Kyrie Irving makes shots and a few more fans during All-Star weekend
February 18, 2013Quicken Loans Arena could see giant HD scoreboard upgrade
February 18, 2013Buried in a column about the Los Angeles Lakers and Dwight Howard was an interesting trade-based tidbit regarding the Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors center Andrea Bargnani.
[Utah] has talked to the Raptors in the past about Andrea Bargnani, but since Utah is hoarding cap space, a deal is highly unlikely.
Speaking of Bargnani, Chicago would love to have him, but the Raptors have no interest in taking on the mammoth contract of Carlos Boozer.
The talk of Ben Gordon coming over from Charlotte is a non-starter, and another rumoured deal with Philadelphia is also mere chatter, according to sources.
Spies here in Houston reveal that other teams have sniffed around on Bargnani, particularly Golden State and Cleveland.
The Cavaliers currently have Tyler Zeller as their starting center and will continue to say that all of this experience is going to be critical for his long-term development. Would-be center Anderson Varejao continues to deal with a litany of injuries and will miss the rest of the regular season due to having been prescribed blood thinners following a clot.
With the recent play of Tristan Thompson coupled with the fact that he is from Canada, it would make sense that the Raptors would start any discussions with the Cavaliers’ power forward as a return price for the former first-overall draft selection. Given the Cavaliers’ needs, however, it would not be surprising if this would be another case of general manager Chris Grant merely turning over every stone in his path.
[Related: Kyrie Irving makes shots and a few more fans during All-Star weekend]
17 Comments
Um, NO!!! We’d have to be insane to deal TT for Bargnani, who’s making $10MM a year and is pretty much a consensus bust as a #1 pick.
The stuff not boxed in above is Scott talking, right? Scott are we also getting two 1st round draft picks from Toronto as part of the proposed deal that would “start any discussions”???
Only way he comes o Cleveland is if we take on AB and this years pick and a future pick for some expiring guys ala Walton, Gibson, Casspi and Speights. What’s that? Oh, they don’t have a pick this year.
Pass. Hard pass. The Cavs’ defense is bad enough without Bargnani.
No.
Let’s look at this another way. The 16.2 PER that Tristan Thompson has put up so far in this, his second season is much better than the 12.2 PER that Bargnani is contributing this year in Toronto. In fact, Bargnani has only eclipsed 16.2 in 2 seasons. 10-11 when he barley beat it out at 16.4 and 11-12 when he only played 31 games and had a 17.9.
Thompson is cheaper, younger, probably already better, and certainly with a higher ceiling. In what world would we move him for Bargnani?
Any potential interest in Bargnani probably ended the moment Thompson’s name was uttered…if this happened at all. I’d be interested in Bargnani but not for Thompson.
Could be true but mean zilch as far as Cavs’ interest in Bargnani. Chris Grant strikes me as the type of GM who has had conversations with every GM about every player on every roster, not always serious but a lot of probing, sniffing, thinking about implications to the Cavs and other teams. That’s how he ends up with the complicated Jon Leuer deal. GMs are selling each other on deals and have to know each other, each other’s rosters and each other’s attitudes to do that.
No chance this is happening. Bargnani’s albatross of a contract completely ruins our 2014 flexibility.
You’re so right, TT won’t be moved unless were getting an All Star in return, say Kevin Love or Paul George. But that’s not happening, so it’s useless to talk about Thompson being traded. He’s here for the long haul, and he’s only gunna get better
Thanks but not thanks. His PER is under 13. 3.9 Rebounds/game for a seven footer???
And would someone please tell me why we need this flexibility or 2014? If LeBrons not coming, who is?
It’s not about LeBron necessarily. It’s about having max cap room and space on the roster to sign a free agent like Kevin Love, in conjunction with stockpiling assets and draft picks to be a legit option in a sign and trade, or have enough pieces to do a James Harden-type deal that the Rockets did. The Cavs are several steps ahead of other teams in the new CBA, and under the new labor agreement, players are going to go where they can get the most money.
Yeah the KLove point makes sense, but honestly I don’t see why 2014 is the big target for us. Unless we are targeting a certain player, like Love, having the cap space shouldn’t matter until 2015 for Kyrie and TT
Bargnani is worse than Tyler Zeller at almost everything: TZ rebounds better, passes better, hangs onto the ball better, blocks better, and shoots more accurately. And none of that is saying that Zeller is a fantastic center, but Bargnani is simply a terrible choice, and actually in the running for being the worst player in the NBA. Bargnani hurts his team by chucking up lots of bad shots as a way of padding his points-per-game.
He’s also worse than Speights, TT, and anyone else in the Cavs frontcourt. If I’m Chris Grant, I wouldn’t trade for him even if I were just giving up scrubs.
agreed. Just say no to the rich man’s Luke Walton
the only deal that I see for the cavs and bargnani is Walton, Gibson, and Casspi to Toronto and Bargnani as well as a first round pick or two coming with him. Get them out from that terrible contract.
I don’t know why we need to talk about centers since we’re getting Greg Oden. Game over. /s