Cavs make Andrew Bynum $24 million offer

The Cleveland Cavaliers are pushing for free-agent center Andrew Bynum to accept a two-year, $24 million-plus, incentive-based contract offer, league sources told Yahoo! Sports on Monday night.

The Cavaliers met with Bynum in Cleveland on Monday, but could fast lose patience with waiting on the two-time NBA champion center to make a decision on accepting the offer, which includes a team option in the second year of the deal, sources said.

Bynum, 25, left Cleveland to travel to Atlanta to meet with Hawks officials, and Cleveland has begun to engage free agents Andrei Kirilenko and Elton Brand on possible one-year deals that would preclude the Cavaliers from the ability to sign Bynum, league sources said.

Cleveland wants a team option on a second contract year to protect it against losing Bynum to 2014 free agency should his damaged knees heal enough to allow him to make a resurgence this season. The incentives of a possible Bynum contract could include minimal hurdles of completing training camp and reaching minutes and games-played plateaus in the regular season, league sources said.

Bynum's camp has been shopping for one-year, high-money deals that would allow him to hit the market again next year, sources said.

For the Cavaliers, the possibility of a Bynum reclamation project taking shape in Cleveland, coupled with All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving, could be the cornerstones of a recruiting pitch to bring back LeBron James in the summer of 2014.

Bynum missed the entire 2012-13 season with the Philadelphia 76ers, after chronic knees problems ultimately required surgery. Every team with an interest in Bynum is reluctant to commit significant guaranteed money – never mind long-term years – on a player whom even the most generous of medical opinions consider anything but a significant risk to miss more games this season and beyond.

Bynum had his best NBA season in 2011-12 with the Los Angeles Lakers, averaging 18.7 points and 11.8 rebounds. He was sent to the 76ers as part of the four-team deal that delivered Dwight Howard to the Lakers. Knee injuries have plagued him throughout much of his eight-year NBA career.

And it seems like he's accepted.

Andrew Bynum agrees to two-year contract offer from Cleveland Cavaliers

By Jodie Valade, The Plain Dealer

Email the author | Follow on Twitter

on July 10, 2013 at 7:58 PM, updated July 10, 2013 at 8:30 PM

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The wooing and the gamble paid off. Andrew Bynum is coming to Cleveland.

The 7-footer with balky knees agreed Wednesday evening to sign a two-year deal with the Cavaliers, his agent confirmed. The decision comes after fielding offers from the Atlanta Hawks and Dallas Mavericks.

"It was the best situation," Bynum's agent David Lee said. "The team looks terrific. We could not find a negative."

• Cavaliers' Bynum gamble is desperate, but understandable: Shaw

Among the positives is the lucrative offer the Cavaliers made: a two-year deal with $6 million guaranteed in the first year, according to a source. The second year is a team option.

The gamble comes because Bynum missed all of the 2012-13 season because of various knee injuries that required surgery in March.

In addition to a lucrative contract, the Cavaliers also can offer head coach Mike Brown -- the same coach who was at the head of the L.A. Lakers when Bynum had his most productive season in the NBA. In 2011-12, Bynum averaged a career-best 18.7 points and 11.8 rebounds.

MY QUICK THOUGHTS ON CAVS & BYNUM
By Terry Pluto

With only $6 million guarantee on a two-year deal, the signing for Andrew Bynum by the Cavs makes a lot of sense because of the dollars.

Bynum can earn up to $12 million this season based on how often he plays, and how he produces.

If his angry knees remain cranky and he misses another full season, the Cavs pay him $6 million and he limps away. If his play approaches the 19 points and 11 rebounds that he averaged for Coach Mike Brown with the Lakers in 2011-12, the Cavs have a $12 million team option on him for 2014-15.

It's a smart move by General Manager Chris Grant, who either ends up with a legitimate 7-foot center for the next two years -- or has lots of salary cap room left for 2014-15 if he has to pass on Bynum next season.

Who knows if Bynum is healthy.

There have to be doubts, because his missed all of last season -- his free agent year. It was in his financial best interest to play for the Sixers to position himself for a big contract this summer.

He never was able to step on the court, and his willingness to rehabilitate his knee was questioned.

But he has another chance with the Cavs. And the Cavs had lots of big men with Anderson Varejao, Tyler Zeller and Bynum as center, along with power forwards Tristan Thompson and Anthony Bennett.

Of course, it's impossible to guess how many games the Cavs can squeeze out of Varejao and Bynum. But if one of them can play most of the time ats close to their production when healthy, the Cavs are a much better team.

A free agent class of Jarrett Jack, Earl Clark and Bynum is a nice summer shopping trip for the Cavs -- one that may pay off with playoff contention this winter.

Andrew Bynum - C - Cavaliers

Andrew Bynum gained 15 points since his knee surgery in March and hasn't picked up a ball in some time, according to his agent David Lee.

"There was no reason to have him work out," Lee said. "His skill level's not in question, so there's no reason to work out. The reality is he has not picked up the ball in some time and he has to get his weight down. He's got to lose probably about 15 pounds, which is not a big deal. But to get on the floor you've got to reduce your weight, otherwise you risk injury."

This isn't the first thing that Cavs fans will want to hear about their new center. The Cavs got Bynum for a bit of a bargain at $6 million guaranteed, but there is a ton of risk that comes with him. He expects to be ready for training camp.

Read to the end for the Cavs tie in. If they do claim him, which likely no one else will want to do due to his salary, he will probably be theirs.

The Rockets have interest in amnesty buyouts Mike Miller and Marcus Camby, a source tells Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.

Miller and Camby were bought out by the Heat and Raptors, respectively. With the Rockets in win-now mode, both players make sense as depth players to help fill out the bench and contribute in limited minutes.

Miller is reportedly also drawing interest from the Grizzlies and Thunder, but the sharpshooting swingman might not make it to free agency.

Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski reports the Cavs are "seriously considering" placing a waiver bid on Miller, which could land him in Cleveland without having to deal with free agency

Previous blurb on Miller, with salary info:

Heat waived SG/SF Mike Miller via the amnesty provision.

Miller had two years and $12.8 million remaining on his contract.

By wiping his salary off the books, the Heat move from the third tier of the luxury tax threshold into the second tier. In other words, they'd save a ton of cash (roughly $17 million in luxury tax bills this year, and upwards of $40 million over two years).

Replacing Miller's long-range shooting, however, is another story. He went 16-of-36 from 3-point range in the playoffs and started the final four games of the Finals. If his balky knees can pass a medical exam, Miller figures to attract some attention from contenders on the open market once he clears waivers. He won't be asking for much money because he'll still be collecting a check from the Heat. Jul 16 - 2:40 PM

Hmm, he's not buddies with Lebron is he?

Y! Sources: Cleveland's considering an amnesty waiver bid to claim forward Mike Miller. http://yhoo.it/1bJEg1j

"Miller is close friends with Lebron James, and the Cavs are planning to make a run to resign him"

Mike Miller considering back surgery as Cavs, others, debate making waiver bid for him


2 hours 41 minutes ago

Former Miami Heat swingman Mike Miller is considering fusion surgery to repair bulging disks in his back, a revelation that has caused some NBA teams to hesitate on making bids to claim him in the amnesty waiver process, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.
Several contending teams have interest in signing Miller as a free agent should he go unclaimed before Thursday's 5 p.m. ET deadline, front-office sources told Yahoo! Sports, but all of those would have time for doctors to examine Miller and understand his intentions and needs regarding possible surgery.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are strongly considering a claim on Miller, and it is believed they've also been weighing the issues regarding his back, sources told Yahoo! Sports.


Miller's back problems caused him to miss games during the 2011-12 season. He also considered surgery in the summer of 2012.
Miami used the amnesty provision to free itself of the $12.8 million left on Miller's contract over the next two seasons. The decision will save the Heat significant money in luxury-tax payments, but the organization is still responsible for paying the balance of Miller's contract.
Cleveland has made several free-agency signings, including center Andrew Bynum, guard Jarrett Jack and forward Earl Clark, with a focus on returning to the playoffs next season.

Miller is close friends with LeBron James, and the Cavaliers are planning to make a run to re-sign him in 2014 free agency.


Any team with salary-cap space can place a blind bid to claim the player, with the highest bid securing him. Teams can claim the player's full salary but must have available cap room or they can place a partial bid with their available cap space. For example, if Cleveland places a bid for $2 million on Miller – and it's the highest – the Cavaliers would be responsible for paying $2 million per season of the money left on Miller's contract. Miami would have to pay the rest.
The deadline for placing a waiver bid for Miller is 5 p.m. ET Thursday.
If Miller goes unclaimed in the process, he's a free agent and eligible to sign everywhere except back with Miami. Miller played a significant role in the Heat's back-to-back NBA championships and run to three straight Finals appearances.
Miller, 33, has played 12 NBA seasons, including stops with Orlando, Memphis, Minnesota, Washington and Miami. Despite several pivotal performances for Miami in key playoff and Finals games over the past two years, injuries often kept him out of the lineup, or playing hurt.

Cavaliers delay signing Andrew Bynum to make bid on Mike Miller

By Conrad Kaczmarek  @ConradKazNBA on Jul 17 2013, 6:59p 15


The Cavaliers are reportedly going to delay signing Andrew Bynum in order to keep their flexibility open just a bit longer.

The Cleveland Cavaliers were going to have a press conference to introduce Andrew Bynum on Thursday. And then all of the sudden they weren't. This doesn't mean that something went wrong with the Bynum deal and it doesn't mean we aren't still getting him. Instead, it has something to do with the Cavaliers reported interest in Mike Miller, the former member of the Miami Heat who recently hit amnesty waivers.

According to Brian Windhorst of ESPN, the Cavaliers are delaying their signing on Andrew Bynum to keep their salary cap flexibility open for a little while longer.


In order to make an amnesty bid on a player, you must have the necessary cap room to fit your bid. In the case of Mike Miller, he has two more years on his contract and if the Cavaliers are sincere about trying to get Miller, they need enough actual salary cap room to do so. You cannot use an exception (such as the "room" exception that the Cavaliers will have) to make an amnesty bid. You must be under the salary cap.

So why do the Cavs have to delay their signing of Bynum? Because once Bynum is signed, his cap hit will bring the Cavs all the way up to the salary cap (or at least pretty close). If Bynum was officially under contract, the Cavs could still make a bid on Mike Miller -- except they would have to waive one or more of their non-guaranteed contracts to create the necessary cap space. That would mean waiving any combination of Chris Quinn, Kevin Jones, or C.J. Miles to simply have a *chance* at Mike Miller. As I wrote in our initial post about the Cavs' interest in Miller, it would be foolish to cut a player just to have an opportunity at a guy like Mike Miller. After all, the Cavs could end up waiving their non-guaranteed deals, make a bid, and then find out that another team submitted a higher bid. Then they'd be losing these other players for no particular reason.

By waiting to sign Bynum, the Cavs maintain their cap space. They are free to bid whatever they please on Mike Miller (I assume they already have a specific amount in mind) without waiving Jones ($788K), Quinn ($1.1M), or Miles ($2.25M). Then, if Cleveland won their bid on Miller, they would be able to waive those guys in order to make room to officially sign Andrew Bynum.

Does that all make sense? All they are doing is changing the order of their transactions, but it gives them more flexibility. Rather than preemptively waiving players to get Miller, they can wait and see if they get Miller before losing those players.

The deadline for placing amnesty bids on Mike Miller comes at 5 PM Eastern on Thursday. After that deadline, the Cavs will know for sure which players they are keeping in this whole exchange. All we know right now is that the Cavs will most definitely be signing Andrew Bynum. It's just a matter of when at this point.

Sheesh. Lucky there's "cap ologists" to figure this all out.

Just for kicks.

Here, we have a roundup of which picks have been signed and which remain without a contract. Each player is listed with the team that currently owns his rights, which in many cases isn't the team that originally drafted him, given the volume of trades we saw on draft night and the weeks since.

Cleveland Cavaliers: Anthony Bennett — unsigned
Orlando Magic: Victor Oladipo — signed
Washington Wizards: Otto Porter — signed
Charlotte Bobcats: Cody Zeller — signed
Phoenix Suns: Alex Len — unsigned
Philadelphia 76ers: Nerlens Noel — unsigned
Sacramento Kings: Ben McLemore — signed
Detroit Pistons: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope — unsigned
Utah Jazz: Trey Burke — signed
Portland Trail Blazers: C.J. McCollum — signed
Philadelphia 76ers: Michael Carter-Williams — unsigned
Oklahoma City Thunder: Steven Adams — signed
Boston Celtics: Kelly Olynyk — signed
Minnesota Timberwolves: Shabazz Muhammad — signed
Milwaukee Bucks: Giannis Antetokounmpo — unsigned
Atlanta Hawks: Lucas Nogueira — unsigned
Atlanta Hawks: Dennis Schröder — signed
Dallas Mavericks: Shane Larkin — unsigned
Cleveland Cavaliers: Sergey Karasev — unsigned
Chicago Bulls: Tony Snell — signed
Minnesota Timberwolves: Gorgui Dieng — signed
Brooklyn Nets: Mason Plumlee — signed
Indiana Pacers: Solomon Hill — signed
New York Knicks: Tim Hardaway Jr. — signed
Los Angeles Clippers: Reggie Bullock — signed
Oklahoma City Thunder: Andre Roberson — signed
Utah Jazz: Rudy Gobert — signed
San Antonio Spurs: Livio Jean-Charles — unsigned
Phoenix Suns: Archie Goodwin — signed
Golden State Warriors: Nemanja Nedovic — signed

More hoops stuff:

SH Blog: D’Antoni questions how Houston is better for Howard

When Dwight Howard left the Los Angeles Lakers and bolted to the Houston Rockets, we heard and saw the reactions of plenty – perhaps most notably from Kobe Bryant, who immediately unfollowed his former teammate on twitter upon hearing the news.

The one person most relevant to the situation that we’ve yet to hear from had been Mike D’Antoni, whose offense was cited as a critical reason for Howard’s desire for departure. So what did the coach think of his time with the center? How did D’Antoni feel about Howard’s decision to join the Rockets? Vincent Bonsignore of Daily News has all the details below:

“Steve Nash and Dwight Howard on the pick and roll, and that’s what I do?” D’Antoni remembers, wistfully. “I just thought, ‘Boy, that’s gonna be a staple.’ ”

“There was just a lot of conflict, emotionally,” D’Antoni said. “People were not settled in their roles. But it’s funny because a lot of times players will say ‘I don’t know my role.’ It’s not that you don’t know it, you just don’t accept it.”

“The only thing that cracks me up is (the question) ‘Why didn’t you go through him more?’ ” D’Antoni said. “Well, he was hurt. Why would we go through him if he’s hurt? You have to (factor) that in. Why would we do that with Kobe and Nash and (Pau) Gasol on the floor? That doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

“The thing that cracks me up is Houston, they do the exact same thing,” D’Antoni said, laughing. “And so (Howard) is gonna go to Houston? OK, so did they talk about change there? Don’t tell me that it’s that different.”

“He’s a force and he can be really, really good and dominate the league,” D’Antoni said. “But it’s in an area that he’s not loving right now. He wants to dominate a different way, in the low post and all that. But he needs to get better there, and he will. But his greatness is in defense and being a physical force. I think he’d be better served if he embraces that.

“But he’s good.”

So in short, D’Antoni thought Howard did not want to get with the program and asked to do more on the offensive end, despite the fact that he was playing hurt and proved to be very ineffective on isolation situations through at least the first half of the season. And now, he will join an offense that will actually look very similar to that of the Lakers and even has a player that eats up almost as many possessions as Kobe in James Harden.

From the coach’s perspective, it’s obvious that this entire Howard fiasco has been comical. From an overall perspective, you can see why D’Antoni and Howard were never a good fit: both are stubborn and set in their ways, and neither are willing to compromise, adjust and sacrifice for the betterment of the team.

Adrian Wojnarowski ✔ @WojYahooNBA

Mike Miller has cleared amnesty waivers and become a free agent, league source tells Y! Sports.