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Earlier this evening, Frank Isola of the New York Daily News reported that the New York Knicks and Amare Stoudemire had agreed to a buyout. The buyout frees Stoudemire to sign with a contender and he could sign in the next few days. According to both ESPN's Marc Stein and the Akron Beacon Journal's Jason Lloyd, however, the Cleveland Cavaliers are not among the teams that will pursue Stoudemire's services.
Don't expect #Cavs to be contenders for Stoudemire. He's close to GM David Griffin, but not much PT available & he's deficient defensively
— Jason Lloyd (@JasonLloydABJ) February 16, 2015
Cavs always on hunt for roster tweaks but I've likewise been advised they are not active suitor for Amar'e Stoudemire. Mavs remain favorite
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) February 16, 2015
The Cavs currently have an open roster spot after making deals for J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert and Timofey Mozgov. Stoudemire, a big who could provide good value on a minimum deal as opposed to the maximum deal he signed with the Knicks in the summer of 2010, was also with the Phoenix Suns when Cavs GM David Griffin was an assistant general manager with the franchise. The Dallas Mavericks are the presumed favorite to sign Stoudemire according to Stein.
The Cavs could use another big as well. Cleveland's depth issues showed against the Chicago Bulls on Thursday when Kevin Love was out with an eye injury and coach David Blatt had to turn to little-used James Jones to play some power forward minutes. Cleveland also could be saving its roster spot for Ray Allen, who reportedly will make his decision about whether to return or not sometime after the All-Star break.