Cavaliers trade Haywood, Miller to Trail Blazers, bring back trade exceptions

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The Cleveland Cavaliers finally resolved their situation with Brendan Haywood's non-guaranteed deal.

The Cavaliers sent Haywood, two future second-round picks and shooting guard Mike Miller to the Portland Trail Blazers. In doing so, the Cavaliers created two traded player exceptions worth $10.5 million and $2.8 million respectively.

The move was first reported Sunday and made official Monday.

The deadline to waive Haywood was creeping up on the Cavaliers. Haywood's contract calls for him to earn $10.5 million this season, but his contract is fully non-guaranteed, thus allowing Portland to waive him before Aug. 1 without recourse.

Instead, trading Haywood creates a traded player exception, which lasts a full year. This way, Cleveland maintains flexibility, while having more time to make trades.

The swap also allowed Cleveland to ship out Miller's contract, which creates yet another exception. Miller reportedly wanted to find more playing time elsewhere and is expected to be bought out by Portland, thus freeing him to latch on with another contender.

Miller is reportedly drawing interest from the Memphis Grizzlies, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Dallas Mavericks, should he become available.

The incentive for Portland is simple: they had the cap space to temporarily take on Haywood and Miller's contracts and for their trouble, they pick up two second-round picks.

Altogether, it's a win-win. Cleveland sheds some salaries while maintaining flexibility, while Portland picks up more assets for their rebuild.