I guess it's old news now, but here is Lloyd's take on the trade and contract:
Cavs trade Alonzo Gee for Stanford’s Dwight Powell and Hornets’ Brendan Haywood
By Jason Lloyd
Beacon Journal sports writer
Published: June 27, 2014 - 11:09 PM
INDEPENDENCE: It’s not often a trade made in the middle of the second round of the NBA Draft can fetch a star, but the Cavaliers are hopeful a small-term investment could pay off with a big future contract.
The Cavs acquired Stanford senior Dwight Powell, the 45th pick Thursday night, and veteran center Brendan Haywood from the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for Alonzo Gee.
Gee has a $3 million nonguaranteed contract for next season and can be waived at no cost to the Hornets, while the Cavs wanted Haywood’s future contract.
They’re on the hook for $2.2 million for a center who missed all of last season with a stress fracture in his left foot, but they’ll also have his mammoth $10.5 million nonguaranteed contract for the 2015-16 season to dangle in a trade.
The monstrous contract will essentially create a trade exception for the Cavs to use next summer. Regardless of where they stand against the cap, they can trade Haywood to a team looking to shed salary and that team will be able to release Haywood without paying him a dime.
Haywood, incidentally, was drafted by the Cavaliers 20th overall in 2001 and traded to the Orlando Magic in exchange for Michael Doleac. Haywood signed a six-year, $52 million deal with the Dallas Mavericks in 2010 and was subsequently waived under the amnesty provision in 2012. He was claimed by the Hornets for a little more than $6 million, which was divided over the remaining guaranteed years on his deal.
That’s how the Cavs are able to pay him $2 million for next season and have a $10.5 million trade bullet to fire next summer.
Haywood, 34, last played during the 2012-13 season for the Hornets, appearing in 61 games (17 starts) and averaging 3.5 points and 4.8 rebounds.
In Powell, the Cavs get a first team All-Pac 12 player who averaged 14 points and 6.9 rebounds as a senior for the Cardinal. He was named the Pac-12’s Most Improved Player of the Year after leading the team in scoring with 14.9 points as a junior.
The 6-foot-11, 240-pound Powell was also the Pac 12’s Scholar Athlete of the Year and joins Tristan Thompson, Anthony Bennett and Andrew Wiggins as Canadian natives on the Cavs.
