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Acquired by the San Antonio Spurs as part of the three-team sign-and-trade deal that sent Max Strus from the Miami Heat to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Spurs have decided to waive forward Lamar Stevens, per team release.
Stevens, 26, has spent all three seasons of his NBA career with Cleveland and recently played in 62 games with them during the 2022-23 season. Going undrafted out of Penn State in 2020, he initially signed a two-way deal with the Cavaliers before having his contract elevated to a standard NBA deal.
In a total of 165 games with the Cavs, Stevens averaged 5.3 points and 2.8 rebounds per game while shooting 46.7 percent from the floor and 28.1 percent from 3-point range.
The Spurs have been in the new quite a bit this offseason, as after drafting Victor Wembanyama with the first pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, they have been willing to take on unwanted salaries around the league in exchange for draft compensation. With the Cavaliers and Heat looking to find a third team to take on salaries in the Strus sign-and-trade, San Antonio emerged as Stevens' landing spot.
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In addition to taking on his contract, the Spurs also received Cedi Osman, two future second-round picks and cash considerations in the three-team trade this offseason.
Stevens own a partially-guaranteed contract for the 2023-24 season, so the Spurs decided to waive the former Cavs forward before his contract became fully guaranteed on July 18. San Antonio will now take on a $400,000 dead cap hit for waiving Stevens, who would have been owed $1.93 million by the organization if not waived on Monday.
While they can take a total of 20 players into training camp, the Spurs currently face a roster crunch and were looking for ways to free up some roster spots. Waiving Stevens allows them to do so at a fairly affordable price, as his dead cap hit will not negatively effect them in any way this upcoming season. Should he clear waivers and not be claimed by another team, Stevens will not be allowed to re-sign with the Cavaliers since they recently traded him away.
The Spurs recently made another trade this offseason, as they acquired guard Cameron Payne and a second-round from the Phoenix Suns in exchange for a future second-round pick.
