The Magic selected center Martynas Andriuskevicius in the second round (44th overall) of the 2005 NBA Draft, then traded his draft rights to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for a 2006 second round draft pick and cash considerations.  

Later, Orlando obtained the draft rights to forward-center Marcin Gortat (57th overall) from the Phoenix Suns in exchange for cash considerations.

The Cavaliers picked up $2.1 million in salary-cap space Tuesday by trading swingman Jiri Welsch to the Milwaukee Bucks for a second round pick in 2006.

The Cavaliers acquired Welsch from the Boston Celtics in late February for a 2007 first-round pick. Welsch struggled after joining the Cavaliers and didn't fit into the future plans. The Cavaliers will have slightly more than $28 million with the move.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas' six-year, $70.8 million contract expires Friday.

``Zydrunas is going to go into free agency and see what's out there are on the market,'' Ilgauskas' agent, Herb Rudoy, said Monday. ``That is a final decision, we have no interest in making to a deal with the Cavs before Friday.''

Danny Ferry said during his introductory news conference that he wants to keep Ilgauskas. According to insiders, Ferry told Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert during his interview for the job that he felt keeping Ilgauskas was important.

``I'm very hopeful Zydrunas will be back here,'' Ferry said. ``I know he has tough decisions ahead of him, hopefully the decision is to remain in Cleveland.''

Initial discussions about a contract extension for Ilgauskas failed during the regular season. A person with knowledge of the talks said it has to do with the length of the contract as much as it is about money. Rudoy is believed to be shooting for a five-year deal, and the Cavaliers were looking for a three-year pact.

There are also complex issues over how the contract will be insured due to Ilgauskas' history of foot problems.

It isn't clear whether Ferry will even negotiate with Rudoy or allow another member of his staff do it because of how close he is to Ilgauskas. Rudoy said it certainly won't be a factor on his end.

``Yes, Danny is a very good friend,'' Rudoy said. ``But it will have no influence on Zydrunas' decision.''

The Cleveland Cavaliers made Danny Ferry their general manager on Sunday when he agreed to a five-year deal worth close to $10 million, The Cleveland Plain Dealer and The Associated Press both reported.

The paper and the AP -- each citing two league sources -- reported Ferry's deal also includes incentives. Ferry, who played 10 seasons with the Cavs, was the director of basketball operations for the NBA champion San Antonio Spurs.

The Cavs had been expected to announce a news conference introducing Ferry to the media early next week.

According to a report by The News-Herald last week, Ferry's hiring hinged on Detroit Pistons coach Larry Brown accepting the Cavs offer of becoming team president.

Ferry has been in the Spurs' front office since September 2003 after playing 13 NBA seasons.

Danny Ferry was set to become the new general manager of the Cavaliers on Saturday, but while he was on his way to catch a plane to Cleveland, he held up on finalizing the deal for undisclosed reasons.

Ferry initially agreed to a five-year deal worth close to $10 million, according to two league executives. The deal also included incentives.

Before the negotiations hit a snag, Ferry, director of basketball operations for the San Antonio Spurs, was scheduled to start work today to get the Cavs involved in Tuesday's NBA draft.

The Cavs had been expected to announce a news conference introducing Ferry to the media early next week.

The Cavs talked to Ferry for several weeks. Those talks intensified when Ferry interviewed with the Cavs twice last week when the Spurs were in Detroit for the NBA Finals.

According to a league source, Ferry did not want to make a decision until the finals were over. Ferry initially accepted the Cavs' offer two days after the Spurs won the NBA championship.

Ferry has been in the Spurs' front office since September 2003 after playing 13 NBA seasons. He was selected by the Clippers with the second overall pick in the 1989 draft. Ferry held out and played overseas before signing with the Cavs, who received his rights from the Clippers following a trade that included Ron Harper. Ferry spent 10 seasons with the Cavs.

As everybody knows Pistons head coach Larry Brown is a candidate for the Cleveland Cavaliers president job.  There has been some concern over how he would be received by Cleveland?s superstar youngster LeBron James.   Brown did not play James much in the United State?s pitiful 2004 Olympic Summer Games performance which caused some minor animosity.

However, James, the consumate professional, does not seem to care.

``He's a great guy. I don't hold grudges,'' James said during a news conference about his first King for Kids Bikeathon scheduled for this morning in Akron. ``What happened at the Olympics happened. So if he decided to take the job, I will welcome him with open arms and we'll go from there.''

LeBron James would like to have some input on which players the Cavaliers go after in this summer?s free agency market set to begin next week.

On the top of Lebron?s list of Cavalier potential pick-ups are: Phoenix?s Joe Johnson, Milwaukee?s Michael Redd, Seattle?s Ray Allen, Washington?s Larry Hughes and Chicago's Eddy Curry, all shooting guards with the exception of the Bulls big man.  All big names in the 2005 free agent market, with each player demanding a max contract or close to it.

Johnson will not be available because the Suns are certain to resign the shooting guard with the departure of Quentin Richardson.

Aaron Goodwin, agent for Portland star Shareef Abdur-Rahim, says while his client is "definitely interested" in signing a free-agent deal with the Cavs, the forward's enthusiasm will cool considerably if Cleveland doesn't keep Ilgauskas, another potential free agent.

"[Abdur-Rahim's interest] changes if they lose [Ilgauskas]," Goodwin says of the Cavs. Last season, Abdur-Rahim averaged a solid 16.8 points and 7.3 rebounds per game for Portland. Abdur-Rahim is still only 28 years old, despite the fact that he's been in the league 10 seasons.

Now that the San Antonio Spurs' season has drawn to a close, Danny Ferry is expected to give Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert an answer today on whether he'll become the team's next general manager writes Brian Windhorst of the Akron Beacon Journal.

Two people close to Ferry said Thursday that he still wasn't 100 percent sure he would take the job, but was leaning that way.

If Ferry does accept the position, it might increase the chance the team will re-sign center Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Ilgauskas and Ferry have been close friends since they were Cavalier teammates. It is also believed coach Mike Brown and LeBron James have told ownership they'd like to see Ilgauskas re-signed.

The Cavaliers were potentially dealt a setback in the free-agent market Thursday, when the Phoenix Suns sent guard Quentin Richardson to the New York Knicks for forward Kurt Thomas.

The move clears the deck for the Suns to match any offers for Joe Johnson, whom the Cavaliers were targeting as a free agent.

In addition, the team had previously been in talks with the Knicks about trading Drew Gooden for Thomas.

According to league insiders, the Cavaliers also have been actively trying to trade swingman Jiri Welsch before next Tuesday's draft, either to acquire a pick or a free up salary-cap space.

The Cavaliers are expected to offer their general manager position to Spurs director of basketball operations Danny Ferry, according to published reports, but that might hinge on Pistons coach Larry Brown, The News-Herald, a suburban Cleveland paper, reported Wednesday.

Ferry, who played for the Cavs for 10 years, has spoken with Cleveland ownership and indications are that owner Dan Gilbert wants Ferry to be the GM, a source told The News-Herald.

The situation will become more clear after Game 7 when Ferry's Spurs battle Brown's Pistons.