Filed under: Cavaliers, Timberwolves, NBA Rumors, NBA Free Agents
Damien Wilkins' father played for the Cleveland Cavaliers. He would like to do so himself.Wilkins, a free-agent swingman, said he worked out Tuesday with the Cavaliers. He said others in the workout included free-agent guards Von Wafer and Alan Anderson.
Wilkins, 30, is the son of Gerald Wilkins and nephew of Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins. His father played in the NBA from 1985-99, including 1992-94 with the Cavaliers. During that time, Damien averaged 25 points-per-game as an eighth-grader for Revere Middle School in Akron, Ohio.
"It went well,'' Wilkins said by phone about the workout in Cleveland. "They're a very good organization. They've got a great team even though they lost LeBron (James, an Akron native). I still think they can compete. They've got a really good coaching staff... I hope it works out (with the Cavaliers). I think I showed them I wasn't too proud to come in for a workout on short notice (from his home in the Atlanta area).''
Wilkins joked he has "a little bit of history'' in Akron although "not as much as the man who left.''
Wilkins, who averaged 5.6 points last season for Minnesota and has a six-year NBA career average of 7.2 after being undrafted in 2004, said he left without a contract offer from Cleveland. But that's not surprising since Cleveland is moving slowly following James' July 8 announcement he would bolt as a free agent to Miami.
"(Sessions) was a great addition for them,'' said Wilkins, who played last season with the guard. "I'm surprised (the Timberwolves) let him go.''
Sources said Tuesday that Cleveland is one of four teams giving strong consideration to signing free-agent swingman Joey Graham. The others are Denver, Golden State and Miami. It remains to be seen if any of those teams will be willing to offer more than a minimum deal for Graham, who averaged 4.2 points last season for the Nuggets but scored 21 points in Denver's final game of the season, a Game 6 first-round playoff loss at Utah.
Wafer last played in the NBA in 2008-09 with Houston, and has a four-season scoring average of 6.2. Anderson played with Charlotte from 2005-07, averaging 5.8.
Wilkins said he could see himself playing for the minimum in his classification of $1.07 million. He made $3.3 million last season.
"I could see that happening, although it doesn't have to happen,'' Wilkins said of playing for the minimum. "I told my agent (Mark Bartelstein) I want the opportunity to play on a winning team and contribute more than dollars. If I'm able to contribute, the money will take care of itself (in the future).''
Wilkins was a rookie in 2004-05 when Seattle won the Northwest Division. But he hasn't been on a team since then to have won more than 35 games in a season.
Chris Tomasson can be reached at tomasson@fanhouse.com or on Twitter @christomasson
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Full story at http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/07/27/damien-wilkins-works-out-for-cavs-along-with-wafer-anderson/
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