Report: For salary cap purposes, Cavaliers will pick up Kendrick Perkins' 2018-19 option
The Cleveland Cavaliers are working around the clock to show LeBron James they are the best possible landing spot, which likely explains this move.
According to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, the Cavaliers are expected to pick up Kendrick Perkins’ 2018-19 contract option. If the Cavaliers choose to guarantee the contract — it is currently non-guaranteed — they can package the center’s $2.5 million salary with a current player’s contract in a trade.
To indeed guarantee the contract, Cleveland will have to use the “Brendan Haywood Rule” as it is called in the new collective bargaining agreement. The rule was named after a move the Cavaliers made in 2014. Haywood had $10.5 million remaining on his 2015-16 contract — money that was non-guaranteed — so the Cavaliers added him in hopes of securing a trade.
Cleveland appreciated Perkins’ locker room voice, according to McMenamin’s report. Still, this decision was made with the salary cap in mind.
Perkins, 33, averaged three points and one rebound per game in the 2017-18 season. He did not, though, step on the court in the 2018 NBA Playoffs — well, to play, that is. Perkins did make a couple cameos during the playoffs, including a spat with Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry.
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