NBA and its not a good one, his unethical practices of negotiating in the media when he doesn't get exactly what he wants. Lebron or not..teams aren't going to want to deal with him and players aren't going to want to sign. I think this TT to toronto is another desperate attempt to intimidate the cavs FO. If I'm gilbert I'd be like put a trade with toronto together, we'll help make this happen..TT was JAG before lebron and he'll be even more obscure in the wasteland that is toronto. I will say this, at this point regardless of what he does, he's already left a sour taste in alot of fan's mouths.. Cleveland is the one place that don't feel sorry about your disrespect because you didn't get enough millions to play a game.

Part of the provisions of signing the Qual Offer means he would get to reject any trade proposals we put together. So we can't trade him just to spite him.