Author Archive for Bob

Lebron sick of departure talk, Windhorst headed to the Plains Dealer, Boobie fires agent

Published
by
Bob
on September 30, 2008
in Cavsboard News and Lebron
. 1 Comment

So this will likely get little to no national run, since that’s how these things work, but Bob Finnan had a quote in his News Herald write up about media day from Lebron James regarding all the rumors of his departure in two years:

“Go on the Internet and see every time I’ve been asked if I’m happy in Cleveland and see my response,” he said. “It’s simple. I’ve never given any indication I was leaving Cleveland or I didn’t like being here.

“I love being here and playing in front of these fans. My family is here. I grew up 30 miles away from here.”

My favorite quote from Lebron though was not the one above.  It’s the one below.  Lebron was asked about how he’s improved over the summer due to the level of competition the Olympics brought.  What followed was a reference to Daniel Gibson that must have made Boobie feel like “hey, what did i do?”.

“There’s no way you can’t get better,” he said. “If you can go out and lead guys who are already established, guys who won NBA championships, scoring titles, MVPs and Rookies of the Year, then I should be able to lead Daniel Gibson.”

Speaking of Daniel Gibson, he must have gotten wind of talk of his “team-friendly” deal.  He’s parted ways with his agent Lewis Tucker, joking that “I’m a free agent”.

And a big congratulations goes out to both Brian Windhorst and to Waiting for Next Year.  WFNY made us aware that Brian will be departing the Akron Beacon Journal to join Terry Pluto at the Cleveland Plains Dealer.  Brian has already collaborated on a book with Terry Pluto, and should really solidify the Plains Dealer Cavalier coverage with the ahead of the curve way he’s consistently broken news.

Also be sure to check out Dan Labbe’s notes from media day.  I found his comment about Delonte West being the only Cavalier to shy away from talk of a championship interesting.  Considering the following quote from Delonte on media day, why the restraint?

“My momma’s house is paid for,” he said. “My Uncle Rudy will get his teeth. My daddy got a boat. My little sister’s college is paid for. I can just concentrate on basketball now.”

Best Offseason Moves of 2008

Published
by
Bob
on September 29, 2008
in Free Agency, Signings and Trades
. 1 Comment

Well it’s time I stop being a lazy piece of shit. After the Delonte signing, I needed to put some real work in so as to not get fired from my paying job. But at this point, it’s time to start writing again and start looking around the division/league. Seeing as I already did a write-up on my least favorite moves of this offseason, it’s only fitting that I make my feelings known about which moves I like best.

So without any more delay, I give you my five “Best Moves of 2008 Offseason”:

1.) Elton Brand signs with the Sixers

This one is pretty obvious to sit atop my list in large part because it was unexpected. If you had told me that Brand would leave the Clippers, under rather nefarious circumstances, after the Clippers acquired Baron Davis, I would have told you that you were crazy.

The guy has been nothing but a loyal workhorse, and the monetary differences didn’t seem enough to prompt a guy to uproot his life and walk away from a potentially contending trio of Brand/Davis/Camby with promising young support from Thornton and Gordon.

But yeah…. That happened, and now I have to hope the 20 and 10 we’ve all come to expect from Brand is either a thing of the past, or mostly hollow numbers that don’t translate to “surpassing the Cavs”. Call me skeptical that another year together and the addition of Brand/Speights/Ratliff won’t spell significant progress for the Sixers.

He’s worth every cent of the deal he got, and the fact that Sixers resigned Igoudala and Williams only makes this deal all the bigger in my eyes.

2.) Rockets acquire Ron Artest

This is one of those fantasy roster moves that of course I love until I see how it plays out. It’s low risk, and simply for that reason alone, I can get behind it. If Artest works out, you’ve put yourself in the driver’s seat when he negotiates his next contract. If not, he plays out the final year of his contract and he’s off the books next summer. Either way, the on court impact he could have on an already solid defensive squad could be tremendous. With Battier and Artest harassing the opposition, Tracy can focus on what Tracy does.

Giving up Donte Greene after his summer league showing might have been unfortunate, but we all know summer league ball does not an NBA player make (see Shannon Brown), and considering the way his stock free fell during the actual draft (sliding all the way to Memphis at #28 before being traded to Houston for weed smoking Darrell Arthur, the Rockets were probably fortunate to luck into such a promising talent that late in the first round anyway. Turning him and the corpse of Bobby Jackson into Ron Artest is a deal you make 11 out of 10 days.

2.5) Clippers acquire Marcus Camby

I already posted my thoughts on why this was a bad deal for the Nuggets, so logically I’d love it for the Clippers. Low risk, high reward. Moving on.

3.) Portland acquires Jerryd Bayless and Ike Diogu for Brandon Rush/Jarrett Jack/Josh McRoberts

A slashing point guard like Bayless would have been a dream scenario for the Cavs, but most expected he could go as high as the fourth overall pick. Why dwell on something which will never happen? He did slip quite a long way…. all the way to #11 where he was taken by the Pacers. Instead of holding on to him as the replacement for Jamaal Tinsley, the Pacers shipped him off to the Trailblazers.

The Trailblazers essentially turned the 13th overall pick (Brandon Rush) and two other players (Jarrett Jack and Josh Roberts) into the summer league’s best rookie who could start immediately or provide a huge scoring punch off the bench, a big man in Diogu, and almost as importantly, they opened up one more roster spot which is valuable for a team that is loaded up on overseas talent.

After seeing Rudy Fernandez’s performance in the Olympics, you’d be hard pressed to find somebody that would take issue with the Blazers offseason roster maneuvers. Did I mention Greg Oden returns?

4.) Roger Mason signs with the Spurs for 2 years, $7.3 million

I had to make at least one of these picks about a role player who flew under the radar. I loved this signing. The Spurs are aging and they added a 28-year old perimeter player who can do a little of everything to ease the loss of Brent Barry and the decay of Michael Finley. He shot nearly 40% from behind the arc last year, showed the ability to put the ball on the floor a little, and even spelled Daniels and Arenas at point when injuries required it.

Considering players like Michael Pietrus got the entire midlevel exception even after the Magic invested a first round pick in a player of the same position (Courtney Lee), you can hardly second guess the Spurs for acquiring yet another versatile role player for only $3.5 million to plug in alongside their starters. Watching Mason play these last few years have given me a healthy respect for his all around game. Mason won’t be enough to offset the age/injury concerns the Spurs continue to have, but he was a nice addition.

5.) Timberwolves acquire Kevin Love, Mike Miller, Brian Cardinal, and Jason Collins for OJ Mayo, Greg Buckner, Marko Jaric, and Antoine Walker

Let’s take the dead weight out of the analysis of this deal (Marko Jaric, Antoine Walker, Brian Cardinal). It’s moving bad money for other bad money, with the only difference being years.

The core of this deal is Kevin Love and Mike Miller for OJ Mayo. Personally I think I’d take Love for Mayo straight up. Love is a big man with both an inside and outside game (although we’ve yet to see how effective his inside game will be in the pros). He’s worked tirelessly to get his body in optimal NBA condition. He rebounds very well. He has a good attitude and fundamentally, he’s perhaps the best player in this year’s draft.

As for Mayo, he’s got the “upside”. Many would say at USC he was underwhelming given the level of hype he came in with. His character certainly can be called into question after witnessing his youtube antics and reading about his alleged “benefits” while playing at USC. But I’m trying to view this independently of any off court related reasons.

Why would a big man starved team (the Grizzlies) trade a very promising big man for another perimeter player on a team that already has Conley, Crittendon, Lowry, and Gay? Mayo has the “upside” but he’s hardly shown that’s he’s a traditional point guard, and with Crittendon and Gay on the outside, the Grizzlies don’t lack for guys who can fill it up when given the green light.

Call me a hater, but I think the Mayo legacy that was created post-Lebron is responsible for the Grizzlies trading away a guy who will end with a better NBA career.

The Worst Offseason Moves of 2008

Published
by
Bob
on September 22, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 1 Comment

Well, with the season still a month away roughly, it’s time to start putting making some predictions and getting on my soapbox.  So I give you my first “The Worst Offseason Moves of (insert year)” piece. 

1.) The Nuggets trade Marcus Camby for a second-round pick:

Fine. You don’t want to pay the guy. I wish the Cavs didn’t have to pay Wallace or Wally either. But Camby is far more productive than the Cavaliers dead weight, and he makes nearly half of what those two do. There had to be a better option out there then to deal him for a second round pick, even if it’s not out there before the season.

At the trade deadline, when teams are trying to add that one piece (see Kurt Thomas to the Spurs) the Nuggets probably could have gotten a first-round choice, or at least some promising prospect who wasn’t going to be playing much with a contender (like a Donte Greene). Sure, they would have had to pay the luxury tax for one more year, but I think that’s a far better alternative.

Couple that with the fact that Camby’s deal is actually pretty reasonable ($8 million this season, $7.65 million next), and I’m completely underwhelmed by the “salary dump” that Denver found in the Clippers. When looking for a team with enough cap space to take on $8 million dollars, their choices were limited. But sometimes, if the party is full of fat chicks, you should just go home alone.

2.) The Knicks sign Chris Duhon for 2 years, $11 million:

I want to just write “it’s the Knicks” and move on, but here goes.

This deal is a bad deal. It’s yet another midlevel deal doled out to yet another career backup by the New Yorks Knicks.  If there is any team in the last five years who has so woefully misused their midlevel, it would be the New York Knicks. 

But to the Knicks credit, at least they didn’t give him a long, bad deal. In two years, if Duhon proves to be overpaid, they can wash their hands of him. They’re just reaching that point with Jared Jeffries and Jerome James, two of their other midlevel mistakes. They’re showing improvement in that respect.

When deciding between deals, Duhon was considering the Magic and Knicks, but the Knicks came to the table with a lot more money in offering 2 years at roughly $5.5 million per. Put that in perspective with West’s 3 years at roughly $4 million per with a third year team option, and you have to think they might have overspent a little on a position where they already have $21 million dollars invested in a lunatic (Marbury).

Speaking of bad deals for average role player talent….

3.) Kwame Brown to the Pistons for 2 years, $8 million:

I have a general rule. It’s an infrequently cited rule, but here goes.

If a team signs a player who has spent the last three years of his career with the Lakers, a storied franchise…. and if said player is cited as “former Washington Wizard Kwame Brown” in the adjoining article in the local rag announcing his acquisition, then said player must have sucked with the Lakers.

2 years, $8 million dollars… How Brown keeps getting money when he’s been an injury prone, inconsistent, baby-handed disappointment his whole career is beyond me. It just goes to show you that if you can fill out a uniform and are taller then 6’10” somebody will pay you.  $4 million dollars is not a ton of money for a big man (Ronny Turiaf who played less then Kwame in LA when Kwame was healthy got $4.5 per season), but it’s too much for a guy who can’t stay in the lineup for any long stretch of time of plays like he’s not in it even when he is.

The Pistons should have just taken 20 million dollars, mashed it up into a basketball shaped wad, and offered to let Kwame keep it all if he could catch it. I guarantee you Kwame would be playing for free.

4.) Joe Alexander taken with the 8th overall choice for the Milwaukee Bucks:

I didn’t get this at the time, and I still don’t understand it now. A poor summer league showing by Alexander only solidifies my belief that taking him with the 8th overall pick was the wrong move for the Bucks. It screams Luke Jackson revisited.

They moved Yi and Simmons to acquire Jefferson. They appear to be trying to “win now”. But then they turned around and drafted a guy with the number 8 pick who is not going to be able to significantly contribute being buried behind Jefferson. They lack interior bangers and when they dealt Mason in the Mo Williams deal, not only did they knowingly deal away the most talented player in the deal (Williams), but they failed to get back any big men.

The Alexander choice can’t be looked out without the context of the surrounding moves. But when you do consider the Bucks other maneuvers, it sticks out like a sore thumb. One that you’ll want to amputate from your hand later on.

5.) Corey Maggette signed to a 50 million dollar deal:

Maggette had little to no leverage when he inked his deal. The money on the free agent market had largely dried up. The Clippers has spent “Maggette’s money” on Baron Davis and still were under the impression they’d be resigning Brand. The Grizzlies weren’t going to spend their money period.

Nobody on the market was offering Magette the kind of money he felt he was worth ($10 million per season) mainly because nobody had that kind of money available. And in swooped the Warriors, bidding against themselves to get Maggette. It’s like taking a prostitute to a nice steak dinner. Completely unnecessary. You could have sex with her in your car, and not even share the Del Taco.

Now he’s not a bad player. Quite the opposite, but when you’ve got two free agents to resign (Monta Ellis and Andris Biedrins) who both eventually cost more than $10 million per season, a little financial responsibility would have been nice to see. Who was going to outbid the Warriors if they’d only offered $8 million per year, or $8.5?

Ronald Dupree coming to camp with the Cavs

Published
by
Bob
on September 18, 2008
in Free Agency and Signings
. 0 Comments

Well Hoopshype is reporting that Ronald “Super Dupe” Dupree, the former Piston small forward has signed on with the Cavs to compete for a roster spot in training camp. 

Ronald Dupree, who will go in history as the last player inked by the Seattle SuperSonics, will be signed by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

While Dupree has had a largely insignificant career in the NBA, he has managed to stick around filling up a spot on the bench for a few different squads.  Undrafted out of LSU, Dupree (6′7″, 200 lbs.) had his biggest on court impact his rookie season when he logged 20 minutes a night with a bad Bulls team averaging 6 points and 3 boards per game during ‘03-’04.

Since then, he served as roster filler for Larry Brown’s Pistons, had a short stint in Minnesota when he was traded there for a second-round pick, and then returned to Detroit where he rode the bench until he was waived to make room for Primo Brezec and Walter Hermann in the Pistons-Bobcats deal that sent Nazi Mohammed to Charlotte.

It’s not really a surprise that Mike Brown would want bring in another long wing player since he seems to be searching for some more defensive help on the perimeter.  Whether Dupree makes the team or not (which is unlikely), is largely going to depend on what happens with Eric Snow, since the roster is pretty full up now on guys who are better options.  Regardless, I wouldn’t expect him to have any more of a roll with the Cavs then he did with the Pistons after his initial year…. that being the role of a towel waiver and seat warmer.

Delonte guaranteed $500,000 in third year of deal

Published
by
Bob
on September 15, 2008
in Free Agency, Rookies and Trades
. 0 Comments

So Bob Finnan had a follow up to the Delonte West signing that included some concrete numbers, but more importantly, it included information about the all-important third year, which previously had been reported as one that included a team option. While that is by and large true, Delonte does have a portion of that third year guaranteed even if the Cavs waive him during the summer of 2010. Finnan reports:

West’s contract starts at $3,850,000 this season, a source said. It’s a three-year deal worth $12,705,000. He will be paid $4,235,000 in 2009-10 and $4,620,000 in 2010-11.

The third year might not be a club option, as once thought, but it’s conditional. West has $500,000 in salary protection in the third year. If he’s on the roster by a certain date — perhaps by July 1, 2010 — his contract will become guaranteed. But the Cavs can waive him and he would be owed $500,000.

Signing West puts the Cavaliers at somewhere between 90 and 91 million dollars of guaranteed salaries. That ranks behind only New York and Dallas for the league’s highest payroll. There’s a reason why the Cavaliers have so many potential trade packages. It’s because their roster is still loaded with highly paid, underachieving players. Ferry is doing all he can to fix that. So what else can we expect to see this year?

The next item we’ll likely see is the release of Lance Allred (who currently sits 7th on the depth chart of Cavalier big men). Billy Thomas was waived last week and has already signed overseas, and those moved together would leave the Cavs with 14 players on the roster. Eric Snow’s situation is still largely unresolved, but the one certainty is that he won’t be suiting up with the Cavs again. Finnan adds some details on his injury settlement situation:

Cavs guard Eric Snow’s knee is shot and he can no longer play in the NBA. He has one more year on his contract worth $7.3 million.

A source said he won’t be on the Cavs this year — as a player or coach. So what gives?

Let’s muddle through this. If he’s waived, his $7.3 million contract will remain on the books.

That’s not what the Cavs want. They can’t petition the league to remove his salary from their payroll until one year after Snow’s last game (last Feb. 22 against Washington) in an injured player exception.

Up until that time, Snow could theoretically be used in a trade. Remember, he still owns an expiring contract, which could come into play near the trade deadline of Feb. 19, 2009. If he’s traded, though, the team that acquires him can’t use the exception.

Let’s hope Gilbert and Ferry keep him around, if for no other reason then to add to their options come trade deadline.