Chris ‘Birdman’ Andersen is going to play with LeBron James, and James Jones and J.R. Smith, once again. The duo of LeBron and Andersen once were teammates on the Miami Heat, LeBron as the star and Andersen as the veteran enforcer off the bench as they won an NBA championship together in 2013. They will reprise their roles but this time as members of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Last year, Andersen was traded from the Miami Heat to the Memphis Grizzlies in a move to help the Heat save money on their luxury tax bill. It worked for both parties, the Heat avoided a big tax hit and Birdman got some solid playing time as the Grizzlies went into the playoffs.
With the Cavs losing Timofey Mozgov to a huge contract courtesy of the Los Angeles Lakers they needed to get an established big man to fill in the bench void. Sasha Kaun was brought in last summer with an idea of his former Russian national team coach David Blatt being at the helm to help groom him to the NBA. Blatt is gone and Kaun now joins him leaving Cleveland. With Sasha’s departure, the Cavs moved quickly to agree to terms with the veteran ‘Birdman’.
Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo! Sports has more information on the moves made by Cleveland.
Free agent Chris “Birdman” Andersen agreed to a one-year, veteran’s minimum deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers, league sources told The Vertical.
To clear the roster spot for Andersen, the Cavaliers sent center Sasha Kaun and cash to Philadelphia on Friday. The Sixers plan to waive Kaun, league sources said.
Cleveland also gets a $1.33 million traded-player exception for the Kaun deal, a source said.
