LAS VEGAS: The Cavaliers and Brooklyn Nets just can’t get enough of each other.
The two teams that failed to come to an agreement as part of a three-way trade that would’ve sent Dwight Howard to the Nets have held preliminary discussions about a sign-and-trade deal that would send Antawn Jamison to the Nets, a league source confirmed.
Yahoo Sports first reported the trade talks, which were a surprising twist since Jamison had spoke glowingly in recent weeks about the idea of returning home to finish his career with the Charlotte Bobcats. That is still a possibility, a source close to Jamison confirmed, but he is looking at other options such as the Nets and Los Angeles Lakers.
Jamison is an unrestricted free agent and the Nets are well over the cap. The idea behind a sign-and-trade with any team would likely be to get Jamison more money, but no natural trade exists right now with the Nets.
Between cap holds and this being the first real offseason of the new collective bargaining agreement, the Nets’ roster situation will likely remain unresolved until Kris Humphries signs with another team and his roughly $12 million cap hold is removed from the Nets’ books.
Humphries, incidentally, is nearing a contract with the Bobcats, the Charlotte Observer reported on Thursday. If Humphries completes a deal with the Bobcats, it could free up some of the Nets’ flexibility, and remove Jamison from consideration for the Bobcats.
What the Cavs would want in compensation for making a trade work for Jamison remains unclear. The Nets have a number of free agents they could use in a sign-and-trade to make the salaries work under the cap, but the Cavs presumably would be more interested in a draft pick. It seems unlikely, however, that Jamison could fetch a first-round pick.
The Nets’ interest in Jamison remains peculiar, since they just signed European forward Mirza Teletovic. He is a clone of Jamison — a 6-foot-9 scoring forward who struggles defensively and rebounding.
Jamison concluded a basketball camp in Charlotte this week and is out of the country until next week, a second source close to him said.
