Larry Hughes to Cavs

[nogoodnick 0]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2103569

Larry Hughes has come to terms with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a five-year deal, his agent, Jeff Wechsler, told ESPN Insider Chad Ford.

 

"Larry intends to sign a contract with the Cavs when the moritorium ends," Wechsler said.

 

Wechsler wouldn't comment on the actual numbers of the deal, but it's believed to be a five-year deal between $65 million and $70 million.

 

Wechsler told Insider that he informed Washington Wizards GM Ernie Grunfeld on Thursday that Hughes won't be returning to the Wizards.

 

Grunfeld told ESPN.com that he was prohibited from commenting on the situation, citing league rules that prevent teams from commenting on free agency until the moratorium passes.

 

For the Cavs, Hughes gives them a great scorer and defender to put at the two alongside LeBron James. Hughes is a fantastic ball handler and rebounder for a two-guard making him -- like LeBron -- a very versatile piece in the puzzle. However, he's not a perfect fit in Cleveland. Hughes is not a good three point shooter (a big need for the Cavs), has a history of injuries and has been inconsistent throughout his career.

 

The Cavs had pursued both Ray Allen and Michael Redd before settling on Hughes.

 

With Hughes on board, the Cavs will now focus their atttention on bringing back free agent Zydrunas Ilgauskas. They're also in hot pursuit of Lithuanian point guard Sarunas Jasikevicius, widely regarded as the best international player not playing in the NBA. The Cavs should have roughly $15 million left under the cap (based on an estimated $49 million cap) to make it happen.

 

The news comes as major blow to the Wizards, who were confident they could re-sign Hughes. The Wizards eventually offered up to six years, $70 million, a source within the team told ESPN.com, but it wasn't enough to keep Hughes in D.C..

 

The Wizards now have to start over from scratch. The team now has a big hole at the two to fill and must also deal with the likely departure of Kwame Brown. The Wizards can get about $9 million below the cap if they don't re-sign Brown. However, the market for two guards is getting thin.

 

The last major two guard on the market is Joe Johnson. However, Johnson is a restricted free agent and most teams believe that the Suns will match any offer. There's also talk from multiple league sources that Johnson is in serious negotiations with the Atlanta Hawks about signing a max offer sheet.

 

That leaves Bobby Simmons, Cuttino Mobley and Latrell Sprewell as the top two guards left on the board. The Wizards could also, at this point, try to work out a sign-and-trade with Brown that brings them back a top-flight shooting guard.

 

Chad Ford covers the NBA for ESPN Inside

[bobobrazil1984 0]

Yeha i thought the whole point was to get a guy who was a good long range shooter?

Bah. i'm not too keen on any new powers rising in the East.

[Styles 0]

I'm crushed. Absolutely baffled the Wiz didn't have a huge offer ready to push on him until he resigned. There goes a huge hole in our lineup.

[Adam 0]

Great news for LeBron and the Cavs. While they still aren't a perimeter team, they are now a playoff team. This can only be good news for them, because it means that Bron is more likely to re-sign.

[Vern Gagne 0]

I think this let's Jarvis Hayes get more playing time for the Wizards.

[Krankor 0]

The Wizards are going to have to go after Cuttino or Bobby Simmons. Bobby Simmons would probably be the best bet for them. He has the biggest upside and probably would the cheapest.

 

If they could manage to drop a couple guys and make a run at Joe Johnson they would be fine. He wouldn't give them exactly the same numbers Hughes did last year, but he's a great young shooter.

 

Last year was without question Hughes best year ever in the pros. I'm wondering if he'll be able to even match what he did last year in Cleveland.

[Cuban Linx 0]

If Hughes can produce anything close to what he did last season he should be able to finally push the Cavs back into the playoffs. LeBron and Hughes, along with Ilgauskas or some other big man like Eddy Curry or whoever else they're after would give Cleveland a very good core of talent to work with. And it's not like getting to the Eastern Conference Playoffs is the most difficult task in the world either.

 

A big loss for Washington, though with the money they would have spent on Hughes they should easily be able to make a strong run for someone like Bobby Simmons to replace him. If they can get a good replacement and spend the extra cash they'll have smartly the Wizards should still be in a decent position, Arenas and Jamison still leaves them with two big weapons to build around.

 

EDIT: Looks like Simmons is gone, there goes replacement option #1.

[Krankor 0]

That was a strange Double Post...

 

I'd say Spreewell could be a decent fit for Washington but he really didn't set the world on fire last year. Washington's best bet would be to unload Kwame Brown and drop another guy and make a run at Joe Johnson.

Edited July 9, 2005 by Krankor

[alfdogg 0]

Simmons is already committed to the Bucks.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

I would say that the Wiz were bound back for mediocrity, but they managed without Hughes for that stretch where he was hurt..

[alfdogg 0]

They shouldn't have too much trouble getting back to the playoffs, but I don't think they'll need to make any Round 2 t-shirts this year.

[Cuban Linx 0]

If i was any NBA team i'd stay far away from Latrell Spreewell. He'll be good for the few seemingly random games where he actually decides to give a shit, but after playing a starring role in turning a Kevin Garnett-led title contender into a lottery team i wouldn't touch him with a 50 foot pole. And that's before he starts bitching about money.

[Matt Young 0]

I'm with you there. Sprewell was always a guy I enjoyed watching, and when he came to Minnesota, I was elated. Then my Wolves went from a #1 seed to missing the playoffs due in large part to Latrell's lackluster effort.

 

Fuck Spree.

[Styles 0]

I think this let's Jarvis Hayes get more playing time for the Wizards.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

That's not a good thing. Jarvis Hayes is not a starting 2 on an NBA team.

 

The best bet now is to do a sign and trade for a SG with Kwame. Don't know who though.

 

If the reports are true and he's getting 13 mil a year that's too high for Hughes who had a career year in his contract year, was injured for a stretch every year, has no perimeter shot and needs the ball in his hand to be effective (I'm sure Lebron will love that!) That said, no doubt I loved his play, he's awesome on defense with his steals and hustle play and it's a big loss for the Wiz. It's obvious he wanted to go where the money was, so there's nothing you can blame him for there.

[Precious Roy 0]

The best bet now is to do a sign and trade for a SG with Kwame. Don't know who though.

 

Isiah wants Kwame, and I could see him using Jamal Crawford as bait

[Krankor 0]

The Knicks are a mess. The got rid of Thomas so they are in need of a big man to fill his space. Kwame has a lot of potential but any sane gm would not trade away anyone worthwhile for him. He's too much of a loose cannon.

[Styles 0]

The best bet now is to do a sign and trade for a SG with Kwame. Don't know who though.

 

Isiah wants Kwame, and I could see him using Jamal Crawford as bait

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

That would be awful!

[Brett Favre 0]

The Wizards want Q-Rich for Kwame. We're trying to offer Sweetney and filler.

 

Why not just sign him to an MLE Offer Sheet, and let them match. I don't think they'd be able to trade him for like a year or something.

[Guest Flyboy]

The Knicks get ANOTHER PF. Lovely.

[Brett Favre 0]

Wait, who did the Knicks get?!

 

Ah, did you mean Kwame? I think he'd play center here, with Frye, and do like a Wallace/Wallace thing where they both change positions during the game.

[Precious Roy 0]

We could offer Sweetney and Tim Thomas I guess. Nobody really wants Thomas, but he'd be a free agent at the end of the year. And Sweetney will end up being a more productive player than Kwame, mark my words, but Isiah is determined to upgrade in size