Garland, Cavaliers agree to 5-year, $193 million extension

Steven59

This is good news for the Cavs......

"CLEVELAND (AP) — Cavaliers All-Star guard Darius Garland has agreed to a five-year, $193 million contract extension.
His agent Rich Paul confirmed the move. Garland’s deal is the largest in franchise history.
The fifth overall pick in 2019, Garland has quickly developed into one of the NBA’s top point guards.

Last season, he averaged 21.7 points and 8.6 assists in 68 games while helping the Cavs win 22 more games than the previous season. Garland agreed to the same deal that another elite young guard, Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies, struck earlier in the week as the majority of the league’s offseason business began getting underway."

Plus they resigned Ricky Rubio this year to, I think, a 3 year contract. No word though when he will be able to play coming off that tear in his knee last year.

erikthredd

The Cavs over the past few years have been quietly putting together a pretty solid team and I think bringing back Rubio even though he had the acl was an underrated move. Getting Sexton back will be a plus but I still think that they need another scorer on the wing. From what I've read they still have some decent cap space available along with some young players that could be moved along with most of their future firsts.

I'm a big fan of the Mobley/Allen double big lineup especially after seeing MIL w/Giannis/Lopez and BOS w/ WIlliams/Horford have success playing them. Pretty soon we'll see the Wolves with Rudy Gobert & Karl Anthony Towns use them too. Locking up the paint and making teams take lower percentage shots from farther out is a great recipe for winning games.

I guess now the big question in the next year or two is if Cleveland has enough success and keeps building on their core unit does Lebron decide to come back home one more time after he hits free agency? He also wants to play with his son whose expected to go in the 2024 draft (I think.) From what I've read, his kid is likely a 2nd rounder but whoever drafts him will likely get the chance to have Lebron come play along with him. It will interesting to see if Lebron is willing to play for lesss money in this scenario.

Steven59

So not sure of this years draft picks but they did sign Even Mobleys older brother - who knows if that is good??
Wonder what is gonna happen to Rondo?

erikthredd

I'm not too familiar with Mobley's brother other than that they drafted him late second round. Picks that late are usually crap shoots so he even worse case he's there to keep your future young star company like Giannis has with his brother. Not really a bad move if it means keeping Evan around longterm and if he turns into a legit role player even better.

Rondo wouldn't be a bad insurance policy to have around until you see when Rubio is back. I doubt he'll cost much and I haven't read anything about the top contenders looking to add him.

I mentioned thinking that they need another wing player above, right now they've kind of got an odd build to the team in a way. Their best players are all either ball handlers (Garland/Sexton/Rubio/Levert then Rondo if he returns) or bigs (Mobley/Mobley/Allen/Love/Markkenan/Brown.) I think a guy like Pacers small forward TJ Warren who has been hurt for over a year plus might be a perfect fit for that lineup. He can score anywhere on the court and likely wouldn't cost much.
Some other names who could add shooting through trade that are likely available are Joe Harris,Seth Curry,Luke Kennard,Doug McDermott & Malik Beasley. Most are somewhat expensive 10-15Mish each but can shoot high percentage from anywhere.

I love the two moves that Boston has made, signing Danilo Gallinari then trading the back end of their roster for Malcolm Brogdon. These two moves alone have added greatly to their bench scoring/playmaking and if the C's can add one more capable shooter like someone from that list above it would be awesome. They still have some Vet Minimum moves to make to fill out 3-4 open roster spots.

Steven59

@erikthredd said:
I'm not too familiar with Mobley's brother other than that they drafted him late second round. Picks that late are usually crap shoots so he even worse case he's there to keep your future young star company like Giannis has with his brother. Not really a bad move if it means keeping Evan around longterm and if he turns into a legit role player even better.

I've only read that Evan's brother is older by a few years, isn't as good as Evan, and was indeed a "Close your eyes and pick" pick - I think the Cavs just took him to keep Evan happy with his contract for awhile.

erikthredd

@Steven59 said:

@erikthredd said:
I'm not too familiar with Mobley's brother other than that they drafted him late second round. Picks that late are usually crap shoots so he even worse case he's there to keep your future young star company like Giannis has with his brother. Not really a bad move if it means keeping Evan around longterm and if he turns into a legit role player even better.

I've only read that Evan's brother is older by a few years, isn't as good as Evan, and was indeed a "Close your eyes and pick" pick - I think the Cavs just took him to keep Evan happy with his contract for awhile.

Hey more power to the Cavs if it keeps them there longterm. Before all of the injuries they suffered that derailed their season Evan was looking like the second coming of Tim Duncan. If bringing his brother on board for the ride means you get Evan for 8-10+yrs in Cleveland then go for it. If Isaiah can develop into your third or fourth big that would be great use of the 49th pick in the draft.

Steven59

@erikthredd
I'm still liken Lauri Markkanen, He was carrying the team at times last year when the "Stars" were injured. Haven't heard anything about him.

erikthredd

He's in a good spot there, you can kind of hide him on defense with having Allen & Mobley in the paint. Ideally he's not considered much of a wing defender but he's long so he's got that going for him. On offense he should get plenty of open looks with opposing defenses having to cover multiple bigs down low.

He might also be their best trade chip right now. He's still young (25) not making crazy money (16/17/18M next three seasons) and is a 7 footer shooting 36% for his career. Depending on what happens with Collin Sexton's contract, you might be able to package these two plus some picks for a legit star player to go with Garland,Mobley & Allen.

Steven59

Ya know - I'd rather trade Sexton, get a quality player for him, and keep Markkenan.

erikthredd

He's a restricted free agent so there aren't going to be many,if any at all,teams trying to steal him away when the Cavs can match any contract he gets. The problem is if he doesn't get any offers and decides to play out his qualifying offer he can then leave for nothing next season. It comes down to how much does he think he's worth and is he willing to wait one more season before cashing in?
If the Cavs can re-sign him in the 17-20M/yr range that would be a good move for the short term. They'd bring back a 20ppg scorer and if they did decide to go looking for another star player he'd bring in a decent but not great return (he's an undersized guard that is about average at best on defense.) I think if they'd pair him & Lauri with picks, their salary would add to a max slot in the 34-38M range depending on if they pay Sexton.
They also have Kevin Love's expiring 28M coming off the books at the end of this upcoming season so there's another pretty big trade chip too. I know with Kyrie then Lebron leaving a few years back left the franchise in a bad place but they've done very well in picking up the pieces since then,imo.

Steven59

Sexton was averaging 20+ points per game befor he was injured. But Now Garland has emerged as a superstar. Tough decision all around. And yes, obviously Love is a deadly weaopon off the bench but for how long - 1/2 the season? Play him sparingly? It is gonna finally be fun to watch the Cavs this year

erikthredd

I think between some combination of Love,Sexton,Markkenan & picks they have enough ammo to go get one of the better star players on the trade block this year,assuming they can extend Sexton. Utah guard Donovan Mitchell is one of the names out there right now thought to be maybe be available,pairing him & Garland with those two bigs would make for a formidable core. Utah just got four firsts and a handful of JAGs for Rudy Gobert,the Cavs could offer better players with similar level draft picks providing they sent some unprotected. If they keep the team as-is,re-sign Sexton and find a solid 3&D wing to play the three i can see them finishing as a the 6-8 seed depending on health.