Written by Demetri Inembolidis

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Mirza Teletovic:

Free agency is heating up around the NBA.  Dominoes are beginning to fall into place and we are getting a clearer picture of what the NBA landscape will look like at the beginning of the season.  Big-name free agents like Deron Williams and Steve Nash have yet to commit to any teams, but lesser-named players are quickly being signed.

One of these free agents is Mirza Teletovic.  The power forward from Bosnia agreed a three year, $15 million contract with the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday.  It is expected that his contract becomes official after the NBA’s moratorium ends on July 11.  Teletovic is a 26 year old big man who has range.  The amount that he got from the Nets is quite high for a player who has never played in the NBA.  According to Chad Ford from ESPN, Teletovic shares an agent with Deron Williams.  It doesn’t take long to connect the dots.

Cleveland was rumored to be a destination for Teletovic.  Considering the kind of payday he got from the Nets, it is probably not worth getting worked up over.  Having a player with his skillset would be useful, but the Cavs should also be preserving their flexibility.  This is a very risky signing for the Nets.  

Look for the Cavs to target Alexey Shved in free agency.  Shved is a 6’5” guard from Russia.

Cavs Waive Manny Harris:

Yesterday marked the second time that the Cavs waived Manny Harris.  The University of Michigan guard averaged 6.7 points and shot exactly 40% from the field in 26 games with the Cavs.  This transaction leaves the Cavs with only Dion Waiters, Daniel Gibson and D.J. Kennedy at the shooting guard position.  

Qualifying Offers:

As was expected, the Cavs signed Alonzo Gee to a qualifying offer.  Retaining Gee is a top priority for Chris Grant and I hope they are able to assuming the price is right.  In addition, the Cavs signed Semih Erden and Luke Harongody to qualifying offers.  Erden announced that he was leaving the NBA and going to sign with Anadolu Efes in Turkey.  The lack of hysteria coming from Cleveland surrounding this news is quite alarming.  Erden averaged an unimpressive 3.5 points per game in 28 games with the Cavs.

Wes Wilcox:

Danny Ferry has been very active since taking as the GM of the Atlanta Hawks.  Ferry traded Joe Johnson to the Nets for a lot of smaller pieces that are either set to expire or much easier to trade.  He also traded Marvin Williams to Utah for Devin Harris.  Ferry is rebuilding the Hawks and getting them out of basketball purgatory quicker than expected.  

In addition to the two large trades that Ferry made, he is going to hire Wes Wilcox.  Wilcox is the Director of Player Personnel for the Cavs.  Wilcox was also the GM of the Canton Charge, who are the D-League affiliate of the Cavs.  He will be the Assistant GM for Danny Ferry and the Atlanta Hawks.