The Cleveland Cavaliers officially added another veteran in their roster as forward Richard Jefferson was signed to a one-year, veterans minimum contract, although no information about the amount of the deal was disclosed.
Jefferson is a 14-year veteran and the Cavaliers will be his seventh team in the NBA.
Before signing a deal with Cleveland, Jefferson played for the then New Jersey Nets, Milwaukee Bucks, San Antonio Spurs, Golden State Warriors, Utah Jazz, and the Dallas Mavericks.
Last season with the Mavericks, he played in 74 regular season games which included 18 starts and averaged 5.8 points and 2.5 rebounds per game.
During Dallas' playoff campaign in the 2014–15 season, Jefferson started in two of the four games he played in and averaged 3.8 points per outing.
The 35-year-old player agreed to re-sign with the Mavericks earlier in the offseason; but when he asked owner Mark Cuban about signing with another team, he was given the permission.
Jefferson is a huge addition for the Cavs, especially when it comes to playoff experience since he already played in 105 playoff games and reached the NBA Finals twice in his stint with the Nets.
The role that Jefferson will likely have in Cleveland is a backup to either LeBron James or Kevin Love, a role in which veteran forward Shawn Marion failed to do well last season.
Cleveland.com said in a report that along with Jefferson, veteran Tayshaun Prince was also considered to be signed by the Cavs.
Jefferson may not be as productive as he was in the past but he is still an efficient player and can ease the playing time for the main forwards in the rotation.
Despite the years, Jefferson is still a great shooter from the three-point area and that is big for Cleveland since free-agent guard J.R. Smith, who was one of their main three-point shooters last season, is yet to re-sign with the team.
