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March 4, 2014The Alex Mack Contract Gamble
March 4, 2014Turmoil often leads to reaction. You can attempt to rectify your prior poor decisions with new ones, but oftentimes this is analogous to doubling down at a blackjack table in hopes of catching a hot hand. We often expect things to simply work out. Our decisions that were, at the time, supported by well-thought and careful analysis are supposed to bear fruit. But when they don’t… Well, that’s when some point fingers and others lose their jobs.
In what was to be the year that the Cleveland Cavaliers made the leap from hooting-and-hollering, bow tie-wearing lottery mainstays to young, up-and-coming, how-you-like-us-now playoff contenders, is it possible that, despite all of the top-four draft picks and calculated trades, the team’s most vital asset is the one that just arrived? That a lanky seven-footer who was seemingly allergic to defense and was all but left for dead by his former team could come in, sight unseen, and become the guy who makes everyone around him better?
The Cleveland Cavaliers are rife with talent which was, despite all of their individual shortcomings, good enough to be selected in the lottery of their respective drafts. While the level of said talent can be debated, what had become apparent over the course of the 2013-14 season was that the players—née “assets”—who were accumulated by one Chris Grant simply did not fit together. When the Cavaliers offloaded the remaining days of Andrew Bynum’s contract to the Chicago Bulls, they added one of the best small forwards in the entire league, but it was a move that hardly moved the dial in the way of additional wins. Since the day that the Cavaliers surprised a good chunk of the NBA community by offering two second-round draft picks in addition to a few players for the rights to rent (with an option to buy) Spencer Hawes, however, the guys wearing the Wine and Gold uniforms have appeared to be (at least over the short term) a completely different basketball team. There’s ball movement. There’s crisp cuts to the hoop. There’s even Jarrett Jack hitting shots.
Those who have tuned out the Cavaliers at this stage will not have understood the full impact of what Hawes’ addition to the Cavaliers has meant. The integers which follow his name in the box score are eerily similar to those when the seven-footer wore “Philadelphia” across his chest—double-digit points, a few huge rebounding efforts intertwined with those typically provided by a reserve shooting guard, a few blocked shots, and a handful of converted three-pointers. But what the box scores have not shown is the way which the Cavaliers have been executing on the offensive end1.
Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown has gone on record saying that he does not draw up plays for Anderson Varejao. When Andy is fortunate enough to score, it’s often due to an offensive rebound turned into an easy two or a collapsing lane that allows the wild-haired big man to pop out to the elbow and sink an ever-improving mid-range jump shot. While Tristan Thompson is improving as an starting power forward in the NBA, you would be hard-pressed to find a play that is drawn up with the intention of the 6-foot-9-inch springboard with the ball in his hands as the shot clock winds down. Thus, the addition of Hawes has meant much more than the extrapolated box score impact—the Cavaliers finally have a player who can not only hit a shot, but can do so in a fashion that was intended.
A glance at the numbers and fans will see that in three of the four games since Hawes entered the starting lineup, he has sank three three-pointers. It was already known that Hawes was the most efficient three-point shooter on the team the very day he arrived, but the big man has cranked the dial a few notches, hitting 58 percent of his threes (10-of-17) since having his name called among the starting five. But beyond the box score2, the Cavaliers have a player who immediately deserves defensive attention at every spot on the floor. When Hawes sets a screen for Kyrie Irving at the top of the key, his defender is forced to stay with him, leaving the screened defender on an island. Several times over the past four games, Hawes has found himself with the ball at the top of the key—his lethal passing has allowed the other four members of the Cavs to move without the ball. In one specific instance against the Grizzlies, Hawes found a streaking Irving who, as the defense collapsed on the reigning All-Star MVP, found a wide open Tristan Thompson. Thompson would be fouled en route to an easy two points, leading to a well-timed And One.
“I think initially guys just have to understand how to play the right way and with each other,” Brown said late last week. “That’s just moving the ball and moving bodies and spacing the floor correctly. Passing on time, passing on target, setting solid screens. The little things about the game of basketball on the offensive end of the floor is what we need to emphasize more than trying to get intricate.”
The little things about the game are exactly what the 25-year-old out of Washinton has appeared to have brought with him from the City of Brotherly Love. They say that the true definition of a star player is one who makes his teammates better simply by being on the floor. While Spencer Hawes will never be considered a star, there is no denying what his presence has done to the team thus far. A look at Irving’s numbers since Hawes entered the starting fray and one will see a boost in scoring and assists, the two-time All-Star tallying over 26 points and eight assists per night. Thompson, over the same period, has registered over 15 points and 11 boards per game, converting at a 64 percent clip.
“I knew coming into this situation, coming in at the deadline, there was no time to waste,” said Hawes of his immediate impact. “We’ve kind of continued to emphasize that since I’ve been here. There’s no time to waste trying to get acclimated and get comfortable. You kind of jump right in and see what you can get out of it. The guys have been great. They’ve really helped me out, on and off the court, welcoming me here and getting me adjusted. Hopefully it continues to play dividends.”
Having a player like Irving command as much of the attention as he does frees the game up for players with a skill set like Hawes. Who knew that, in the never-ending puzzle of roster construction, the piece that may have been missing was a veteran center who can hit an open shot and see the floor as good as a point guard?
Chris Grant may no longer be pulling the strings, but there is little doubt that the moves he made over the last three seasons allowed the Cavs to be able to obtain Hawes this past February. At age 25, there’s a lot to like about Hawes that extends beyond his current contract, but there are plenty of games to be played over the coming months, many of which are against some of the best talent the NBA has to offer. It may have been too little, too late for the Wine and Gold, losing games they should have won early on—falling just short come mid-April. But as they sit just just a handful of games out of the eighth seed, with Atlanta and Washington each suffering ill fate more often than not over their last 10 games, the Cavs undoubtedly have a chance.
This team going forward, with Hawes, appears to be night-and-day different compared to the one that was bludgeoned by the Sacramento Kings earlier this year. The team’s fate, as judged by a postseason birth or another bow-tied trip to the lottery, will appear to come down to a function of time. There’s little doubt that Hawes’ skill set is a gift to this Cavaliers team as currently constructed. The team, and its fans, will have to hope that the decision to bring him to Cleveland, however reactive it may have been painted, was one that didn’t happen before it was simply too late.
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(Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images)
8 Comments
Ha haaaa! Nice headline, Scott.
Hawes has been a little better than I expected but I see Kyrie acting like a point guard as the main reason for the suddenly palatable offense, by getting the ball out of his own hands shortly after he gets into the front court. When he does that everybody starts moving instead of staring at him, and there is time left on the shot clock for others to drive and kick.
Someone or something has convinced Kyrie to initiate the offense, and I’m guessing Dion will be a big beneficiary with open jumpers and driving lanes and his own easy assists when he gets back.
Spencer Hawes has been a fun pairing with Tristan Thompson… their games really seem to compliment each other well. Hawes isn’t a great offensive rebounder, but Thompson is. Hawes can shoot all the way out to the 3-point line, opening up the inside for Thompson who can’t shoot consistently beyond 10 feet. Hawes is an excellent passer allowing for some nice big-to-big assists to a cutting Thompson. I’ve really enjoyed watching the Cavs play offense with Hawes in the game. Defense… well, Hawes is giving more effort than he was in Philly, but he’s always going to be a bit too slow of foot to be better than an average defender.
btw, not trying to minimize the better spacing with Hawes – that’s real. We saw similar stuff happen when Speights first got here last year before he sorta lost interest.
I was one of Hawes bigger proponents leading up to the deadline when the 76ers were mentioned, but I never thought that it would actually lead to me wanting Spencer be the UFA we traded for this season kept. Deng was supposed to be the defensive menace who helped pull the team together and hold everyone accountable. Maybe he does, but it never seemed to show much on the court. Hawes was supposed to be the defensive liability (though point out that he wasn’t always terrible like this year in Philly) who could hit some outside shots but not much else. He has been a really nice complement who has spaced the floor and keeps the ball moving quickly when the shot is not there.
He’s a 7ft version of what we had hoped Donyell Marshall would be once upon a time.
Amen. It also opens up the lane a bit more for Kyrie (and Dion when he’s back) on drives, and Deng for cuts. The extra defender being out of the box makes it that much easier not only on the cuts but on whipping passes to people in there or to dump off on a drive to the hoop.
I like the Marshall comparison.
DAT headline SMH