Report: Cavaliers looking to trade Brendan Haywood, first-round pick
The Cleveland Cavaliers are looking to trade veteran center Brendan Haywood and possibly their first round pick in next week’s NBA draft in efforts to upgrade their roster, reports ESPN.com’s Brian Windhorst.
Haywood, 35, played in only 22 games last season, averaging 1.6 points and 1.3 rebounds per game.
Haywood was traded to Cleveland from Charlotte in July 2014, a day after forward LeBron James announced he was returning to the Cavaliers after four seasons with the Miami Heat.
He is set to make $10.5 million in the final season of his contract.
Cleveland has the 24th overall pick in the NBA draft, which will be held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Thursday.
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The Cavaliers have already sent their 2016 first-round pick to the Philadelphia 76ers to acquire Kevin Love last offseason in a three-team involving the 76ers and Minnesota Timberwolves.
Cleveland general manager David Griffin said at a press conference on Thursday that he wants to add more playmakers to the roster.
“The one thing that we did see in Golden State, and it was something that was very difficult for us to deal with, is they have an incredibly versatile team of multiple facilitating playmakers,” Griffin said. “That's something we're going to continue to work upon.”
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Griffin also said during the press conference that he will extend qualifying offers to guard Matthew Dellavedova and Iman Shumpert, making them restricted free agents. Forward Tristan Thompson is also set to become a restricted free agent on July 1.
James and Love are also expected to exercise the player options in their contract and become unrestricted free agents.
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