The Cleveland Cavaliers have officially offered free agent center Andrew Bynum a two year deal worth $24 million, per Marc Stein of ESPN. The Cavs made this quite an enticing offer for Bynum by offering him a relatively high salary compared to what other teams had in mind, as well as appeasing his wishes to have the potential to enter free agency in 2014.
Most teams are a bit skeptical regarding Bynum’s knees after he spent all last season on the bench due to his recovery from surgery. But, entering this summer as a free agent he was still likely to attract attention from teams willing to give him a decent chunk of change.
Bynum and his agent wanted the ability to potentially head into 2014 as a free agent as well, which is just fine with the Cavs. Cleveland had the money to offer Bynum $12 million per year, one of the highest available to him throughout the NBA. The great thing about this deal for Cleveland is the fact that the second year is a team option.
If 2013 doesn’t work out for Bynum and the Cavs, they can call it a done deal and send him into free agency next summer. However, if Bynum’s health proves to be reliable and he has a better-than-expected season, they would most likely retain him.
For both sides, this is Bynum’s best option. Cleveland gets what they want as does Bynum. It is not likely that the Dallas Mavericks or Atlanta Hawks would offer Bynum $12 million per year, but those are two teams that have also been rumored to have interest.
With point guard Kyrie Irving and a promising young lineup, the Cavs could do some big things if Bynum were to prove healthy in 2013. Assuming this is his best offer on the table, I wouldn’t be surprised if he accepted it in the very near future.
Ryan Heckman is a Senior NBA Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @ryanmheckman, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
