CLEVELAND (AP) -Free agent forward Drew Gooden agreed to terms on a three-year, $23 million contract to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers, agent Bill Duffy said Monday.
Gooden, the team's top rebounder last season, has been a solid complementary player to All-Star forward LeBron James, who committed to a three-year contract extension with the Cavaliers in July.
Duffy said fellow agent Calvin Andrews handled the bulk of the negotiations with Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry.
``We're ecstatic,'' Duffy said. ``Drew is very happy. He likes where Cleveland is headed.''
The 24-year-old Gooden averaged 10.7 points and 8.4 rebounds last season. His inside presence and energy helped Cleveland go 50-32 in the regular season and make the playoffs for the first time since 1998.
The Cavaliers eliminated Washington in the first round and pushed defending Eastern Conference champion Detroit to seven games. Gooden averaged 8.8 points and 9.3 rebounds against the Wizards.
``We have said from the beginning that we wanted to keep Drew in a Cavaliers uniform, and although I'm not going to comment on specifics of the negotiations, things have moved in a good direction,'' Ferry said.
Other than getting James' signature and commitment for the future, re-signing Gooden was the Cavs' top offseason priority. The Cavaliers have had a relatively quiet summer, one year after their 2005 free agent spending spree when they signed guard Larry Hughes and Damon Jones and re-signed center Zydrunas Ilgauskas.
The sides only need to finalize some details before Gooden signs his deal.
Gooden, a restricted free agent, was hoping for a deal similar to the six-year, $60 million contract that Nene signed with the Denver Nuggets. However, Gooden found a limited market and decided to stay with the Cavs, who acquired him in a 2004 trade with Orlando.
