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Cleveland looked like a nice landing spot for Saras Jasikevicious, since Saras is friends with "Z". The two reportedly met in London recently. The Hughes signing may not leave enough money to sign Saras now, unless they have exception money that is agreeable to him.
Saras certainly has the outside shooting and playmaking ability the Cavs could use.
I do think this move is a little desperate and obviously Hughes was not the 1st or 2nd choice for the Cavs. Hughes requires to have the ball a lot for him to be productive. Which means less time for Lebron, or their PG w/the ball. Which is not a good thing. I still think the Cavs will be better w/Hughes, but he's not the long term option they should have gone for.
We'll have to see, but no doubt, the Cavs will be such a fun team to watch next season w/the addition of Hughes.
isnt hughes a restricted FA?
I mean what happened to the Wizards' "we're going to match everything for hughes" attitude?
Deal believed to be worth $65M to $70M
Chad Ford
ESPN Insider
Larry Hughes has come to terms with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a five-year deal, his agent, Jeff Wechsler, told ESPN Insider Chad Ford.
"Larry intends to sign a contract with the Cavs when the moritorium ends," Wechsler said.
Wechsler wouldn't comment on the actual numbers of the deal, but it's believed to be a five-year deal between $65 million and $70 million.
Wechsler told Insider that he informed Washington Wizards GM Ernie Grunfeld on Thursday that Hughes is going in a different direction.
The news comes as major blow to the Wizards, who were confident they could re-sign Hughes. However, the Wizards took a risk that Hughes would allow them to match any offer. Instead, Hughes began negotiating with the Cavs early in the week and worked out a deal on Thursday evening.
For the Cavs, Hughes gives them a great scorer and defender to put at the two alongside LeBron James. He isn't a great shooter (something the Cavs desperately need), but he's a fantastic ball handler and rebounder making him -- like LeBron -- a very versatile piece in the puzzle.
With Hughes on board, the Cavs will now focus their atttention on bringing back free agent Zydrunas Ilgauskas. They're also in hot pursuit of Lithuanian point guard Sarunas Jasikevicius, widely regarded as the best international player not playing in the NBA.
The Wizards now have to start over from scratch. The team now has a gaping hole at the two to fill and must also deal with the likely departure of Kwame Brown. The Wizards can get about $9 million below the cap if they don't re-sign Brown. However, the market for two guards is getting thin.
The last major two guard on the market is Joe Johnson. However, Johnson is a restricted free agent and most teams believe that the Suns will match any offer. There's also talk from multiple league sources that Johnson is in serious negotiations with the Atlanta Hawks about signing a max offer sheet.
That leaves Bobby Simmons, Cuttino Mobley and Latrell Sprewell as the top two guards left on the board. The Wizards could also, at this point, try to work out a sign-and-trade with Brown that brings them back a top-flight shooting guard.
That's a lot to pay for someone that had a career season during a contract year and is a little injury prone.
He was unrestricted, but the Wiz just believed that he would let them match any offer out of loyalty.Quote:
Originally Posted by Egg
I think teams need to stop assuming players will be loyal.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kori Ellis
The initial low ball offer from the Wiz probably pissed him off and ended any feelings of loyalty.
Ouch.
Now the Wiz kinda feel what Golden State Warriors people were feeling when they lured Gilbert Arenas away.
Slightly different circumstance, but the effect is the same.