Cavs show early free agency interest in Trevor Ariza, Spencer Hawes
July 1, 2014C.J. Miles to meet with Pacers, likely to leave Cavs in free agency
July 1, 2014
Terrific news within two hours of free agency: The Cavaliers have agreed to a five-year max contract extension with star point guard Kyrie Irving. The deal is reportedly worth $90 million.
Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported the agreement, then Cavs owner Dan Gilbert followed up with a celebratory tweet of his own.
Reports on Monday suggested that, as expected, the Cavs would meet with Irving in New Jersey and offer him the max extension. The new contract will take place for the start of the 2015-16 season, not this upcoming one.
Celebrate for now, folks. It’s nice to now that Kyrie Irving will be in Cleveland for a long, long time to come. A max deal could potentially change in value if Kyrie is an All-Star Starter again this coming season … but details are for another day.
Kyrie Irving intends to sign 5-year, $90 million extension with the Cavaliers, league source tells Yahoo Sports. Commitment came in meeting.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2014
Looking forward to the next 6 years of @KyrieIrving in CLE. Just shook hands &intend to sign on the 10th.Cant be more excited about @cavs…
— Dan Gilbert (@cavsdan) July 1, 2014
Agent Jeff Wechsler tells Yahoo: "Kyrie is looking forward to growing with the organization and city of Cleveland over next six years."
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2014
Cavs GM David Griffin, Coach David Blatt & asst Ty Lue all w/Gilbert at meeting w/Irving. Cavs' group was "very impressive," per source.
— David Aldridge (@davidaldridgedc) July 1, 2014
I'm here for the long haul Cleveland!!! and I'm ecstatic!! Super excited and blessed to be here and apart of something special.#ClevelandKID
— Kyrie Irving (@KyrieIrving) July 1, 2014
34 Comments
Loyalty…… what a concept. :’) Love me some Kyrie. So happy!
great way to start the off season
But wait, I thought ESPN was convinced he wanted out, and that he’d be in Los Angeles or New York next season? Wasn’t he “desperate” to be a Knick or a Laker?
Maybe it’s a stupid thing to still be mad about considering all the crazy rumors that network throws out (LeBron to the Nets? Right.), but it’s nice when they’re wrong, and a big-name, big time player who still has a ton of upside opts to sign the max in Cleveland. He and Wiggins can be the foundation of something great.
1. Screw Windhorst and his inside info about Kyrie from months ago.
2. This makes me so happy.
His inside info only applies to Miami.
i can’t believe he would sign that…he HATES cleveland!
his inside info is actively trying to prevent lebron from coming back to cleveland, so he doesnt have to come too
Yes! So many hurt-faces to deal out. First up Windy and his insider Chris Grant.
Don’t forget Peter Vescey (who hasn’t relevant since he was on NBA on NBC in the 90’s) and Jason Lloyd.
Oh, and that morning guy in New York.
Awfully brave of Dan to shake that fragile hand after spending $90M on it…
Seriously though, great job by both sides not over thinking and just getting the deal done. We’re shaping up to have a great young team.
Brandon Tierney. Biiiiiig hurt-face for Brandon Tierney.
How about those “dysfunctional” Cavs?! What an incredible offseason, and it’s only just begun!
Right after being reminded about John Wall deal taking time I was worried that his would too and we would be subjected to rumor. Instead, the best possible news as we have him for as long as possible. Love it.
Kyrie, the honorary Canadian (The know he’s not a Canuck, right)
if you like this signing there is one person to thank.
judging from my twitter timeline, this will prove difficult for some/many. e.g.:
https://twitter.com/AnthonyLimaFAN/status/483942421135638528
Stop
Dear ESPN,
Suck it.
Ben
If that happens the PD should say no thanks.
We are thanking Sportsboy Tony? idgi
Hey ESPN, ya like apples?
http://files-cdn.formspring.me/photos/20120321/n4f6a749db8bc3.gif
Just for fun, the full Windohorst quote from April.
“The truth is [Kyrie’s] camp has been putting out there for years – years – that he doesn’t want to be in Cleveland. That they don’t want him in Cleveland. He doesn’t like Mike Brown. He didn’t like Chris Grant. He doesn’t like Dion Waiters. He’s already gotten a General Manager fired. He might get Mike Brown fired. This is the last time – once he signs he loses all of his leverage – so this is the last time he gets to enact leverage.”
To be fair, this is the one of the only times I’ve seen Windhorst be dead wrong. He usually only speaks so confidently when he is sure. But boy, did he screw the pooch. Windy’s a great and thoughtful writer, but he got taken by his “sources” and I won’t give him the same credibility from here out. Kyrie is a calculating kid, and no way this was an impulsive change of heart, no way he just decided to shake hands because he was impressed that the whole Cavs gang showed up to give him love at midnight.
Well, he was born in Australia which is pretty much the same thing.
I respected Windy a lot more before this offseason. He’s had so much TV time lately giving his opinions, and he’s been off on a lot so far. The LeBron, Wade, Bosh fiasco – he’s been all over the place. To be fair, it’s probably hard when ESPN wants a new fresh take every day on Sportscenter.
Two players from Australia and three from Canada. An odd mix indeed.
Going back and reading that interview, it’s hilarious how wrong Windy was, and how silly his fanboys sound.
I agree. Even after Windy left, I really respected his insights. But for the last few months, I feel that his coverage of the Cavs has been more personal. He admitted that he is close with Mike Brown, and admitted he thought Gilbert’s firing of him was unfair. And, since saying so, he has been hammering Gilbert and the Cavs quite a bit. Just a few weeks ago he said the Cavs organization was not taken seriously by others in the league, etc, and that Gilbert was a huge problem. Those type of overly broad statements are sloppy (and not Windhorstian). There is simply no way he has enough sources to know what the “league” thinks of the Cavs. Further, since then we have signed Blatt, stolen Lue from Clippers, and signed KI. So it can’t possibly be the case that the league doesn’t respect us.
Anyway, that is a long way of saying that I am, for the first time, a bit skeptical of ol’ Windy.
add a few US players and all are countries that speak English but are not in the UK
I have been skeptical since the whole saying he was going to spill the secrets of LeBron’s last season, then magically being gifted a job by ESPN-Miami in the next few days and clamping his mouth shut.
Also, was Chris Grant =? BW’s unknown Cavs source
Agree. CG was definitely Windy’s source. Which is why Windy’s recent reports are so negative on Cavs.
think Amico may have said this in one of his tweets or articles – he basically said that any reports that Gilbert or the Cavs are not respected around the league are 100 percent coming from CG, who apparently is pissed about his firing.
So much for all the “experts” who had him leaving because he was so unhappy. Just shows there are entirely to many ways for people to think they know it all and express it.
sry. dan gilbert not only wrote the check for KI but also will pay mike brown not to coach (which made this decision easier for KI).
the point was that gilbert generally doesnt get credit for things like this signing; but if KI had passed up the offer, gilbert would have been blamed.
I suppose it’s possible that CG was the guy that Kyrie really didn’t like, and now that he’s gone there is no hesitation in resigning. Or maybe he just really likes Griffin and the moves he made down the stretch, and the Blatt hiring,and changed his mind when all that fell into place, or maybe a combination of all that.
More likely, however, is that he was just frustrated by the bad year by both him and the team and all the tension and pressure that came with it. Maybe he even told somebody he’ll be glad when the season is over or some such thing and it morphed into “I can’t wait until I can force a trade out of Cleveland” as it was shared from person to person.
I’m giving Windy the benefit of the doubt just because he’s been competent in the past, but I’ve been skeptical for some time about a number of these rumors. All having vague unnamed sources, all loaded with drama, and many being proven patently false in the end.