The Cleveland Cavaliers have added Shawn Marion on a free agent deal this offseason to join LeBron James and this comes ahead of the team trading for Kevin Love and they are also targeting Ray Allen to come to the Cavs as well and that could be another major move for the King and Kyrie Irving as they try and build a championship contender.
According to ESPN.com, Marion has agreed to sign with the Cavaliers after the Indiana Pacers also showed strong interest. The Pacers were hoping to sign Marion to help replace Paul George after he was lost for the season, but Marion has opted to sign with the Cavs, as he thinks that is the best chance to try and win a championship. Marion said that he wanted to play for a contender and now he will get the chance.
The Cavs were talked about as the frontrunners to get Marion, but the Pacers also made a strong push and they had a face to face meeting with the star. Marion was previously with the Dallas Mavericks and despite his age he has been a very productive player. The Caves now have a very strong mix of veterans and young players and adding Love late in the month will only give the team more depth and options. Last season Marion averaged 10 points and six rebounds per game and he played in 76 games and he should be a strong option off the bench for the Cavs.
The team can only give him a minimum salary and the Pacers were looking to use their disabled player exception to help sign Marion, but now he is heading to Cleveland. Marion met with the team, including the head coach and general manager and he had a relationship with GM David Griffin from the Suns and that may have helped things along as well. ESPN.com reports that the Cavs are also looking to add Ray Allen and that comes after the team also signed Mike Miller and James Jones. Marion also has solid outside shooting and while he is 36 years old he still can make a major impact.
ESPN.com reports that the Kevin Love deal should be going down next week, as the teams can trade on August 23 when the 30 days limit on not trading Andrew Wiggins runs out. The Cavs signed Wiggins to a contract and now they are potentially trading him and Anthony Bennett for Love. The team has been dealing with reporting about the trade and things cannot go officially until that 30 day window expires.
The Wolves like Wiggins and he said that he is glad the trade is going through, as that will give him a chance to develop into his own player. The Cavaliers easily are the favorites in the east and possibly the NBA once they pull off that trade and they beat out the Golden State Warriors and Chicago Bulls to do it. The Wolves really wanted Klay Thompson, but the Warriors did not want to give him up and that is why Love is heading to Cleveland.
