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Cleveland Cavaliers target unrestricted free agent Charlie Villanueva
by Brian Windhorst, Plain Dealer Reporter
Monday June 29, 2009, 6:47 PM
The NBA is changing by the day and, it seems, it always affects the Cavaliers.
In a move that was considered shocking in corners Monday, the Milwaukee Bucks decided not to offer young free-agent power forward Charlie Villanueva a qualifying offer to make him a restricted free agent. He now will be unrestricted, which makes him significantly easier to sign because the Bucks will not have matching rights. According to sources, Villanueva now will be one of the Cavs' free-agent targets when teams are allowed to speak with them Wednesday.
The Cavs have their mid-level exception, expected to be around $5.6 million to $5.8 million, to offer in the first year of a contract. Villanueva's qualifying offer would have been $4.6 million. His salary last season was $3.4 million. Several teams with more salary cap space, such as the Detroit Pistons and Oklahoma City Thunder, might have interest in Villanueva, who averaged 16.2 points and 6.7 rebounds in 27 minutes per game for the Bucks.
Extending qualifying offers, which are not binding, usually are a formality for players in his class. The Bucks, who have financial problems that already prompted them to trade Mo Williams to the Cavs last summer and Richard Jefferson to the Spurs last week, decided to move on after trading for Amir Johnson from the Pistons as part of the Jefferson deal. With the current state of the economy, more and more teams are having to make such financial decisions.
Villanueva, a 6-11 24-year-old coming off a career-best season, has been flirting with the idea of coming to the Cavs in recent weeks on his Twitter account. Last Thursday, he hinted all the Cavs needed after trading for Shaquille O'Neal was a power forward. In a message Sunday, he thanked Cavs fans who have been contacting him via the social messaging network.
Monday afternoon, he thanked Bucks fans on his Twitter feed and wrote: "Now its on Gods hands (sic), where will I end up, only time will tell."
Villanueva has a good relationship with Williams, who became close to him the two seasons they played together in Milwaukee. Williams could serve as a recruiter much in the same way he helped bring another of his close friends to the Cavs, former Bucks teammate Joe Smith, when he was a free agent last March.
Villanueva also has a long-standing relationship with LeBron James. The two were in the same high school class and played with each other in various tournaments and summer camps as they were growing up. Following their senior year of high school, Villanueva and James became closer while taking part in two national All-Star Games, including the McDonald's All-American Game in Cleveland. They have kept in touch ever since.
The Cavs have been looking for a "stretch" power forward like Villanueva for some time. Because he is a good mid-range and decent long-range shooter (35 percent on 3-pointers last season), he is potentially a good fit alongside players such as James and Williams, who like to drive and kick out passes. Add in O'Neal, who succeed earlier in his career with stretch power forwards such as Robert Horry in Los Angeles and Antoine Walker in Miami, and that option creates an even better fit.
The team is expected to consider other players this week who can play that role, including Rasheed Wallace and Antonio McDyess.
The decision to seriously go after Villanueva is part of a larger decision the team must make. Do they go attempt to go after some older players and get them on one-year contracts to preserve the chance at the 2010 free-agent mega class? Or do they not follow the crowd of teams who are protecting cap space for 2010 and take advantage of being a buyer in a sellers' market and create a stronger core now?
Using the entire mid-level exception on a player like Villanueva, using the bi-annual exception of $2 million on a wing player and re-signing Anderson Varejao would pretty much take the Cavs out of the 2010 market for the top names besides re-signing James.
By trading for O'Neal, whose contract -- along with Zydrunas Ilgauskas' -- ends after the coming season, the Cavs are currently in position to re-sign James and add another player with a maximum level contract while also hanging on to Williams and Delonte West.
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