CLEVELAND (Ohio) • Australian guard Matthew Dellavedova, whose gritty play and determination won fans worldwide in the National Basketball Association Finals, was among three players who received qualifying offers on Tuesday from the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Forward Tristan Thompson and guard Iman Shumpert also got the offers, which means that the Cavs will have the right to match any offer sheet these free agents receive from other NBA clubs and keep them on the roster.
The Cavs, who lost 2-4 to the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals, also announced that veteran Mike Miller, a three-point sharpshooter, has exercised his player option to return for next season.
The moves all came on the eve of the start of free agency in the NBA. Teams could start negotiating deals with players from yesterday but nothing can be signed until July 9.
That gives the NBA time to calculate the salary cap limit for teams for the 2015-16 season, and clubs time to see who signs where and respond accordingly.
Dellavedova played in 67 games last season, 13 of them as a starter, averaging 4.8 points, 1.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists, hitting a career-best 40.7 per cent from three-point range.
In the play-offs, he averaged 7.2 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists.
More crucially, he filled in for injured Kyrie Irving in the Finals and played some stellar defence against reigning Most Valuable Player , the Warriors' Stephen Curry.
Meanwhile, Luke Ridnour is on the way to his fifth team in a week after the latest trade deal for the 34-year-old American guard, this one sending him to Canada.
The Oklahoma City Thunder dealt him to Toronto for their rights to Croatian forward Tomislav Zubcic, who was taken by the Raptors with the 56th pick in the 2012 NBA Draft.
Ridnour was first traded from the Orlando Magic to the Memphis Grizzlies for the draft rights to Latvian swingman Janis Timma, then sent to the Charlotte Hornets for forward Matt Barnes.
Charlotte then traded Ridnour to the Thunder for guard Jeremy Lamb.
Ridnour is set to be paid US$2.75 million (S$3.7 million) next season if he is on a roster after July 10.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
