Wizards lose Larry Hughes to Cav's

This is a hugh blow for them:

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 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.

Chad Ford covers the NBA for ESPN Insider.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2103569

Great news in Clipperland! Now they can stop calling Bobby Simmons!

In the MLB Forum there is a thread about the most overpaid players in Baseball

if they were to start one for NBA - Larry Hughes would go near the top of the list. Sorry - this much money for him? What - was Allan Houston not available?

Did the Cavs overpay - desperate to get some for LeBron so they can keep him when his contract expires? YES!

Man this sucks... The wiz finnaly have a playoff team and then lose one of there top players. They should have locked LH to a long term deal.

Clip Joint said:

Great news in Clipperland! Now they can stop calling Bobby Simmons!

Click to expand...

I knew you'd be happy. :lolBIG:

One less suiter.

Larry hughes is way overpaid. A nice player, but overpaid. This is turning into a joke.

Larry Hughes is definitely a nice player and a great addition to any team..For 70 million..quite excessive..But the Cavs have a need at that position, and Lebron needs HELP..the dollars at just out of whack..putting that aside..nice move for Cavs..Hughes tends to get hurt..hope he stays healthy..

Overpaid. Lots of ability but takes foolish shots a lot of times and isn't a great outside shooter by any stretch of the imagination. The Cavs biggest weakness a year ago was perimiter shooting and this does nothing to address it they paid a ton for him.

It happens in every sport though...it is all about being a free agent at the right time. Teams will overpay based on need and fan pressure. The Cavs had to sign someone to compliment Lebron. There is no way they could have gotten away with striking out in free agency. Washington was going to pay him around $70 million to stay so the Cavs had to top that.

Is he worth it? Probably not. But there are a lot worse players in the league making that kind of money. A lot of it has to do with timing and team needs. Allen and Redd were the 2 deemed to have superstar status in this free agent class. With those 2 unavailable, guys like Hughes and Simmons figure to get a lot more than they normally would.

He isn't overpaid have you seen his stats last year when he was playing 3rd fiddle to Arnenas (spelling) and Jamieson. Not only did he rack up over 20 points a game but he led the NBA in steals plus he can rebound and handle the ball. All Allen Houston can do is shoot and dissappear in the 4th qt. Hughes can do just about everything well. I don't know if it was a good move by the Cavs but I do know that Hughes is a very talented young player.

dmmd98 said:

He isn't overpaid have you seen his stats last year when he was playing 3rd fiddle to Arnenas (spelling) and Jamieson. Not only did he rack up over 20 points a game but he led the NBA in steals plus he can rebound and handle the ball. All Allen Houston can do is shoot and dissappear in the 4th qt. Hughes can do just about everything well. I don't know if it was a good move by the Cavs but I do know that Hughes is a very talented young player.

Click to expand...

I agree he is a great player. I just think the Cavs overpaid for his game because he didn't really address a "need" for them. His game is VERY similar to Lebron's. Redd or Allen were much better fits because of their 3 point range.

There is more to being a guy that can win playoff basketball games than just stats though. He is drasitcally overpaid for a guy that shoots a lot and isnt a good shooter.

He'll free's up LBJ from having to guard the other teams best players since he in a tad beow the Bruce Bown's of the world when it comes to D. Would Reed or Allen make a better fit yes but the Cavs can get an Voshon Leonard type to just sit outside the 3 point line and shoot to which they'll be alright. By the way no one in the NBA not named Rip Hamilton can shoot anymore so taking him to task for being a below average shooter in a league fill of em isnt going to mean he'll be a bust. I'll take this stats even if it comes with a sup 40% fg anyday. Besides the Cavs HAD to use up that cap space this summer or LBJ wasn't going to stick around so with 70 million or so burning a hole in your pocket picking up a very good player in Larry Hughes is a great deal.

Not a good move at all for the Cavs. As you know there is a cap on team salaries. Locking up 70 million for Hughes? The Cavs are nuts. This is going to implode in their face when Lebron splts after his contract expires.

Congrats to you Clipster since you are a Clips fan, but.........

What better players' contracts are up next season? I believe I would of checked into that first thinking a better free agent would be available then before I threw that much money at Larry Hughes......

Who would you rather sign on your team aside from Larry Hughes that is out there right now first off? Second look at what happen with Allen and Redd both players turned down the Cavs so this wait til next year doesn't fly because players may not sign with the Cavs next year. Second does anyone know how the NBA salary cap works? The Cavs had to use this cap space this year because if they re-signed Zydrunas Iigauskas they won't have the free cap space to sign anymore else from other teams over and above the mid level expection. That is why Cleveland signed Hughes first cause NBA teams can resign there own free agents over and above the cap number. Imagine being Danny Ferry and telling LBJ that hey King James we got this 70 million dollars free'd up but we are not going to use it to resign anyone, wait til next year to see IF players may wanna come here ? LBJ will be packing his bags to another team the second he can leave for free agency.

Will the Cavs win the East or anything.....No, but is Cleveland a better team with Hughes, yes

Hache Man said:

Congrats to you Clipster since you are a Clips fan, but.........

What better players' contracts are up next season? I believe I would of checked into that first thinking a better free agent would be available then before I threw that much money at Larry Hughes......

Click to expand...

That was my point about the situation and timing though...the fans AND Lebron would have been beyond angry if the Cavs didn't sign SOMEONE this off season. Look who is left. He was the best available. They had to pay that much to land him. Washington offered the same.

He isn't the best fit (but I still feel he's a great player), but can you imagine what would of happened if the Cavs didn't sign anyone? Now they still have to resign Ilgauskas or this team still got worse this off season.