Cleveland Cavaliers: Iman Shumpert the most replaceable Cav
The Cleveland Cavaliers, who might try to make a blockbuster move this offseason, might need to shed Iman Shumpert’s contract first.
After their 2016 NBA Finals loss to the Golden State Warriors, the Cleveland Cavaliers might have to reevaluate their team and the value of the players and their contracts. The Cavaliers have the NBA’s highest team payroll by more than $8 million.
Tristan Thompson, J.R. Smith, Kevin Love, LeBron James, and Kyrie Irving — the team’s starting five — combine for about 76 percent of the team’s overall payroll. The team’s next-highest paid player is Iman Shumpert and, for his skill set, Iman Shumpert may be the man that must be moved.
Shumpert, who started 31 games because of a thumb injury to Smith, averaged 10.5 points per game. While he was a productive scorer, he was not an efficient one, shooting 41.1 percent from the field. Iin the playoffs, Shumpert disappeared. He shockingly did find his way into the rotation after a DNP-CD in the Cavaliers’ first game.
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He ended up averaging more than 16 minutes and scoring less than 5 points per game. For a player that almost gets an eight-figure salary, the Cavaliers need more.
Shumpert will actually break the eight-figure mark, as he’s on the books for $10.3 million in 2017-18 and holds an $11 million player option for 2018-19 after making nearly $9.7 million this season.
If the Cavaliers were to cut Shumpert, the one reasonable addition they could make would be C.J. Miles, who surprisingly had a fantastic year in Indiana.
This is what CBS Sports said about Miles:
"Miles quietly had the most efficient season of his career this season, making 41.3 percent of his 3s and providing the Pacers with much-needed floor spacing. He is not a big name, but he is the kind of versatile, intelligent, two-way wing player that isn’t easy to find — just ask the Thunder — so it was a no-brainer for him to decline his $4.8 million option."
The Cavaliers options are to either trade Shumpert, so another team has to deal with his salary, or they can cut him and try to reel in another free agent. While a trade for Paul George is a more intriguing option, it would be nice to see Miles replace Shumpert as the Cavaliers sixth man next season.
Could Miles be enough of an upgrade to topple the Warriors though?
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With a tight cap and change bound to happen, the Cleveland Cavaliers will have one of the NBA’s most alluring offseasons.