The Cleveland Cavaliers have made moves to allow them more flexibility for the season. The defending Eastern Conference sent center Brendan Haywood and guard/forward Mike Miller to the Portland Trail Blazers.
Along with the two players, Cleveland will also send two future second round picks to the Portland, according to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today, via his Twitter account:
"In this Miller-Haywood Blazers trade, Cavs also sending 2019 and 2020 second-rounders to Blazers, per person with info on trade."
Brendan Haywood's contract is non-guaranteed so it would not cost the team anything. The Blazers are also expected to waive Mike Miller, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.
Portland had salary cap space to spare after the recent departures of their key starters LaMarcus Aldridge, Wesley Matthews, Nicolas Batum and Robin Lopez this summer. Acquiring two future second-rounders was just a consolation for facilitating the Cleveland Cavaliers cost saving measure.
With this transaction, Cleveland can save more money in luxury tax payments since they are already over the cap after re-signing Kevin Love.
However, there may be more to this transaction than meets the eye. By trading Haywood and Miller, the Cavs create two trade exceptions (for $ 10.5 million and $ 2.8 million) which they can actually use later in the season.
As Kevin Pelton of ESPN notes, Cleveland's front office "can assess its needs during the season or even next summer instead of making a decision now." What's more, the "exception doesn't require the other team to match salary, meaning the Cavaliers can acquire a smaller contract from a team over the cap."
This trade can make a difference during the season. It can be recalled that the Cavaliers had to cope with injuries to its key players last season which impeded their title run. With the trade exception, they can execute a trade even though they are over the cap in case they need an additional player to the roster.