Cavaliers Trade Miller, Haywood To Trail Blazers

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Published on July 27 2015 6:38 am
Last Updated on July 27 2015 6:38 am

The Cleveland Cavaliers have agreed to trade Mike Miller and Brendan Haywood to the Portland Trail Blazers in a deal aimed to create future options and save luxury-tax money, sources told ESPN.com.

The Blazers will likely cut Haywood and could eventually work a buyout with Miller and will receive two future second-round picks from the Cavs for facilitating the deal with their cap space.

The Cavs will create two trade exceptions with the move, one for $10.5 million, which will be the largest active trade exception in the league, and the other for $2.94 million. The Cavs will also receive cash in the deal, sources said.

he Cavs have been dangling Haywood's contract, which is non-guaranteed if he's waived by Aug. 1, for weeks looking for an offer. But unable to find a player-based deal they liked, and concerned about the luxury tax, the team switched gears over the past two weeks and decided to make a move to create a trade exception. Last season, the Cavs successfully used a trade exception to acquire Timofey Mozgov from the Denver Nuggets in January.

Miller was a key signing last offseason because of his experience, 3-point-shooting ability and relationship with LeBron James. But he barely played in the second half of the season and playoffs, averaging 5.6 points and shooting just 33 percent from 3-point range.