By Paul Levine Jul 9, 2005, 17:50 GMT
Los Angeles - After free agent Michael Redd turned down an offer to play with the Cleveland Cavaliers and resigned with the Milwaukee Bucks, the team went to Plan B.
The Cavaliers and Washington Wizards' shooting guard Larry Hughes agreed on a five-year deal worth an estimated 65 million dollars, according to Saturday's edition of the Cleveland News-Herald.
He'll officially sign with Cleveland when the moratorium is lifted on July 22.
The deal is the first for recently-named Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry, who is expected to go after Maccabi Tel-Aviv point guard, Sarunas Jasikevicius, to be Hughes' backcourt mate, the newspaper is reporting.
Jasikevicius, 29, has been one of the top players in Europe and wants to play in the NBA, even though he reportedly rejected a contract from Boston worth 1.6 million dollars per season.
Jasikevicius is also close friends with Cavaliers All-Star centre Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and served as the best man at his wedding. His signing could lead lgauskas to resign for another four years.
Hughes, 26, agreed to play alongside LeBron James after turning down the Wizards' reported six-year deal worth about 50 million dollars.
In his eighth season, the 6-foot-5 Hughes averaged 22 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists 2.5 turnovers and a league-best 2.9 steals while earning a spot on the NBAs All-Defensive Team..
In other player movement: Bobby Simmons, the NBA's Most Improved Player, decided to jump ship from the Los Angeles Clippers and agreed to a five-year, 47 million dollar deal with the Milwaukee Bucks, according to Saturday's Los Angeles Times.
Simmons, who earned 825,000 dollars last season, will make a whopping 9.4 million dollars annually over the next five years.
"Obviously, it was a terrific offer financially," Simmons agent Mark Bartelstein told the newspaper. "It was a tough call. The Clippers have been unbelievable to Bobby. They gave him an opportunity in this league but you can only pick one team."
Simmons was a second round pick of Seattle but the 6-foot 6 small guard was traded and then waived by Detroit, traded and waived by Washington as well. He spent time in the National Basketball Development League before the Clippers signed him to a two-year deal.
Simmons averaged 7.8 points in his first campaign with the Clippers before having a breakout season. He averaged 16.4 points and 5.9 rebounds while shooting a career-high 46.6 per cent from the floor.
With the loss of Simmons, the Clippers are expected to focus their efforts on signing unrestricted free-agent shooting guard Cuttino Mobley.
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Brian Scalabrine, who spent the last four seasons as a backup forward with the New Jersey Nets, has agreed with the Boston Celtics on a five-year, 15 million dollar deal, the Boston Herald is reporting.
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