Bynum chooses Cavs

[Cashius X]

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Cavaliers center Andrew Bynum has resumed basketball activities, but will not be medically cleared to practice when Cleveland opens training camp Tuesday.
Bynum, who underwent bilateral arthroscopic surgery on both knees in March, hasn't appeared in an NBA game since May 21, 2012. The 7-footer signed a two-year contract with Cleveland on July 19 after missing all of last season while with Philadelphia.
General manager Chris Grant said Bynum began taking part in full-court drills two weeks ago, but no timetable has been set for his return to full-contact practices.
Bynum joined All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving and new coach Mike Brown as the centers of attention as the Cavaliers held media day at their suburban practice facility.

http://www.nba.com/2013/news/09/30/cavs-media-day.ap/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpts

I'm so confused...it's like new contradictory information comes out every other day. Good news though

 

[Douglar]

http://www.ohio.com/blogs/cleveland...-this-season-1.433113?localLinksEnabled=false

Here's the beginning of the article--

Bynum says he will 'definitely' play for the Cavaliers this season
By JASON LLOYD Published: September 30, 2013

INDEPENDENCE: While no timeline for a return has been established, center Andrew Bynum says he’ll “definitely” play this season.
The Cavs were the only team willing to take a $6 million chance last summer on Bynum, who missed all of last season with the Philadelphia 76ers. He is running up and down the floor, working on basketball moves and dunking, but he is not yet playing 5 on 5 and everyone within the organization is careful not to put a projection of when to expect him to play.

But he most certainly will play. On that, Bynum was adamant.

“Definitely will play,” he said.

He said the same thing last year in Philadelphia, but never made it.

 

[Douglar]

https://twitter.com/PDcavsinsider

Bynum began jumping and explosive activities recently.

Sounds dangerous.

 

[Cavatt]

Dunking? Further along than I thought. He sounded excited today, and Grants said they are viewing him as part of the future right now.

 

[gratefuldead]

https://twitter.com/PDcavsinsider



Sounds dangerous.

i wonder why he even needs to jump

i mean why risk it with his knees??

Z didnt jump at all after his foot surgery and he remained decently effective

i know z is taller....but still

 

[Sir John]

So, after listening to CG's media day interview, I have amended my take on what the Cavs might really be thinking and planning with Bynum. Here's what Grant says in his on-camera interview with Fred regarding Bynum:

"He's in the midst of his process. There's not necessarily a hard timeline in place....He's progressed nicely. He's worked his tail off since the day after we signed him, he's been in here every day....We're going to be cautious with him, and conservative to put him in the best position to succeed. He turns 26 this month. So we're not talking about someone who's 32, 33 years old. We're looking at him in the long term and how he can have an impact on this franchise."

So far, especially after the terms of Bynum's contract came out, the assumption has been -- it's in the subtext of a lot of these posts and especially the freakouts -- that Bynum more or less has until January, when Cavs have to pick up his contract for remainder of this season and next at guaranteed salaries, to prove he's made enough progress to deserve it.

But now I think it's the opposite of this. The Cavs are more hoping that Bynum doesn't implode -- either his knees or his attitude -- by then. It's more that he has to avoid the negatives than show lots of positives. Grant isn't looking to ditch this guy at all, he's looking for reasons to keep him and as long as no major backslides happen, the Cavs are gonna pick up his contract in January, even if Bynum is just starting to play by then.

So for those freaking out that he's not going to be ready for camp or isn't progressing fast enough, I really don't think the Cavs care that much. If he can just keep moving forward one inch per week, look for the Cavs to pick up his deal and see how it plays out. Barring catastrophe, this Bynum experiment is probably going the full two years, so no need to sweat every little thing or think that big things need to happen by our artificially imposed deadlines of training camp, beginning of the season, or maybe even his January contract pickup date.

 

[Cavatt]

So, after listening to CG's media day interview, I have amended my take on what the Cavs might really be thinking and planning with Bynum. Here's what Grant says in his on-camera interview with Fred regarding Bynum:

"He's in the midst of his process. There's not necessarily a hard timeline in place....He's progressed nicely. He's worked his tail off since the day after we signed him, he's been in here every day....We're going to be cautious with him, and conservative to put him in the best position to succeed. He turns 26 this month. So we're not talking about someone who's 32, 33 years old. We're looking at him in the long term and how he can have an impact on this franchise."

So far, especially after the terms of Bynum's contract came out, the assumption has been -- it's in the subtext of a lot of these posts and especially the freakouts -- that Bynum more or less has until January, when Cavs have to pick up his contract for remainder of this season and next at guaranteed salaries, to prove he's made enough progress to deserve it.

But now I think it's the opposite of this. The Cavs are more hoping that Bynum doesn't implode -- either his knees or his attitude -- by then. It's more that he has to avoid the negatives than show lots of positives. Grant isn't looking to ditch this guy at all, he's looking for reasons to keep him and as long as no major backslides happen, the Cavs are gonna pick up his contract in January, even if Bynum is just starting to play by then.

So for those freaking out that he's not going to be ready for camp or isn't progressing fast enough, I really don't think the Cavs care that much. If he can just keep moving forward one inch per week, look for the Cavs to pick up his deal and see how it plays out. Barring catastrophe, this Bynum experiment is probably going the full two years, so no need to sweat every little thing or think that big things need to happen by our artificially imposed deadlines of training camp, beginning of the season, or maybe even his January contract pickup date.

I was a little surprised too that he straight up said they were looking "long-term". That is interesting. Do they think he can play several more years? It seems unlikely to me. Just looking at his legs you can see they are attached wrong. I am really glad that although he is the cavs biggest acquisition, they didn't sell the farm for him. They also don't need him from day one.

If they think he can be a long term piece, more power to Grant and the team doctors.

 

[PedroPTCavs]

[video=youtube;SCyAAW3__G8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCyAAW3__G8[/video]

 

[3 Ball...GOT IT]

Can't make any real opinions on a 60 sec video, but I'd say he looks better than I expected at this point

 

[MRMsix6]

This feels like footage of bigfoot.

 

[gratefuldead]

[video=youtube;SCyAAW3__G8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCyAAW3__G8[/video]

i wanna see bennett practicing

 

[DatDudeZ3]

Got me hyped seeing Jack walk out in the background in the video. The way he walked, seems like he's got the "it" factor.

 

[Soar]

Long way to go for Bynum but it is encouraging to at least see him out there.

 

[Hydroponic3385]

Nice to see Bynum on the court, especially since recent reports made it sound like he'd be a part of zero basketball-related activities at the moment. But there were also similar videos of him last year in Philly, along with videos of him expanding his range with jumpers/threes :chuckles: So yes, this video is at least encouraging, but also doesn't suggest he's ahead of where he was this time last year.

 

[Birdy89]

If they think he can be a long term piece, more power to Grant and the team doctors.

If he is reasonably healthy and has 2 good years here, does anyone really think Chris Grant would be willing to commit the kind of long term dollars it would take to keep Bynum?

I just don't see it given his injury history.

Bynum would likely command a near max deal over 4 years if he plays well and often (65+ games a season) here, and some team would be stupid enough to give it to him.

He is on a non-guaranteed deal right now so he will be on his best behavior and likely play through some knee pain. Put $60+ million guaranteed in his pocket, and I would be highly concerned that he doesn't have quite that same level of desire to play through pain and stay in great shape.

I said elsewhere, I love the Bynum signing for these 2 years as it was low risk and we had nothing else to spend the cap space on. No harm no foul.

Going forward, with all the extensions that Grant will need to hand out I just don't see him ever being willing to guarantee Bynum the kind of money he would want if he rehabilitates his career here and hits free agency.

I hope he plays like a stud the next 2 years, but past that he is not a guy that can be trusted to keep it together if he gets a massive payday where he's not playing for a contract anymore.