Newble, Take Two?

Former Cavalier Back On The Market

When the Cavaliers made their “blockbuster” trade last week, one of the moving pieces was G/F/ Whatever-you-need Ira Newble, who was shipped to Seattle as part of the acquisition of Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak. Well now, Ira Newble is about to be a free agent again. The Sonics signed veteran guard Mike Wilks, and to make room on the roster, they waived Newble. Once Newble clears waivers (no reason to believe he won’t), he will be a free agent and can sign with anyone he wants…..sort of.

NBA trade rules stipulate that he cannot sign with the Cavaliers for 30 days. The question is, would the Cavaliers be interested in bringing Newble back, and would Newble be interested in waiting that long to come back to Cleveland?

To answer the 2nd question first, I think the answer is…..kind of. By all indications, Newble would indeed be interested in coming back to the Cavaliers. But will he really sit around for 30 days while waiting for the Cavs? That will be tricky. According to Brian Windhorst in the Akron Beacon Journal,

“The Seattle SuperSonics waived former Cav Ira Newble on Friday. He will be a free agent by the end of the weekend. According to two people close to Newble, he might consider coming back to the Cavs, who might be able to use his perimeter defense, depending on how Sasha Pavlovic comes back from a severe foot sprain.

But a league rule prohibits Newble from signing with the Cavs until 30 days after being traded. According to a source, several teams already have expressed interest in Newble and he might not be on the market for long.”

With several teams looking into adding Newble, and with Newble being a free agent after this season and thus needing to audition for a contract, it’s hard to imagine him being able to wait out. All things being equal, it sounds like Newble wouldn’t mind coming back, but all things aren’t equal and so I don’t see him coming back.

Now, to answer the first question, would the Cavaliers want him back? I think he would be great to bring back. Even when healthy this season, Sasha Pavlovic didn’t show the same defensive determination that he showed in the playoffs last year. Wally Szczerbiak is notorious for his lousy defense. Newble, on the other hand, is a very tough defender. He’s also extremely versatile and can fit into multiple roles. He already knows the system, and has played decently enough at times. In his last 7 games with the Cavaliers, when he filled in as the starting SG, he averaged a respectable (for a role player) 8.0 points per game while playing solid defense. He could be a guy the Cavaliers could use in spurts in the playoffs when they need someone to come in and slow down the opponents’ backcourt. Furthermore, Mike Brown’s son is a big Ira Newble fan, and despite Ira’s embarrassing episode earlier this year when he refused the coach’s order to enter the game in “garbage time”, I think Brown trusts Ira’s defense and would be very much in favor of bringing back another guy who is comfortable in the system.

In summary, I think there would be some legit interest on the Cavaliers’ part in bringing back Ira Newble should he be available when the team in eligible to sign him, and I think he would actually add some value to the roster come playoff time. But the odds of Newble not signing with someone else before then are quite small.

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