Cleveland Cavaliers Trade Two Players To Portland Trail Blazers
Cleveland Cavaliers trade rumors led to something Sunday night (July 26). The Cavs traded Mike Miller and Brendan Haywood to the Portland Trail Blazers in a deal that is obviously intended to shed salary. A report from CBS Sports states that the Blazers, “will receive the most favorable of Cleveland’s two second-round picks in 2019 and its second-round pick in 2020.” It’s a good deal to simply take on two players, as it amounts to a free draft pick for the Blazers.
The main reason this deal is getting made is that Haywood has a non-guaranteed contract for the 2015-16 NBA season. It means that the Blazers can released him now and that they will not be on the hook for his salary. Haywood had been slated to make $10.5 million next year, but he will instead head to free agency with the ability to sign with any other team. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, there had been Cleveland Cavaliers trade rumors before this that indicated the team was trying to convince Portland to come on board with this deal. Now, apparently, the terms were good enough for Portland to help out Cleveland in this fashion.
Since the Portland Trail Blazers are still way under the salary cap, the team can simply absorb the contracts of both players. In exchange for Brendan Haywood, the Cavs get a trade exception that could be used to bring on another player during the upcoming NBA season. It is worth $10.5 million, meaning a really good player could come to Cleveland soon if the Cavs are willing to take on the salary. In exchange for Mike Miller, the team receives a $2.9 million trade exception.
The expectation is that the Blazers will immediately waive Haywood and Miller, clearing up the roster slots for players they have tried out in the NBA Summer League. The team also has a few additional players that will join them in the preseason with a shot at making the 12-man rotation for coach Terry Stotts. As for Miller and Haywood, once they clear waivers, they will be free to sign with another team. Miller wanted this, so LeBron James shouldn’t have a problem with the Cavs dealing one of his friends away.
These Cleveland Cavaliers trade rumors could help the team quite a bit should an injury occur during the 2015-16 NBA season. The team now has the ability to absorb more salary in exchange for the trade exceptions, so the Cavs are very likely to be linked to any teams that start falling out contention early.
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