In an expected move, the Cleveland Cavaliers have picked up Timofey Mozgov's option for the 2015-'16 season, sources told Brian Windhorst ESPN.
Cleveland was willing to give up two first-round draft picks in a trade to land the Russian big man, who averaged 10.6 points and 6.9 rebounds for Cleveland in the regular season. An early season injury to Cleveland faithful Anderson Varejao made the trade to get Mozgov a must for an already undersized roster. The acquisition of Mozgov became even more relevant when All-Star power forward Kevin Love went down with a shoulder injury in the first round of the playoffs against the Boston Celtics. Mozgov was a big factor in all but one game in the NBA Finals during the Cavs loss to the Golden State Warriors. Mozgov also scored a playoff career-high 28 points in Game 4 of the Finals, while bringing in 10 rebounds, as well. Cleveland is still waiting on decisions from LeBron James, J.R. Smith and Kevin Love. James and Smith are expected to opt out of their current contract. The Cavs also need to make offers to Tristan Thompson, Iman Shumpert and Matthew Dellavedova, if they plan to keep them in Cleveland. Mozgov can play a big role in Cleveland next year, a team who is expected to make it back to the Finals, and if healthy, become NBA Champions. LeBron was able to lead the Cavs to two wins in the Finals, only yielding help seemingly from Mozgov and Thompson, who arent usually high-impact players. With Love, Kyrie Irving and LeBron leading the way, you could expect players like Thompson, Mozgov and Varejao to be extremely high-producing role players. The Cavaliers still have a lot to figure out over the summer, but with LeBron James leading the way they are in good hands to have another excellent, and sucessful season.