Report Card Grades for Each Cleveland Cavaliers 2016 Offseason Move So Far
While Cleveland collectively waits for a certain free agent to re-sign (he's not named "J.R. Smith"), the rest of the Cavaliers' offseason has been rather quiet.
Yet to officially sign a free agent, the Cavs have made some other small, solid moves in order to help their chances at a second straight NBA title.
Re-signing LeBron James and Smith is expected, although the former has not given the Cavaliers a timetable about when he'll put pen to paper, per Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com. Using the draft, a clever sign-and-trade and some other presumed signings, the Cavs have arguably gotten better, even after losing some of their own key contributors.
Drafted Kay Felder
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The Cavaliers didn't possess a single pick in the 2016 draft, so they paid the Atlanta Hawks $2.4 million for the 54th selection instead, per Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress, netting them Oakland University point guard Kay Felder.
The smallest player in the entire draft at 5'9", Felder became just the fourth pick that stood 5'10" or shorter to be selected in the past 27 years, joining Nate Robinson (2005), Boston Celtics' All-Star Isaiah Thomas (2011) and Phoenix's Tyler Ulis (2016).
His college career, albeit in the Horizon League, was nothing short of impressive. Felder led all of college basketball with 9.3 assists and finished fourth with 24.4 points during 2015-16. His max vertical measures an insane 44 inches, higher than the legendary Vince Carter's (43).
For the Cavaliers, this was an insurance move. They knew the point guard position behind Kyrie Irving was shaky, with Matthew Dellavedova set to become a restricted free agent and veteran Mo Williams coming off an injury-plagued season.
Some may point to the high asking price of such a late draft pick, but this could be an incredible money-saving move over the next few years. Cleveland parted with no assets and gained valuable insurance at the point guard position. Already with a sky-high projected payroll, adding a cost-efficient second-round pick is huge.
The Cavs won't need Felder's incredibly high usage from college, but rather an all-round contributor who can facilitate for others, defend and knock down the open shot. Through three games in the Las Vegas Summer League, he's averaging 11.7 points, 3.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.0 steals during 27.3 minutes per game.
Grade: A
Matthew Dellavedova Traded to Milwaukee Bucks
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Given his strong regular season as Irving's backup and the fact that money was being passed out like candy at a Halloween parade this summer, Dellavedova was going to get paid.
The question was, would Cleveland match?
After the Milwaukee Bucks dangled $38.5 million, the writing was on the wall with the Cavaliers knowing full well that his raise from $1.2 million this past year to an average of $9.6 million over the next four would mean significant luxury tax ramifications.
Had they worked out a long-term deal last summer, Dellavedova would have agreed to play for half that amount, according to Haynes.
With Felder now under team control (and at a much lower salary), Dellavedova was a goner. But as general manager David Griffin made sure, however, not without something in return. Griffin beautifully orchestrated a sign-and-trade with Milwaukee, netting the Cavs a $4.8 million trade exception in the process.
This is a difficult move to grade. On one hand, losing Dellavedova hurts on many levels. He was a perfect complement to LeBron James, Irving, Tristan Thompson and others with his unselfishness and all-out hustle. I once asked his favorite stat, thinking he would reply with assists or three-point percentage.
Without hesitation, Dellavedova replied, "Plus/minus, for sure." An individual, yet team stat as well. Of course.
Watching a player like Dellavedova walk isn't easy, but receiving a trade exception in the process definitely helps.
Grade: B
Traded for Mike Dunleavy
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Thanks Dwyane Wade!
The Chicago Bulls' desperation to clear salary for the former Miami Heat star meant Mike Dunleavy would be on the move. Cleveland, always on the lookout for shooting around James, pounced.
With no salary cap space to absorb his contract, the Cavaliers used their fresh trade exception in the Dellavedova deal with the Bucks to obtain the 35-year-old Dunleavy. A 14-year veteran, he most recently averaged 7.2 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists while shooting 39.4 percent from deep for Chicago in 2015-16.
A career 37.6 percent marksman from three, Dunleavy is seemingly getting better with age. Over the past six seasons, he's upped his accuracy to 40.2 percent.
"Obviously I knew if they needed to get cap room, I would be a guy they could move," Dunleavy told K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. "It came together pretty quickly. When I woke up Wednesday morning, I definitely didn't think I would get traded that night. But it certainly ended up well. I was very appreciative of the Bulls to send me to a place like Cleveland."
A starter for the Bulls, Dunleavy now becomes part of a strong second unit of Channing Frye, Richard Jefferson, Iman Shumpert and Williams.
Adding veterans with playoff experience to a championship team is always a good decision. Ones that can shoot, play multiple positions and make just $10 million combined over the next two seasons? Even better.
Grade: A
The Unretirement of Richard Jefferson
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Although the Cavs have yet to officially announce it, Richard Jefferson broke the news over Snapchat that he would be returning to Cleveland for the next two seasons.
According to Chris Mannix of Yahoo Sports, the deal is for $5 million. That's a good value for the 36-year-old, and a raise from the veteran minimum contract he played on this past season.
"From Day 1 when we got RJ, I knew I finally had a guy that was playing behind me that I could trust and count on," James said during the Cavs' championship parade. Jefferson showed impressive versatility for a 15-year vet, playing 68 percent of his minutes at small forward, 19 percent at shooting guard and 13 percent at power forward.
His ability to spot-play the 4 also came in handy during Game 3 of the NBA Finals when Kevin Love was going through concussion protocol. Jefferson delivered nine points, eight rebounds, two assists, two steals and was a plus-11 as the team's starting power forward.
Jefferson also inspired the Lil' Kev movement, a trend that appears to have made its way to Los Angeles now as well.
Bringing back Jefferson was a no-brainer for the Cavs, as he's still productive and an important locker room piece.
Grade: B+
Birdman Migrates North (?)
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—Insert the J.R. Smith and Chris "Birdman" Andersen owning half the NBA's tattoos jokes here.—
According to head coach Tyronn Lue in a Las Vegas Summer League television interview, the Cavs have picked up the 38-year-old Andersen, although ESPN's Dave McMenamin says that no official deal is in place as of yet.
After losing Timofey Mozgov to the Los Angeles Lakers, the Cavaliers needed insurance behind Thompson at center.
One of James' championship teammates on the Miami Heat, Andersen brings some (formerly?) good athleticism and defensive physicality in the paint. When James talked about the Cavaliers' lack of an enforcer back in March, he mentioned Anderson as a major factor that helped him win back-to-back titles in Miami.
Offensively, Birdman doesn't bring much to the table anymore. He'll finish the occasional putback and alley-oop, but don't ask to see any post game or shooting.
After a trade to the Memphis Grizzlies last season, Andersen had an on/off rating of plus-8.8 in the postseason, a nice sign that he's still got some air left in those wings. Adding this type of enforcer with championship experience on what's likely to be a minimum deal is a nice pickup for Cleveland.
Grade: B-
Greg Swartz is the Cleveland Cavaliers Lead Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @CavsGregBR. Quotes obtained firsthand unless cited. Stats via Basketball-Reference.com.
