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December 22, 2013As the smoke clears from the Omer Asik/Jeff Green rumors this past week, Bob Finnan of the News Herald is reporting the Cavs’ would have had to part ways with Anderson Varejao or a first round pick to acquire the services of the Celtics’ Jeff Green — a price Chris Grant and the Cavs weren’t willing to pay.
If the Cavs had been willing to sacrifice either backup center Anderson Varejao or their 2014 first-round pick, they probably could have been involved in a three-way deal that headlined disgruntled Rockets center Omer Asik this week. They weren’t, so they didn’t.
– Bob Finnan, The News Herald
After initially putting a deadline on trading Asik, the Rockets now have said they are not looking to move the Turkish big man for the time being. The Cavs were rumored to be the third team in deals that would send Asik to either Philadelphia or Boston. Cavs’ owner Dan Gilbert is on record of saying he wants the Cavs in the playoffs this spring, but with a loaded 2014 draft and the Cavs getting off to a slow start it remains to be seen what the Cavs plans are for the rest of this season.
Jeff Green would provide the Cavs a much needed upgrade on the wing, and add another scoring option to offense that often times goes stagnant. The 6-foot-9-inch Green is averaging a career-best 16.5 points per game for Boston, but the caveat is Green, 27, is under contract for $8.9 million this season, $9.4 million in 2014-15, and has a player option for $9.4 million in 2014-15.
Varejao is averaging 8.1 points and 8.6 rebounds in a reserve role for the Cavs, and if he can stay healthy through the first week of January he will appear in his 32nd game of the year, which will be the most games the Brazilian has played since 2009-2010.
[Related: Cavs vs. Bulls Behind the Box Score: Cavs offense comes back to reality]
21 Comments
Grrrrrrreat just make another lottery pick!
It’s the correct decision. Green for Varejao is probably an upgrade, but not enough for a 1st round pick, mostly because Green isn’t under control for any longer than Varejao, and we’re not going for it all this year. We aren’t the ones under the gun to make a move. Let the Rockets be the ones to back down.
I don’t get it; Varejao no but next years first round selection will not be a starting small forward and Green is under contract for the next year. Who needs more 20 year old development players. Use the draft picks to help build the team now.
If Green would be willing to resign for a reasonable rate, I would gladly make this trade.
Varejao is about as durable as a Sizemore, Hafner morph creature. He’s almost certainly gonna get injured again and we would be wise to trade him while healthy, and Andy is by far my favorite player.
Green’s a good overall player and we really could use a starting SF.
Maybe we could throw in Mike Brown too.
There is one word in that report that makes it very difficult for me to believe: either.
Next year’s 1st is practically untouchable. Agreed.
But you are telling me that the Cavs turned down the opportunity to essentially trade Andy for Green straight up? Have you seen Andy lately? He is a shell of his former self, regularly losing out on rebounding battles that he used to win with ease, particularly on the offensive end (I welcome stats to combat me here, I am basing this solely on the eye test) and is grabbing at his knees every time he hits the deck. I love the mid-range jumper he has added to his limited offensive repertoire but this guy is a bad fall away from missing another 50+ games.
Maybe I’m missing something here: maybe acquiring Green would throw a wrench into our max-level cap space this summer, or perhaps the Cavs have worries about Green’s own somewhat lengthy injury history. If not, this decision will look pretty awful come January when Andy is rocking street clothes.
As for Green, I’ve seen a lot of the trusted area bloggers on Twitter bashing him as a player. And while I certainly don’t think he alone makes the Cavs a potential playoff noisemaker, the upgrade he would provide at the 3 – a position that has been about as dismal as it gets production-wise for the Cavs – would be huge. Throw in his versatility and improved 3-point shooting and I am left scratching my head after reading this report.
Oh well. The Cavs lost me last night anyways. Call me when they hit .500.
Is it time for Spring Training yet?
Thank you Chris Grant. Danny Ainge you must have been out of your mind!
With all due respect for Bob Finnan, I don’t think he has the facts straight. This wasn’t an either/or proposition. We couldn’t trade the pick for Green without matching salaries. It’s been widely reported that Houston wanted multiple picks for Asik, so the only logical conclusion here is that it would have taken both Andy AND our 1st round pick to get Green.
Based on the Cavs guaranteed 13-14 cap number of just over $51M, I think they could have absorbed the Green contract without including Andy, instead throwing in someone like Alonzo Gee (with the pick) to stay under the cap. Bob’s piece clearly outlines an either/or proposition. He could be wrong, of course, but the thought of the Cavs passing up an Andy for Green swap absolutely boggles my mind. Seems I am in the minority though.
And to be clear, when I say it is “hard to believe”, I am not questioning the report itself. I am simply struggling to believe this the same way I am struggling to believe that the Browns D allowed Geno Smith to channel his inner Warren Moon today.
Their guaranteed salary is 51 million, but their current cap number is just over 61 million. In order to absorb a contract as big as Green’s, without matching salaries in the trade, they would have to waive their most expensive non-guaranteed contract, which is Andrew Bynum. The next biggest non-guaranteed contract is CJ Miles, and that wouldn’t even be enough to get under the cap. Every other report says the Rockets want multiple picks or a rotation player and a pick for Asik. I can only assume Finnan is misquoting a source accidentally with the word “or.”
I’m not sure why this post got 2 down-votes.
Are we serious right now? Are people actually trying to justify Chris Grant not pulling the trigger on a swap of our 30 year old backup center for a 27 year old starting small forward? This is asinine. What do I need to do to get hired as an NBA GM? This trade is beyond a no-brainer.
Agree with those pointing out that this trade MUST have been proposed as BOTH Andy and a number 1 pick going to Houston.
Also, would politely suggest that anyone who thinks that Andy for Green is somehow a bad deal for the Cavs should probably keep their thoughts on the NBA to themselves.
It’s not just “30 year old backup center for a 27 year old starting small forward”. I think that’s why.
For everyone unloading on Grant, Boston said Green was never on the table. I suspect what happened was that Houston said what if we can get you Green, and Grant replied call me back when he is in the deal. That is how a lot of teams try to get you to the table. Then, after Boston says no, Houston comes back and says we can’t get Green but how about Bass? At which point the Cavs say, don’t call me again.
good comment, Kris.
Gee’s play since he got his multiyear contract makes Mike Sanders and Winston Bennett look like Scottie Pippin. Focus on him during a game and the eye test is just as painful as his stat sheet. Hard to believe fans were worried about losing him a few years ago, hard to believe they can’t fill the black hole at small forward just a little bit with a D-League signing.
The other unique thing about this report is that Finnan refers specifically to the Cavs’ 2014 first, while the others really only mention a “future first” (which could be one owed to us by Sacramento or Miami). There is a lot of speculation here and I am not comfortable questioning the accuracy of a report filed by a Cavs beat writer in a comments section, but your logic sure is sound and I was mistaken about Gee making the numbers work. Good stuff.
Thanks Harv. I agree completely…as I watch games around the association it makes Gee’s poor play even more glaring. He is a serviceable defender though I suppose.
it was Green for Andy OR a 1st round pick. Not both (according to Finnan blurb above).
Yes, but we know it couldn’t have been just a first round pick because salaries have to be involved. It’s possible some other combination of players was discussed but that wasn’t mentioned in the Finnan Blurb. I’m operating under the assumption that the word “or” was either a typo or a misunderstanding. (it’s not like Finnan broke the news of rumors regarding Varejao, Asik, Green, and Picks, so it’s clearly derivative anyway)
People are restless. The idea of making no moves seems worse than anything else.