As the NBA Rumor Mill was in full swing, Brendan Haywood‘s contract for the Cleveland Cavaliers was front and center. Having a contract for more than $10 million that could help wipe contracts off the books for another team seemed to have a ton of value. A few cap related moves were made, some that the Cavs could have made themselves while others would not have worked out either due to Salary Cap rules or the lack of Cavs assets.
Cavs fans have gotten (unrealistically) excited about what they could get in return for Haywood. KJG may be responsible for some of that, Eric Bledsoe was this writer’s big hope. We have covered as many NBA Rumors that we felt held some credence. Not every rumor is made equal.
Tiago Splitter, Jamal Crawford, J.J. Redick, a couple of Thunder players and other trades were all bandied about. We covered the Cavs “worst case scenario” with Haywood’s contract a few weeks ago:
"The Cavs can simply trade Haywood’s contract to a team with the necessary cap space, we are looking at you Sixers, and in return they would get a same sized Traded Player Exception. This exception would simply extend the time frame of the Cavs using the $10 million contract of Haywood. They could trade for a player or two, that had contracts less than the TPE without having to send out any contracts back."
The newest NBA Rumor regarding Haywood basically says that exact thing may happen, except with the Portland Trailblazers instead of the Philadelphia 76ers making the deal:
Fun cap related concept - many asking what Cavs will do with Brendan Haywood contract - hearing they may trade it to Portland's cap space
— Steve Kyler (@stevekylerNBA) July 19, 2015
“Trade it to Portland’s cap space” is keywords for the Cavs getting a TPE in return. Kyler goes on to talk about the benefit for the Blazers: getting an asset of some kind from the Cavs. The Cavs get another 12 months to try to figure out what they want to do. That means we could be in store for a long year and again next summer when Free Agency kicks in.
Next year’s skyrocketing salary cap likely means the Cavs would want to use the acquired TPE before the opening of Free Agency. Before the NBA Trade Deadline or after the season, the Cavs could find a team wanting to part ways with a player that was signed this summer, the Hornets wanted out from Lance Stephenson quickly. Or a team that thought they could compete suddenly out of it might be willing to make a move.
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The Cavs have very few assets to trade along with Haywood. Rakeem Christmas, Sir’Dominic Pointer and Joe Harris may be available while their 2018 1st Round pick or the 2019 2nd Rounder they got from the Timberwolves in their draft day trade are their only real draft considerations. That puts a limit on what the Cavs will be able to do. Cedi Osman could draw interest but the Cavs likely see him as a long term player for their future as he develops overseas.
The Cavs are not finding the right fit for Haywood this summer but could still turn his deal into a player down the road. This NBA Rumor makes sense, and gives would give us 12 more months to speculate.
What do you think about what hasn’t happened with the Brendan Haywood contract?