Brendan Haywood: Teams Likely Interested in His Contract
The Cleveland Cavaliers are all in this season. Brendan Haywood‘s contract, which once was thought to be an important piece of the Cavs puzzle to bring in talent next season, is now available for trade.
As we have covered this season, the Haywood contract is such a unique one that it has value in and of itself. It can be used to help another team rid itself of a contract it doesn’t want. If, say, the Milwaukee Bucks wanted to get rid of Larry Sanders $11 million deal, a team with Haywood’s contract could make a straight up trade of Haywood for Sanders. The Bucks cut Haywood, save the cap space money, and get rid of Sanders large deal. The team that acquires Sanders gets a player with some talent but doesn’t have to give up many other assets to acquire him.
Haywood’s contract could also be used to help facilitate a deal that might not otherwise be able to be done due to cap restrictions on trades. If a team were trying to acquire Deron Williams almost $20 million dollar deal, it may be tough for them to find the outgoing salary to match. Having Haywood’s contract would cut the need for salaries down to a much more reasonable number, therein making the deal more possible.
For the Cavaliers, who have Kyrie Irving, LeBron James and Kevin Love all at max level salaries, using Haywood’s contract to bring in another big deal would be very tough. It will likely put them over the Cap Apron, basically locking them into their current roster. Instead using the deal now could help them bring in cheaper, although likely less talented, player(s) that can help them this year and beyond. We covered Jason Lloyd’s report that this is the Cavs current thinking here (New Window).
Yet it takes two to tango. The Cavs basically have a 2nd round pick coming up and their 2018 first rounder available for trade. Not a lot of value, and they are unlikely to trade their first that far out, for them to work out a deal. So the Cavs must look toward teams that see the value that Haywood’s contract would bring in this upcoming free agent market. Enough value to swap talent with the Cavs for little more than that 2nd round pick to go with Haywood. A couple teams fit the bill:
LA Lakers – The first team on the list is the team that makes the most sense. The Lakers will be without Kobe Bryant for the rest of the season and already lost rookie Julius Randle earlier in the year. Most that are close to Kobe believe he is coming back next year and the Lakers are always in pursuit of their next star. With Bryant and Randle returning, and a likely Top 5 pick, the Lakers could look to use Haywood’s contract to bring in another player to help them compete next year.
Boston Celtics – The Celtics have built their roster on youth and draft picks. Danny Ainge has noted that those picks can be used or be useful to trading for established talent, like they did to obtain Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. If the Celtics acquire Haywood it is a low risk proposition that could be worth it if they can combine him with some of their assets for a player to jump start their rebuild.
Orlando Magic – The Magic have a very interesting, yet flawed roster. Many of their players are talented but they lack the top guys to really compete in the league. They also have struggled to get players to come down to the Magic Kingdom which could lead them to acquiring Haywood to trade for a star. The Magic had to overpay Channing Frye to get him to come.
Minnesota Timberwolves – Similar to Orlando, the TWolves struggle to draw free agents, often having to overpay for their services or to keep their own players. With a solid young nucleus around Andrew Wiggins, the Haywood contract could be useful as Flip Saunders wants to compete as both the decision maker and the head coach.
New Orleans Pelicans – The Pelicans currently sit 1.5 games out of the Western Conference but have more important long term issues to worry about. They need to prove to Anthony Davis that they are capable of putting together a roster that will help him compete. Right now they have 5 players making $8 million or more, Davis is not one of them, yet they can’t get over the hump. The Haywood contract is likely the only way they can bring in more talent to help convince Davis to stay around.
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Sacramento Kings – The Kings are an aggressive franchise with an aggressive owner. Nothing they do would surprise anyone. Much like the Pelicans, they have their star guy in DeMarcus Cousins, but have struggled to field a competitive team around him. Getting Haywood’s contract could help them aggressively shop for a big time, big salary player to compliment their big guy.
Other teams might be interested and some of these teams could blow off the Cavs attempts to trade Brendan Haywood but could see the value that he could possibly bring to the table. Haywood is likely to be moved, and the Cavs could include Matthew Dellavedova and James Jones in the deal for salary purposes, before the deadline. Who on these teams could the Cavs be targeted? We will bring that to you soon.
For now, know that the Cavs will likely have some options of teams interested in Haywood’s contract. GM David Griffin will have to be creative but his job now is talent accumulation, they figured out how to make a roster fit together.
Do you think the Cavs move Brendan Haywood to one of these teams before the season ends?