The popular addition was the agreement to return Ricky Rubio to the team to back up Darius Garland at point guard.
Rubio agreed to a three-year contract worth more than eighteen million dollars to return him from Indiana, where he never played a game for the Pacers as the knee injury that ended his season had already occurred and his salary was needed to make the trade for Caris LeVert work under the cap.
Rubio averaged thirteen points and over six assists per game in his half-season in Cleveland and was playing some of the best basketball of his career in leading the second unit and sometimes playing with Darius Garland that gave a unique look to the offense with two ballhandlers on the floor.
Rubio would have unlikely to have been traded had he not been injured as his play was so key to the Cavaliers surprising start to the season and the rumors started almost from the day that he was traded that there were hopes that the Cavaliers would be able to get a deal signed to bring Rubio back.
The knee injury is the second one for Rubio, so it isn't a guarantee that he will return as the same player and it will likely take him some time to get back into playing shape as the team thinks that December would be the earliest that he could return to action and January could be the more realistic timeframe.
The contract is partially guaranteed and takes a bit of the risk away of a three-year contract but this makes sense for the team and Rubio and it should prove to be very popular with the fan base.
However, as I mentioned above, Rubio is going to miss the first few months of the season and Darius Garland will need someone to take up some slack with minutes while he rests, so the Cavaliers need another veteran point guard until Rubio returns.
Cleveland addressed that with the addition of veteran Raul Neto to a one-year deal.
The thirty-year-old Neto spent last season with Washington, averaging 7.5 points and three assists per game in seventy games for the Wizards, and seems to be perfect for the role as the caddy for Garland playing fifteen to twenty minutes a night until Rubio is back.
The Cavaliers other acquisition was veteran big man Robin Lopez as the backup of Jarrett Allen.
The well-traveled big man will be playing for his ninth team in his soon-to-be fifteen-year career and played in thirty-six games last season for the Orlando Magic, averaging seven points and three and a half rebounds per game in a season where Orlando was tanking and sitting many veteran players.
At thirty-four, Lopez should be able to fill the backup big man minutes, and even though I was hoping to see Moses Brown given a try at the position, Lopez is more than capable of helping Cleveland get by should Allen miss time due to injury.
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