Flip Saunders was entirely prepared to keep Kevin Love as he entered free agency in 2015 until the Cleveland Cavaliers approached the Minnesota Timberwolves with the Andrew Wiggins' trade.

"I didn’t have a problem keeping Kevin into the final year of his deal and coaching him," said Saunders. "Guys just don’t turn down the extra year and $30 million. Even though he maybe wanted to leave, I thought we still had an opportunity to re-sign him. When you are patient, you can say, “This is what we need to get something done, and if we don’t get it, we’re keeping him.”

Then things kind of fell into place, with LeBron going to Cleveland and [Andrew] Wiggins becoming available. That’s when you can say 'lucky'."

Love had an uneven first season with the Cavaliers, but he decided to re-sign on a five-year deal.

"No, it wasn’t (bluster)," said Saunders. "People thought it was. Thoughts might have changed when I announced I would coach. Because what coach wouldn’t want to coach a guy who was All-NBA? Coaches want to win that night. I’m in a unique situation, because as the coach, I live in the present, but as the GM, I look into the future. I try to steer both courses. But people believed I would coach the guy."

LeBron James was reportedly set to retire from USA Basketball following the 2012 Olympics when he ruled out the 2014 World Championships and was considered doubtful for the 2016 Olympics.

But Jerry Colangelo isn't ruling anything out for 2016.

"I think LeBron wants to be part of it," Colangelo said.

James already has played in over 41,000 career NBA minutes and has appeared in three Olympics for the United States.

There were unsubstantiated rumors over the weekend linking J.R. Smith to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News reports the Lakers will not be signing Smith.

The Cleveland Cavaliers and Smith remain engaged in contract talks.

Matthew Dellavedova will return to the Cleveland Cavaliers on a one-year deal worth $1.2 million.

Dellavedova will be eligible for free agency again next offseason.

The Memphis Grizzlies, Oklahoma City Thunder and Dallas Mavericks are expected to pursue Mike Miller.

Miller was traded by the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Portland Trail Blazers and he'll be waived.

The Cavs' trade of Miller "was right thing to do" according to a LeBron James' source. Miller was previously waived by the Miami Heat in a tax-savings move that angered James.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have traded Brendan Haywood and Mike Miller to the Portland Trail Blazers.

Haywood's contract is non-guaranteed for the 15-16 season at $10.5 million.

Portland will receive second round picks from the Cavaliers in 2019 and 2020.

The Cavaliers were unable to find a suitable trade using Haywood's contract and will instead have two traded player exception that can be used later in the amounts of $10.5 million and $2.85 million.

Trading away Miller could save the Cavaliers as much as $10 million in salary in luxury taxes.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have re-signed James Jones.

Jones appeared in 57 games (two starts) for the Cavs during the 2014-15 regular season and averaged 4.4 points in 11.7 minutes per game. He also shot .360 from the three-point line and .848 from the free throw line. 

Jones previously said he would re-sign with the Cavaliers.

The Cleveland Cavaliers hope to soon trade Brendan Haywood for a traded player exception.

The Cavaliers have shopped the non-guaranteed contract of Haywood around the NBA, including talks with the Brooklyn Nets on Joe Johnson. They haven't been able to find a deal to their liking and could instead trade Haywood for a traded player exception.

The Cavs used a trade exception they created last summer to trade for Timofey Mozgov during last season.

The Portland Trail Blazers and Philadelphia 76ers are the only teams currently with enough cap space to absorb Haywood and create a trade exception for Cleveland. The Cavs might need to surrender a draft pick to create the incentive for either team to help the Cavaliers with the TPE.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have traded Rakeem Christmas to the Indiana Pacers for a 2019 second round pick.

Christmas was the No. 36 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft.

Christmas and the Pacers have agreed upon a four-year, $4.5 million deal.

The Indiana Pacers have acquired forward Rakeem Christmas from the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for a 2019 second-round draft pick that the Pacers acquired in the recent trade for Roy Hibbert.

Christmas, 6-9, 250, was a second-round pick in June’s NBA Draft. He was selected 36th overall by Minnesota and was traded later draft night to the Cavaliers. He played collegiately at Syracuse where in his senior season he averaged 17.5 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. In his four-year career with the Orangemen, he played 142 games.

"We really liked Rakeem when he came in for pre-draft workouts," said Pacers President of Basketball Operations Larry Bird. "He is a solid player who was a contributor all four years at Syracuse and we look forward to having him on our team."