After getting arrested for his second DUI of the year, many viewed Ty Lawson as untradeable until the Houston Rockets struck a deal with the Denver Nuggets for the point guard. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, the Houston Rockets gave up Pablo Prigioni along with Kostas Papanikolaou and a very other assets to the Nuggets in exchange for Lawson. Wojnarowski then followed that up by saying the Nuggets were expected to waive Prigioni almost immediately making him available for the taking. Could the Cleveland Cavaliers be interested?
Wojnarowksi reports that Prigioni is expected to be available within the next 24 hours as he is only guaranteed $440,000 of his salary at that point. During the playoffs, Prigioni proved that he can be a very valuable asset while playing well as a backup point guard with solid shooting abilities. That is exactly what the Cavaliers need playing behind Kyrie Irving. According to Marc Berman of the New York Post, the Cavalies were trying to trade for Prigioni when he was a member of the New York Knicks, but the Houston Rockets won out on the deal. The Cavaliers instead operated with Matthew Dellavedova was did just fine at the spot.
Right now, the Cavaliers are aiming to bring Dellavedova back in free agency, but that is not going well. According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Cavaliers and the backup point guard are significantly far apart on contract talks as Dellavedova is seeking a multi-year contract that the team simply cannot afford. That could push them to make a move for Prigioni who will come cheaper. The Cavaliers will first try and retain Dellavedova simply because he has more longevity in the league. Prigioni is close to retirement and would only be a short-term rental.
The Cavaliers must simply acquire who is the cheapest. The team is in deep with luxury tax issues after giving out multi-year deals to Iman Shumpert, LeBron James and Kevin Love. Those will not look bad when the cap expands next season, but it has put them in a tight spot for this year. The Cavaliers still need to re-sign Tristan Thompson and JR Smith so cheap contracts is a priority.
