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Kendrick Perkins to sign with Cleveland Cavaliers after buyout

By Patrick Schmidt

Feb 9, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder center Kendrick Perkins (5) during the game against the Denver Nuggets at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 9, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder center Kendrick Perkins (5) during the game against the Denver Nuggets at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports /
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Kendrick Perkins will sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers once he reached a buyout with the Utah Jazz.

The Cleveland Cavaliers loaded up before the NBA trade deadline with the move to acquire J.R. Smith and Timofey Mozgov and Iman Shumpert so they weren’t major players at a frenzied deadline. However, they made a big splash a few days later with the signing of Kendrick Perkins.

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The veteran big man was traded from the Oklahoma City Thunder in a three-team deal that saw Reggie Jackson go to the Detroit Pistons and Enes Kanter, Steve Novak, Kyle Singler and D.J. Augustin go to the Thunder. Perkins is waiting to reach a buyout agreement with the Utah Jazz but once that’s finalized he will sign with the Cavaliers where LeBron James recruited him, according to ESPN.com’s Royce Young.

He chose the Cavaliers over the Chicago Bulls, San Antonio Spurs, New Orleans Pelicans and Los Angeles Clippers where his former head coach with the Boston Celtics, Doc Rivers tried to persuade him to sign with the Clippers.

It must be pretty hard to turn down a pitch from LeBron when he says he wants to try to win an NBA championship with you, so I can understand his decision to pick the Cavs over the Clips and his other suitors.

The Cavs sit in the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference with a 34-22 record after winning eight of their last 10 games to get within one half game of the Bulls for the Central division lead.

Perkins, 30, is a free agent at the end of the season so he should be motivated down the stretch run and in the playoffs to earn a contract this summer. His interior defense should bolster the Cavaliers front court, and gives them another big body should they matchup against the Bulls should they meet in the postseason.

He is averaging four points and 5.5 rebounds in 19.2 minutes per game this season.

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