WTEM: Larry Hughes has verbally agreed with the Cavs

[jbooma]

The curse lives on guys :(

Deal believed to be worth $65M to $70MBy Chad Ford
ESPN Insider



Larry Hughes has come to terms with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a five-year deal, his agent, Jeff Wechsler, told ESPN Insider Chad Ford.

Larry Hughes
Shooting Guard
Washington Wizards
Profile


2004-2005 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
61 22.0 6.3 4.7 .430 .777



"Larry intends to sign a contract with the Cavs when the moritorium ends," Wechsler said.

Wechsler wouldn't comment on the actual numbers of the deal, but it's believed to be a five-year deal between $65 million and $70 million.

Wechsler told Insider that he informed Washington Wizards GM Ernie Grunfeld on Thursday that Hughes is going in a different direction.


Grunfeld told ESPN.com that he was prohibited from commenting on the situation, citing league rules that prevent teams from commenting on free agency until the moritorium passes.

For the Cavs, Hughes gives them a great scorer and defender to put at the two alongside LeBron James. He isn't a great shooter (something the Cavs desperately need), but he's a fantastic ball handler and rebounder making him -- like LeBron -- a very versatile piece in the puzzle.

With Hughes on board, the Cavs will now focus their atttention on bringing back free agent Zydrunas Ilgauskas. They're also in hot pursuit of Lithuanian point guard Sarunas Jasikevicius, widely regarded as the best international player not playing in the NBA.


The news comes as major blow to the Wizards, who were confident they could re-sign Hughes. The Wizards eventually offered up to six years, $70 million.

The Wizards now have to start over from scratch. The team now has a big hole at the two to fill and must also deal with the likely departure of Kwame Brown. The Wizards can get about $9 million below the cap if they don't re-sign Brown. However, the market for two guards is getting thin.

The last major two guard on the market is Joe Johnson. However, Johnson is a restricted free agent and most teams believe that the Suns will match any offer. There's also talk from multiple league sources that Johnson is in serious negotiations with the Atlanta Hawks about signing a max offer sheet.

That leaves Bobby Simmons, Cuttino Mobley and Latrell Sprewell as the top two guards left on the board. The Wizards could also, at this point, try to work out a sign-and-trade with Brown that brings them back a top-flight shooting guard.

[NotInOurHouse]

good we can keep on beating cleveland

[Fatty P For The Pulitzer]

It's time for EG to reel in another gem, like he did Arenas and Jamison, unless they feel confident with Hayes. I wonder if this changes their plans for what they want in return for Kwame?

[NotInOurHouse]

Maybe someone is impressing them in camp and is going to step up. Who knows. Let the real (good) gm set em up.

[arenasisgod]

:sucks: :brownsuck :brownsuck :brownsuck :brownsuck :brownsuck :brownsuck :brownsuck :brownsuck :brownsuck :brownsuck :brownsuck :brownsuck :brownsuck :brownsuck :brownsuck :brownsuck :brownsuck :brownsuck :brownsuck :brownsuck :brownsuck :brownsuck :brownsuck :brownsuck :brownsuck :brownsuck :brownsuck :brownsuck :brownsuck :brownsuck :brownsuck :brownsuck :brownsuck :brownsuck :brownsuck :brownsuck :brownsuck

drew carey can eat a ickd up

[Spaceman Spiff]

it was just on espn news...its official


****!

[jbooma]

so we failed on our #1 priority :doh:

[jbooma]

maybe it is a trade for Lebron :D

[bofluid]

ESPN.com reports the deal is five years for between 65-70 million. I'm glad Ernie exercised some fiscal restraint here. Larry is not worth a $13-$14 average salary. I'd fully expect the Wiz to pursue Cuttino Mobley, Marko Jaric and Antonio Daniels from here out. EG definitely has a backup plan. I'm actually surprised by how little this is affecting me. I'm keeping the faith, and I think everyone else should too.

[Fatty P For The Pulitzer]

It's best that we didn't match that offer. I would've been happy had we, but tying up $35-40M a year over the next several years on 3 players will start to create problems if they don't live up to that money. If Hughes improves on last season, he'll be worth $12M per, but if he stays the same or regresses, he's not worth more than $10M per. I don't think it's going to be as bad as some people are expecting. We still could trade Kwame for a SG, we could give Hayes his shot and give Dixon more time as the backup, or we could sign someone like Cuttino Mobley for a lot cheaper than what Larry got.

[Fatty P For The Pulitzer]

Originally posted by bofluid
ESPN.com reports the deal is five years for between 65-70 million.

Yeah, if that's the case, Grunfeld did the right thing.


Originally posted by bofluid
I'm glad Ernie exercised some fiscal restraint here. Larry is not worth a $13-$14 average salary. I'd fully expect the Wiz to pursue Cuttino Mobley, Marko Jaric and Antonio Daniels from here out.

Heck, we could even bring Bobby Simmons back (I never wanted us to get rid of him in the first place). He put up some solid numbers this year.

[refuze]

Cuttino -> Wizards

..or have Hayes step up.

[mad4comp]

It seems Denver is after Cuttino.

[jbooma]

Originally posted by mad4comp
It seems Denver is after Cuttino.

typical

[Newera]

Simmons.

[herrmag]

Originally posted by bofluid
ESPN.com reports the deal is five years for between 65-70 million. I'm glad Ernie exercised some fiscal restraint here. Larry is not worth a $13-$14 average salary. I'd fully expect the Wiz to pursue Cuttino Mobley, Marko Jaric and Antonio Daniels from here out. EG definitely has a backup plan. I'm actually surprised by how little this is affecting me. I'm keeping the faith, and I think everyone else should too. :yikes: that's upsurd! I like Hughes, but if he's getting offered that much loot, cya! Oh, and enjoy being overshadowed by Lebron and fighting for the ball every trip down the floor.

[GoSkinsGo]

Wow they pulled a pre-gibbs redskins payout. Hughes is good but good god that is a lot of cash to someone who did that in a contract year.

I do have faith that Ernie has a plan and that we will all be delighted by the end of the offseason.

[jbooma]

Bring back Bobby Simmons :cheers:

[mad4comp]

Originally posted by jbooma
Bring back Bobby Simmons :cheers:

Now thats a good idea.

And then we can get a good tall PG and move Gil to the 2.

[jbooma]

Originally posted by mad4comp


Now thats a good idea.

And then we can get a good tall PG and move Gil to the 2.

unless he wants 12 million :(

What I would like to know is how will Areans react to this, that is the key.

[Drex]

Simmons, prior to last year's emergence, was a journeyman throughout his career.

His services will not come without adequate financial compensation.

[skns4life]

Larry Hughes is my favorite basketball player! It sucks to see him go...i wish him the best though.

[refuze]

Seriously.. if we want to be championship contenders, we need better people.

We need at least Mobley or Abdur-Rahim. We can't keep on settling on mediocre players. Our bench looks horrible right now. No more Ruffin, Peeler, Blake, Dixon, or Profit.

[Clutch03]

Originally posted by jbooma


unless he wants 12 million :(

What I would like to know is how will Areans react to this, that is the key.

I’m thinking Arenas is okay with the Wizards deciding not to pay Hughes more then he is getting paid. So I don’t think he will fault the FO on this one. As long as they get someone to compliment Arenas I can be okay with this. But right now it hurts.

[jbooma]

Originally posted by refuze
Seriously.. if we want to be championship contenders, we need better people.

We need at least Mobley or Abdur-Rahim. We can't keep on settling on mediocre players. Our bench looks horrible right now. No more Ruffin, Peeler, Blake, Dixon, or Profit.

Agree but lets give Ernie some time, he knows what he is doing.

[mad4comp]

Originally posted by jbooma


unless he wants 12 million :(

What I would like to know is how will Areans react to this, that is the key.

16.4 ppg = 5 year 12 million dollar contract?

Keep dreaming simmons, the most hes gonna get is 8 mill per.

PG - GIlbert Arenas
SG - Marko Jaric
SF - Bobby Simmons
PF - Antawn Jamison
C - Brendan Haywood

........:notworthy

[GoSkinsGo]

Who is the Jaric guy that I keep hearing about? Who did he play for last year?

n/m I found it.

[RedskinsNation]

maybe we move Gil to PG and trade for FRancis???

Oh well...just a thought....

We will fill the void somewhere.....Grunfeld now has pressure for the first time in 2+ years as our GM.

[Drex]

I am of the mindset that the Wiz needs a solid, 14 points and 10 board guy at the power forward position. This team lacks a post presence that has the ability to score and consistently get to the foul line.

This would also enable Jamison to play his more natural position of small forward.

[mad4comp]

Originally posted by RedskinsNation
maybe we move Gil to PG and trade for FRancis???

Oh well...just a thought....

We will fill the void somewhere.....Grunfeld now has pressure for the first time in 2+ years as our GM.

keep the crybabies off this team plz :)

[Clutch03]

Originally posted by Drex
I am of the mindset that the Wiz needs a solid, 14 points and 10 board guy at the power forward position. This team lacks a post presence that has the ability to score and consistently get to the foul line.

This would also enable Jamison to play his more natural position of small forward.

Agreed. I believe Arenas should be playing the SG position and Jamison the SF position. So we need to look for a PG and a PF.

[NotInOurHouse]

Thats fine to let him go. Jamison is also overpaid and it would be stupid to have two people that much over paid. I wish we could go after J. Johnson but he is restricted and almost certainly the suns will match since they let Q go.

[mad4comp]

Originally posted by GoSkinsGo
Who is the Jaric guy that I keep hearing about? Who did he play for last year?

http://www.nba.com/playerfile/marko_jaric/

[mad4comp]

Any interest in Donyell Marshall ?

[Dickens]

C-Haywood
PF-Ramos :)
SF-Jamison
SG-Hayes
PG-Arenas

Bench
C-Eton Thomas
PF-Michael Ruffin
SF-Jared Jeffries
SG-Dixon
PG-Jaric
SF-Blatch

[Clutch03]

Originally posted by mad4comp
Any interest in Donyell Marshall ?

Marshall seems like a poor man’s Jamison to me. I wouldn’t mind him coming in as a backup but not to crack the starting lineup.

[arenasisgod]

this really sucks

Donyell Marshall? Trade the god Arenas for Steve Francis? :laugh:

You all must be drowning your sorrows in crystal meth again...

This is the worst thing that could possibly happen to the Wizards. L-Boog was so important--- those fourth quarter drives to the rim, the clutch threes, the steals. Now he will be replaced by either a dictionary defined contract player (Simmons) a Latrell-Sprewell-type (Latrell deserves his own category) or a streaky, oft-injured gunner (Mobley). Getting abdur-rahim won't help.

Why do I feel like this is David Stern's scheming to make his only marketable superstar happy---- of course at the wiz's expense.

Nobody is going to sign and trade a decent shooting guard for Kwames, no-body. Unless you're the Knicks and your talking about Penny Hardaway.

I am still clinging to hope that the wiz haven't finished negotiating. Can't they offer Larry more dough? He's worth it!

:(

[mad4comp]

Originally posted by arenasisgod
this really sucks

Donyell Marshall? Trade the god Arenas for Steve Francis? :laugh:

You all must be drowning your sorrows in crystal meth again...

This is the worst thing that could possibly happen to the Wizards. L-Boog was so important--- those fourth quarter drives to the rim, the clutch threes, the steals. Now he will be replaced by either a dictionary defined contract player (Simmons) a Latrell-Sprewell-type (Latrell deserves his own category) or a streaky, oft-injured gunner (Mobley). Getting abdur-rahim won't help.

Why do I feel like this is David Stern's scheming to make his only marketable superstar happy---- of course at the wiz's expense.

Nobody is going to sign and trade a decent shooting guard for Kwames, no-body. Unless you're the Knicks and your talking about Penny Hardaway.

I am still clinging to hope that the wiz haven't finished negotiating. Can't they offer Larry more dough? He's worth it!

:(

With the esclating contracts of both Arenas and Jamison, we cant afford another monster contract.

[Sebowski]

Originally posted by herrmag
:yikes: that's upsurd! I like Hughes, but if he's getting offered that much loot, cya! Oh, and enjoy being overshadowed by Lebron and fighting for the ball every trip down the floor.

That won't happen. LeBron is a team-first guy. I think they make a great duo.

[Warhead36]

(pasted from other thread)

I hate to see him go, but there is still time before he can actually sign the contract. We can still offer him something more.

But if he does end up leaving, so be it. I won't lose sleep if we lose Hughes. Hell I think we could be a better TEAM without him. Sure we lose his point production and his steals, but he did start shooting a low FG % especially in the playoffs, and his actual defense is lacking(he gambles for steals).

Another thing is that Hughes really can't seem to stay healthy. I mean, how many games did he miss last year? And the year before that? How about the previous year? He is a great player when he plays, but whats better, a great player being paid $12 Mil a year to play 60 games, or a good player being paid $6 Mil a year to play 80 games?

While we may be breaking up the Big Trio, we are building a Better Fifteen.

(rest is new content)

I think our coaches/FO are trying to build a team around Arenas feeding the big men, thus I think we will end up keeping Kwame Brown. With Haywood, Thomas, Brown, and now Blatche, lets not forget Ramos either, we've got a nice young stable of big men. I think we may be ditching the guard oriented offense and moving to a more big man oriented one, with Arenas being the center piece.

[TheSteve]

Kwame is going to be back next year haters, stop talking about trading him for pure garbage.

[Funkyalligator]

We need to have the same team on the floor the whole year....Larry doesn't allow that because he gets injured every year