Report: Jefferson intends to continue NBA career once waived by Hawks

Being traded from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Atlanta Hawks, only to be waived by his new team, won't signal the end of Richard Jefferson's playing days.

The 37-year-old veteran has no plans to retire once the Hawks waive him, as he intends to continue on with his NBA career, a league source told The Vertical's Chris Mannix.

The Cavaliers will reportedly send Jefferson, along with guard Kay Felder, two future second-round draft picks, and cash, to the Hawks in exchange for the European draft rights to prospects Dimitrios Agravanis and Sergii Gladyr.

The move was designed to cut their roster down to 15 players for opening night Tuesday.

Atlanta plans on releasing both Jefferson and Felder, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, making them free agents once they clear waivers.

The Cavaliers had previously discussed with Jefferson's agent that there was a possibility his client would be a casualty of the roster having one too many guaranteed contracts, following the arrival of Dwyane Wade. Jefferson was only set to earn $2.5 million this upcoming season.

He had actually contemplated retirement over the summer, after his team's five-game series loss to the Golden State Warriors in the Finals, but ultimately came to the conclusion that he still had something left to offer and elected to return to the Cavaliers.

Should he latch onto a new team, the 2017-18 campaign would mark his 17th season in the Association. Jefferson averaged 5.7 points and 2.6 rebounds in 20.4 minutes per game, coming off the bench last season.