Tuesday, Jan. 5
According to ESPN.com's Dave McMenamin on Tuesday, Harris will undergo surgery to remove a bone in his right foot. While the date of the surgery has not been disclosed, it could sideline him for the rest of the season.
Having appeared in just five games this season for a grand total in 15 minutes, Harris has been flipping back and forth from the Cavaliers to their NBA Development League affiliate, the Canton Charge.
Harris was recalled from the D-League on Dec. 20 but did not appear in a single game as he sat on the bench behind the likes of J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert and Jared Cunningham.
Per McMenamin, reports of foot issues surfaced on Sunday, when he did not practice because of "foot discomfort."
This injury keeps him in Cleveland at least until his foot heals. According to Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal, Cleveland made Harris available for trade in December.
But the injury complicates the standing of Cunningham, who will see his non-guaranteed contract become guaranteed on Sunday if the team doesn't waive him, per Lloyd.
Hoops Rumors' Chuck Myron broke down Cleveland's financial situation:
"Trading Harris, who makes a fully guaranteed one-year veteran’s minimum salary of $845,059 this season, would help offset the cost of keeping Cunningham, whose full-season salary would cost the Cavs $947,276 plus a luxury tax hit of roughly four times that amount. Keeping Harris would entail a tax cost of about four times his salary, too, depending on other moves the team might make between now and the last day of the regular season, the date when the tax is accounted for.
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Per Lloyd, the Cavaliers were looking for a second-round draft selection in return for Harris, but now they'll have to hold on to him until he recovers and might have to pay Cunningham. But the Cavaliers will only be hurt in the wallet with Harris' surgery, as he is not a contributor to the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com.
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