Remember Larry Hughes? Let's not do that again.
Browse more photos »
Up to this point it's hard to argue that the
Cavaliers haven't been making all of the right moves so far in free agency. And by all of the right moves, I mean none of the moves.
The Cavs entered this free agency period with a boatload of cap space. They also had three restricted free agents. Since July 1st, when the period officially began, the Cavs have simply extended qualifying offers to their restricted free agents and signed their drafted rookies.
Luke Harangody accepted the qualifying offer.
Semih Erden bolted for a better deal in Turkey. We're yet to hear about
Alonzo Gee, but we'll have to wait on that one --
even if there are some less than ideal reports out there.
Dion Waiters and
Tyler Zeller have signed their contracts and that's it. Nothing else so far.
Why am I so excited about the Cavs' lack of activity? Well, look around the rest of the NBA and it's pretty easy to see.
Landry Fields got an
offer sheet for 3 years/$20 million.
Jeremy Lin got an offer for 3 years/$30 million based on starting 25 games last season before having major knee surgery.
Brandon Bass signed for 3 years/$20 million and
Jeff Green might get 4 years/$40 million.
Get it now? I can continue.
The
Clippers are looking to sign
Jamal Crawford for 3 years/$15 million.
Goran Dragic got 4 years/$34 million.
Brandon Roy got
2 years/$10 million after missing last season due to retirement and having no meniscus in his knee.
Meanwhile, the Cavaliers are learning from mistakes of previous regimes and are sitting tight. They believe in their young players and are focused on making very minor moves to fill out the roster, like signing undrafted free agent, Kevin Jones. Jones was projected to go in the mid to early second round by many experts and scouts. There's no need to jump the gun and spend money just because we have it available. There is no urgency to get to the salary floor as
Baron Davis' amnestied contract counts towards that figure. I refresh my Twitter feed in the afternoon and see mediocre NBA players getting enormous contracts from teams. Meanwhile, do a quick search for "Cavaliers" and you get next to nothing. We don't want to get into year 3 or 4 of this rebuild and say "crap, we can't do anything because we're paying a 32 year old
Gerald Wallace $10 million!" We want to maintain flexibility and make the right moves at the right time.
Unlike the last time the Cavaliers were building their way out of the basement, we're not throwing wads of cash at
Larry Hughes and
Donyell Marshall. For now, the Cavs will make a few adjustments here and there. Add a couple of veterans, fill out the roster, and hold onto that cap space. With the way these other teams are spending, soon Cleveland may be the only team left with cap room. Then they can identify the right target and make their move. Until then, every time I see a free agent get overpaid by another team -- that's a win in my book.
