Cleveland Cavaliers Blog – Page 61 – NBA Blog

Cavs may give Greg Oden a contract offer later this February

The Cavs are expected to offer free agent center Greg Oden a two-year contract with a team option for a third year after the Feb. 21 trade deadline passes, a league source said. The contract would begin immediately.

The Cavs have about $4 million in cap space, which they are preserving now for potential trades. Teams around the league don’t want to sign Oden until after the trade deadline.

Oden has visited with the Boston Celtics and could meet again with the Cavs in the coming weeks, his agent said Friday.

Oden is living nearby in Columbus. His agent, Mike Conley Sr., said last week Oden has been to see the Cavs a couple of times already, but was evasive when pressed as to what capacity.

“Greg has been up there (to Cleveland) before and he’ll probably be up there again in an official capacity,” Conley said Friday.

— Reported by Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal

Kyrie Irving scores 35, Cavs beat Thunder

Kyrie Irving wasn’t just interested. He was incredible.

With one shot better than his last, Irving scored 35 points, including 13 in the final 2:52, as the Cleveland Cavaliers stunned the Oklahoma City Thunder 115-110 on Saturday.

One night after saying he was ”disinterested” during a loss in Detroit, Irving was simply spectacular down the stretch. He single-handedly closed out one of the NBA’s best teams, making his last five shots and showing why he’s an All-Star at age 20. Irving’s biggest bucket was a 3-pointer with 42 seconds left to make it 113-108.

”He’s a killer,” said newly acquired Cavs forward Marreese Speights, who added 21 points. ”I knew a little about him, I didn’t know THAT.”

Kevin Durant scored 32 points and Russell Westbrook had 28 for the Thunder, who came in 35-11 and with the league’s best road record. Durant left briefly in the third quarter with an injured rib, but returned and scored 13 in the fourth…

Tristan Thompson added 12 rebounds and C.J. Miles scored 16 for the Cavs, who had played poorly in consecutive losses this week to Golden State and Detroit…

Speights, recently acquired in a trade with Memphis, gave the Cavs a huge spark in the fourth, scoring 10 of Cleveland’s 13 points in one stretch. The 6-foot-10 big man has only practiced twice with his new teammates.

— Reported by Tom Withers of the Associated Press

Luke Harangody named D-League Player of Month for January

Fort Wayne Mad Ants forward Luke Harangody has been named NBA Development League Player of the Month for games played in January. The honor is the first of Harangody’s career.

Harangody (6-8, 240, Notre Dame) led Fort Wayne (13-14) to an 8-4 record during January, averaging 18.5 points on 45 percent shooting from the floor, to go with 9.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists. He scored in double figures in 10 of the 11 games he played in, including five 20-plus point performances, and a season-high 31 points to go with 12 rebounds in a 113-106 loss to the Los Angeles D-Fenders on Jan. 19. He led the team in scoring six times in January and was the team’s leading rebounder in nine games.

Harangody has appeared in 13 games for Fort Wayne this season, ranking second in the East Division with 13.4 rebounds per game and fifth in the East with 21.4 points per game. He was named NBA D-League Performer of the Week on Jan. 14.

Fifteen other top NBA D-League prospects were considered for the honor, including Austin’s Cory Joseph, on assignment from the San Antonio Spurs, Bakersfield’s Jerel McNeal, Canton’s Kyle Gibson, Erie’s D.J. Kennedy, Idaho’s Coby Karl, Iowa’s Chris Wright, Los Angeles’ Courtney Fortson, Maine’s DaJuan Summers, Reno’s Walker Russell, Jr., Rio Grande Valley’s Andrew Goudelock, Santa Cruz’s Stefhon Hannah, Springfield’s James Mays, Sioux Falls’ Demetris Nichols, Texas’ Sean Singletary and Tulsa’s Jeremy Lamb, on assignment from the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Klay Thompson leads short-handed Warriors past Cavs

Tired, short-handed and eager to get home, the Golden State Warriors could have taken the night off.

Instead, they looked like a team that needs to be taken seriously.

Klay Thompson scored a career-high 32 points and the Warriors, playing without three starters and a key reserve, beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 108-95 Tuesday night.

The Warriors were missing guard Stephen Curry (ankle), center Andrew Bogut (ankle) and forward Harrison Barnes (knee). Also, Carl Landry, one of the first players off Golden State’s bench, didn’t play because of a shoulder injury.

In all, the Warriors were missing an average of 49.1 points and 19.5 rebounds, but that didn’t matter. Golden State shot 54 percent, including 11 for 16 on 3-pointers as it hit the first nine from beyond the arc. The Warriors took control in the second quarter and built a 16-point lead in the second half.

”No matter who is out there, we’re still going to play Warriors basketball,” said David Lee, had 20 points and 13 rebounds. ”We could have mailed it in on the last game of a road trip, but everybody stepped up with a bunch of guys out.” …

Jarrett Jack, starting at point guard, had 26 points and 12 assists.

”I had to channel my inner Stephen Curry tonight,” he said.

Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving, who missed the morning shootaround because he was sick, scored 14 points on 5-for-17 shooting in 36 minutes. Irving was coming off the best week of his career when he averaged a league-best 35.7 points in three wins, was selected as a reserve to the Eastern Conference All-Star team, and was named the conference’s player of the week on Monday.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Kyrie Irving and Tony Parker named NBA Players of Week

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving and San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker today were named Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, Jan. 21 through Sunday, Jan. 27.

Irving led the league in scoring at 35.7 ppg, guiding the Cavaliers to a 3-0 week. He tallied at least 32 points in all three games, finishing the week with a .612 shooting percentage from the field (41-of-67 field goals) and a .950 shooting percentage from the foul line (19-of-20 free throws). Irving poured in 40 points on 16-of-24 shooting from the field in a 95-90 win over the Boston Celtics on Jan. 22.

Parker led the Spurs to a 4-0 week behind averages of 24.5 points (fourth in the conference) and 9.5 assists (third in the conference). He posted back-to-back point-assist double-doubles on Jan. 23 and 25, in wins over the New Orleans Hornets and Dallas Mavericks. Parker connected on 40-of-66 field goals (.606) on the week, good for eighth best in the West.

Other nominees for the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were Atlanta’s Kyle Korver and Josh Smith, Denver’s Ty Lawson, the Los Angeles Clippers’ Blake Griffin, Miami’s LeBron James, Milwaukee’s Ersan Ilyasova, New Orleans’ Ryan Anderson, Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant and Portland’s Nicolas Batum.

Kyrie Irving lifts Cavaliers past Raptors 99-98

Kyrie Irving made a 3-pointer with 0.7 seconds left to give the Cleveland Cavaliers a 99-98 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Saturday night.

Headed to his first All-Star game, Irving added to his credentials by calmly draining a pull-up jumper from the top of the arc to send the Cavaliers to their third straight win.

Irving finished with 32 points and Marreese Speights had 17 for the Cavs. Tristan Thompson scored 14 and Wayne Ellington had 12.

Toronto had five players score in double figures. Amir Johnson had 18 points and 12 rebounds, Alan Anderson scored 17 and Ed Davis finished with 16…

DeMar DeRozan, whose buzzer-beating jump shot gave Toronto a 97-95 victory at Orlando on Thursday, got off to a strong start, making six of his first seven field-goal attempts and scoring 12 points to help the Raptors to a 25-19 lead after one. But DeRozan had just three points the rest of the way…

Cleveland’s Daniel Gibson left at half with a sore right big toe and did not return. … Toronto’s Landry Fields started despite suffering from flulike symptoms. … Cleveland F Luke Walton did not play because of soreness in his left foot and ankle. … The Raptors wore camouflage uniforms to mark Canadian Forces Appreciation Night. More than 500 Canadian Forces members and their families attended the game.

— Reported by Ian Harrison of the Associated Press

Kyrie Irving scores 35, Cavs beat Bucks

Kyrie Irving knows how to celebrate good news.

A little over 24 hours after being selected to the Eastern Conference All-Star team in Houston, the Cavaliers’ dynamic point guard put on a show.

Irving scored 35 points and Cleveland rallied from a 20-point deficit in the third quarter to defeat the Milwaukee Bucks 113-108 on Friday night.

The reigning rookie of the year scored 24 points in the second half, including 16 in the third when the Cavaliers got back in the game. Irving added eight points in the final 4:01 as Cleveland posted back-to-back wins for only the second time this season.

Coming off a 40-point performance against Boston on Tuesday, Irving hit 12 of 17 from the field and made all nine of his free throws. He missed one shot in nine attempts in the second half…

Cleveland, which trailed 79-59 midway through the third quarter, took a 96-95 lead on a 3-pointer by newly acquired Wayne Ellington with 6:31 to play. The basket was his first since joining the Cavaliers from Memphis on Tuesday, and it gave Cleveland the lead for good.

Ersan Ilyasova scored a season-high 30 points and Monta Ellis added 21, but the Bucks’ collapse ended their three-game winning streak. Even hitting a season-high 14 3-pointers in 28 attempts couldn’t save Milwaukee…

Tristan Thompson scored 18 points and Dion Waiters added 16 for the Cavaliers. Livingston scored 12 points. Speights had 10 points and had six rebounds in 18 minutes.

Jennings, who was left off the Eastern Conference All-Star team by coaches picking the reserves, scored 14 points for the Bucks, but was 5 of 19 from the field and was scoreless in the first half. He finished with 12 assists. Sanders had 14 points and 11 rebounds.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Cavaliers assign Josh Selby to D-League

The Cleveland Cavaliers have assigned guard Josh Selby to the Canton Charge, the Cavaliers exclusively owned and operated NBA Development League team, Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant announced today.

Selby, acquired by the Cavaliers via a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies on January 22nd, has appeared in two games for the Reno Bighorns of the NBADL this year, averaging 22.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 7.0 assists in 34.0 minutes per game. He has also appeared in 10 games for the Grizzlies this season, averaging 2.0 points in 5.9 minutes per game.

Grizzlies trade Marreese Speights, Wayne Ellington, Josh Selby to Cavaliers

The Memphis Grizzlies acquired forward Jon Leuer (LOO-er) and a trade exception from the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for forward/center Marreese Speights, guards Wayne Ellington and Josh Selby and a protected future first round draft pick, Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced today.

“Marreese will strengthen our front court, while Wayne and Josh will add depth to our back court. At the same time, we are adding a valuable asset with another future first round pick, while also maintaining our future flexibility,” said Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant. “We wish Jon and Jeremy the best as they move on with their careers and thank them for their time with us here in Cleveland.”

The Cavs will receive Memphis’s first round draft pick in the first available year (which is two years after Memphis has satisfied its current pick obligation to Minnesota). Starting in 2015 the pick could be conveyed to the Cavaliers. The pick is protected one-five and 15-30 in 2015 and 2016 (meaning the Cavaliers would acquire a 6-14 pick) and the pick is protected one-five in 2017 and 2018. If the pick has not been conveyed by 2018, it becomes unprotected in 2019.

Currently in his second professional season, Leuer (6-10, 228) recorded 19.5 points, 12.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists on .512 shooting (.467 3FG) in 36.5 minutes in eight games (seven starts) for Cleveland’s exclusively-owned NBA Development League team, the Canton Charge. The 23-year-old also has made nine appearances for the Cavaliers this season, averaging 2.4 points in 10.1 minutes.

Leuer holds NBA career averages of 4.4 points and 2.4 rebounds on .489 shooting in 11.7 minutes in 55 games (12 starts) with the Cavaliers and Milwaukee Bucks. The Long Lake, Minn. native was drafted by Milwaukee in the second round (40th overall) of the 2011 NBA Draft after a four-year career at the University of Wisconsin.

Speights (6-10, 255) averaged 6.6 points and 4.7 rebounds on .429 shooting in 14.5 minutes in 40 games (two starts) in his second season in Memphis. Drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round (16th overall) of the 2008 NBA Draft, the 25-year-old owns career averages of 7.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 0.5 assists on .474 shooting in 16.2 minutes in 305 games (60 starts) over five seasons with the Grizzlies and 76ers.

Ellington (6-4, 200) posted 5.5 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists on .407 shooting in 16.9 minutes in 40 games (four starts) in his first season with the Grizzlies. Drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round (28th overall) of the 2009 NBA Draft, the 25-year-old holds career averages of 6.3 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists on .411 shooting in 18.4 minutes in 229 games (17 starts) over four seasons with the Grizzlies and Timberwolves.

Selby (6-2, 183) made 10 appearances with the Grizzlies this season, averaging 2.0 points in 5.9 minutes. Drafted by Memphis in the second round (49th overall) of the 2011 NBA Draft, the 21-year-old owns career averages of 2.2 points and 0.9 assists on .330 shooting in 7.8 minutes in 38 games over two seasons with the Grizzlies.

Cavs re-assign forward Kevin Jones to D-League

The Cleveland Cavaliers have assigned forward Kevin Jones to the Canton Charge, the Cavaliers exclusively owned and operated NBA Development League team, Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant announced today.

Jones has played in 15 games for the Cavs this season and is averaging 1.9 points and 1.5 re bounds in 9.0 minutes per game. He has appeared in five games for the Charge this season, averaging 23.6 points, 12.6 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 41.0 minutes. He has four double-doubles on the season for the Charge.