Cavs interested in trading Haywood + Varejao for Joe Johnson?

[Roy H.]

The Cleveland Cavaliers are considering trading for Brooklyn Nets star Joe Johnson with their Brendan Haywood contract chip, sources told ESPN.com. ...

Johnson, who averaged 14.4 points and shot 44 percent last season, is the second-highest paid player in the league at $24.8 million next season. It would take more than just Haywood to make a deal between the Cavs and Nets, but trading for and waiving Haywood could save the Nets tens of millions in tax payments.

One possible option for the Cavs would be sending big man Anderson Varejao to the Nets in such a deal. Varejao will make $9.6 million this upcoming season as part of an extension he signed last year. Varejao is coming off of a ruptured Achilles tendon he suffered last December but is on track to return by the start of the season.

The possibility of moving Varejao, who has played his entire 11-year career with the Cavs, could be behind the Cavs' interest in free agent forward David West over the last several days. West has indicated he wants to play for a Finals contender and the Cavs have been attempting to recruit him, sources said.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/13202763/cleveland-cavaliers-interested-joe-johnson-brooklyn-nets

As a basketball move, Johnson + West instead of Varejao + Haywood makes all kinds of sense.  Varejao and Lebron are close, though, so who knows if he lets this go through.

[BlackCeltic]

Wow, the Cleveland franchise is quickly turning into the Lakers, -16 championships.

[hodgy03038]

Wow, the Cleveland franchise is quickly turning into the Lakers, -16 championships.

Really? How many does Cleveland have now? LeBron can't play for 16 more years and Joe Johnson certainly isn't going to put them over the top.

[jpotter33]

I'm not sure adding injury-prone ISO-Jo to an already injury-prone team with an isolation-heavy offense is the best move. I agree that West is a better option than Varejao, though.

I think a defensive-minded guy like Shump or Bradley is the better fit at the 2 for them.

[Roy H.]

Mozgov / Thompson
Love / West
Lebron / Smith
Johnson / Shumpert
Irving / Delladoeva

The Cavs would still have to find a backup PG (Mo Williams?), but that team would be the heavy favorite against anybody, including San Antonio and Golden State.

[Denis998]

As it makes sense for the Cavs, why would Brooklyn take on Varejao's contract as they all ready have Lopez. I doubt Lebron would care much for them trading Andy, I think he acknowledges that there is a salary cap and all of those max contracts he demanded needs to add up somehow.

[Who]

I don't think JJ helps Cleveland that much. Not as a starter. He is too slow to be at the SG position full time. Cleveland are better off with Shumpert starting and JJ in a bench role but I doubt that will happen.

It was their defensive energy led by Thompson and Shumpert that in addition to LeBron carried Cleveland to the Finals. They would well served not to forget that.

[kraidstar]

that would help our nets draft pick for next year. JJ is way overpaid but is still either their best or second-best player.

[Jiri Welsch]

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/13202763/cleveland-cavaliers-interested-joe-johnson-brooklyn-nets

The Cleveland Cavaliers are considering trading for Brooklyn Nets star Joe Johnson with their Brendan Haywood contract chip, sources told ESPN.com.

Haywood has a $10.5 million nonguaranteed contract if waived before Aug. 1, an asset that has gained in value over the last several days as other teams use up their cap space. The Cavs have been looking for perimeter help with Haywood's contract and Johnson would certainly provide a major boost as an additional scoring and shooting option.

The Nets are actively looking to move Johnson to reduce their tax burden this upcoming season as they are facing paying the repeater tax, which would be the most punitive luxury penalty in league history. The Nets have held talks with several teams, including the Memphis Grizzlies, sources told ESPN's Marc Stein.

Assuming this happened, it might actually help the Celtics...

[BitterJim]

As it makes sense for the Cavs, why would Brooklyn take on Varejao's contract as they all ready have Lopez. I doubt Lebron would care much for them trading Andy, I think he acknowledges that there is a salary cap and all of those max contracts he demanded needs to add up somehow.

It would save them $15 million in salart, plus even more in luxury tax.  It would have to be a purely monetary move

[Jiri Welsch]

Roy H. beat me to it, sorry to force the merge.

[BlackCeltic]

Wow, the Cleveland franchise is quickly turning into the Lakers, -16 championships.

Really? How many does Cleveland have now? LeBron can't play for 16 more years and Joe Johnson certainly isn't going to put them over the top.

The comparison to the Lakers was because of the desperate moves to land as many stars/ex stars as possible in order to win the title. That lineup, on paper, is eastern conference champion caliber. Its not even debatable.

[jambr380]

This probably a stupid question, but if Cleveland wants to sign West, what difference does it make if they make this trade? Aren't they way over the tax threshold already? Is it simply to show West that they 'need' him?

If the Cavs do this, I am not sure what to say. Their team salary (and team, in general) is amazing. I guess you were right, Roy, when you said earlier that Dan Gilbert doesn't care how much he spends on his roster.

[Denis998]

As it makes sense for the Cavs, why would Brooklyn take on Varejao's contract as they all ready have Lopez. I doubt Lebron would care much for them trading Andy, I think he acknowledges that there is a salary cap and all of those max contracts he demanded needs to add up somehow.

It would save them $15 million in salart, plus even more in luxury tax.  It would have to be a purely monetary move

that would be the only reason I see them doing that trade for, I'm all for it, the worse Brooklyn is, the better pick Boston gets.

[fubar089]

would be great for us if it happened.