Very, very happy for him and he definitely will be missed. Great contributor, his price tag just exploded. Kudos to him for that!

Don't the Cavs have the right to reply:

Dear Delly:

We've so much enjoyed having you on our team as we've moved from has-beens to contenders to champions that we want you back. Same money as Milwaukee. No guarantees on playing time. But a good chance to get back to the finals. See you in Camp!

Yours truly,

The Cavs

Cavs News: Cleveland Cavaliers to Sign Chris ‘Birdman’ Andersen

By Justin Benjamin
Updated: July 8, 2016



After losing backup center Timofey Mozgov to the Los Angeles Lakers, the Cleveland Cavaliers are close to adding veteran center Chris Andersen.

The news comes from head coach Tyronn Lue, who says that the Cavs have already signed the center.

However, some sources are claiming that the news is a bit premature.

Andersen, who turned 38 on Thursday, averaged 4.6 points and 4.5 rebounds in 20 games with the Memphis Grizzlies last season. The veteran has played for the Denver Nuggets, New Orleans Hornets, Miami Heat and Grizzlies over the course of his 15-year career.

One key component that may have led to “Birdman’s” arrival in Cleveland is his relationship with superstar Finals MVP LeBron James. The two spent a couple of years together in Miami, including the Heat’s 2013 championship season.

Heat beat reporter Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel immediately pointed to the close relationship after the news broke out.

Although Andersen is 38, the center will likely play a solid role off the bench in the absence of Mozgov. His high energy and prior experience with James will come in handy for a Cavs team looking to defend their reign next season.

Cleveland Cavaliers have Terry Talkin' trades and Mike Dunleavy -- Terry Pluto

on July 09, 2016 at 8:28 AM


CLEVELAND, Ohio -- David Griffin found a way to turn Matthew Dellavedova into Mike Dunleavy.

The Cavaliers general manager didn't exactly know that would happen when Dellavedova signed a four-year, $38 million offer sheet with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Griffin realized it would cost the Cavs oodles of cash to match the Bucks offer for the backup guard. The easiest move was to simply not match the offer and move on.

Griffin began talking about a "sign-and-trade" deal with the Bucks. Like anything else with the NBA salary cap, the explanation begins at complicated and then turns incomprehensible for 99.9 percent of the population.

Griffin likes trade exceptions. They are a way for a team over the salary cap, such as the Cavs, to still obtain players. The "exception" means it's an "exception" to the standard salary cap rule.

Anyway, NBA rules allowed the Cavs to receive a $4.8 million salary cap exception and a player named Albert Miralles for Dellavedova.

MEANWHILE, IN CHICAGO

As Dwyane Wade was talking about leaving Miami for the Bulls, the Cavs were aware Chicago had to clear salary cap room to sign Wade.

That meant dumping some players.

OK, before we go any further -- Wade was never coming to the Cavs for the $3.5 million mid-level exception the team had on the salary cap. Those Cleveland rumors were designed to stir up more free agent interest in Wade.

As I wrote, Wade was mad at Miami. He wanted to be paid. He turned down $40 million for two years from the Heat. He wanted $50 million for two years. The Bulls found a way to pay him $47 million -- and Wade is a Chicago native. So that had appeal to the 34-year-old guard.

But the Bulls were looking to move small forward Mike Dunleavy.

Suddenly, the Cavs knew this $4.8 million trade exception was ... well ... perfect.

That's because Dunvleay's salary for 2016-17 is ... well ... $4.8 million.

The Cavs also included some cash in the deal. There was a report of $250,000, but I was told that figure is high.

The Cavs would have made the Dellavedova deal anyway -- but this was a terrific turn of events.

HE GETS TRADED, DON'T ASK WHY

I'm not even going to explain why a player had to be involved in both deals made by the Cavs -- but there had to be a player, according to NBA salary cap rules.

Or at least, a player-on-paper, in terms of his rights being held by an NBA team.

Meet Albert Miralles, a 6-foot-9 forward who has played in Europe since first being drafted by Toronto in 2004.

He's never played a minute in the NBA. But his contract keeps being traded from team-to-team. His contract has moved from Toronto to Miami to Boston to Milwaukee.

Catch this: Milwaukee traded the Miralles contract to the Cavs as part of the Dellavedova deal.

Then the Cavs traded Miralles to Chicago as part of the Dunleavy deal.

Miralles is 34 and his contract is now with its fifth NBA team ... including two last week.

DUNLEAVY TO CLEVELAND

Griffin has wanted to trade for Dunleavy for a few years. The Cavs love tall 3-point shooters. It's why they traded for 6-foot-11 Channing Frye in the middle of last season.

Dunleavy is 6-foot-9 and he can play either forward spot. He had back surgery in 2015, and that's why he played only 31 games. The Cavs believe he is healthy, or at least healthy enough to help them as a forward and long-range shooting threat coming off the bench.

Dunleavy averaged 7.2 points and shot .410 (.394 on 3-pointers) from the field in 23 minutes a game for the Bulls.

In his last three years with Chicago, Dunleavy is a 9.9 point scorer, shooting .429 (.394 on 3-pointers) from the field.

The analytics reveals Dunleavy shot .525 on 3-pointers when no defender was within six feet of him last season. He will receive plenty of open shots like that playing with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving.

For years, James liked the idea of playing on the same team with Dunleavy. He loves "snipers," as he calls long-range shooters.

Dunleavy will be 36 on September 15, so the Cavs can't play him heavy minutes. But they also don't need to do so.

MORE STUFF FROM DEALS

The Cavs still have a $9.6 million trade exception left over from the Anderson Varejao/Frye deal in February. They thought they would have to use it for Dunleavy in case they couldn't work the trade for Dellavedova.

But the Delly Deal worked. And the Cavs still have that $9.6 million exception.

That could be valuable if the Cavs need to make a trade during the season.

RICHARD JEFFERSON IS BACK

I'm not going to dig deep in all the salary cap moves needed to sign Richard Jefferson, but the Cavs were able to use some salary cap exceptions for a two-year, $5 million deal for their 36-year-old forward.

Jefferson was a very important bench player during The Finals. The Cavs love his leadership and basketball acumen.

So the Cavs have two veteran forwards (Dunleavy and Jefferson) who can come into the game and relieve James -- something the team wanted to give coach Tyronn Lue.

Interesting article, thanks JR. Nice to see the Cavs folder up and running again.

Oh, pardon me, the World Champion Cavs (folder).

Trying not to gush, but this guy had crazy talent before he went south off the court. Maybe? JRII?

RUMOR: Shot-Blocking Center Larry Sanders Hints At Joining Cavaliers On Twitter
Posted By: Tomer AzarlyPosted date: July 09, 2016In: Cavs, Cleveland, News

The Cleveland Cavaliers are making some moves this summer of free agency. So far, they’ve added Mike Dunleavy and are reportedly close to signing Chris “Birdman” Andersen.

Although there aren’t any confirmed reports of it yet, the Cavs could be targeting the solid shot-blocking center with a bit of a troubled past: Larry Sanders. On Saturday evening, Sanders posted this photo of a Cavalier on Twitter with no caption.
And if you think we’re just making things up, just take a look at what comes up when you search up “Cavalier in red coat” on Google.

Sanders has career averages of 6.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per game in five seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks. The amazing part is that he’s averaged that in just 19.8 minutes per game.

His career per-36 minute averages are 11.8 points, 10.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.2 steals, and a stellar 3.3 blocks. His only issue throughout his career has been dealing with major foul trouble, as he averages 2.8 fouls in those 19.8 minutes of action. Still, if he’s got his head back in the game, Sanders could be a very useful asset.

Could the Cavs add Sanders for the run at defending their NBA title? Stay tuned for more on the Cavs free agency.

To update the Cavs in free agency:

Delly is gone. Did we get another point guard? I think I read about someone.
Dunleavy joins Jefferson as backups at 3 where Cavs already have the best player in the world, who slides to 4 at times.
Mozgov is gone. He's been replaced with a 38-year-old who rarely plays but has a cute nickname.

Anything else? Do we still have James Jones and/or the Other Jones? Have about Sasha Kaun or are all the Russians now ex-Cavs?

I don't recall any info on James Jones or Kaun.

Cavs drafted a PG, Kay Felder. They paid 2.4 mill in cash for a 2nd round pick in order to take him, and tried to get a pick for him earlier than they finally did land him, so they must like him. ... But regardless, they still have Mo Williams to back up the point too. Behind that Kyrie guy, who is supposedly pretty good. Mo said he was really slowed by an aching knee this year and is considering surgery.

J.R. Smith is still a free agent but feeling is both sides want his return and are trying to iron out the deal. Expected to be done any day. ... And they still have Shumpert at SG too, but heard some rumblings they have shopped him but found no takers. ... They also have a young guy who has looked pretty good in Summer League, Jordan McRea, that they reportedly like too. ... And they acquired Mike Dunleavy for literally nothing. What a great move by GM Griffin. He plays SG and SF.

They still have LeBron and Jefferson changed his mind about retirement & signed a 2 year deal. James Jones and Dahntay Jones are both still on roster.

They still have Love and Channing Frye at PF.

And Thompson and Kaun at C. They are also being rumored to be signing Birdman Anderson in a cheap deal. Guess he'll replace Kaun as the big man bench warmer.

I think we should point out that Frye, in a small lineup, can and was used at center at times.

During the regular season of course.

Kay Felder with 10 points at halftime tonight. (10 minute quarters in summer league)

thanks for the updates.

So it's official, Cavs sign Birdman for 1 year.

And they trade Chaka Kaun to Philly for Paula Abdul.

Hold on, got that mixed up. They trade Sasha Kaun and cash to Philly for a player I've never heard of. Must be a foreign player. Maybe TFIR can help us with him.

Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojVerticalNBA 55 minutes ago
Sources: Sixers intend to waive Kaun. Cavs sending cash in deal to make it worth Sixers' trouble, essentially purchasing Philly cap space.

Nevermind. Cavs needed the roster space for Birdman. The draft & stash foreigner we acquired will stay stashed.

RIP Nate Thurmond. Another NBA star from Akron.

http://amarillo.com/sports/pro-sports/2 ... rmond-dies