Shawn Marion has committed to sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers, according to ESPN’s Marc Stein.
Marion has chosen the Cavaliers over the Indiana Pacers, who also had strong interest in the veteran forward. The Miami Heat and Los Angeles Clippers were also suitors for the 36-year old.
The chance to win another championship is what enticed Marion to ultimately choose the Cavaliers, along with the idea of playing with LeBron James. However, Cleveland can only offer Marion the veteran’s minimum of $1.4 million.
The Pacers had a $5.3 million disabled player’s exception to utilize on Shawn, but they did not want to exceed the luxury tax. In that case, they would have only given Marion $1.7 million. Indiana was desperate to sign a costless agent wing player after discovering that their superstar Paul George will miss the entire season with a broken leg.
Marion did meet with the Pacers on Tuesday, but Indiana’s president Larry Bird got the impression that Marion’s intentions were to sign with Cleveland instead. “He does want to play for a contender,” Bird told reporters on Tuesday.
Before meeting with the Pacers, Marion had already met with the Cavaliers. He has a great relationship with Cleveland’s general manager David Griffin since their days with the Phoenix Suns.
Marion has spent the past five seasons with the Dallas Mavericks where he averaged 11.6 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 1.0 steals per game. "The Matrix," as Marion has been referred to, won a championship with Dallas in 2011, and he has let it be known that if he did not re-sign with Dallas, then he would sign with a championship caliber team.
Shawn Marion adds more depth to the Cavaliers roster. His ability to defend multiple positions gives Cleveland the flexibility to play him as a three or four off the bench. Kevin Love is bound to officially join the team soon and with Marion on board as well, the Cavaliers have become a much stronger team.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have strong belief that Ray Allen would choose to sign with them next.