Mike Dunleavy Duck Hunt

[CalBuckeyeRob]

Do I even gotta say why this is bumped?

Dude is a beast role player. Plays D, passes, doesnt bring us down emotionally, and is smart on both ends


Jesus Christ the Bulls made him look trash

The Bulls needed him to be Kevin Love to be a title contender and he was never that good. It is one of the things that make the best teams what they are. They can take full advantage of guys that have quality role player skills because they only expect them to be quality role players.

 

[Lee]

Sometimes I watch him play and he looks like the smartest player on the court, other times i watch him and he looks like the whitest player since Mark Madsen.

 

[Rick Astley]

Mark Madsen.

Now you've done it. You have summoned him.

 

[TyGuy]

Mike is getting more comfortable. I think the coaching staff told him to pull the trigger. He had been passing up good looks. Electing only to take shots that were wide open or a designed play for him to catch and shoot.

 

[CHIMOCHIS]

I like this guy

He looks to have it

 

[dark2332]

Sometimes I watch him play and he looks like the smartest player on the court, other times i watch him and he looks like the whitest player since Mark Madsen.

This is one of those pickups that is absolutely perfect being that we got him for essentially free. Of course, we all thought that when we did it, but it just will continue to prove more and more evident throughout the year. The more you surround LeBron, Kyrie, and Love with high-IQ basketball players, the better this team will be.

So far, Dunleavy has struggled a bit this season and last night was the first night he looked comfortable taking shots. Understandable, trying to find his role with the defending champions and you don't want to be the one to mess up the machine.

Either way, it's obvious that he fits in perfectly by making good passes, moving the ball, staying within himself, taking open threes, and playing good team defense. He and Richard Jefferson are excellent at moving without the basketball, and in a lineup with LeBron, it's magnificent to watch us get easy buckets.

Jefferson, Frye, and Dunleavy are the savvy type of players who still have game that we've been needing for a long time coming off our bench. We are certainly better starting the season this year than we were starting the season last year as a result (Despite having RJ at that time).

 

[Chris Parker]

Very smart savvy player who will fit seamlessly into the offense.

The problem, mostly, is that the team's offense hasn't needed upgrading.

But to get him for the price of waving "bye, bye" to our Kyrie Irving insurance plan, well, not bad.

 

[Jordan]

Very smart savvy player who will fit seamlessly into the offense.

The problem, mostly, is that the team's offense hasn't needed upgrading.

But to get him for the price of waving "bye, bye" to our Kyrie Irving insurance plan, well, not bad.

I think Dunleavy has looked even better than his stats suggest (and I am an analytics guy!!). I really believe this was a great addition, moreover, combined with RJ looking good we have some nice vets who can guard the 2-4.

Out of curiosity, was there an actual relationship between losing Delly and getting Dunleavy? Or was it corollary?

Random note, but Delly has looked great in Milwaukee. Kidd is finding a way to make that team win games. I've been very impressed.

 

[cavsfever]

I like Dunleavey but we have yet to see if his repaired back can stand the rigors of the season and be ready to play at peak level in the playoffs.

I don't think his acquistion makes up for losing Dellavedova, which I think was a big mistake.

 

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

Very smart savvy player who will fit seamlessly into the offense.

The problem, mostly, is that the team's offense hasn't needed upgrading.

But to get him for the price of waving "bye, bye" to our Kyrie Irving insurance plan, well, not bad.

He is a great defensive player, I was mostly impressed by his defense.

 

[David.]

Defensive stats love him, albeit small sample size

 

[Chris Parker]

I think Dunleavy has looked even better than his stats suggest (and I am an analytics guy!!). I really believe this was a great addition, moreover, combined with RJ looking good we have some nice vets who can guard the 2-4.

Really? You would put Dunleavy on a "2"? I think he's too slow. Guys would go right buy him. Because of his length, like RJ, he has some extra success challenging 3s, but his footspeed and lateral quickness have been declining for a while.

Plz consider all the standard disclaimers about defensive stats. However, it's hard to deny nearly every defensive metric is going in the wrong direction, even before Hoiberg took over.

Out of curiosity, was there an actual relationship between losing Delly and getting Dunleavy? Or was it corollary?

Delly TPP offered the Cavs a place to stick Dunleavy's salary when Wade went to Chicago (which they knew about because he went to Chicago after dipping his toe in the water here and realizing he didn't want to sacrifice that kind of scratch)


Does anyone really expect us to get better defensively by adding slow white (albeit long) wings? The team could use more athleticism, iyam, but it's hard to come by, so I'm not really complaining, just noting that improving the offense seems to me, the less pressing concern overall.

 

[Jordan]

Really? You would put Dunleavy on a "2"? I think he's too slow. Guys would go right buy him. Because of his length, like RJ, he has some extra success challenging 3s, but his footspeed and lateral quickness have been declining for a while.

Plz consider all the standard disclaimers about defensive stats. However, it's hard to deny nearly every defensive metric is going in the wrong direction, even before Hoiberg took over.

It depends on the 2. I would not put him on Klay Thompson, that would be insane, but I would have no fear putting him on Livingston (who is more of a 1), KCP in Detroit, Monta Ellis in Indiana, etc.

And I accept those defensive stats (although his DRPM, DBPM, and Defensive Win Shares have still been only slightly lower than his defensive averages). But it's important to note two things in Cleveland that are different than Chicago: first, LeBron James improves people defensively because of his play as a rover. This makes a guy like Dunleavy's job much easier because he can be slightly more physical with the player he is defending. Secondly, teams would attack Dunleavy with a 2-3 pnr and 3-5 pnr in Chicago unless Butler was the 2. Dunleavy wasn't strong enough to defend the switch and people crushed him for it. I don't have that fear with Tristan and LeBron being the other defenders in the pnr.

Delly TPP offered the Cavs a place to stick Dunleavy's salary when Wade went to Chicago (which they knew about because he went to Chicago after dipping his toe in the water here and realizing he didn't want to sacrifice that kind of scratch)

Sure, I'm not an idiot, I know that, haha (not saying you accused me of this, you didn't). But was there a direct connection? Like did the Cavs let Delly go specifically because of their goal of getting Dunleavy? That would be a really dumb decision if true.

Does anyone really expect us to get better defensively by adding slow white (albeit long) wings? The team could use more athleticism, iyam, but it's hard to come by, so I'm not really complaining, just noting that improving the offense seems to me, the less pressing concern overall.

No, as I've said, our biggest need is an athlete who can guard the 2-4 and can score off the bench while being willing to accept that role. Dunleavy is not the solution to that. But that does not mean he's not going to be useful for us.

 

[Lee]

I like Dunleavey but we have yet to see if his repaired back can stand the rigors of the season and be ready to play at peak level in the playoffs.

I don't think his acquistion makes up for losing Dellavedova, which I think was a big mistake.

Dunleavy didnt become available till after we lost Delly, so one has nothing to do with the other, but I agree rather have Delly.

Also, I think his back will be fine, he isnt logging heavy minutes, but might see an uptick in minutes come playoffs, he will be part of many our top +/- tandems.

 

[murph0511]

Out of curiosity, was there an actual relationship between losing Delly and getting Dunleavy? Or was it corollary?

If memory serves correct, Dellavedova had signed the offer sheet and it was announced that the Cavs would not match prior to the Cavs working out the deal to acquire Dunleavy. It was originally announced that Dunleavy would be absorbed into a pre-existing TPE, which I believe was created when Varejao was traded. Essentially, the two moves were separate.

The Dellevedova contract started with a similar cap figure to Dunleavy's deal. The Cavs opted to structure Delly's departure as a sign and trade to create another TPE. This TPE wasn't quite large enough to absorb Dunleavy's deal, so the Cavs got Milwaukee to increase Dellevedova's starting salary by a few hundred thousand (and sent Milwaukee the extra money to cover it). In effect, this created a TPE from the Dellevedova departure that was just barely large enough to absorb Dunleavy's contract.

The benefit of all that maneuvering was that the larger TPE from the Varejao trade remained intact at it's full value, which is valuable since it can't be combined with other trade assets for salary cap matching purposes.

In theory, the Cavs could have matched Delly's deal and acquired Dunleavy with their existing TPE as this would have worked under the league's salary cap rules (but not necessarily within the Cavs budget restrictions due to the extreme luxury tax payments they'd be on the hook for).