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Andrew Bynum was one of the last remaining free agents with superstar talent. On Wednesday, it was reported that the Cleveland Cavaliers came to an agreement with Bynum for a 2 year deal worth up to $24 million. The first year of the deal contains $6 million guaranteed money with health-related incentives.
Andrew Bynum's deal w/ Cleveland will include $6 million of $12M guaranteed in year 1, league source says. Team option of $12.5M for 14-'15.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 10, 2013
The second year of the deal is a team option. Bynum met with the Atlanta Hawks and Dallas Mavericks, but neither team opted to top the offer from the Cavs. Chris Broussard from ESPN first broke the news that Bynum will sign with Cleveland.
Source: Andrew Bynum has decided to sign with Cleveland
— Chris Broussard (@Chris_Broussard) July 10, 2013
Andrew Bynum was a key piece in the trade that brought Dwight Howard to the Los Angeles Lakers, but never played a game for the Sixers and ended up having arthroscopic knee surgery. It's safe to assume that the Cavs' doctors and medical staff examined his MRI and conducted a full physical before offering so much money.
You know what this means? It means that BYNUM WATCH is finally over.
In Bynum last healthy season, he played 60 of 66 games (lock-out shortened season) for Mike Brown and the Lakers. In that 2011-12 season, he averaged 18.7 points and 11.8 rebounds. He had an extremely impressive PER of 22.9 and shot 55.8% from the field.
The Cavaliers will likely take it slow with Bynum and ease him back into regular basketball activities. I'm sure it will take some time before Bynum is playing starters minutes and there's a non-zero chance that he has yet another injury-plagued season like the one the Sixers experienced. Nevertheless, this is a worthwhile risk with the potential for tremendous reward. Chris Grant promised Cavs fans that they would be aggressive and this is just about as aggressive as it gets.
Welcome to Cleveland, Andrew Bynum!
More from Fear The Sword:
- NBA Free Agency: Andrew Bynum expected to make a decision Tuesday
- NBA Free Agency: Cavaliers pursuing Andrei Kirilenko, Elton Brand if they miss out on Andrew Bynum
- NBA Free Agency: Cleveland Cavaliers offer Andrew Bynum 2 year, $24 million deal
- NBA Free Agency: Andrew Bynum in Cleveland to meet with Cavaliers
- NBA Free Agency Trade Rumors: Kings interested in dumping Jimmer Fredette and Chuck Hayes