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July 4, 2014On LeBron’s potential return to the Cavs
July 5, 2014The second of three Cavalier free agents that the team is not expected to re-sign agreed to terms yesterday. After C.J. Miles agreed to terms with the Indiana Pacers on a four-year deal, former Cavaliers center Spencer Hawes signed with the Los Angeles Clippers. The deal will pay Hawes $23 million dollars over four years, according to Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski and backed up by several other sources. Hawes had been pursued by several Western Conference teams, including Portland and Phoenix, in addition to the Clippers and Cavs.
Free agent Spencer Hawes has reached agreement on a four-year, $23M deal with the Los Angeles Clippers, league sources tell Yahoo.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 4, 2014
Hawes will be a bench player for the Clip Show behind Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. That will make him instantly one of the best bench big threats in the association. With the Cavaliers over 27 games last season, Hawes shot a scorching 45% from three point range, averaging 13.5 points and 7.7 rebounds. While the Cavaliers finished with just 33 wins and fell short of the playoffs, Hawes provided an offensive spark that some believed new head coach David Blatt and general manager David Griffin would be in favor of retaining. The late season push that included trading for Hawes cost the Cavaliers two second-round picks in the 2014 NBA draft (#39 and #52 overall), Earl Clark, and Henry Sims.
The Cavaliers may still be able to get something from the Clippers as part of a sign and trade for Hawes, though by some accounts, this seems unlikely.
Doc Rivers trying to work sign-and-trade w/ Cavs for Hawes, preserving Clippers exception to still target Paul Pierce, sources tell Y.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 5, 2014
Some of the assets the Clippers currently hold that could come back in a sign and trade are guards Jamal Crawford and Reggie Bullock as well as forward Jared Dudley. Bullock, a 6’7″ rookie out of North Carolina, played sparingly for the playoff-bound Clippers, scoring 2.7 points and shooting 30.1% from three in 43 games. Crawford, a 6’6″ 13-year veteran, won the Sixth Man of the Year this past season, scoring 18.6 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 3.2 assists while shooting 42% overall and 36% from three in 31 minutes per night. Dudley, a 6’7″ six-year journeyman, struggled mightily last season as he saw his scoring and shooting dip well below three productive years in Phoenix. Dudley is a career 8.7 point per game scorer that has a near-40% clip from beyond the arc. Dudley doesn’t have a good handle, but he is a strong defender.
The Cavaliers currently have about $11.2 million dollars in cap space when you relieve them of the cap holds of Hawes, Miles, and Deng, who will likely be renounced soon. However, that number grows when you consider the non-guaranteed deals of Scotty Hopson, Matthew Dellavedova, Joe Harris, Dwight Powell, and Anderson Varejao’s partially guaranteed deal, which amount to another potential $9 million in space. The team also has several tradeable contracts, including those of Jarrett Jack, Tristan Thompson, and Dion Waiters, which could free up more room.
With Varejao and Tyler Zeller currently under contract at center position (as well as Brendan Haywood’s contract), the Cavaliers won’t be left out in the cold. However, they were expected to make a play for an offensive-minded center in the free agency period. With Marcin Gortat re-signing with Washington and Hawes now LA-bound, the market is shrinking, and Suns big Channing Frye looks to be one of the last on the open market. There has also been talk of interest in Detroit restricted free agent Greg Monroe.
But, as everyone not living under a rock is aware, the Cavaliers and the entire NBA are waiting to hear what LeBron James will do before proceeding in other directions.
Related: For Cavs, the time to spend is now
(Photo: Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images)
1 Comment
Time to throw some money at Greg Monroe… See if we can pry him away from Detroit.