Sam Amico ‏ @SamAmicoFSO

Cavs also linked to Bobcats, but all 30 teams will be turning trade discussions up a notch. At least, once they fill out NCAA brackets

Probasketballdraft ‏ @Probballdraft
Asked about it a few times yesterday. Cavs have spoken to New Orleans about Emeka Okafor & MIN 1st rd pick for Antwan Jamison.

Cavs exploring deals at the deadline & fielding calls from teams about facilitating deals. Cavs will do due diligence. Want more picks

Trade Deadline typically works like this. Teams call a few days in advance to feel out offers & interest then target teams to negotiate w/.

Comical how far Andray Blatche has fallen Wizards willing to give up anything but the 2012 1st and John Wall to move him. Horrible contract.

Sam Amico ‏ @SamAmicoFSO

NBA GM says Cavs "one of about 29 teams" to have called Hornets about Eric Gordon but "he's not going anywhere, so cross him off your list."

Cavs will stay in touch w/Hornets however. Hornets said to still be entertaining offers for either of 2 first rounders to dump Okafor deal

Jason Lloyd: Amnesty clause could slow Cavs from making deals

By Jason Lloyd
Beacon Journal sports writer

Published: March 10, 2012 - 11:18 PM


With the NBA’s trade deadline only four days away, the Cavaliers are still aggressively pursuing another first-round pick in next summer’s draft. They have two paths to get there; one is easy, and the other is a bit more complicated.

They could deal Ramon Sessions outright for a pick to a team like the Los Angeles Lakers, or they could dangle Antawn Jamison’s expiring contract and their $7 million in cap space to take on future salary in exchange for a pick, but that is becoming more difficult because of the amnesty clause.

The Lakers are desperate for a guard who can penetrate and break down a defense. Sessions is terrific at doing that, but he’s at best a marginal starting point guard in the NBA. The Lakers have yet to convince themselves it’s worth giving up one of their two first-round picks for a marginal starter, according to multiple league sources, although they could grow desperate enough in the next 96 hours to do it — particularly if/when they fail to land Dwight Howard.

With so much available cap space this summer and no desire to spend big in free agency, the Cavs could essentially rent their cap space to a team looking for a place to stash salary. Jamison’s $15 million expiring contract could provide cap relief, for example, if a team was willing to give up a pick.

But how hefty of a contract is too much in the eyes of the Cavaliers? And how many teams would rather just waive a bad contract next summer under the amnesty provision rather than sacrifice a first-round pick to unload salary?

Only seven teams — the Cavs, Orlando Magic, New York Knicks, Golden State Warriors, Indiana Pacers, New Jersey Nets and Portland Trail Blazers — exercised their one-time amnesty provision in December. The amnesty clause allows a team to release a player and not have the salary count against a team’s cap, although that team is still responsible for paying the balance of the contract.

Teams must use the provision on one contract that was already on the books when the new collective bargaining agreement was ratified in December.

With 23 teams still capable of using their amnesty provision this summer, it hampers the Cavs’ ability to find a team desperate enough to shed salary that they would also include a draft pick.

Payroll is a constant concern for the New Orleans Hornets, who are owned by the league while a buyer is sought. The Cavs called the Hornets earlier this season offering to swallow Emeka Okafor’s massive contract that pays him $28 million the next two seasons, but only if the Hornets would include one of their two first-round picks. They declined.

Then word trickled out on Friday that the Hornets are shopping Okafor. His contract is strikingly similar to Baron Davis’ deal when the Cavs dealt for him last season. The difference is Okafor is younger (29) and still a productive big man, whereas Davis was a disgruntled veteran with a lengthy injury history and the reputation as a locker-room cancer. He was radioactive when the Cavs took him on, although by all accounts, he was a model citizen during his brief time in Cleveland.

Okafor doesn’t have great trade value and he has missed the past 12 games with a knee injury, but he is 6-foot-10 and productive enough (9.9 points, 7.9 rebounds) when healthy that the Hornets should be able to get some sort of value for him.

Ricky Rubio’s season-ending knee injury also complicates matters. The Hornets’ selection is almost guaranteed to be in the top five, and they also have the Minnesota Timberwolves’ unprotected pick this year. They might have been willing to part with it when the Timberwolves looked like a playoff team, but without Rubio, the Timberwolves will find it difficult to keep up in the ultra competitive Western Conference.

That will likely make their draft choice an unprotected lottery pick, and teams are hesitant to trade those after what the Cavs did with the Los Angeles Clippers’ pick last year.

Stephen Jackson of the Milwaukee Bucks and Andray Blatche of the Washington Wizards are more in line with where Davis was last season. They each have that “bad egg” reputation that scares away buyers.

Jackson is due $10 million next season in the final year of his deal and is an ideal candidate to be waived under the amnesty clause. Blatche is owed $23 million for the next three years.

The Wizards are so desperate to unload Blatche, the Washington Post reported Friday that they’re making it known anyone on their roster outside of John Wall could be available to a team willing to absorb him. The Cavs would likely be more interested in the Wizards’ upcoming draft pick, which should fall somewhere in the top five.

The Cavs believe they have the right kind of veteran leadership in guys like Anthony Parker and Jamison, coupled with a strong-willed coach in Byron Scott that they could take on a problem player if the compensation was right.

Blatche, incidentally, makes $6.4 million this season and would fit within the Cavs’ available cap space without giving up a player.

But the Wizards still own their amnesty and have two great candidates — Rashard Lewis and Blatche. Both Lewis and Blatche are owed about the same amount of money, but Lewis will make $23 million next season and Blatche’s money is spread out over three years.

Since Lewis isn’t the locker room problem that Blatche can be, it would make sense for the Wizards to keep Lewis and pay him and simply waive Blatche next summer under the amnesty clause.

Draft picks remain Cavs General Manager Chris Grant’s primary focus, but the Cavs are also shopping for young pieces that fit their long-term model. They made an aggressive offer last month for Hornets shooting guard Eric Gordon, who was the centerpiece to the deal that sent Chris Paul to the Clippers after NBA Commissioner David Stern squashed the original deal that would’ve sent Paul to the Lakers.

Gordon has been hurt much of this season and can be a restricted free agent at the end of the year, but he’s only 23 and represents the type of young core player the Cavs seek.

The Hornets again told the Cavs they were keeping Gordon, which is understandable given the scrutiny of the deal that initially sent him to New Orleans. Since Stern intervened, the Hornets almost certainly must hold on to Gordon and match whatever offer he receives this summer in free agency.

All of this leaves the Cavs in a difficult position between now and Thursday’s 3 p.m. deadline. All hope is not lost, however. The Cavs were growing pessimistic they could get something done last year, then the Clippers called the night before the trade deadline and finally conceded to the Cavs’ demand of an unprotected pick to take on Davis.

The Cavs came out of that deal with Kyrie Irving. They’ll spend the next four days searching for the trade that could ultimately bring his running mate to Cleveland.

Around the league

• Along with Jackson, the Bucks are shopping injury-prone center Andrew Bogut. The former No. 1 overall pick might not play again this season after fracturing his ankle on Jan. 25, but he’s 7 feet tall and still only 27 years old. He is owed $27 million for the next two years, but has played in at least 70 games only twice in seven seasons.

• Pau Gasol endured a wild Friday when word started spreading on Twitter he was about to be traded. A few national outlets immediately disputed the report, but Gasol remains in limbo while the Lakers shop the four-time All-Star.

“I said to myself, ‘If anything serious was about to happen, I would get a call from a significant person,’ and I didn’t get that,” Gasol told Los Angeles reporters. “Anybody can start out rumors. They start out small and then they come out big. With me, it’s been like that several times this season.”

• The Grizzlies aren’t shopping anyone, including guard O.J. Mayo, according to multiple reports out of Memphis.

Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at http://cavs.ohio.com. Follow him on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ. Follow ABJ sports on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/sports.abj.

NBA: Bob Finnan's three points and rumor mill
Published: Saturday, March 10, 2012

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By Bob Finnan
RFinnan@News-Herald.com
@BobCavsinsider



Click to enlarge
Three points

1. Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio's torn ACL almost assures Cavs guard Kyrie Irving of winning the Rookie of the Year.

2. You don't see a transformation like the one shown by Cavs forward Alonzo Gee much in the NBA. His defensive effort against Thunder All-Star Kevin Durant on Friday was inspiring.

3. There was a sequence in the Oklahoma City game in which there was a loose ball and players were diving all over the floor. They were scratching, biting and yanking. It looked like a rugby match. It was an amazing display of hustle and toughness.


Rumor mill

-- Chances have dimmed that the Cavs can get a first-round pick for point guard Ramon Sessions. If they do, it would be in the late 20s. They almost have to move him now, even if it's for a second-round pick. He's probably going to opt out of his contract at the end of the season. But they can't give him away.

-- Forward Antawn Jamison wants to stay with the Cavs the rest of the season. It appears as if the Cavs will oblige. The Cavs don't want to take back any salary in a possible deal. They can just let his contract expire at the end of the season.

-- Rumors say the Cavs continue to have an open dialogue with the Atlanta Hawks concerning small forward Marvin Williams. That rumor won't go away. One media report said forward Josh Smith's name has been added to those discussions. Some have suggested sending Jamison and Sessions to the Hawks for Williams and Smith. The Cavs would probably do that.

-- Several media outlets continue to talk about the Cavs buying out Jamison's contract. It just doesn't add up. He hasn't asked out and would like to remain with the Cavs the rest of the season. It's not as if the Cavs want to wash their hands of him. It's just the opposite. They love his presence in the locker room. It's not an accident that Tristan Thompson's locker is next to Jamison's. It would be a different case if Jamison wanted to play for a contender, but that hasn't been discussed.

-- Forward Omri Casspi, who has been worse coming off the bench than he was starting, hasn't been the same since he injured his knee working with the Israeli National team last summer.

Last year, the Cavs' shooting guard spot was as bad as any other team in the league. So what did the Cavs do to bulk up the position? They re-signed 36-year-old Anthony Parker. They realize some new blood is needed at the position.

-- Don't be shocked if Daniel Gibson's name is tossed around in some trade talks. All but $2.3 million of his 2012-13 contract is guaranteed. He's set to earn $4,792,332 next year.

-- The NBA has considered putting advertising on uniforms. Imagine a "Joe's Heating & Cooling" ad on the front of the Cavs jersey. It could come to that.

About the Cavaliers ...

Terry Pluto


In an NBA where even the biggest stars can appear indecisive in the big moments, Kyrie Irving has been anything but.
1. Watching games tells you Kyrie Irving is a clutch player. According to 82games.com, Irving ranks third in clutch scoring -- points in the final five minutes of a game where the score is within five points. They do it on a per 48-minute basis. The leaders are Kevin Durant (55.2), Carmelo Anthony (49.7), Irving (43.4), Chris Paul (41.5) and Joe Johnson (39.7). LeBron James ranks 13th.
2. Mike Brown's Lakers are averaging 94.4 points per game, the lowest for the franchise since 1954-55. That was before the shot clock. He's discovering the magic of Phil Jackson's triangle offense was simply that it demanded ball movement. Brown is running a lot of isolations to Kobe Bryant, and that leads to lots of dribbling by one guy and four guys watching. Cavs fans know the drill.
3. That's why it's nice to watch Irving be decisive with the ball. He shoots, he drives, he passes. He rarely just chews up the clock. Byron Scott's offense does have some decent spacing, and it will look even better when Anderson Varejao returns. He brings movement, sets picks and inspires teammates to be active.
4. I watched Damian Lillard of Weber State in the Big Sky tournament and fell in love with the 6-foot-3 guard as a possible Cavalier. He is the Norris Cole of this draft, a mid-major player who can help right away. Lillard is averaging 24.5 points, shooting 47 percent, 43 percent on 3-pointers.
5. The Cavs are looking for scorers, small forwards and shooting guards. UConn's Jeremy Lamb is attracting a lot of interest, and the Cavs have to be among them. When Antawn Jamison leaves at the end of the season (assuming he's not traded), they will really need to find a scorer somewhere.

Keeping up with the Cavs' trade buzz


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Sam Amico covers the Cavaliers and an array of other topics for FOXSportsOhio.com. His national NBA columns run twice each week on FOXSports.com. Prior to joining FOX, Amico wrote for NBA.com. He is a native of Akron and began his journalism career at daily newspapers ranging from West Virginia to Wyoming.
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March 11, 2012
CLEVELAND -- A few quick notes on the latest involving the Cavaliers:

* By now, you’ve probably heard the rumor about the Cavs sending forward Antawn Jamison and his expiring contract to New Orleans for center Emeka Okafor and one of the Hornets’ two first-round picks. It was first mentioned by Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal.

* Okafor is a serviceable starting center when healthy, a veteran who plays hard and does the dirty work. But it’s hard to remember there was once debate about who Orlando should choose with the No. 1 overall draft pick: Okafor, or Dwight Howard. That was back in 2004.

* So, would the Hornets really go through with a deal like the one rumored just to rid themselves of Okafor’s contract (two years left after this season, around $28 million)? Probably not. But maybe.

* Again, the Hornets own two first-rounders: Their own, and Minnesota’s. Both are likely lottery picks. The Hornets’ very well could be in the top five, maybe top three.

* One New Orleans fan asked why the Hornets would need to trade Okafor’s contract when they could just use the amnesty clause. It’s a good question. However, if the Hornets merely amnestied Okafor, they would still have to pay him (even though his salary wouldn’t count toward the salary cap). But if they traded for an expiring deal (such as Jamison’s), the contract would come off the books entirely. So they would owe no money to anyone come July.

* While it's nice to talk about, I don’t really see this trade happening. Two lottery picks in this year’s supposedly deep draft will be considered absolute gold. As one GM said, “I’ll give you a lottery pick for an expiring deal, provided you pry it from my cold, dead hand first.”

* But what this rumor tells us, more than anything, is the Cavs will be very active in the four days left before the March 15 trade deadline. The goal is to fight for a playoff spot while building for the future. It’s a difficult balance, but one that Cavs GM Chris Grant seems to be approaching with a great deal of confidence.

* As for Hornets guard Eric Gordon, forget it. As I tweeted earlier, one NBA GM promised that Gordon “isn’t going anywhere, so cross him off your wish list.”

* And, yes, Cavs guard Ramon Sessions hears his name being mentioned in trade rumors. He also understands it’s all part of the business. "I'm not really worried about it, not really too concerned about it," he said before the Cavs-Rockets game Sunday. “I'm here to practice, here to come to work. With my career that's the way it's been the last two or three years.”

* The Cavs have also been linked to Charlotte, in a deal that would also supposedly involve Jamison, but not return a draft pick. “So it sounds like a lot of pure speculation, nothing more,” said a Western Conference GM.

* The possibility also exists that the Cavs could let Jamison’s contract expire, then re-sign him to a smaller free-agent deal in the summer. And why not? Contrary to popular belief, veterans don’t hinder the rebuilding process. And the Cavs will tell you that Jamison has actually helped it this year.

* If the Cavs do make a deal, you can expect it to come at the same time as last year's trade involving Mo Williams (and resulting in Kyrie Irving). Read: The last possible minute. That makes them no different than anyone else. But if they can't get a first-round pick, I'd be surprised if they make any move whatsoever. Either way, I'll provide daily (maybe hourly) updates in this very space. We will also be conducting a pre-trade deadline chat later this week.

Follow Sam Amico on Twitter @SamAmicoFSO

In Sunday night’s fourth quarter, Irving hit three of four shots, including a 3-pointer, and was perfect from the line in nine attempts. Cleveland scored 37 points in the period while erasing a three-point deficit. Ramon Sessions scored 15 points, and Alonzo Gee, Daniel Gibson and Samardo Samuels added 11 apiece.

“When it comes to the fourth quarter, I’m like, `Here comes The Kyrie Show.’ He’s an unbelievable talent,” Samuels said.

Irving scored five points on 2-for-11 shooting in his first 24 minutes on the floor.

“It’s tough, but you have to push through it,” he said. “You have to do other things to help your team.”

JJ, starting to look like other teams will not be able to catch the Cavs. Cavs may add better players then Jamison and Sessions by Thursday.

If the Lakers elect not to trade Gasol before the deadline and give the core of their current roster one more shot at making a championship run before pursuing major moves in the offseason, they still have an $8.9 million trade exception to use before Thursday that was created in the December deal with Dallas that sent Lamar Odom to the Mavericks. The Lakers also possess two 2012 first-round picks that could be used as trade assets.


One league source told ESPNLosAngeles.com's Dave McMenamin that the Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers recently tried to resuscitate a deal that would have sent point guard Ramon Sessions to L.A. by bringing the Rockets into the mix as a third-team facilitator.

The source said that the Lakers, in that proposal, would have received Sessions from Cleveland and future considerations from Houston, with the Rockets receiving one of the Lakers' two 2012 first-rounders and the Cavaliers landing Houston guard Jonny Flynn to back up Kyrie Irving at the point.


As of Tuesday, though, those discussions had gone dormant, according to a Western Conference executive. But Sessions remains at the top of the Lakers' list of targets to upgrade their backcourt.


Marc Stein covers the NBA for ESPN.com. ESPNLosAngeles.com's Dave McMenamin contributed to this report.

the Cavaliers landing Houston guard Jonny Flynn to back up Kyrie Irving at the point.

What would be the point of that trade?

Cavs would get a young back up PG with a contract past this year. Sessions has an option to void his contract after this season. (He will.)

Adrian Wojnarowski ‏
Bucks and Warriors have agreed in principle on trade to send Bogut and Jackson to Warriors for Ellis, Udoh and Brown, league source tells Y!

Marcus Thompson‏@gswscribe

Said one Warriors player: "So we're just giving up on the season?"


Warriors having a close door meeting. Monta Ellis is talking