NEW YORK — The Cavaliers continue to get bigger — and better.
Former Oklahoma City Thunder center Kendrick Perkins will sign with the Cavs once he clears waivers on Monday, multiple league sources told the Beacon Journal. ESPN first reported the move.
Perkins was dealt to the Utah Jazz at the trade deadline, but Yahoo reported the buyout was completed on Saturday. The Cavs will sign him to a pro-rated contract for the league minimum.
Perkins, 30, is in his 12th NBA season. He has averaged 5.6 points and 6 rebounds throughout his career, but his value transcends his numbers. He’s a tough, physical defender who at 6-foot-10 and 280 pounds brings great size and a menacing presence behind 7-footer Timofey Mozgov.
Perkins lost his starting job with the Thunder this season to Steven Adams, but the rugged edge to his game and his locker room leadership is well known. Perkins averaged 19 minutes a game for the Thunder this season, scoring 4 points and grabbing 5.5 rebounds a night.
He will have a reduced role and serve as an insurance policy for the Cavs, who have flourished in recent weeks using a three-man rotation of Mozgov, Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson at power forward and center. That seems unlikely to change for now.
Perkins would be the safety should one of the three ahead of him get injured or fall into foul trouble in the postseason. He has been to the NBA Finals twice and won a championship with the Boston Celtics when one of his teammates was current Cavs assistant coach James Posey. He also shares the same agent, Arn Tellem, as Mike Miller.
The Cavaliers beat out the Los Angeles Clippers and Perkins’ former coach, Doc Rivers, to obtain him. The Chicago Bulls, Atlanta Hawks and Houston Rockets were also among the teams interested.
The Cavs spent last week’s trade deadline searching for either a big, a point guard or both. Perkins fills the largest remaining need on this team, while the point guard search may be slowing.
Perkins fills the empty roster spot, which the Cavs have been holding for months in case Ray Allen chose to join them. There is a growing belief throughout the league, however, that Allen’s playing days are over.
With a full 15-man roster, the Cavs will have to make difficult choices should Allen decide to play or they find a point guard better than Matthew Dellavedova.
The Cavs shopped Brendan Haywood’s unique contract at the trade deadline, but couldn’t find a deal to their liking. They won’t consider releasing him in the coming days to clear a second roster spot, one league official with knowledge of the team’s plans said, and are instead committed to keeping him until July to see if they can turn his $10.5 million non-guaranteed deal for next season into another high-priced veteran contributor.
That means should the Cavs have to find a another roster spot to add either Allen or a point guard, difficult roster decisions will have to be made and could include one of the players LeBron James recruited to Cleveland.
For now, team officials seem to be slowing their search for another point guard, believing no one (barring a surprise buyout in the coming days) will become available through free agency that is a significant upgrade over Dellavedova.
Regardless, adding Perkins is a huge victory after the Cavs were shut out at the trade deadline.
The deadline to add players who are eligible for the postseason is March 1.
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