Cavaliers pick up Mozgov’s $5M contract option

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Cleveland Cavaliers centre and Russian national team player Timofey Mozgov. (John Raoux/AP)

CLEVELAND — The Cavaliers have picked up centre Timofey Mozgov’s $5 million contract option for next season.

Mozgov was acquired by Cleveland in a trade from Denver for two first-round draft picks in January. The 7-foot-1 Mozgov averaged 10.6 points and 6.9 rebounds in 45 starts for the Cavs, who were desperate for a rim-protecting big man after losing Anderson Varejao to a season-ending Achilles injury.

Mozgov averaged 10.6 points and 7.3 rebounds in the post-season and scored 28 points in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.

The Cavs have several major roster decisions to make in the next few weeks. The club will make qualifying offers to Tristan Thompson, Iman Shumpert and Matthew Dellavedova — all potential free agents. Love and J.R. Smith have player options.

Cleveland is expecting superstar LeBron James to opt out of the second year of his contract. He’s expected to re-sign.

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