Cleveland Cavaliers, Richard Jefferson Agree To Deal

In a somewhat stunning turn of events, Richard Jefferson and the Cleveland Cavaliers have agreed to a two-year, $5 million deal.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are getting a vital member of their championship squad back, but it’s someone we thought had walked away from the game entirely.

After initially announcing his retirement shortly after the Cavaliers’ triumphant series-clinching victory in Game 7, Richard Jefferson has done a 180 and has agreed to return on a two-year, $5 million deal with the Cavaliers, according to Chris Mannix of The Vertical.

First announced by Jefferson himself via Snapchat, the return of Jefferson gives the Cavaliers a respected voice in the locker room as well as a solid contributor off the bench, despite Jefferson being well past his prime at this point.

Richard Jefferson returning to the Cavs on a two-year, $5 million contract, league source told @TheVertical. RJ broke his return on Snapchat
— Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) July 7, 2016

Jefferson proved throughout most of the Cavaliers’ playoff run last postseason that he still had plenty left in the tank to help give them a spark in their matchup against the Toronto Raptors, especially in the Eastern Conference Finals and the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals.

In 18.1 minutes per game, Jefferson averaged 5.4 points per game and shot 52 percent from the field as well as 39 percent from three-point range throughout the Cavaliers’ postseason run.

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More importantly, however, Jefferson came through in the clutch for the Cavaliers during the Finals where he was inserted into the team’s starting lineup for Game 3 and Game 4 after Kevin Love suffered a concussion midway through Game 2 of the series.

While Jefferson’s contributions during the postseason gained plenty of notoriety, his play during the regular season shouldn’t be overlooked.

In his first season with the Cavs, Jefferson averaged 5.5 points per game on 46 percent shooting from the field and 38 percent shooting from deep in 74 games.

Of course, now that Jefferson has agreed to return to the Cavaliers for at least the next two seasons, the biggest question remaining is what will his role look like within the team.

Jefferson’s numbers in recent seasons are clearly more modest compared to his early playing days, but he has really rebounded by finding a second life in the league as a solid role playing swingman off the bench.

However, Jefferson’s place within the team’s rotation seemingly may be in jeopardy with the pending arrival of veteran Mike Dunleavy, who the Cavaliers acquired from the Chicago Bulls Wednesday night as part of a salary dump.

Obviously we’ll have to wait until the next regular season rolls around to see how Jefferson’s role within the team is affected, but the addition of Dunleavy could have a serious impact on Jefferson’ playing time next year.

Nevertheless, Richard Jefferson’s somewhat surprising decision to return back to the Cavaliers is a big win for them as they will try to defend their title for next season.

We aren’t all that far removed from seeing Jefferson’s impact on the team, whether it’s on or off the floor, and that will be key for the 36-year-old over, at least, the next two seasons.

Whether he’ll have the same impact on the court as he did all throughout last season is unknown, but it’s clear that Jefferson isn’t ready to hang it up just yet.

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