Indians licking wounds after 2-5 road trip: Ball Played
August 29, 2016Ohio State names four additional captains
August 29, 2016On Saturday, cleveland.com’s Joe Vardon reported Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Mo Williams is considering retirement. Whether it’s due to his age or his knee injuries that nagged him throughout all of last season, the 13-year veteran could retire prior to the preseason, going out on top as an NBA champion.
Without guard Matthew Dellavedova (signed with the Milwaukee Bucks) and possibly Williams, the wine and gold could be down to just two point guards currently on their team: starter Kyrie Irving and rookie Kay Felder. LeBron James could take the point guard duties at times, but the team will most likely add another one-guard in free agency if Williams does indeed decide to retire solely due to the fact that Felder, who has been working out with the veteran, has yet to play a game in the NBA and will likely not be the Cavs No. 2 point guard this season.
With that being said, here are some options for Cleveland to add a point guard in free agency:
Steve Blake
A savvy 13-year veteran, Blake has made his rounds around the NBA, being part of eight teams throughout his career. He may not have the quickness that Cleveland would like, but the 36-year-old can knock down the outside shot, which could be a huge benefit off the Cavs bench.
Last season, Blake played in 58 games, averaging 4.4 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 3.4 assists in 17 minutes per game while shooting 38.8 percent from the floor and 34.4 percent from beyond the arc.
Mario Chalmers
Part of the Miami Heat’s championship team with James, Chalmers has plenty of playoff experience along with experience and chemistry of playing with No. 23 already. Until last season when he was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies during the season, the 30-year-old spent his entire eight-year career with the Heat after being drafted by the team.
The 6-foot-2, 190-pound guard played much better with the Grizzlies last season than he did with the Heat. In 55 games (seven starts) in Memphis, he averaged 10.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.5 steals in 22.8 minutes per game while shooting 41.7 percent from the field and 32.6 percent from three-point land. In his career, Chalmers is a reasonable 35.8 percent shooter from long distance.
Norris Cole
If the Cavs were to sign Cole, he would call Quicken Loans Arena home, just down the street from where he played college basketball at Cleveland State. Along with Chalmers, he also played with James in Miami.
A point guard with plenty of quickness, Cole has plenty of starting experience along with time off the bench as well. With the New Orleans Pelicans last season, the 27-year-old averaged a career-best 10.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 3.7 assists in a career-high 26.6 minutes per game in 45 games (23 starts). He and his incredible haircut , one like Iman Shumpert, Cole shot 40.5 percent from the floor and 32.4 percent from long distance last season.
It’s worth noting that Cole was represented by Rich Paul, but it was recently reported that he has hired new representation.
Jordan Farmar
Farmar, who was teammates with Chalmers in Memphis for part of last season, has been able to consistently knock down the outside shot throughout his 10-year career so far in the league.
While he has played with four teams thus far, the 29-year-old’s shot from long distance has continued to decline the last four seasons, although he is still able to shoot well from the outside. Last season, he averaged 9.2 points, 2.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.3 steals in 12 games (10 starts). He was able to shoot 42 percent from the field and 35.6 percent from beyond the arc.
Kirk Hinrich
In his 13-year career, Hinrich has only played on three teams. While splitting time in Chicago (35 games, seven starts) and Atlanta (11 games) last season, he averaged a career-worst 3.0 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in 13.7 minutes per game.
He may not have put up many points on the scoreboard last season, but Hinrich is still able to knock down the outside shot with consistency. With the two different teams last season, he shot 38 percent from the field and 38.7 percent from long range.
Andre Miller
The oldest option on the free agent market in terms of point guards, Miller can’t shoot from the outside but has plenty of experience along with the fact that he is a former Cavalier. In his 17-year career so far, Miller has played for nine teams, including the Cavs.
While splitting time between Minnesota and San Antonio last season, the 40-year-old averaged just 3.7 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game while shooting 47.9 percent from the field and 25 percent from long distance.
He may not have the outside shot, but Miller has the experience and leadership to lead the Cavaliers’ bench mob this upcoming season if the team does in fact decide to go in that direction.
Donald Sloan
The former Cavalier played very well in Brooklyn last season. In 61 games (33 starts), he averaged 7.0 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 4.4 assists in 21.6 minutes per game. Early in his career, Sloan couldn’t hit from the outside but the 28-year-old has gained a shot from long distance. In 2015-16, he shot 44 percent from the floor and 38.4 percent from beyond the arc.
Due to his age, the fact that he has played with the wine and gold before, and his ability to make the outside shot, Sloan could be one of the Cavaliers’ top options in free agency to fill their backup point guard role if Williams does indeed decide to retire.
In the current free agent market among point guards, the Cavaliers have their options of deciding between a veteran, shooter, a quick player, or any combination. If Williams does decide to call it quits, the wine and gold have plenty of decisions to make on who will be the team’s backup point guard in their quest to win back-to-back NBA titles.
9 Comments
SIGN SWISH!
I’d say just about all of those are an improvement over Mo.
Andre Miller is garbage. Hell no.
Who’s the best defensively?
That list of PGs is extremely depressing. Give me Norris Cole out of all on that list, even though he can’t run a pick-n-roll.
So, you noticed Josh didn’t write much about any of their defensive skills. Well, you see, Josh doesn’t much like tearing guys down and, well, you can go to the defensive stat page of any of these guys and see what I mean.
Purely for the haircut and Cleveland ties
Cleveland Ties sounds like a great sequel to School Ties.
https://hotteahotbooks.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/600full-school-ties-screenshot.jpeg
Google is paying 97$ per hour! Work for few hours and have longer with friends & family! !mj136d:
On tuesday I got a great new Land Rover Range Rover from having earned $8752 this last four weeks.. Its the most-financialy rewarding I’ve had.. It sounds unbelievable but you wont forgive yourself if you don’t check it
!mj136d:
➽➽
➽➽;➽➽ http://GoogleFinancialJobsCash136DigitalVideoGetPay$97Hour… ★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★::::::!mj136d:….,….