Cavs and Pavlovic have a deal
Posted October 30th, 2007 by Brian Windhorst
The Cavaliers and Sasha Pavlovic have reached an agreement on a new contract, his agent Marc Cornstein just informed me.
In talking to some league sources, I am told it is a three-year contract worth between $4-$5 million per season. It got done over the last two days as the Cavs pressed to make it happen before the start of the season.
Cornstein told me that the process was more of a product of the restricted free agency system as opposed to any hostility on either side. There is no doubt there is some truth in that. Also, Pavlovic’s willingness to holdout got him an improved deal than what was on the table on Oct. 1, when he could’ve just taken a one-year deal worth $2.8 million. However, I also believe that whatever was worked out over the last two days could probably have been handled weeks ago and prevented the distraction over the last month.
While the two sides were still pretty far apart before the weekend, apparently both gave a little bit to get the deal done. Sasha is still going to have to pass a physical and actually sign the deal, so he wouldn’t probably be available until at least Friday when the New York Knicks come to town. He is on his way in from Serbia and will have to deal with medical tests and visa and other issues when he gets to the country.
This represents an important moment for the Cavs as they were able to resolve one of the issues hanging over their head. It will be interesting to see how this affects the Anderson Varejao talks.
October 30th, 2007 at 5:28 pm
[...] I just heard it come down the pipe that SASHA PAVLOVIC and the cavs have a new deal in place. Brian Windhorst writes that the deal is for three years at between $3-4 million per… So about what he [...]
October 30th, 2007 at 6:16 pm
YEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!! This team desperately needs Sasha and Andy out on the court and at least one piece of the puzzle is solved. Let’s hope that Wild Thing snaps out of his ego trip and realizes what he’s actually worth. This is very good news on the eve of the opener. Brian, when is your book co-authored by Terry Pluto going to be released. I am genuinely anticipating its release BW! GO CAVS!!!
October 30th, 2007 at 6:28 pm
[...] has up in his blog, the Cavaliers and Sasha Pavlovic have ended their holdout and come to terms. Windhorst is saying the deal is for 3 years, somewhere in the vicinity of $4-5 million per year, although the Cleveland Plain Dealer and [...]
October 30th, 2007 at 6:55 pm
Robin is back. All he has to do is work his way back into the starting lineup now…
October 30th, 2007 at 7:39 pm
Yeah I also can’t wait for the book.
Glad to see Pavs back. With a deal of 4-5 mil a year, it looks like Varajeo is going to get 6-7 at least since everyone concedes with really needed Varajeo more. I disagree, I think Pavs is desparately needed for those minutes when LeBron sits.
October 30th, 2007 at 8:19 pm
Can someone explain to me why everyone thinks the Cavs are going to just completely TANK this season?
They just asked the TNT crew what the chances the Cavs could repeat as ECFinalists.
Charles Barkley: -3 out of 10 chance.
Magic: With this team, impossible.
Kenny: Not possible.
Charles: they won’t even make the playoffs?
WHAT?!
And they all think Chicago is a LOCK to win the ECF.
MIND BOGGLING!
Chicago loses PJ Brown and adds JOAKIM NOAH! THAT’S IT!
October 30th, 2007 at 9:58 pm
not THAT happy about a guy who shouldn’t have been holding out, who does he think he is- he’s a glorified 6th man….hopefully he will be dealt w/ some expiring contracts for a PG!!!!
October 30th, 2007 at 11:03 pm
I hope Andy gets his 6-7 mil - Drew Gooden money, and takes it. He plays hard - which is good - but that means he gets hurt, remember his hurting his shoulder playing for Brazil.
I think Joakim Noah is better than you think. I see him as one of those guys who grows on you, gets better each year for 4-5 years, learns what he can and can’t do in the league. I’d love to have him. (Jiri Welsh, I mean, c’mon.)
October 30th, 2007 at 11:06 pm
With a starting lineup of Hughes, Pavs, LBJ, Gooden, and Z, this team won a lot of games last year. I actually like dynamic of getting Pavlovic back, because it improves the depth of the backcourt with Gibson and Devin Brown coming off the bench plus whatever we can scrape out of Shannon Brown, Snow, and Damon Jones. The frontcourt is still thin, but Sasha’s deal is ok with me. Didn’t break the bank for him.
October 31st, 2007 at 12:12 am
I love the “between $4-$5 million.” Do you think you could be any less precise? Is it really more along the lines of $4 million, or is it really more along the lines of $5 million? That’s a whopping 20% difference. The mid-level exception was $5.36 million. If it’s close to $5 million, then Ferry did what he plainly implied he wasn’t going to do. He caved.
I’d love to be a fly on the wall to see what’s going on behind the scenes with the media so they will save face for Ferry. Who’s catering the conference call, Corky & Lenny’s?
How soon before Ferry caves and gives Varejao his Nocioni money? With Howard the latest guy to flip Ferry the bird, it will be interesting to count the days.
October 31st, 2007 at 2:27 am
By the way, this sets a bad, bad precedent that can’t be fixed until the current collective bargaining agreement expires. Thanks to the Cavs’ resident genius, qualifying offers to restricted free agents will now become fairly meaningless. Holdouts out the wazoo next summer. I’ll bet the other NBA general managers will just *luv* this.
They had to create a Larry Bird exception because Auerbach made a pretty shrewd move a long time ago, and now they’re going to have to create a Danny Ferry exception because the man holds seances and talks strategy with Bill Musselman and Phil Seghi.
It’s such a pure joy being a Cleveland sports fan. All that’s missing is the first six years of the Blue Jackets. Next stop, the Beno Express. Unless Sideshow signs first.
October 31st, 2007 at 8:19 am
It looks like Pavlovic’s agent earned his money and it’s great he’s back in the fold. I don’t care about the fat cats in owners boxes so hopefully the signing bodes well for Varejao’s imminent return as well.
Sideshow will get $7 million, I’ll bet. It’s not that bad a deal for the Cavs considering he should be the starting center in the next year or two. Combined, the two greedy holdouts plus Gibson will be making almost as much as Larry Hughes.
The season is here but this new offense makes me nervous. It sounds simplistic and boring. The new offense the Cavs installed last season looked great the first week or two of the season, but they scrapped it when everyone said it didn’t suit Z. They should go back to it and stick with it this time.
In any case, it’s not a good sign to keep switching schemes because the players won’t buy into it. Brown should go with what suits him rather than cater to outside opinions.
October 31st, 2007 at 9:38 am
Jason Kapono got a deal for $24 Million over 4 years. Pavlovic is the better player (though not a better shooter), and it looks like the Cavs signed him for $8 Million over 2 years, with an option on the 3rd. His qualifying offer was $2.8 Million, so the Cavs paid a premium of $1.2 Million to ensure that they would have Sasha again next year at around $4 Million, rather than having to compete with other teams. On the whole, I think I’m ok with it.
If teams are going to continually break the bank signing free agents, even bidding against themselves like the Magic did with Rashard Lewis, then negotiating in good faith with your own restricted free agents does not deserve criticism. The Cavs don’t have to handicap themselves for a season in an effort to slightly benefit other teams in the future.
Go Cavs.
Mike C.
October 31st, 2007 at 9:46 am
tom, i think the reason everyone expects the cavs to suck this year is the same reason why they will suck this year. several eastern teams this year, including chicago, have improved. the cavs, on the other hand got worse in the sense that they’re still missing a key player, there’s obvious chemistry/personality issues, they’re running their third new offense in three years, etc. lets face it - the playoff run last year had EVERYTHING to do with the seeding system.
i know preseason doesn’t matter, but these cavs looked bad. perhaps the silver lining is that they might play with the “nobody respects us” chip on their shoulder. it worked for detroit…
October 31st, 2007 at 9:54 am
How is Pavlovic a better player than Kapono? This prognostication business is getting out of hand. The Sir Charles prediction came last week. And now Bill Simmons has the Cavs in the lottery http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/071030&sportCat=nba. What’s the deal? Hopefully the squad can use the disrespect as a motivational tool. I mean, what does it say about your GM when you make the Finals and then 4 motnhs later nobody thinks you will even be in the playoffs?
October 31st, 2007 at 9:57 am
are you kidding me?! he got exactly what they wanted to give him. sasha caved.
alan…breath. nba deals generally have different amounts every year. if the amount is not published, writers will guesstimate. they all do this. that is why you are sleeping on mom’s couch, and bw is writing for the abj.
think of it this way, 3 years 12 million, less than 4 one year, more than four the next year, option year can be more or less than depending on options. taadah!
now go clean the catbox out, mr sprinkles needs to take a leak.
October 31st, 2007 at 10:44 am
Taco - tell me how Chicago improved.
October 31st, 2007 at 1:34 pm
How did SASHA cave???? First, who says it’s $4 million, except the media Ferry schmoozes? Possibly closer to $5 million. Have you seen the contract? I haven’t. And nobody outside of this blog has, either, and that includes the guy who writes it. Second, the procedure is qualifying offer, and then you play. Then you negotiate during the season. That’s the procedure as intended. So by definition, Ferry caved, not the other way around. All this for a guy that scored 9 points, got two rebounds and a little over 1 assist per game! This player is pure gold! Well worth the headaches.
And what are they going to do with him? Unless James is moving to power forward, what good is he? Seriously. He’s a terrible ball-handler. He’s a swingman. Part shooting guard, part small forward that can’t rebound worth a lick. So basically, he’s poor health insurance, Blue Cross & Blue Shield with a $5,000 deductible before the insurance even pays a red cent, for when Hughes herniates the ink on his neck.
If they signed him with the underlying intent to trade him, OK, fine. That strategy so far has bombed with Gooden, but still, fine. Otherwise, Ferry deserves a spanking.
October 31st, 2007 at 1:40 pm
Wow, that Simmons prediction is amazing. His explanation for that is, what, they’ll lose a lot of games to Atlanta? I’m all for disrespect, but at some point is becomes bad journalism. This is well past that point. In a season where he doesn’t even expect his beloved Celtics to win 50 games, there are going to be enough teams good enough to beat the Cavs a total of 43 times? That just doesn’t make sense.
Cavs win tonight, 96-90.
Mike C
October 31st, 2007 at 2:05 pm
Look at the stats from Simmons:
1191 - 1269 wins to losses
According to him there are 39 games with two losers - which makes him the biggest one!
October 31st, 2007 at 3:13 pm
Last year simmons predicted LeBron was trying to get LeBron fired and that his fall from grace would rival Martina Hingis and Ken Griffey Junior. Last year, Charles Barkley predicted the Cavs would lose to the Nets. And the Pistons.
And after all that, instead of thinking “man, maybe i should double clutch before I chuck up another airball” they both decide the Cavs won’t make the playoffs.
October 31st, 2007 at 3:52 pm
tom,
chicago picked up joe johnson and drafted noah, which gives them more frontcourt depth and rebounding, and most importantly low-post scoring to compliment their perimeter and spot-up shooters (deng, noccioni), and slashers (gordon, hinrich).
October 31st, 2007 at 4:17 pm
Of course it’s Joe Smith, Taco-p. But you’re right.
Unless the Bulls players have tired of Skiles, they will be better this year because their youngsters are starting to mature. They’ve got a lot of talent and to think they’re not on an upward arc is just wishful thinking.
Hopefully, Gibson, Pavlovic, Gooden and Varejao will show improvement, too and Hughes will hurry up and get injured so the Cavs don’t have to worry about getting him touches.
October 31st, 2007 at 4:32 pm
tom,
chicago signed joe smith and drafted noah, which not only gives them much needed size and frontcourt depth, it also addressed their biggest (and possibly only) weakness - low-post scoring.
October 31st, 2007 at 4:47 pm
If any of you think Joe Smith or Joakim Noah are low post scorers then you don’t know basketball. And Alan T., there’s no contract, Sasha hasn’t signed it yet.
October 31st, 2007 at 4:52 pm
alan i’m not gonna say that sasha is a super star or anything, but in your eternal quest to be grumpy, you’re not giving him his due. he’s EASILY our best scorer whe lebron is on the bench, and if he learns to finish at the rim, can be a dangerous slasher too. and he can shoot the three. there’s also got to be some inherent value in simply bringing him back and ending the hold-out distraction.
moreover, it’s not about who caved. and it’s not about whether it’s 4mil or 5mil per year. that contract is tradeable and it won’t kill our cap room the way hughes, d. jones and eric snow did.
it’s halloween - eat some tiny candy bars and be happy. i’m sure the coming weeks will give you plenty of things to gripe about - but this signing shouldn’t be one of them.
October 31st, 2007 at 5:01 pm
sorry frank, i forgot that it was joe smith’s super sweet jump shot and basketball IQ, not his low post play, that made him the first overall pick in the draft and quality big man for over 10 years. i’ll be the first to admit that he never lived up to the hype, but seriously dude, get a clue.
October 31st, 2007 at 7:23 pm
Glad to see Pavs sign…he’s worth the 4-5 million per. I don’t understand the predictions by these loser b-ball writers either. Everyone needs to realize the bill simmons is an absolute quack. I’m amazed that this guy has a job at ESPN. They need to get Windhorst in there who actually knows the league.
November 1st, 2007 at 12:10 am
Taco, 31 other teams didn’t want him. What do they know that we don’t?
Besides, where is he going to play if he wasn’t signed to be traded? I thought one of the party lines was the “maturation process” of Gibson at point guard. So what are they going to do with the guy Ferry is paying $90 million a year to play shooting guard? They certainly aren’t going to bench him. So that means it’s a waiting game until Hughes eventually gets hurt. And then when he comes back from his injury du jour, they ain’t gonna bench him.
And what about the “maturation process” of Shannon Brown? Wasn’t that part of the party line, too?
Regardless, why not take a hardline stance and simply tell the agent, “Look, douchebag, if you want close to $5 million, then consider it done. But that contract starts next season. In the meantime, you’re getting the amount of the qualifying offer as set forth in the collective bargaining agreement. You didn’t receive any other offers that we had to match, so obviously a lot of other front offices think your client sucks. In the meantime, we’re holding onto his rights. Take it or leave it.” That’s the way it’s supposed to work. But not in Independence. I guess all the fancy weight machines in the world can’t put muscles on the weak-willed. Ferry is a joke.
November 1st, 2007 at 12:17 am
I meant the other 29 teams, not 31. Oh, who cares. The point is the signing means the organization has little faith that Shannon Brown has NBA talent.
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