Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
According to multiple league sources, the Cavs signed restricted free-agent point guard Kyle Lowry to an offer sheet Tuesday night. His current team, the Houston Rockets, will have seven days to match the deal from when they receive the paperwork, which likely will be today.The offer is for three years with a fourth-year team option that could make the contract worth up to $24 million. The Cavs are using a portion of their midlevel exception to sign Lowry. The Rockets have said they intend to match reasonable contract offers for Lowry.
Cleveland.com: Cavs sign Lowry to offer sheet
The idea for this post came from Red's Army reader Shawn-cvd who said:
This will force the Rockets to inch ever-closer to the luxury tax line. Now you got yourself a trading partner for Sheed. And Rockets have two wing players I'd love the C's to get...Trevor Ariza or (pencil us in for the finals with...) Shane Battier!
If restricted agents continue to get targeted Ainge will find a motivated suitor for sure!
And that's an excellent point. We haven't had a ton of RFA's get targeted. It will force teams to make decisions about keeping one guy who was cheap (Lowry, for example, makes $2.9 mil right now) but is suddenly making more than you'd hoped.
So do the Rockets match Lowry? Maybe. Does that mean Ariza or Battier would become available? Not necessarily, but we'll see. But the point Shawn-cvd makes is a good one: Teams are going to get close to the luxury tax. They've spent their mid-level on guys in the past and they might be willing to part with one of them for some cap flexibility. As teams start to spend their MLE's this year to target RFA's, guys are going to become available... and they'll be names we probably haven't heard yet.
Remember: Free agency only began 2 weeks ago. The interminable stupidity of LeBonocalypse has made this offseason feel months, rather than weeks long. But really it's only beginning. Good GM's (read: guys not named David Kahn) know there's time to make moves. Things are going to happen.
This is the time where the teams that will contend will start to fill out their rosters... and we'll all look at each other and go "ooooohhhhhhh... THAT'S why this team is good, because of moves like this." Let's hope Danny's got one of those moves up his sleeve.
On Page 2, Doc gets some family time in
Austin Rivers' decision on where to go to college is starting to sound a lot like Doc's decision on whether to coach again. He doesn't know... it's gonna take time... he needs to think about it... It's kinda funny. Like Father, like Son.
He'd better make a decision soon, though. People are starting to read into his t-shirt choices.
The rest of the links:
Herald: For Ray Allen, Celts are home | Wolves trade Jefferson to Utah | Ilgauskas follows LeBron to Heat | Chandler to Dallas in 5 player deal | Globe: Flashback by Allen | ESPN Boston: Allen entrenched in Boston | Celtics Hub: Using Sheed's deal to fill the wing | North Station: My abusive relationship with TA | CSL: Was Tony Allen THAT valuable
