After much speculation, Kyrie Irving has indeed agreed to sign a five-year maximum extension to stay with the Cleveland Cavaliers, according to owner Dan Gilbert and Irving himself.
Kyrie Irving agrees to sign 5-year, $90 million extension to stay with Cavaliers
Despite much noise to the contrary, Kyrie Irving and the Cavaliers agreed to the five-year maximum extension on the first day of free agency.
Looking forward to the next 6 years of @KyrieIrving in CLE. Just shook hands &intend to sign on the 10th.Cant be more excited about @cavs...
— Dan Gilbert (@cavsdan) July 1, 2014 I'm here for the long haul Cleveland!!! and I'm ecstatic!! Super excited and blessed to be here and apart of something special.#ClevelandKID
— Kyrie Irving (@KyrieIrving) July 1, 2014 The value of the extension is expected to be around $90 million and could grow even more if Irving meets criteria from the Derrick Rose rule, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski.
The contract itself will kick in starting in the 2015-16 season, and the exact figure will depend on the level of that year’s salary cap. On his own, Irving will make 25 percent of the cap. Based on the Rose rule, that number will grow to 30 percent of the cap if he is an All-Star starter next year for the second time or if he wins MVP.
This was hardly seen as a slam dunk a couple months ago. Irving was reportedly seeking a way out of Cleveland in January and at other points, and there were even rumors that the Cavaliers didn’t feel Irving was worth the maximum contract. But those reports proved to be unfounded based on the Cavaliers’ actions. They sent a group to New Jersey to meet with Irving as soon as possible and hammered out the deal quickly.
Irving will now team with 2014 No. 1 pick Andrew Wiggins, new coach David Blatt and several other promising players to bring the Cavaliers back to the postseason for the first time since LeBron James left.
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