Brendan Haywood, Mike Miller to Trail Blazers: Trade Details, Comments, Reaction

The Cleveland Cavaliers banked a big trade exception Sunday, dealing dormant center Brendan Haywood, Mike Miller and two future second-round picks to the Portland Trail Blazers for cash considerations, the team confirmed.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reported the news of the trade and the compensation Cleveland received in return. USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt confirmed the trade.

Zillgitt indicated Cleveland received a $10.5 million exception from Haywood and $2.85 from Miller, which it cannot combine into one larger trade exception. Per Wojnarowski, the Cavs have one year to use those two trade exceptions before they expire.

ESPN's Marc Stein emphasized just how much better off Cleveland is financially after the trade:       

Ethan J. Skolnick of Bleacher Report reported how Miller factors into the equation:

After running all the way to the NBA Finals and losing to the Golden State Warriors in six games, partially because of key injuries to Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving, the Cavs are pulling no punches in their bid to improve ahead of the 2015-16 campaign.

In the weaker Eastern Conference, the LeBron James-led Cavaliers will continue to be contenders as long as The King is in town. The more help James has, the better off he'll be in terms of both freshness for the coming postseasons and career longevity.

Portland has an eye toward the future after losing LaMarcus Aldridge in free agency and figures to be making way for an eventual push at additional All-Star talent. The success of those prospective pursuits falls on how the Blazers' young core, led by point guard Damian Lillard, performs in the near future.

CBS Cleveland's Daryl Ruiter weighed in on what the deal means for the Cavs:

Trade exceptions don't factor into the luxury tax, an expense Cleveland was going to incur far more heavily until the salary-cap increases in the 2016-17 season. That is, until it unloaded Haywood and Miller.

General manager David Griffin could therefore be a big player in trades, be it before the season, at the deadline or somewhere in between. That has to excite Cavs fans after Griffin landed successful players such as Iman Shumpert, J.R. Smith and Timofey Mozgov in his first year on the job, using a trade exception to acquire the latter.