Richard Jefferson’s Future Is Becoming More Clear
Richard Jefferson has retired, announced a comeback and now has some clarity to his NBA Future, but is it with the Cleveland Cavaliers?
Richard Jefferson’s future is becoming clear. The 36-year-old forward was a pivotal part of the Cleveland Cavaliers championship run, the first major sports championship in Cleveland since 1964.
Jefferson was a pivotal part to the Cavs success when star forward Kevin Love missed Game 3 and played limited minutes in Game 4 of the NBA Finals due to a concussion. His defensive contributions were notable against a smaller Golden State Warriors lineup, which got even smaller when Andrew Bogut was injured late in the series.
Jefferson averaged 5.5 points per game and had a shooting line of .458/.382/.667 in 74 games during the regular season. His true shooting percentage was 58.5 percent, which is the highest he’s had since his 2010-11 campaign with the San Antonio Spurs.
Following Game 7 the Cavs celebrated and went through their usual NBA post-game routines. Jefferson joined NBATV’s post-game coverage and announced his retirement. But it didn’t last long.
Related Story: Richard Jefferson Says He'll Play One More Year
During the Cavs’ championship parade Jefferson asked the jubilant crowd if they wanted him back for another year. After hearing 1.3 million fans chanting “one more year” Jefferson said that he would come back.
The Vertical’s Chris Mannix reported on Tuesday that Jefferson will return to the NBA, and went on to explain that Jefferson is looking to play two or three more seasons.
Not only is Richard Jefferson not retiring, he's looking to play 2-3 more years, sources told @TheVertical. RJ coming off strong year in CLE
— Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) June 28, 2016
Mannix also says that the Cavs are planning on re-signing Jefferson, but will he return to the Cavs?
How many promises are handed out in an emotional setting? Jefferson said that he would come back for another year, but with news coming that he is in search for a multi-year contract complicates things for the Cavs.
With the salary cap rising to $94 million, the Cavs may not be able to afford Jefferson, thanks to his heroic NBA Finals performance. The rising cap means that teams are going to have extra money to spend, since it is being increased by $24 million.
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Cleveland doesn’t have any financial flexibility, thanks to the $71.2 million owed to Kevin Love, Kyrie Irving, Tristan Thompson, Iman Shumpert, Channing Frye and Sasha Kaun next season. It gets even more complicated with LeBron James expected to make $27.5 million by opting out of his current contract and re-upping his deal with a new contract.
That gives opposing teams an opportunity to offer the Cavs’ expiring players, such as J.R. Smith and Richard Jefferson, more money than the Cavs can afford to offer.
Cavs’ general manager David Griffin can only control what he can, and that’s the offers he can make. The rest of the free agency decisions come from the players, so the ball is in Jefferson’s court.
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If Jefferson gets offered more money and a two or three-year contract by an opposing team, he would be hard-pressed not to take that deal. After all, he has won a ring already. The pressure is off Jefferson to go somewhere to win, which gives him flexibility to go anywhere he wants for the maximum amount of money or contract length he desires.
The Cavs can only hope that Jefferson covets the Cleveland championship experience, from delivering a championship to a city in a long drought to celebrating with 1.3 million fans in a crowded downtown Cleveland area.
Jefferson will likely have plenty of offers thanks to his strong showing in the playoffs. But there’s more to it than that. He has played in 74-plus games in each of the past three seasons, which diminishes the possibility of health being an issue.
In fact, he played in 95 games this past season after coming off of a 78-game showing in his previous season with the Dallas Mavericks.
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With less risk involved in adding Jefferson as a veteran, he could be a hot commodity for NBA teams, especially contenders. The Cavs can only hope that Jefferson stays true to his word and re-joins their team on their quest to repeat.