Yankees 11 Indians 2: 7th Inning Disaster
June 1, 2010Another Reason to Love Casey Blake
June 1, 2010When the Cavaliers acquired Antawn Jamison this past February, they traded away Zydrunas Ilgauskas and their first-round selection for the upcoming NBA Draft. And now with the future of the team in limbo, the team appears ready to purchase a first-round pick with their available cash with hopes of adding potential impact players for the present as well as the future.
The Cavaliers currently have nary a draft selection this offseason, but still sent representatives to Chicago for the NBA’s version of the pre-draft combine. With teams looking to save money by not guaranteeing the contracts of first-round picks and Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert not being shy with his wallet, the pieces are in place to make a transaction of this type more than possible. It is estimated that the draft selection (if of the first-round variety) could cost upwards of $3 million.
The issue at hand will then be where do the Cavs target in terms of entering into the draft. Their list of needs is a lot longer than most 60-win teams would have, especially given the uncertainty surrounding LeBron James. With Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Shaquille O’Neal having their contracts expire, the Cavaliers frontcourt consists of Anderson Varejao, JJ Hickson, Antawn Jamison and Leon Powe. Both Varejao and Hickson could conceivably play center in a quicker-paced offense, but the Cavs severely lack size in the event that they fail to add a true center.
With the trade of Delonte West’s non-guaranteed contract possible, the backcourt would be comprised of Mo Williams, Daniel Gibson, Sebastian Telfair, Anthony Parker and possibly Danny Green. Parker’s contract expires following the 2010-11s season.
A team that could be targeted in a draft-selection trade with the Cavaliers is the Minnesota Timberwolves who have three first-round selections, picking 4th, 16th and 23rd.
26 Comments
Would Jamario be a part of the backcourt? Is Sasha Kuhn a possible roster spot? If the team is going to be a small running team with Hickson and Andy playing most of the minutes at center, is Byron Scott the right coach for the team?
The more I think about the Cavs’ situation the more daunting it seems. We went from legitimate contenders to the realization that we’re a team with holes at multiple positions overnight. I thought we’d be able to lure a decent-size name with a S&T but the more I think about that the more it seems far fetched. My only reassurance now is that dumb trades happen all the time and maybe we’ll get lucky.
WEK – if the team stays with Andy and JJ as their main center options, I would be more obliged to put Moon as a PF than a SG.
I still think the Cavs are fine overall and a piece or two away from being a championship contender again.
to keep on topic for this post, I’ll limit it to what I think we would purchase a draft pick. Either someone who could become a top-flight PG or C (likely teams won’t sell into the 20’s, so the likelihood is lower, but I’ll still go with our best bets there).
C – we need a strong, stout, defensive center who can take on guys like Dwight Howard and Garnett without needing additional help (Andy can take care of the Bosh’s, Gasol’s and the like just fine). Basically, who can be our Kendrick Perkins.
Possibly available in the draft:
Daniel Orton, C, Kentucky – a bench player for the wildcats, he fits this bill of need very well.
Larry Sanders, PF, VCU – ridiculously long arms and athletic, he may not be listed as a C, but he could definitely play it. he isn’t the stoutest player, but he seemed to play strong when I saw him.
Solomon Alibi, C, FSU – horrible offensively. but, we aren’t looking for offense here (at least initially). he can block shots, rebound, and he won’t get moved very easily from the paint.
Jerome Jordan, C, Tulsa – one of my favorite under-the-radar prospects the past couple years. He’s ridiculously gifted athletically, but hasn’t really put it together yet. He is more offensive-minded than the others, but has shown he can be a defensive presence when needed. I think he has by far the most upside of any of these guys, but he also has the lowest floor.
PG’s in a minute…
Is it too early for #EngyaIn2010
Not sure that what picks we obtain will make an immediate impact. Let’s say LBJ re-signs for only two years plus a player option year. Will a new coach even be willing to give significant PT to a rookie? Even a talented rookie center, or PG, can be a brutal thing.
Obviously, if LBJ is gone … hoohah, PT for everybody!
I said earlier I still think a S&T is possible with Toronto for Bosh and Turkoglu – giving up Andy, JJ, Gibson/whatever other piece they want. Then possibly swapping Mo of Calderon directly giving Toronto a backup PG that can score as opposed to a “pass first” guy in Calderon.
Even if that dream situation happened to work out I agree that we still need to find a pick or two somewhere namely for the C position if Kuhn isn’t an option.
PG needs – we need a true-PG. a distributer and someone who can knife through the defense to create opportunities. someone with enough size to guard guys like Rondo but enough quickness to guard guys like Rose and Nelson would be nice (obviously we aren’t getting all of that with a late 1st rounder, but we can use it as a baseline)
who might be available? well, it’s a weak crop of PGs after the 2 Kentucky guys (Wall and Bledsoe)…
Armon Johnson, PG, Nevada – he is 6’3″ and very quick, but gets out of position on defense and isn’t natural at setting up his teammates (or was never really asked to do it. he reminds me a lot of Rondo. he has the same type of demeanor and skillset. whether or not he can translate it as well will be the question, but he is by far the guy I would want us to pick if we do go the PG route.
Grevis Vasquez, PG, Maryland – he’s 6’6″. not a misprint. ridiculously big for a PG he would give opponents fits. he is also a very gifted passer. however, I don’t see him being a PG in the NBA because he will get abused by the smaller, shiftier PGs and he is not a good defender. I think someone takes him with the thought that they play him off the ball and he can handle some of the ball-handling responsibilities on offense too.
just say no to the rest:
Sherron Collins, PG, Kansas – too small, not quick enough to make up for it.
Scottie Reynolds, PG, Nova – combo-guard who I don’t think will make it.
Dee Bost, PG, MissSt – not really great at anything, higher floor, but very low ceiling.
Mikhail Torrance, PG, Bama – 6’5″ and lanky. he’s more interesting than the others here as he can pass and shoot, but he has a GLARING weakness. He can’t dribble with his right hand. Good luck getting by in the NBA as a PG if you aren’t an ambidextrous dribbler.
@stin4u I am still dreaming of the possibility of getting Bosh in a S&T, but I always assumed the Cavs would have to find enough salary to take on Turkoglu’s ugly deal at just under $10 million per year.
Of course, Bosh would also have to agree to come to Cleveland and his “list” either real or rumored, did not include C-Town.
@Craig – you and me both my friend, the only funny thing to me about the list was that it was reported by espn and not denied for a few days. To me that means MAYBE he talked to ‘bron and he said Cleveland is an option for him so Bosh wanted to reopen that book OR Bosh was just testing the waters to see if this got out what would happen/who would call.
mgbode, could Sebastian Telfair emerge as a true point guard? His offense looked good in the few games he played this year. Though I have no idea if he can hang with Derek Rose, Rondo, etc. defensively.
i have a beef with this “anti-mo williams/we need a true PG movement.” didnt we already go through this with Eric Snow? the thing is, a PG next to lebron MUST BE a good spot-up shooter. obviously Mo isnt perfect and he had his short-comings in the playoffs, especially defensively. but the fact remains, Mo is an excellent shooter. however, someone like sebastian telfair next to lebron will be a huge downgrade since telfair cant shoot. i can already see the complaints rolling in on these blogs when telfair consistently clanks wide open 3’s and deep 2’s. eventually, the defense will sag off the PG and double up more on lebron. a true-shooting PG is a necessity next to lebron to keep the defense honest.
When Bassy played this year he shot the ball really well…
for his career, telfair is a 31% three point shooter and a 39% FG%. the 4 games he played for cleveland is hardly a true sample. compare to Mo, who is a 40% 3 point shooter and 45% FG% for his career. frankly, it is moronic to want telfair at PG over mo williams. im not saying there arent better options than Mo, but Telfair is NOT a better option.
The Cavs should consider adding a defensive specialist at the guard position. Remember what Rondo did to them in the playoffs.
i agree with Hope. adding someone at PG who can play good defense should be a priority. that doesnt mean they have to get rid of Mo but adding a defensive-minded PG to play situationally (an eric snow type) should be a priority.
eric snow was a true PG?
my definition of a true PG involves the PG being able to score, specifically on their drives to the hoop. they need to know when to facillitate and when to drive.
having a PG who can initiate the offense and allow LeBron to play off the ball can be a very good thing. Mo Williams isn’t likely going anywhere, so while we bring along a young PG we can give defenses multiple looks to our offense. Having more looks makes it tougher to defend.
as for Bassy. I suppose he could emerge as there have been some PGs that have taken a real long time to come out of their shell (specifically Billups), but I think that is more of an exception. Also, Telfair would really have to work on his defense because he has never really seemed that focused on that end of the floor.
obviously, the cavs’ version of eric snow was past his prime. in his prime, yes, snow was a classic PG – a guy that could defend, facilitated the offense, did not make turnovers and could score on drives (which snow did fairly well in his philly days next to iverson).
From what I remember, $3 million is the maximum amount that can be included in an NBA trade.
[…] WFNY looks at the Cavs possibly acquiring Draft Picks. […]
A good defensive PG in the draft, who could easily fall to the 2nd round or go undrafted is Jerome Dyson from UCONN. He can get to his spots on the offensive end and plays well in transition.
The cavs need to move up enough and snag Jordan Crawford from Xavier he would be perfect to plug in at SG or SM with Lebron. He’s young and he would only get better playing with lebron
@ Mike – I see what you’re doing, with your irony machine.
LeBron must never get dunked on by Jordan Crawford again!
If the Cavs spend the 3 mil what part of the first round does the pick fall? end of the first round?
crazycav – it depends on what team is selling. most likely, it would be mid-end of the first round.
[…] So there are the rumors that abound. No conclusions on anything just yet. The Cavs have a few pieces so they can make a few trades. They can also buy draft picks as Scott talked about earlier in June. […]