Cleveland Cavaliers locked in one piece of their team for next season. With up to a possible 10 free agents going into the offseason, they had to get some sort of stability going into next year and they got that by announcing they will pick up Timofey Mozgov’s team option for next season.
Mozgov was traded to the Cavs after their original starting big man, Anderson Varejao, was lost for the season with a torn achilles. The 7-foot Russian turned out to be one of the most pivotal pieces in the Cavaliers end of season and playoff success.
Following from an official Cleveland Cavaliers press release.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have exercised the option to extend the term of Timofey Mozgov’s contract to include the 2015-16 Season, Cavaliers General Manager David Griffin announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts. Per league policy, terms of the contract were not released.
Mozgov coming back was almost a no-brainer. He started in all 20 games during Cleveland’s NBA Finals run in the postseason, scoring 10.6 points, shooting 50% from the field, grabbing 7.3 rebounds and blocking about 2 shots a game in 26.5 minutes played. He also had a huge game in the NBA Finals, putting up 28 points in one game for the Cavaliers but he was later benched as the finals came toward the end as the Cavaliers were looking to use smaller lineups to try keeping up with Golden State.
It will be intersting to see how the frontcourt of the Cavs looks next season. Will Mozgov be the starter or will a returning Varejao start at center? Will Tristan Thompson be the starting power forward or will a returning Kevin Love start for them? It’s still a while from the beginning of the season but there could be some small issues with the frontline rotation in Cleveland.
