Random Cavs Thoughts
September 4, 2006 · By Macphisto
The last time I wrote about the Cavaliers here on Swerb’s Blurbs the previous season was barely over. I had analyzed what to do with Drew Gooden, with Z, and had promised much more.
Sometimes life gets in the way.
It’s been a busy summer for me. Family and friends have gotten married. I have traveled and moved. At least there’s been a lot less hurricane dodging down here in Tampa, Florida than usual thus far, so that’s a plus (knock on wood).
It seems that I’ve been far busier than the Cavs’ front office; at least outward appearances would make that seem so.
I would first like to say that I LOVE the Cavaliers’ draft. Shannon Brown can be great (and kudos to Swerb for nailing the pick before the draft), Daniel Gibson has a lot of potential, and I like the idea of hiding Euro players away for a few years before having to worry about a roster spot.
That said, the Cavs have not really done much since the draft. No major impact free agents. No major trades. It’s been very ho-hum as far as off-seasons go outside of LeBron’s interesting extension, which I like and understand.
I will admit that I liked the re-signing of Drew Gooden. While I still have concerns about him on both sides of the ball, chances are that we were not going to see a major upgrade at the position. Add to that the contract he signed; it’s very team friendly and his salary will supposedly go down after this year. This will make Drew very tradeable if he just can manage to be his normal self this year. I think, with a better-defined offensive role, that he could put up superior numbers to last season. That means that the Cavs likely have the upcoming season to determine the solution to the PF problem: Anderson Varejao or Drew Gooden?
Varejao is set to become a free agent after the upcoming season. Because this is only his third year in the league, the Cavaliers have the option of extending him a qualifying offer and making him a restricted free agent. This means that a team that greatly desires Varejao would have to come through the Cavs in all likelihood. This, however, presents the same problem for the Cavs that Gooden did this year: Varejao will be a BYC (Base Year Compensation) player; he’ll be worth less to the Cavs’ in trade than his actual new salary. Gooden’s BYC status will expire on June 30 making Gooden worth his full 2007/2008 salary in trade.
It should be noted that Varejao is not considered untouchable. Windhorst of the Akron Beacon-Journal reported earlier this summer that the Cavs had discussions with another Central Division team concerning Varejao. His hints would suggest that we were contemplating sending Varejao in a package to Chicago to get Kirk Hinrich. As much as I like Varejao, this is a trade I would make, depending on the other players involved.
It just goes to show that Cavs’ fans should not get too attached to a single player not named LeBron.
Moving on, the Cavs also signed Scott Pollard. I like this signing as Pollard provides defense, rebounding, and a nasty attitude in the paint. He will help us a bit off the bench but his minutes may be limited due to depth upfront. Even so, I consider him an improvement over Alan Henderson because of the “enforcer” type of attitude he brings.
There’s also now rumor that David Wesley will sign a one-year deal with the Cavs. This I also like. Wesley is a vet who can shoot and who also brings a bit of a nasty streak with him. His signing would make the swing position even more cluttered than it currently is.
And that brings me to a major roster issue that leads me to believe there are more trades on the horizon.
Let’s take a look at these names:
Luke Jackson
Sasha Pavlovic
Shannon Brown
Daniel Gibson
Damon Jones
David Wesley
Larry Hughes
Stephen Graham
LeBron James
Ira Newble
That’s a shitload of SGs/PGs/SFs. There’s no way that all of these guys will get PT. We know that Hughes and LeBron are going nowhere. We can guess that at least Shannon Brown will see some good minutes off the bench. I’d suspect that Daniel Gibson could also provide some time off the bench. I don’t expect him to contribute as much as Shannon Brown but I think that we might favor him over Jackson or Pavlovic.
My thinking is that Jackson, Pavlovic, Jones, and Newble could all be traded. I believe there is a market for each of them but could the Cavs get anything back that they’d want? Namely, could they get a PG in return? There are a couple of PGs out there that are available though I’m not sure how well they fit with this team. I have to dig a bit and see who is likely to be available and what may be required to acquire the PG.
So even though this summer has been fairly uneventful for the Cavs on the player movement front, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the FO make a couple of moves before the season hits.
Swerbs Blurbs
September 4, 2006 · By Macphisto
The last time I wrote about the Cavaliers here on Swerb’s Blurbs the previous season was barely over. I had analyzed what to do with Drew Gooden, with Z, and had promised much more.
Sometimes life gets in the way.
It’s been a busy summer for me. Family and friends have gotten married. I have traveled and moved. At least there’s been a lot less hurricane dodging down here in Tampa, Florida than usual thus far, so that’s a plus (knock on wood).
It seems that I’ve been far busier than the Cavs’ front office; at least outward appearances would make that seem so.
I would first like to say that I LOVE the Cavaliers’ draft. Shannon Brown can be great (and kudos to Swerb for nailing the pick before the draft), Daniel Gibson has a lot of potential, and I like the idea of hiding Euro players away for a few years before having to worry about a roster spot.
That said, the Cavs have not really done much since the draft. No major impact free agents. No major trades. It’s been very ho-hum as far as off-seasons go outside of LeBron’s interesting extension, which I like and understand.
I will admit that I liked the re-signing of Drew Gooden. While I still have concerns about him on both sides of the ball, chances are that we were not going to see a major upgrade at the position. Add to that the contract he signed; it’s very team friendly and his salary will supposedly go down after this year. This will make Drew very tradeable if he just can manage to be his normal self this year. I think, with a better-defined offensive role, that he could put up superior numbers to last season. That means that the Cavs likely have the upcoming season to determine the solution to the PF problem: Anderson Varejao or Drew Gooden?
Varejao is set to become a free agent after the upcoming season. Because this is only his third year in the league, the Cavaliers have the option of extending him a qualifying offer and making him a restricted free agent. This means that a team that greatly desires Varejao would have to come through the Cavs in all likelihood. This, however, presents the same problem for the Cavs that Gooden did this year: Varejao will be a BYC (Base Year Compensation) player; he’ll be worth less to the Cavs’ in trade than his actual new salary. Gooden’s BYC status will expire on June 30 making Gooden worth his full 2007/2008 salary in trade.
It should be noted that Varejao is not considered untouchable. Windhorst of the Akron Beacon-Journal reported earlier this summer that the Cavs had discussions with another Central Division team concerning Varejao. His hints would suggest that we were contemplating sending Varejao in a package to Chicago to get Kirk Hinrich. As much as I like Varejao, this is a trade I would make, depending on the other players involved.
It just goes to show that Cavs’ fans should not get too attached to a single player not named LeBron.
Moving on, the Cavs also signed Scott Pollard. I like this signing as Pollard provides defense, rebounding, and a nasty attitude in the paint. He will help us a bit off the bench but his minutes may be limited due to depth upfront. Even so, I consider him an improvement over Alan Henderson because of the “enforcer” type of attitude he brings.
There’s also now rumor that David Wesley will sign a one-year deal with the Cavs. This I also like. Wesley is a vet who can shoot and who also brings a bit of a nasty streak with him. His signing would make the swing position even more cluttered than it currently is.
And that brings me to a major roster issue that leads me to believe there are more trades on the horizon.
Let’s take a look at these names:
Luke Jackson
Sasha Pavlovic
Shannon Brown
Daniel Gibson
Damon Jones
David Wesley
Larry Hughes
Stephen Graham
LeBron James
Ira Newble
That’s a shitload of SGs/PGs/SFs. There’s no way that all of these guys will get PT. We know that Hughes and LeBron are going nowhere. We can guess that at least Shannon Brown will see some good minutes off the bench. I’d suspect that Daniel Gibson could also provide some time off the bench. I don’t expect him to contribute as much as Shannon Brown but I think that we might favor him over Jackson or Pavlovic.
My thinking is that Jackson, Pavlovic, Jones, and Newble could all be traded. I believe there is a market for each of them but could the Cavs get anything back that they’d want? Namely, could they get a PG in return? There are a couple of PGs out there that are available though I’m not sure how well they fit with this team. I have to dig a bit and see who is likely to be available and what may be required to acquire the PG.
So even though this summer has been fairly uneventful for the Cavs on the player movement front, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the FO make a couple of moves before the season hits.
Swerbs Blurbs