With Kyrie Irving ruled out for the weekend, point guard Ben Uzoh has been signed by the Cavaliers on a ten-day contract from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

Uzoh starred in college at the Universtiy of Tulsa before playing with the New Jersey Nets last season. He then nearly made the Charlotte Bobcats out of training camp this fall.

For Rio Grande he was averaging 16.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game. SBNation's D-League guru Scott Schroede of Ridiculous Upside had some very positive things to say about Udoh on January 24th.

Uzoh certainly seems to be less reluctant in shooting this season, but the biggest key thus far has been his ability to get out and go while playing in head coach Nick Nurse's high-paced offense. Nurse, an assistant with the Great Britain National Team, allows his team to get out in transition quite a bit in a unique offense that often substitutes complete line changes as it isn't uncommon to see five players waiting to sub in along the sideline.

Uzoh probably isn't a pure point quite yet, but he's the type of player that could be called-up to fill a fifth guard spot while handling point guard duties in limited stretches. He isn't going to offer much on the offensive end as far as supplying his own offense is concerned, but he seems to make the right decisions more often than not as he's averaging just two turnovers in 38 minutes per game while playing the one at the D-League level.

Defense should probably be Uzoh's calling card considering he's long enough and athletic enough to guard either backcourt position, but it doesn't seem his fundamentals are quite up to par and his lateral quickness -- or ability to react -- can be just a step slow sometimes.

The biggest strike against him, however, might be his track record over the past six months. Uzoh was cut by teams in Italy and Russia as he tried to catch on overseas during the NBA lockout before returning stateside to attend training camp with the Charlotte Bobcats (where he was effectively cut to make room for the president of basketball operation's son).

If Ramon Sessions gets traded, Uzoh could certainly stick with the Cavaliers roster for the remainder of the season so he is someone who I think is going to be around longer than 10 days as Irving's concussion will cause him to miss an indefinite amount of time.

A big thank you to jdelsandro for bringing this story to our attention.

As of February 10th, all contracts must be guaranteed for the rest of the season. As of today, teams are allowed to offer 10-day contracts to players. Daniel Gibson is healthy again and will play on Tuesday night in Miami.

All of this adds up to the unfortunate fate of rookie guard, Mychel Thompson. The Cavaliers decided to waive Thompson on Monday and the roster now stands at 14 players. This gives the Cavs the flexibility to sign someone to a 10-day deal...say, Manny Harris?

Mychel started 3 games for the Cavaliers and averaged 3.6 points, 1 rebounds, and 1.4 assists.

On Monday, February 6th NBA teams are allowed to start handing out 10-day contracts so across the league we may see a wave of D-League call ups and the Cavaliers could certainly become involved in this.

But, the bigger news is that next Friday all non-guaranteed contracts for the season become guaranteed if the player is still on the roster. That means a team has to release the player by 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday so they can clear waivers before being released.

Thus, if Alonzo Gee, Samardo Samuels and Mychel Thompson are still on the Cavaliers roster at tip time in Miami next Tuesday night they can rest easy as they will be getting paid for their entire contracts regardless of if they make it through the season in Cleveland.

For Gee there's absolutely nothing to worry about here. Samuels will also survive. Unfortunately for Thompson he's going to have to sweat this one out (although I believe he will make it), especially if Daniel Gibson and Anthony Parker are back on the team by then.

Here are the salaries of those players for 2011-2012:

Gee: $854,389

Samuels: $762,195

Thompson: $473,604

According to the fine folks over at the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Cleveland Cavaliers have decided to recall G/F Christian Eyenga from the D-League Canton Charge.

Reed, Boyer@PDCavsInsider

Cavs have recalled Christian Eyenga from the Charge

I'm not totally sure why the Cavs decided to make this move, but it's possible that it is a reaction to Anthony Parker's back injury, Daniel Gibson's personal issues, or perhaps Tristan Thompson's slight ankle tweak. Regardless of the reason, it's kind of nice to have Skyenga back up in Cleveland. Byron Scott made it known that he was unhappy with his efforts during training camp and preseason. If Eyenga is on his way back up, this might say something about his mindset. Hopefully he is back to giving the appropriate amount of effort.

Monday News:

After missing the game against the Hawks due to personal reasons (a death in his family), Boobie Gibson is back and practicing with the team. He should be ready to go on Tuesday against Miami.

Tristan Thompson suffered an ankle injury during Satuday's clash with the Hawks. In what was probably his best game as a professional, Tigger rolled his ankle in the final couple of minutes. His initial x-rays were negative and will be re-evaluated on Monday as the team did not practice on Sunday. As it stands right now, Thompson is a game-time decision for Tuesday against the Heat. (H/T to Bob Finnan)

Afternoon, Cavs fans! I bring you two snippets of news today.

First, I think you'll be interested to see that our stud rookie point guard, Kyrie Irving was featured on the cover of Dime Magazine. Check out the cover picture.

via dimemag.com

Pretty cool, no?

Also, make sure to read the article about Irving inside the article itself. Link here.

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As you know, the Cleveland Cavaliers made a deal with the Sacramento Kings right before the NBA went into a lockout. The deal sent J.J. Hickson to Sacramento and the Cavs acquired forward, Omri Casspi and a future, conditional first round pick from the Kings. Since I admittedly did not watch or study much of Casspi's game while he played for the Kings, the guys over at Sactown Royalty were nice enough to fill us in. Today, Aykis16 brings us an player profile of our newest Cavalier. Be sure to check out Sactown Royalty in the future to check up on how Hickson is doing in his new colors. Here you go:

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You can read more of Aykis16's writing at Sactown Royalty and you can follow him on Twitter here. 

Baron Davis posted a note of thanks on his FaceBook page to Los Angeles Clippers while assuring Cavaliers fans that he is on his way to Cleveland:

First and foremost, I want to say thank you to the fans in LA and all of Clipper Nation. Not many guys get the chance to play at home in front of their family and friends the way I have been able to the past couple seasons, and I am grateful for that opportunity. My former teammates will always be my family, and I wish them and the organization nothing but the best.

I can't wait to join my new team, bring good energy and help us win games. I'm ready to call The Q home and bring some excitement!!!

See you soon Ohio! The Beard is on its way!

Just as agent Bill Duffy said, Davis is saying and doing all the right things.  Let's hope it continues.  I, for one, am ready to give him the benefit of the doubt.

For weeks we have waited for the Cavaliers to make a move.  It is probably more like months, since that is the amount of time the Cavs have had the $14.5 million trade exception burning a hole in their pocket.  At last the moves came and when the clock struck midnight - or in this case 3:00PM et - the Cavaliers had three new players and one ultra important unprotected lottery pick.  Let's take a quick look at the good and the bad from the Cavaliers Trade Deadline dash:

The GOOD:

Baron Davis, 2011 First Round Pick From Los Angeles Clippers for Mo Williams and Jamario Moon - This was a great deal for the Cavaliers - and another indication of Dan Gilbert's desire to get things turned around quickly.  Gilbert shelled out $12 million or so in order to purchase the Clippers first round pick in the June NBA Draft.  That's the difference in what Mo Williams and Baron Davis will make over the next two years.

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