Breaking: Cavaliers Sign Richard Jefferson

So the Cavs signed six-foot-seven, 35 year-old Richard Jefferson who played in Dallas last year. Jefferson signed for the veteran minimum, so will count about $947,000 against Cleveland’s salary cap.  Despite some naysaying opinions, if Jefferson plays as well as he did last season, he can be a solid bench contributor for the Cavs. Jefferson’s numbers are better than fellow old guys, Tayshaun, Caron, and Rasual Butler, and while Jefferson may be 35, he wasn’t terrible on the defensive end last year.

Another curveball in Mavs' offseason: Hearing that vet swingman Richard Jefferson, thought to be staying in Dallas, now signing with Cavs

— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 21, 2015

Richard was the 33rd (60th percentile) ranked small forward with an RPM of -.61 and DRPM of -.16 (surprisingly competent given his age).  Overall he ranked 187th (61st percentile). For a veteran minimum player, the Cavs could do a lot worse.  Caron Butler, Rasual Butler, and Tayshaun Prince posted RPMs of -1.92, -2.75, and -4.41 respectively. The Cavs may have gotten the best of this group. While I pined for 29-year-old Dorrell Wright, yesterday, Jefferson is still a better finisher with better shot selection inside the arc. Dorrell Wright ranked 27th at small forward with a RPM of .27. Jefferson’s not far off.

Offensively, Jefferson played primarily as a catch-and-shoot three point shooter last year. 53% of his field goal attempts came from behind the three point line, where 93% of his attempts were catch-and-shoot, and only 5 of his 66 three pointers were unassisted. Jefferson put up very solid shooting splits of 44%/43%/68%. He was especially deadly from the left corner, where he nailed 47%.

When not hitting catch-and-shoots, Jefferson was effective at running the floor and cutting (54% of his two-pointers were assisted), as well as driving to the rim from the three point line. In addition, Jefferson can still finish. He was 58-96 around the basket (60%), converted 21 of 26 dunks, and hit 53% of everything else inside of five feet. Translation? He’s a hell of a lot more spry than James Jones.

Richard got in trouble in the mid range game, where he was an abysmal 15-58 (26%) from five to 19 feet. He needs cut that out of his game or get better at it.

Jefferson showed the ability to spot start late in the season as well, when he started the last six games for the Mavs and went 4-2 during that time, while averaging 11.3 points in 24.7 minutes with shoot 63 TS%. He even put up a 24 point game. Jefferson slumped from the line last year, with a career low 68% while still going to the line one or two times a game, but was 85% during that starting stretch. RJ didn’t have a fantastic playoffs, but he didn’t get much run and certainly wasn’t the reason the Mavs lost to the Rockets. In the plus column, Jefferson is still a decent rebounder at the small forward spot with a 14% defensive rebound rate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK5fAq4fbmI

While this move isn’t sexy in the least, Jefferson is a consistently durable player who can still contribute at 35. He can fill in for LeBron for 15 minutes a night, and he’s better than Shawn Marion in that he can still hit threes, can still finish, and still defend. He’s the lowest risk player of all the older wings out there, save Paul Pierce. As with all older players, the question remains, “when will the wheels come off?” The other question remains, “what does this mean for J.R. Smith?” My guess is that it doesn’t change the desire to bring back J.R. on the same terms the Cavs were discussing before they signed Jefferson. This move gives Blatt the ability to bench J.R. and it gives the Cavs a little more leverage in negotiation. Richard also has, I believe, the only NCAA championship ring on the Cavs, from his 2001 Arizona Wildcat run.

(I’m an idiot. The 2001 Wildcats team that featured Luke Walton, Gilbert Arenas, Loren Woods, and RJ lost to Duke in the NCAA Finals. I should know this. I picked a bracket with a perfect Final Four that year).