It would have been surprising if the Cleveland Cavaliers had not retained Timofey Mozgov so news about the team picking up the team option for the 7-foot-1 Russian doesn't really seem surprising.
Mozgov, was acquired by the Cavs last January from the Denver Nuggets together with a 2015 second round pick for the Cavs protected 2015 first round picks (from Oklahoma City and Memphis).
Mozgov was acquired back then with the hope of shoring up the middle position of the Cavs. With Anderson Varejao sidelined for the rest of the season due to injury (torn Achilles), the team had to find someone to cover the gaping hole in the center position.
Though the regular season hardly saw Mozgov make an impact, he did churn out credible performances in the NBA Finals.
Incidentally, his Finals stint makes him the first Russian to ever play in the NBA Finals.
Mozgov led a backup crew made of J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert and Matthew Delladedova to provide Lebron James the needed support to fend off the Golden State Warriors.
Mozgov put up monster numbers, including 28 points and 10 rebounds in game 4 of the NBA Finals which the Cavaliers still lost no thanks to James meager output of 20 points as he was checked in the second half.
The Cavs are expected to extend qualifying offers to the other players such as Tristan Thompson, Iman Shumpert and Matthew Delladedova, a backup crew who didn't do badly but not enough against a fire-up Golden State Warriors team.
The Cavs are expected to make key additions though the focus right now is on Kevin Love.
After opting out, it remains to be seen if Love would still be returning to the team next season. Love was not a factor in the NBA Finals after suffering a shoulder injury in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
