It looks like James Posey is nearing a decision…
Written By: Mike | Category: Cleveland Cavaliers | Comments: 10
ESPN, via the Insider portion of their rumor mill, is reporting that local product James Posey could be making his final decision this week as to where he will play this season. Reportedly, Posey and his agent are considering final offers from the Hornets, Lakers, Celtics, and yes…the Cavaliers.
The Cavs are rumored to be offering their mid-level exemption of about $5.8 million and three years for the 31-year-old swingman from Xavier. That may not be enough money for a guy who is already in his 30’s and is looking at his last chance at a big contract. Posey has recently said that re-signing with the Celtics is his number one choice, but the Cavs may be hoping his desire to play for his hometown will come into play if contract talks don’t work out with Boston.
“It’s never been a big thing,” Posey said of a possible move to Cleveland. “To go back home is cool. It’s your hometown. But, at the same time, my family understands. If it’s somewhere else, they support me anywhere I go, so it doesn’t even matter about that.” -Boston Globe
If the Cavs were to land Posey, he would be a very good fit with the Cavaliers and coach Mike Brown’s system. He would fill a much needed role of a perimeter defender that the team has lacked since trading Larry Hughes this past February. Also, don’t pay attention to Posey’s scoring average over the past three years (which is just above seven points per game), his job will be to guard players like Paul Pierce and Caron Butler. If he can do that, it would relieve LeBron James of the same duties and focus more on the other end of the floor.
Potentially having James Posey in the fold would be nice for the team though I still think it shouldn’t stop GM Danny Ferry from continuing in his search for that secondary scorer to add to the roster. Though it is a long shot, it is also rumored that the Cavaliers are also in talks with Golden State about a sign-and-trade for restricted free agent Monta Ellis. Personally, I think that rumor is just a pipe dream, considering he’s likely to replace the departed Baron Davis for the Warriors. The better bet may be waiting until mid-season for our big trade when our expiring contracts have more value.
Stay tuned Cavs fans.
If the Cavs are eager to spend their MLE, I don’t understand why they aren’t trying to get guys like Childress and J.R. Smith, both of whom can be long-term “sidekicks” for LB and have a low-risk, high-reward possibility. Giving Posey the MLE, esp for three years, is severely overpaying for a 31-year old who is nothing more than a role player. I know that he’s a solid glue guy, but if any offer to Posey is longer than even two years, then the team that signs him is getting fleeced. We saw what happened to hot-butter Donyell the minute he started getting up there in the 30s.
The Cavs took this same approach with restricted free agency back in 2005 with Joe Johnson because they were afraid the Suns would match, but this isn’t the same situation. Back then, there was tremendous pressure to bring in talent with all that cap space, and the Cavs had to get a body in there. This time around, if the Hawks or Nugs match, then no big deal. It’s not like the team absolutely depends on one of these two guys coming in.
“Giving Posey the MLE, esp for three years, is severely overpaying for a 31-year old who is nothing more than a role player. I know that he’s a solid glue guy, but if any offer to Posey is longer than even two years, then the team that signs him is getting fleeced. We saw what happened to hot-butter Donyell the minute he started getting up there in the 30s.”
That’s exactly what I think too. I know others are high on Posey, but I see an albatross contract down the road if we sign him to three years.
hey amar – you might be able to answer this. ive always wondered why a team is “worried” that the other team might match an offer to a restricted free agent. so what if the other team matches? can a team only make an offer to a restricted free agent one time or something?
The difference between Posey and Marshall is that Posey’s game is mostly defense – which is less likely to drop off with age than his shot.
I think we should give the MLE to Josh Childress right away
How is $6mill a year an albatross contract?
I’m not saying he’s the best option, but if we got 2 years of solid defense, then could theoretically use the expiring contract in the 3rd year as part of a deal. Is that really bad?
If the Cavs offered Childress or JR Smith the MLE, their respective teams would match the offer in 2 seconds, so there’s really no point in doing it.
I don’t mind giving Posey 3 years. Of course 2 years is ideal, but he’s 31, not 35. He would make a nice role player on the perimeter, which is something the Cavs don’t have right now. He fits a need. As I’ve said all along, I think the MLE is a bit much for Posey, but I’m just saying he would help this team and fit a need.
@Mike, the reason teams don’t want to do it because they want to acquire the player. If the team matches the offer, you lose that chance. A team wants to figure out what’s the least amount of money they can offer a RFA in order for their original team to not match it. If they think a team will match it, then they have to see if they can figure out a sign and trade option, which is tricky. This is why most RFAs don’t switch teams, though. Most of the time, the original team is just going to match any offer.
@ Adam- one might not be, but get three or four of them and you have the Cavaliers.
This just seems like a panic move, and we have seen planty of those before. When Redd was taken off the market, they gave that money to the next available player- Hughes. When everyone was screaming for an outside shooter they overpaid for Donyell Marshall. Then they did the same thing with Damon Jones. Eric Snow’s contract was for waaayyy too many years. So last year we weren’t getting production from those guys, and it hurt our chances of landing someone in free agency.
rick – just to clarify, ferry had nothing to do with snow’s years. paxson obtained snow in a trade. the sixers are the ones who overpaid snow and gave him too many years. paxson obtained snow in the kevin ollie trade. so you can blame paxson for overpaying ollie and snow was a result of that. between the two, id prefer to have an overpaid snow than an overpaid ollie.
but agree with the rest of what you said
It is going to be very hard to find anything more than a role player with the MLE, and Posey would immediately become our best defender after Lebron. Not to mention he is a good shooter. I know we have guys like him already on the roster, by that I mean guys who can catch and shoot but can’t create their own shot, but if we figure that we are going to trade Wally and Damon Jones, it would be nice to still have someone who can hit the 3 and needs to be respected. And unlike those 2, he can play some defense. 3 years wouldn’t be terrible, I agree with Adam, 2 good years is very realistic, and then whether or not we can get a 3rd quality year out of him is irrelevant if we decide that his expiring contract is valuable. I hear he is looking for a 4th year, and I think that would be too much, but 3 is ok by me.
I think now that the Nuggets freed up some cap space by trading Camby there is no way they will let go of Smith, but if the Hawks have to spend big money to resign Josh Smith, they might be less inclined to match a full midlevel offer for 5 years (which for Childress is a good length, he is only 25). Pretty much every team that is looking to use their MLE would offer it to Childress though, because of the production he gives you, 5.8 mil is a steal. He might actually want to take a shorter deal, 1 or 2 years, so he can become an unrestricted FA. I would be ok with the Cavs doing that, although I would like the deal to be long enough for us to acquire his Bird Rights