Cavs Trade Mike Miller and Brendan Haywood

Late last night, Adrian Wojnarowski broke the story that the Mike Miller and Brendan Haywood are being traded to Portland for a pair of trade exceptions. Cleveland will receive a $10.6 million dollar exception for Haywood, and a $2.96 million dollar exception for Mike Miller. In addition Portland will receive the better of Cleveland’s two 2019 second round picks, and a 2020 second round pick. Many expect Miller to seek a buyout and look to play for a contender. The fact that Portland reportedly sent cash to the Cavs makes this seem strange to me (cash is often conveyed to cover the cost of a buyout). For any of you wondering if Miller could join the Cavs à la Zydrunas Ilgauskus, the NBA closed that loophole. Miller has to wait one year before signing with Cleveland.

What does this mean for The Cavs? Brendan Haywood’s $10.5 million was never guaranteed, and he’ll be waived. Moving Miller’s $2.85 million dollar contract could save the Cavs between 10 and 13 million in salary and luxury tax. The exceptions they received work a little bit differently than Haywood’s non-guaranteed contract. They cannot be combined, and there are no circumstances in which exception can be used to trade for a player making more than the exception. But, the advantage of the exception is that the Cavs no longer have to conform to the matching salary rules of the NBA trade deadline. Remember how the Cavs would have had to take back a minimum of around $7 million and change in salaries to move Haywood? That no longer applies.

This means the Cavs could trade for a guy like, say, P.J. Tucker, whose salary is $5.5 million. The Suns would not be required to add $1.5 million in cap fodder to make the trade work. The exception is also good for one year, so the Cavs could use it this season, or wait till the 2016 offseason when they may want to add players. It’s a nice chip to have in their back pocket.

What complicates matters is that the Cavs have very few future assets to trade. The next future pick the Cavs can trade is a 2018 first rounder. 2016 is already committed to Phoenix (via Boston in the move that cleared Zeller, Jarrett Jack, and Sergey Karasev’s salaries last year). And the Cavs are required to keep the 2017 pick because of the Ted Stepien rule barring teams from trading away first rounders in consecutive years. (He still haunts us). The only other items in the tradeable asset column are Joe Harris, Sir’Dominic Pointer, the rights to Cedi Osman, and the rights to Sausha Kaun: the NBA equivalent of a jar of kapers, some Chinese hot mustard packets, and a half a bottle of grocery store vodka.

Yes, there are other players that could theoretically be moved later in the season: Shump, J.R., Mozzy, Delly… basically anyone not named Irving, Love, or James, but those odds seem low. You keep the good stuff in the top shelf for a reason.

The type of players the Cavs could get to fill these exceptions seems similarly limited. Basically, we’re talking about teams over the luxury tax who are no longer in contention, and want to shed salary, or teams looking to shed salary for 2016. This includes the Warriors, Heat,  Thunder, Clippers, Bulls, Spurs, and maybe the Rockets and Nets who are on the tax borderline. None of these organizations will be much inclined to help out the Cavs. Another possibility is a Ty Lawson style player who has worn out his welcome with his current team, but probably not at that talent level.

Or we’re talking high priced scrubs. We’re talking the Steve Novaks of the league. There’s a reason some guys are available. But, if the past NBA season is any indicator, teams will look to shuffle the chairs before next year’s trade deadline, and what is true today about who a team vales will not be true in six months. Someone’s always looking to blow it up. It’s good to have the flexibility, even if the Cavs don’t use it.

As for Miller and the King, there are reports that the LeBron James gave his blessing and that Miller wanted more playing time.

LeBron OK with Mike Miller trade, per source, who said Miller wanted out and a chance to play again. #Cavs receive trade exceptions for both

— Jason Lloyd (@ByJasonLloyd) July 27, 2015

I doubt the Cavs would have made this move without clearing it with LBJ first. However, a part of me thinks Miller may not find the greener pastures he’s seeking as a player, and we may see him as a Cavs assistant coach in this year or the next.

What does this mean for the Cavs’ roster, you ask? Well, it currently projects to an NBA minimum 13 players, and that includes Harris, Delly, Tristan Thompson, and J.R. Smith. That leaves the Cavs with two remaining roster spots. One of those spots may be reserved for Sir’Dom or a training camp standout, but the Cavs could conceivably keep their roster lean in order to save on luxury tax. Griffin certainly has the roster room to add impact players if he desires.

Perhaps the extra available salary will allow the Cavs to sign Matty D, Tristan, and maybe J.R., but if we’ve learned anything this summer, it’s that nothing is official until the paper is signed. So, hurry up and wait.