Cleveland Cavaliers forward Marreese Speights will opt out of his contract and become an unrestricted free agent, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports. The move will end his brief stay with the club after being acquired in a midseason trade from the Memphis Grizzlies.
Marreese Speights declines option with Cavs, set to become free agent
The Cavaliers open up some extra cap space as Speights opts out to hit free agency.
USA TODAY Sports
Due to make $4.5 million next season by staying in Cleveland, Speights will instead hit the open market this summer. The Cavs have no intention of re-signing him, according to Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal, so the 25-year-old big man looks set to join his fourth team in six seasons.
The 16th-overall pick in the 2008 draft, Speights averaged 10.2 points and 5.1 rebounds in 39 games with Cleveland. His career numbers settle in slightly below those figures, but a 16.5 career PER indicates he can provide some value in the right situation.
After drafting Anthony Bennett with the No. 1 overall pick on Thursday, the Cavaliers have solid frontcourt depth with Anderson Varejao, Tristan Thompson and Tyler Zeller also around. That likely explains Speights' decision to some degree, though there was also a report this spring that he struggled to fit into the team's culture.
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