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2015 Free Agency (Cavs Centric)

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yeah, i dont mind him as much, but i rather find a veteran PG that can shoot. need to keep floor spacing a priority, especially with LBJ having a slump.

another reason why i don't like the wade with cavs, he can't shoot 3's.

Mo would be fine as a backup to Kyrie. He wasn't effective as the Cavs' second scoring option, but he'd be way down on that list as a backup. You can deal with his shooting slumps just like you can deal with Smith's mental hiccups as long as you're not relying on him.

But no matter what, you can't count on the Cavs winning a championship if Kyrie is injured. You aren't going to bring in a player good enough to pick up that slack. So sure, you can improve the bench a little bit here and there, but if Kyrie and Love are injured again going into the Finals next year, the Cavs aren't going to win.

The big thing with improving the bench is to give the Big 3 more rest. Also, there will be far less pressure on the Cavs to have a good regular season next year. Less pressure on Lebron, Kyrie, Love, and Blatt. The Cavs proved they're fully capable of playing at the highest level, so next year should just be about incremental improvement and staying healthy and rested.
 
IMO, this team has a few different needs in the off-season:

  • Athletic bodies who can shoot *reliably* and play some D. Preferably in the 6'-5" to 6'-7" range. I think we need two of these. The D should hopefully come in the ability to get steals. We were awful at that this year, and there were times it hurt us.
  • An athletic swing big man. Basically a productive 4th big who can maybe swat some shots and box out.
  • A true backup point guard who can get an offense going and play some D. Hopefully someone with a bit of size. Gotta be a real PG, not a SG masquerading as one.
I think the draft can take care of the first at least in part. The PG will likely need to be a free agent, and maybe we can net the big and other swing man via trade with Haywood's contract.
 
The following is just my initial thoughts on how we are going to approach free agency, and what I think are moves we could be looking at. bear in mind, that I haven't a very large knowledge of free agency, cap space and anything else of the sort so some of the scenarios might be completely fucking wrong and impossible.

The PG position doesn't really worry me too much after watching Delly in the post season. Kyrie and LeBron are going to be handling the ball and playmaking for 90% of our time, so it doesn't strike me as a very big problem, if we are healthy.

What we do need, imo is someone who can create his own shot to come off the bench, however. It absolutely killed us that we didn't have a proper offensive option to check in and make something happen with the ball in his hands, and getting a perimeter player able to do that would do wonders for us. The obvious name is of course Wade but the question is what his price tag is going to look like. I think we have other holes that need to be filled in our roster and it would be a shame to throw the majority of our resources after one player. The other issue I have with going after Wade is his age. I realize Wade being over 30 isn't as big of a deal, if he comes off the bench and would more or less be designated the leader role when the big 3 isn't in the game, but I still don't like the idea of throwing significant resources after a guy who probably isn't going to be a major part of our team in 2-3 years.

Outside of Wade we have guys like Monta Ellis (player option), Jamal Crawford (Team Option), Wesley Matthews might be available for cheap considering his injury etc. obviously none of them is a perfect match. they all have deficiencies that we will have to work around, but going by what I consider to be our biggest needs and who we could get for the most reasonable price would probably be Crawford. He's able to knock down the open jumper, has great handles, and is good at finding the open man, so you can rely on him to play PG in a pinch. On the other hand he is a black hole on defense and not as young as you'd ideally want him to be.

The other hole in our Line-up is at center, IMO. We are pretty set at PF with Love, TT and maybe even 'Bron in spurts but we desperately need someone to shoulder the load defensively at the 5, outside of Mozgov, Andy and TT (who ideally shouldn't even have to play there unless we're trotting out a small ball line-up). I think Mozgov has proven that he is more than capable of starting on a contender, so what I'd be looking for wouldn't necessarily be an upgrade but rather some of the same in a smaller dose, at a smaller price. I have hard time finding any candidates in FA that fit that description though. There are a lot of great centers available but none of them really seem all that realistic. there's Koufus I guess.... so that's a thing.

the last thing we need, and what I think we will be addressing through the draft is perimeter Defense and length. posters have gone on at length on here about possible draft picks and I really haven't been studying this draft class all that closely but based on what I've read if Rondae-Hollis Jefferson is available when we get our go, you take him and don't look back. If, however the Cavs decide to pick up a center during the draft instead of going after one in FA, I could see us pursuing a guy like Aminu if he decides to opt out of his contract.
 
The thing to remember about Mo is the same thing to remember regarding J.R & Shump.

All three were forced to do way more than they're capable of. None are good as 2nd options, but all are/would be great with this group as role players.
 
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The thing to remember about Mo is he same thing to remember regarding J.R & Shump.

All three were asked to do way more than they're capable of. None are good as 2nd options, but all are/would be great with this group as role players.
Heard he was in Cle for a few playoff games.
Have you heard his name mentioned for July yet?
 
If I were the cavs I would look into getting a 3rd pg that could score, another SF that can actually play, a big that can replace what Love can do and possibly another big. No other big on this roster can replace what love does for when he takes a break.

Maybe sign Mo williams
Draft either a SG/SF or a big with an outside shot.
Use Haywoods contract to fill whatever hole we didn't fill from the draft/fa.
 
IMO, this team has a few different needs in the off-season:

  • Athletic bodies who can shoot *reliably* and play some D. Preferably in the 6'-5" to 6'-7" range. I think we need two of these. The D should hopefully come in the ability to get steals. We were awful at that this year, and there were times it hurt us.
  • An athletic swing big man. Basically a productive 4th big who can maybe swat some shots and box out.
  • A true backup point guard who can get an offense going and play some D. Hopefully someone with a bit of size. Gotta be a real PG, not a SG masquerading as one.
I think the draft can take care of the first at least in part. The PG will likely need to be a free agent, and maybe we can net the big and other swing man via trade with Haywood's contract.

Aaron Afalo would be perfect fit for this team. He can flat out play some defense. He would be a nice pickup for around 7 million or so. I also think the Cavs will sign Norris Cole for the MLE which would be around 3.2 million. D wade I believe is coming to the Cavs somehow. He wants to stick it to that Snake Pat Riley. Watch and see. What better way then to get back at Riley, would be him leaving Miami to pair up with Lebron in Cleveland of all places. Screw you Riley!!!
 
D Wade follows the official cavs account on instagram, FWIW. Doesn't follow any other team besides the Heat I believe .
 
I know there was interest at the deadline.

There is a player I'm curious about after the recent move by the Pistons to pick up Ersan from the Bucks.

That player is Monroe being had with the Haywood contract? Looks like he is out in Detroit and would be a pretty good fit here playing center. In fact iirc his highs for advanced metrics were from when he was playing center. They also have a few wings they probably will want to get rid of as well so they can fit more into the Van Gundy style of paly
 
There is a player I'm curious about after the recent move by the Pistons to pick up Ersan from the Bucks.

That player is Monroe being had with the Haywood contract? Looks like he is out in Detroit and would be a pretty good fit here playing center. In fact iirc his highs for advanced metrics were from when he was playing center. They also have a few wings they probably will want to get rid of as well so they can fit more into the Van Gundy style of paly
He's a free agent, so it's impossible without massive roster adjustments.

D Wade follows the official cavs account on instagram, FWIW. Doesn't follow any other team besides the Heat I believe .
Isn't it funny how similar the Wade stuff leaking out (like his wife favoriting the tweet saying he could go to the Cavs if Heat don't bend, and of course him following the Cavs on Instagram) is to the stuff leaked about LeBron last year prior to free agency? I still don't think he ends up here, but man there have to be some massive warning sirens going off in Miami right now.
 
Adrian Wojnarowski@WojYahooNBA
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Yahoo Sources: Top Euroleague point guard plans a return to NBA this summer. yhoo.it/1TBurbw

Not sure how much he'll want or if we'd be interested but the more guys on there Free Agent market, the better, as it pushes someone else down to the reality of a taxpayer MLE. Same with Jordan Hill being available. He might be out of our price range, but could knock another PF/C down to the more affordable bracket
 

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