Cavs Land Jamison in Three Team Deal
The Cleveland Cavaliers landed the All Star power forward they were looking for only it was not the one they were rumored to be the favorite to land. Former two-time All Star Antawn Jamison will be LeBron James’ new running mate as the Cavs look to get back to the finals this season.
The Cavs are acquiring Jamison from the Wizards and point guard Sebastain Telfair from the Clippers. The Wizards are getting third year wing man Al Thornton from the Clippers, Zydrunas Ilgauskus, and a future first round pick from Cleveland. The Clippers are getting Drew Gooden, whom the Wizards just obtained from Dallas, from Washington.
The Cavaliers have been trying to lure Jamison away from the Wizards since last summer and preferred him over Stoudemire for several reasons. For starters he still has two years left on his deal which could help entice LeBron to stay in Cleveland knowing Jamison will there for a couple more years, whereas, Stoudemire can opt out of his contract at the end of the year. Secondly, Jamison is not as oft-injured as Stoudemire has been in recent years. Lastly, they did not have to give up J. J. Hickson in order to land him.
In Jamison the Cavs are getting a another scorer they can rely on for 20+ points while Mo Williams is on the mend. Jamison also gives them some depth on the boards and can generally be counted on for 8 or 9 rebounds a game. Ultimately the Cavs opted to for the safer player by dealing for Jamison.
Telfair appears to just be a throw-in who could be useful as a PG off the bench.
The Wizards are getting cap space in Ilgauskus and a good young scorer in Thornton who is in the midst of a down season after averaging 16.8 points per game last season. It should be interesting to see who gets the small forward spot between Thornton and Josh Howard in Washington.
The Clippers appear to simply be dumping salaries at this point after dealing Marcus Camby for a pair of expiring contracts earlier in the week.
