Cavaliers sign Jamario Moon to offer sheet

The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed restricted free agent forward Jamario Moon to a contract offer sheet, Cavaliers General Manager Danny Ferry announced today. Per team and league policy, terms of the contract offer were not released.

Several media outlets are reporting that the offer is for two years, though they aren’t sure what the dollar amount of the deal is. It’s likely Moon is receiving between $2 and $3.2 million per season. We’ll update this info tonight.

The Miami Heat have seven days to match the offer and retain Moon.

Moon played in 80 games (60 starts) this past season for the Toronto Raptors and the Miami Heat. He averaged 7.2 points on .468 shooting, 4.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.1 steals in 25.8 minutes per game. The 6-foot-8 forward scored in double figures on 25 occasions. He led the NBA in steals-to-turnovers ratio (2.0) during the 2008-09 season. In two seasons in the NBA, Moon has career averages of 7.8 points on .478 shooting, 5.4 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.1 blocks in 26.8 minutes per game.

UPDATE: The Heat decline to match the offer. So, Cavs get Moon.

Shaq lands sports-reality TV show

USA Today (Gary Levin) reports: NBA star Shaquille O’Neal is getting ready to multitask. The four-time hoops champion, who joins the Cleveland Cavaliers next season, will star in “Shaq Vs.,” an ABC reality series that pits him against top athletes in their own sports. Filming begins Wednesday in Pittsburgh, where Shaq takes on Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in football. Future hourlong episodes will pit him against Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, retired boxer Oscar De La Hoya, St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols, tennis pro Serena Williams and beach volleyball Olympians Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh.

InsideHoops.com editor says: The show sounds like it should be fun to watch, if done correctly. Ideally, the guest athletes share cool stuff that we wouldn’t normally hear or see and bring something new, aside from showing off skills we already know they possess.

Thunder are talking playoffs

The Oklahoma City Thunder are a team built around kids. Talented kids like Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, Russell Westbrook and, if he rises to the challenge, James Harden. But they’re still kids and need a parent to accompany them to PG-13 movies.

But, they think making the playoffs is more than possible.

The Oklahoman (Darnell Mayberry) reports: Talking about playoffs following a 23-win season might be premature for the Thunder. But that’s exactly what star forward Kevin Durant has been doing this summer, saying the postseason needs to be Oklahoma City’s goal in 2009-10. “Anything less than the playoffs is a failure for us,” Durant said on June 30 while in town for his youth basketball camp… Oklahoma City added more talent this summer in No. 3 overall pick James Harden. Draft picks Serge Ibaka and Byron Mullens also could prove to be everything Mo Sene and Robert Swift weren’t… Nineteen of the Thunder’s losses came by four points or less, the third-most defeats in the league by that margin, trailing only Indiana and San Antonio.

Ron Artest almost signed with Cavaliers

The New York Daily News (Mark Lelinwalla) reports: Ron Artest also told the Daily News that before he inked his five-year, $33 million deal with the Lakers earlier this month, he gave heavy consideration to signing with LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal and the Cleveland Cavaliers. “It was close (to happening), but the Lakers showed more interest,” Artest said. “They’re my boys (James and O’Neal), though. Shaq is still my boy. I’m looking forward to playing with Kobe and going after a championship.”

Cleveland Cavaliers sign Jamario Moon to offer sheet

The Boston Herald reports: The Cavaliers have picked up where the Celtics couldn’t get things done. The Cavs have signed restricted free agent swingman Jamario Moon to an offer sheet, the Miami Heat confirmed today. Miami has seven days to match the offer. The 6-foot-8 Moon played 25.9 minutes per game last season for the Heat and Raptors, averaging 7.2 points and 4.6 rebounds.

Memphis Grizzlies sign 2009 first round draft pick Hasheem Thabeet

The Memphis Grizzlies signed Hasheem Thabeet, the second overall selection in the 2009 NBA Draft, to a multi-year contract, Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced today. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Thabeet, a 7-3, 267-pound center, averaged 13.6 points, 10.8 rebounds and 4.2 blocks per game (second in the NCAA) as a junior at the University of Connecticut, earning 2008-09 Big East Co-Player of the Year (Pittsburgh’s DeJuan Blair) honors and winning his second consecutive National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Defensive Player of the Year Award.

Selected by Memphis with the second overall pick behind the Los Angeles Clippers’ Blake Griffin, Thabeet has averaged 8.0 points and 4.5 rebounds on 50.0 percent shooting in 24.8 minutes, helping lead the Grizzlies to a 4-0 start in the 2009 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, Nev.

The Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania native, who ranks second on the all-time Big East blocked shots list (243) behind Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing, is the first Tanzanian-born player drafted by an NBA team.

Walter Herrmann signs in Spain

EuroLeague.net reports: Tau Ceramica agreed to terms of a contract with small forward Walter Herrmann, who inked a two-year deal with the Euroleague powerhouse on Friday. Herrmann (206, 30) arrives from the Detroit Pistons, where he averaged 3.9 points and 1.8 rebounds in 60 NBA games last season. He has previously played three Euroleague seasons with Unicaja, averaging 7.3 points and 1.6 rebounds in 15 games in the 2005-06 season.

InsideHoops.com editor says: More long-haired, blond basketball players will need to step up and fill the void.

LeBron James extension now available

The Cleveland Plain Dealer (Brian Windhorst) reports: At 12:01 a.m. Saturday, the Cavaliers were able to offer LeBron James a contract extension because July 18 is the three-year anniversary of when he signed his most recent contract. It is believed the team will initiate contact soon to formally present an offer, which can be an extension of up to three years and around $65 million. James still has an option in his contract for the 2010-11 season, and the Cavs could offer three years on top of that.

InsideHoops.com editor says: It is widely assumed that LeBron will not sign an extension at this time and wait for 2010 NBA free agency.

Judge dismisses SEC lawsuit against Mark Cuban

The AP reports: A federal judge on Friday dismissed a civil insider trading lawsuit against Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. While granting Cuban’s motion, U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater gave the Securities and Exchange Commission 30 days to file an amended complaint. The SEC alleged Cuban was involved in insider trading when he sold shares in an Internet search engine company, Mamma.com Inc., after receiving confidential information about a private offering in 2004.