Last night the Cleveland Cavaliers signed free agent center
Andrew Bynum to a two-year incentive-laden deal for $24 million. It is a wise
move for the team since it appears to be high reward for little risk.
The deal is full of incentives and low on guaranteed money
because Bynum missed all of last season with a knee injury and has only played in
60% of the possible games in his career. The contract has a team option for the
second year, meaning they can cut him without penalty after the first season if
it does not pan out. This is not a spending spree type of move that hurts the
salary cap, since the worst case scenario is only $6 million for one year. Meanwhile
in comparison, free agents Josh Smith, Andre Iguodala, Al Jefferson, and David
West signed multi-year deals this year for at least $12 million a year.
It is a high reward move because two seasons ago the 25-year-old
averaged 19 points, 12 rebounds, and 2 blocks a game. The 7-footer was an All-Star and second team
All-NBA selection that year. If healthy,
he plugs into a Cleveland front court that includes veteran Anderson Varejo, #1
overall pick Anthony Bennett, #4 pick two years ago Tristan Thompson, and All-Rookie
selection Tyler Zeller. Meanwhile, the main core of the team is the young backcourt,
led by All-Star 21-year-old point guard Kyrie Irving (above) and All-Rookie selection
Dion Waiters. That is a talented eight man rotation with only Varejo being over
25 years old. Several blogs below have the Cavs making the playoffs and even
the #5 seed now, if healthy. A big if.
This seems like a lot of optimism for a team that finished
with the third worst record in the NBA last year. However, in the past two months, Cleveland won the
draft lottery, made a bold pick at #1, and picked up a former All-Star center on
the cheap.
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