The Cleveland Cavaliers are one of the many NBA teams looking to rid themselves of some pay roll burdens before the start of the new season. The Cavaliers are already over the cap with luxury tax penalties beginning to pile up on them which has left the franchise to be aggressive in seeking trade deals in the coming weeks. With several key players left to sign, the Cavaliers got a little help from the Portland Trail Blazers.
UPDATE: Dellavedova is signing back with the Cavaliers.
According to ESPN's Brian Windhorst, the Cavaliers have traded Mike Miller and Brendan Haywood to the Portland Trail Blazers along with two future second-round draft picks. The move creates two trade exceptions for the Cavaliers. One is worth at least $10.5 million while the other is worth $2.94 million. Cleveland will also be receiving cash for the trade which certainly does not hurt. The trade deal comes after the Cavaliers had been dangling Haywood's contract since the start of free agency in order to free up cap space.
With space created from the trade deals, the Cavaliers are expected to ramp up contract talks with Tristan Thompson, JR Smith and Matthew Dellavedova. Cleveland has been trying to re-sign the rest of their talent, but limited space has made it difficult. According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Cavaliers are far apart on talks with all three players. Thompson wants a max deal or close to it. Dellavedova wants a contract that will pay him $4 million per season. Smith wants higher than the player option he gave up.
LeBron James has made it clear that he wants all three players back on the roster. Re-signing Thompson will be critical for defense and points off the bench. Dellavedova proved to be a quality backup to Kyrie Irving who is still healing from offseason surgery. Smith has been inconsistent, but upped his value during the playoff run. The Cavaliers really need to make sure they re-sign these last three players if they want to be the same threat from last season.
There has been little interest in Thompson, Smith and Dellavedova in free agency. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Dellavedova is close to signing a contract with the team after interest came from the Lakers and Portland. However, contract talks with both Thompson and Smith remain quiet at the moment. The Cavaliers will likely begin pushing talks soon following the trades.
