Zydrunas Ilgauskas and the Cleveland Cavaliers did what the basketball world has expected them to do for the last 30 days – they reunited. Ilgauskas signed a one-year deal with the Cavaliers on Tuesday.
Ilgauskas’ deal is said to be worth $1.5 million. Cleveland offered Big Z a two-year deal worth $3 million, but he opted to sign for one year.
"“I’m obviously very happy to be back here with my guys,” said Ilgauskas, who rejected overtures from several teams, including Dallas and Denver. “It has been a long month. I’m just anxious to get back. I felt like I left a lot of good friends, friends who feel like a part of my family. I left a lot of good people behind. It just didn’t feel right going somewhere else.“The reason why I came back is those guys in the locker room. I have a special bond with them. I just didn’t want to leave them out there. I wanted to be out there with them. If I would have left, and the team would have won a championship without me, I don’t think I could have ever forgiven myself.”"
Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Cleveland Plain Dealer has the full story here.
(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger and a contributor at NFL Mocks and Sir Charles In Charge. Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Twitter to follow him daily and you can get the HTD app here).