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No Tristan Thompson, Cavs agreement yet

No Tristan Thompson, Cavs agreement yet

Here’s the News Herald reporting on the Cleveland Cavaliers, who hope to retain the services of rugged role-playing power forward Tristan Thompson but apparently haven’t come to a final free agent contract agreement just yet:

No Tristan Thompson, Cavs agreement yet

We’re not privy to what caused the interruption in the Cavs’ bliss. All we know is that there was a snag and Thompson has yet to agree to a deal.

It’s undoubtedly not the length of the contract. The five-year deal is the maximum allowed under the NBA’s salary-cap regulations.

Maybe Thompson wants a player’s option in the final year of the contract.

Perhaps it’s coming down to dollars and cents (sense?). The most the Cavs can offer him under the rules is around $90 million. The Cavs were reportedly offering $80 million. That’s the difference of him making $16 million a year as opposed to $18 million.

For as much as I respect Thompson’s lunch-pail game, that’s a lot of money for a 10.1-point career scorer.

Report: Lakers will meet with Kevin Love

Would Kevin Love leave the Cleveland Cavaliers? He may not have had a dream season with them, taking a back seat to LeBron James and Kyrie Irving and then watching the team enjoy success without him throughout most of the 2015 NBA playoffs, but he was still their third best player this season and surely enjoys being a part of a winning team, right? It’s still expected he remains with the Cavs, but, conversations elsewhere are being had. Here’s ESPN.com reporting:

Report: Lakers will meet with Kevin Love

The Los Angeles Lakers will meet with free agent Kevin Love later this week, according to league sources.

One source said the Lakers have heard Love is likely to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers, but they still want to sit down with him. The meeting will be part of a busy week for the Lakers, who also will meet with LaMarcus Aldridge, DeAndre Jordan and Greg Monroe.

Besides securing a top-flight power forward, either Aldridge or Love, the Lakers hope to add a center. In addition to Jordan and Monroe, the Lakers have interest in Tyson Chandler and Robin Lopez, Aldridge’s teammate in Portland the past two seasons, sources said. The Lakers also will place a call to Marc Gasol, although the All-Star center is widely expected to re-sign with Memphis.

Mike Miller exercises player option for Cavs

Mike Miller exercises player option for 2015-16 season

Cleveland Cavaliers guard/forward Mike Miller has exercised his player option for the 2015-16 season, Cavaliers General Manager David Griffin announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts.

A 15-year NBA veteran, Miller (6-8, 218) has played in 965 games (568 starts) with averages of 11.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 28.3 minutes per game. He holds career shooting percentages of .460 from the field, .407 from the three-point line and .769 from the free throw line. His 1,563 three-pointers rank 18th all-time in NBA history. This past season, the 35-year-old appeared in 52 games (15 starts) for the Cavaliers and averaged 2.1 points and 1.8 rebounds in 13.5 minutes per game.

Miller has also appeared in 94 postseason contests (21 starts), winning two championships and averaging 4.9 points, including a .394 clip from beyond the arc, and 2.5 rebounds in 16.5 minutes per game.

He wasn’t used much by the team last season, and may have an even smaller role in 2015-16 if the team can improve its bench a bit.

At this point in his career, Miller’s main role is to come off the bench and try to hit some three-pointers while playing limited minutes.

 

Cavs extend qualifying offers to Matthew Dellavedova, Iman Shumpert, Tristan Thompson

The Cleveland Cavaliers have extended qualifying offers to guard Matthew Dellavedova, guard Iman Shumpert and forward/center Tristan Thompson, Cavaliers General Manager David Griffin announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts.

By extending qualifying offers, the Cavaliers will have a right of first refusal for these players should they receive an offer sheet from another team.

Dellavedova played in 67 games (13 starts) in the 2014-15 regular season, averaging 4.8 points, 1.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 20.6 minutes He shot a career-high .407 from the three-point line and .763 from the free throw line. He appeared in all 20 games (seven starts) in the 2015 Playoffs and averaged 7.2 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 24.9 minutes per game.

Shumpert appeared in 62 games (25 starts) for the Cavs and New York Knicks in the 2014-15 regular season. He averaged 8.0 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.3 steals in 24.9 minutes per game. In 38 regular season games (one start) with the Cavs, Shumpert averaged 7.2 points 3.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.3 steals in 24.2 minutes per game. In the 2015 playoffs, he appeared in all 20 games (16 starts), averaging 9.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.3 steals in 34.8 minutes per game.

Thompson played in all 82 games (15 starts) in the 2014-15 regular season, finishing with averages of 8.5 points on .547 shooting, and 8.0 rebounds in 26.8 minutes per game. For the 2015 playoffs, he played in all 20 games (15 starts), averaging 9.6 points on .558 shooting, and 10.8 rebounds in 36.4 minutes per game.

When LeBron gave Kyrie a good talking-to

When LeBron gave Kyrie Irving a good talking-to

The Cleveland Cavaliers lost to the Warriors in the 2015 NBA Finals, but they still had an amazing season and can expect to compete for the 2016 championship. Here’s the Northeast Ohio Media Group reporting on a key development that took place during the regular season:

On Nov. 5, Irving led the team with 34 points in a loss to Utah. But in 45 minutes he failed to register an assist.

The night before in a loss to Portland, there were reports James and Irving had a dispute in the locker room, prompting Irving to dash without addressing the media. Irving missed 14 of his 17 shots that night. That’s when James said the team was developing “bad habits.”

As the team’s point guard, for Irving to not have a single assist was inexcusable, and James couldn’t stay quiet any longer.

“He came up to me and was like, ‘One, you can never have another game with no assists,’ ” Irving said, describing James’ words. “‘You can damn near have just one, two, three, but you can’t have zero.’ “

Loss of Kyrie Irving was crucial for Cavs in NBA Finals

Without Kyrie Irving, Cavs were serious underdog vs Warriors

The Warriors won Tuesday’s NBA Finals Game 6 to beat the Cavaliers and win the 2015 NBA championship. Here’s the News Herald reporting on a critical issue that helped ensure Cleveland’s defeat:

Loss of Kyrie Irving was crucial for Cavs in NBA Finals

The loss of All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving after Game 1 was probably the last straw for the Cavs.

His broken knee cap elevated Matthew Dellavedova into the starting lineup. Dellavedova had a brief flurry of spirited play, but eventually settled into what he really was: an undrafted backup role player. Pitting him against league MVP Stephen Curry was almost cruel.

Curry was fueled by all the admiration Dellavedova got early in the series. He was irked by the thought of Dellavedova slowing him down. Curry averaged 26 points in the series, 28 in the last three games.

Kevin Love was injured in Game 4 of the Boston series. They shifted Tristan Thompson into the starting lineup to replace Love, and the Cavs’ defense and rebounding intensified.

“The injuries they suffered were just too much,” Golden State coach Steve Kerr said. “This would have been a different series with Kyrie and Kevin Love.”

LeBron did a ton in Finals, but lacked help

With Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and Anderson Varejao (remember him?) out, the Cleveland Cavaliers, led by leBron James, were good but not good enough to handle the best team in the league this season, the Golden State Warriors. Last night in Cleveland the Warriors won the NBA championship in six games. Here’s the Northeast Ohio News Group reporting:

LeBron did a ton in Finals, but lacked help

James put in game-highs of 32 points and 18 rebounds to go with eight assists in 46 minutes. He had to fight and claw for each statistic. He was 13-of-33 from the field. After scoring his 12th point, James became the sixth player in NBA history to reach 5,000 career postseason points.

Andre Iguodala led the Warriors with 25 points. His insertion into the starting lineup in Game 4 changed the dynamic of the series. Stephen Curry registered 25 points, five rebounds and eight assists. Eight of his points came in the final quarter.

For the vanquished Eastern Conference champs, it was an incredible postseason run considering the loss of Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving. The Q was electric and sheer pandemonium for two and a half quarters. But the noise subsided when it became clear that Warriors were not going to let up in the Cavaliers’ final home game of the season.

“If we want to play another day and live to fight for the championship, we need to win today,” Cavs coach David Blatt said before the game. “So it’s about survival right now, and that’s what you’re looking for.”

They didn’t play like they were in survival mode early on. Golden State got out to a quick 15-point lead in the opening quarter. The Cavs went with their normal Finals lineup with Tristan Thompson and Timofey Mozgov in the front line, only to see Iguodala take repeated open midrange jumpers off of the pick-and-roll game against the overmatched Mozgov.

Draymond Green, Matthew Dellavedova tussle in Finals Game 5

Draymond Green, Matthew Dellavedova tussle in NBA Finals Game 5

In case you haven’t heard, both Draymond Green and Matthew Dellavedova are aggressive on the court. And when aggressive meets aggressive, things are going to get interesting. Here’s CSN Bay Area reporting:

draymond Green

Draymond Green hopped off the floor hoping to hear a whistle but really wanting a piece of Cavaliers guard Matthew Dellavedova.

Yes, Delly once again found himself in the middle of a play that might easily be construed as “dirty.”

This one occurred with 5:55 left in the second quarter of Game 5 of the NBA Finals Sunday night at Oracle Arena. As both players hustled toward the rim for a possible rebound, Dellavedova, while tumbling to the floor, subtly used his left arm to hook Green’s right arm, resulting in Green also going down, on top of Dellavedova.

It was a splendid wrestling move sneakily executed on the basketball court. Green wanted a foul on Dellavedova but officials instead ruled a double foul, one being assessed to each player.

Fatigue playing role in NBA Finals

Fatigue playing role in NBA Finals

Here’s the News Herald reporting on the 2015 NBA Finals, where the Warriors and Cavaliers bringa 2-2 tied series to Oakland Sunday night:

It’s just human nature.

The Cavaliers have a shortened rotation, are playing heavy minutes and have experienced some bumps and bruises. Fatigue — mental and physical — is obviously a factor in the NBA Finals.

The Cavaliers scored the first seven points of Game 4. Warriors coach Steve Kerr was forced to call time out with 9:43 remaining in the first quarter.

As the players came toward the bench, Kerr told them, “Don’t worry. They are playing seven players in their rotation for 48 minutes. That will wear them down.”

The Warriors ended up blowing out the Cavaliers, 103-82, to knot the series at 2-2. The series shifts to Oakland, Calif., for Game 5 on June 14 at Oracle Arena.