The Cleveland Cavaliers have traded Mike Miller and Brendan Haywood to the Portland Trail Blazers and this move should allow the team to sign back JR Smith, Tristan Thompson and Matthew Dellavedova on free agent contracts after completing the move.
Adrian Wojnarowski at Yahoo Sports first reported on the deal, which is sending Miller and Haywood to Portland for trade exceptions that will give the team money to use. Haywood is expected to be waived with his non-guaranteed $10.5 million deal, while ESPN reports that Miller will likely get bought out. The Akron Beacon Journal reported that LeBron James was "okay with the trade." Also per Wojnarowski: the team will have two trade exceptions: $10.5M and $2.85M, they can't be combined and used together.
The Cavaliers have been Marc Stein reports that the team is currently trying to bring back Tristan Thompson, J.R. Smith and Matthew Dellavedova "as we speak." The Cavs will cut the tax bill by making this deal, but once new contracts are signed it will add to the tax again. The Cavs are sending two future second round picks in the deal and while that is tough for the Cavs, the team had to free up this space to make the deals they want to make.
The Cavaliers had been trying to trade Haywood's deal all offseason, but they ended up with this deal after not finding a "suitable trade," according to RealGM. The Cavs are in good position to make a trade with someone, as they have Haywood's contract as a chip. Haywood has $10.5 million on his deal and that would be a nice amount of cap space to get rid of.
Chris Broussard reported earlier this offseason that Haywood was a potential target for the Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns for the Cavaliers. The Blazers lost LaMarcus Aldridge in free agency, but the team is well prepared for the future with point guard Damian Lillard. Lillard signed a five year extension worth over $100 million this offseason and the team is building around him moving forward. Wesley Matthews also left and the team acquired Noah Vonleh in a trade with the Hornets for Nicolas Batum.
Check here for more on the Cavs trade with Portland.
ESPN previously reported that the Cavaliers were looking into a deal with Joe Johnson for Brendan Haywood, but those talks stalled. The Cavaliers were trying to move Haywood and his $10.5 million contract and the team also tried to trade Anderson Varejao, but that has not worked out. Haywood has been dealt and Varejao could now stay.
The Nets deal could have involved Varejao to try and make the Johnson contract work with the cap, but the talks went "stagnant" when the sides could not find a third team. According to Sam Amico of Fox Sports, the Cavaliers were also looking at a deal with the Clippers, Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers. Amico reports that the Cavaliers are not currently "talking Varejao with anyone."
The Lakers are trading for Roy Hibbert and have signed Brandon Bass, so adding Haywood was not something the team pursued after some initial interest. According to Marc Stein at ESPN, Haywood's contract is "fully unguaranteed" and he will be used to clear cap space for the Blazers.