One month after Game 7 and the Cleveland Cavaliers are still NBA champions, but opposing teams have already done some great work in free agency by signing stars and excellent role players. Cleveland hasn’t necessarily done nothing either, grabbing the 54th pick from the Atlanta Hawks that turned into Kay Felder, executing a sign-and-trade for Matthew Dellavedova, a trade for Mike Dunleavy, and agreeing to a deal with Chris “Birdman” Andersen.
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The only two moves the Cavs have to make is to re-sign both J.R. Smith and LeBron James. It’s really one move, however, because LeBron has already stated that he will return. Smith is asking for about $15 million a year, and the Cavs would be wise to match that request.
Aside from that, however, the Cavs have been making some inquiries. According to Steve Kyler of Basktball Insiders, Cleveland reportedly called the Sacramento Kings about extremely talented yet somewhat troubled DeMarcus Cousins.
Cousins has two years remaining on his deal (this season and next) and given the sheer volume of big men the Kings have drafted and signed in recent years, it’s hard to believe the Kings are not going to at least listen to trade offers, especially if things do not improve out of the gate.
League sources peg the Kings’ stance on Cousins as a “non-starter.” They simply won’t go there on trade talk despite long-standing interest from the Boston Celtics and at least one inquiry for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Kyler notes that the Cavs have moved on from trying to get Cousins, at least for now.
Moved on from what I understand… https://t.co/NXBbCdT45y
— Steve Kyler (@stevekylerNBA) July 19, 2016
.@stevekylerNBA tells @BullandFox DeMarcus Cousins a guy for #Cavs fans to keep an eye on this season. GM David Griffin has sniffed around
— Keith Britton (@KeithBritton86) July 18, 2016
It’s unclear what the Cavs would give up if they wanted Cousins, but it would very likely be a package involving Kevin Love. Kyler also notes that although the Cavs are not discussing any deals for Cousins right now, something could very well be in the works in December if the Cavs don’t like where they are with their team.
