Monthly Archive for July, 2008

Danny Ferry: Saving the Cavs One Contract At A Time

Published
by
Bob
on July 31, 2008
in Free Agency, Lebron, Signings and Trades
. 1 Comment

The saying goes “there are two sides to every story”.

Danny Ferry’s saying goes “I can’t comment on that saying due to league rules”.

Those types of bland answers are what have become all too common place in the reign of Ferry as Cavaliers General Manager.

Since June of 2005, following Jim Paxson’s dismissal, Danny Ferry has served as the main facilitator of all the Cavalier personnel decisions and these last two offseasons have seem some fairly unusual dealings for the Cavaliers organization. To recap the “Ferry timeline”, here’s a list of the moves he’s responsible for:

2005
• Signing Larry Hughes (5 years, $70 million) - terrible deal, one of the worst in the NBA
• Signing Donyell Marshall (4 years, $24 million) - didn’t work out, but based on Toronto who knew?
• Signing Damon Jones (4 years, $16 million) - couple game winners, no d… bust
• Resigning Zydrunas Ilgauskas (5 years, $50 million) - i’m ok with this contract, he should retire a Cav
2006
• Extending Lebron James Contract - obvious
• Drafting Shannon Brown and Daniel Gibson - Gibson was a steal, Brown was a bust
• Resigning Drew Gooden (3 years, $23 million) - fair deal for a big
• Trading Luke Jackson for Dwayne Jones - who cares?
• Signing David Wesley - do i need to say more?
2007
• Trading David Wesley for Cedric Simmons - liked it at the time
• Signing Devin Brown (1 year, $1.1 million) - he was worth the million
• Resigning Anderson Varejao (3 years, $17.4 million, player option after year two) - ugly but good terms
• Resigning Sasha Pavlovic (3 years, $14-15 million, team option after year two) - ditto

2008
• Trading Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, Shannon Brown, and Cedric Simmons for Ben Wallace, Joe Smith, and a 2nd round pick - well you lose Larry’s deal, but had to take Wallace’s… Joe Smith was a pleasant addition
• Trading Donyell Marshall and Ira Newble for Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West - West was the key, Szczerbiak is trade bait
• Resigning Daniel Gibson (5 years, $20.8 million) - GREAT deal
• Drafted J.J. Hickson - looks good so far

And last, but certainly not least….

2007, 2008

• Pissing off Dan Fegan, Marc Cornstein, and Aaron Goodwin in the process

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NBA News: “And I’m like one of the most ghetto-ist guys on the internet”

Published
by
Bob
on July 31, 2008
in Free Agency and Trades
. 0 Comments

Prepare to have your mind blown.

The Bulls have discovered some interest in guard Larry Hughes, as long as they’re willing to take a big contract in return. Since the Bulls need to thin out their backcourt, some possibilities could include Portland’s Joe Przybilla, New York’s Jared Jeffries, Dallas’ Erick Dampier or Denver’s Kenyon Martin.

What did I just read?  Somebody else wants to trade for Larry Hughes.  Did you any of you ever think that when the Cavaliers signed him, in three to four seasons, he’d be linked in trade rumors to guys like Joel Przybilla and Erick Dampier?  How the fragile have fallen.

It took Ron Artest all of one day to unleash a meandering, rambling interview upon all of us after Yao Ming voiced concerns regarding his character following the trade.  Yao, when questioned about his feelings after the deal had the following to say:

“There’s worry. Obviously, yes,” said Yao. “We will think about it, of course. Hopefully, he’s not fighting anymore and going after a guy in the stands.

“I haven’t talked to Ron yet, so it’s hard to say. I have to find a way to talk to him and see what we can do as a basketball team. He has a history. But we know he is a physical player. He is a good player. He really can help us. And Ron is on a contract year, too.

” I think Ron Artest is a good player if coach (Rick) Adelman can control the team well.”

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Lebron leads USA over Turkey

Published
by
Bob
on July 31, 2008
in Lebron and Olympics
. 0 Comments

From ESPN:

MACAU — LeBron James scored 20 points and was a defensive force Thursday night in his exhibition debut, helping the U.S. Olympic basketball team overcome some early sloppy play to beat Turkey 114-82 in its first game in China.

Turkey was still close late into the second before James seized control on both ends. He rebounded his own miss for a 10-point lead, came up with a steal and made a free throw, then leaped high for a one-handed dunk off an alley-oop pass from Kobe Bryant for a 50-37 lead. Another steal by James led to Howard’s dunk and a 15-point cushion.

James had 12 points in the half and added eight more and some of the game’s highlight plays in the third. Following a basket by Turkey, he took the ball out and whipped a pass to the other end of the court to a streaking Dwyane Wade for a dunk. A minute later, James had another steal and passed ahead to Kobe Bryant, who bounced it in front of the basket to Anthony for a dunk.

If he keeps up this kind of defensive intensity, maybe he can finally shed the woefully inaccurate labels about not trying on defense that talking heads keep regurgitating.

Cavsboard.com Podcast #3: Artest, West, Gordon

Published
by
Bob
on July 30, 2008
in NBA News, Signings and Trades
. 1 Comment

The Cavsboard.com Podcast is back with it’s third edition.  I cover three subjects on this one.

  • Ron Artest
  • Delonte West’s contract situation
  • Ben Gordon

It’s 10 minutes of audio delight.  Listen below:

 
icon for podpress  Cavsboard.com Podcast #3 [10:33m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

NBA News: Artest to Houston, Deng resigning, Ben Gordon insane

Published
by
Bob
on July 30, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 2 Comments

Well, I feel for Krolik over on Cavalier Attitude as well as Dan Labbe of Cavaliers Corner on Cleveland.com.  Today the hope of attaining Ron Artest is dead.  He is being dealt to the Houston Rockets, where he’ll be reunited with former Kings coach Rick Adelman.

The Rockets will give up guard Bobby Jackson, a No. 1 draft pick next season and another player that the individual with knowledge of the trade could not name. Rockets general manager Daryl Morey declined to comment.

Rookie forward Donte Greene, whom the Rockets acquired in a series of draft-night trades, will be included in the trade and is considered a key to the deal for the Kings. But because Greene signed July 14, he cannot be traded until Aug. 14 and the deal cannot be finalized or discussed publicly by team officials until Aug. 14.

The Rockets are also expected to acquire rookies Patrick Ewing Jr. and Sean Singletary another player or players in the deal to make the money match, but both have partially guaranteed contracts and are likely to be released. The Rockets will also send the Kings roughly $1 million.

Count me amongst those that likes this deal for both teams.  The Rockets get Artest which requires no justification from a talent standpoint if they’re willing to take the risk on a blowup.  Add Artest’s defense alongside Shane Battier, and that’s a team that from a talent standpoint can hang with anyone.  The question is and always has been chemistry and health.

The Kings get about the best they could have hoped to.  Bobby Jackson is simply a salary dump at the end of this upcoming season, but they’ll also be getting what will probably be a late first round pick, and they get Donte Greene, who looked like a guy who could score in droves during the Summer League. 

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