The Cavaliers and the L-Train

So far, I have covered the Browns and the Indians. Now, its time for a review of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Now we all know that the Cavs have the best player in the world in LeBron James. He is without a doubt one of my favorite athletes. His talent level just gets better every year, and he has show that he can take games over (Portland and Toronto last year, Game 5 vs Detroit). Speaking of Game 5 versus Detroit. That in my opinion is the greatest single performance these beautiful eyes have ever seen. To score 25 straight points in the last few minutes of a 4th quarter, and 2 overtimes is just insane. I find it also important that before that game some basketball analysts (Skip Bayless, Marc Stein, and Stephen A. Smith) all said that LeBron did not have the killer instinct and that he could not take the games over. Heck even some of my friends said that he did not have the ability to win games himself. Well I think he shut just about everyone up with that performance.

Now last season ended in somewhat of a disappointment because I really believed the Cavs could have won. The reason why I thought the Cavs could have won is because they play really good defense and rebound. The Cavs allowed only 84 ppg, and they actually outscored the Celtics in the series. (592-588). LeBron James had an amazing game 7 performance with 45 points and we came up short. Anytime you play good defense you always give your team a chance to win. Couple that with the fact that we have a superstar in LeBron James, the Cavs are an extremely dangerous playoff team.

The Cavs midseason trade gave us roster flexibility
Everyone, including myself thought the Cavs would go on a monster tear, but they only went 14-13. I feel like all Cavs fans thought we would do so well was because we really had not made a major move since the signing of Larry Hughes in the summer of 2005. Most Cavs fans were hungry for a roster move, and the Cavs did so. Bringing in Ben Wallace helped our interior defense and rebounding, but offensively it really hurt us. Drew Gooden was an ample rebounder and he could hit the base line jumper really well. When Anderson Varaejo and Wallace were on the floor together we could get no interior scoring. Joe Smith was a solid addition downlow. He is someone who can do the dirty work, and hit a couple jumpers. Wally Szczerbiak was supposed to be the sharpshooter, but he really struggled to find his rhythm. Delonte West was a player who really impressed me. He can do a little bit of everything. He runs the point, plays defense, can drive to the hoop, and shoot. In the playoffs he really stepped his game up, he hit the game winning shot versus the Wizards in game 4, and he played very well in the Boston series. He is definitely a keeper, and I am glad the Cavs signed him to an extension in the offseason. While the trade did not directly improve our record, it allowed us to shed some deadweight on our team, and give us roster flexibility. Shannon Brown rarely played, Donyell Marshall was going to be collecting Social Security in a few months, and Cedric Simmons signs autographs for himself. Those guys basically contributed nothing. I believe Larry Hughes was not used correctly here, but at the same time he did not like being the teams point guard. I remember after the trade he said he really did not care about winning a championship, and that he just wanted to play. I don't believe thats the type of sidekick you want with LeBron James. He seems to have lost his game in general because he put up very similar statistics after the trade. This trade gave us flexibility in that we acquired 2 expiring contracts for this year in Joe Smith (8 million dollars), Wally (14 million dollars), and a second round pick. We traded Smith in the summer, but we still have the expiring contract of Wally to use this year. People seem to get confused about expiring contracts, so I will give a quick explanation. Lets say the Cavs want to trade Wally and Anderson Varaejo, the salaries that they get back must be 125% plus $100,000 of what we are trading. Lets say the Wolves want to trade Randy Foye (hypothetical). Lets say he is making 8 million dollars, but his contract runs for 2 more years. The Wolves would then include 1-3 contracts that add up to 14 million dollars (to make salaries traded equal) , and those contracts would run past that year (not expiring). This might seem like an unfair trade, but in reality it gives the Wolves a lot of cap room that summer because they would rid themselves of salary and they wont be tied up in long-term contracts. The Cavs are able to acquire a good player in Randy Foye. This coming season, the Cavs have Wally, Anderson (he has an opt out clause this year, and he will probably opt out, so he is almost an expiring contract), and 2 draft picks (1 first round, 1 second round) to trade. The Cavs have the ammo to make a move. You might be asking yourself, if the Cavs keep taking on contracts they will have a bloated payroll. Well we already do, but thank god for our owner Dan Gilbert. Our payroll is 2nd highest in the NBA, and we pay about 20 million dollars in luxary tax. Gilbert has made it clear he will do anything, and pay as much money to win a championship, and keep LeBron happy (bigger payroll, upgrading the Q, new practice facility in Independence). So the result of this trade was that it gave us a good shake up to a dried roster, 2 expiring contracts (Wally/Smith), a solid guard (West), and a good veteran defender (Wallace).

Mo Williams is a good acquisition
After a summer full of rumors for the Cavs (Baron Davis, Monta Ellis, Leandro Barbosa, Ryan Gomes), they finally pulled off a trade to acquire Maurice Williams from the Milwaukee Bucks. The Cavs sent Joe Smith (expiring contract) to the Oklahoma City Thunder, and they sent guard Damon Jones (expiring contract, notice the trend?) to the Bucks. There were other players traded but they really are not important for our sake. Mo Williams brings something that the Cavs have not really had, and that is someone who can score. For the past two seasons he has averaged 17 ppg and 6 assists. He has shown that he can consistently score, and he shoots pretty decently (39% from 3 last year, 48% FG). People might say "Hey he is another Larry Hughes" wrong. Hughes was entering a the last year of his contract when he put up his career numbers. Many players play their best in the last year of a contract because they want to make the most money. Hughes before that never averaged his career numbers (22 PPG), and in Cleveland he never came close to that. Williams signed a 5 year deal last year, and he put up better numbers the year after he signed the contract. He has shown that he can shoot, dish, and penetrate consistently. The only drawback I have is that Williams does have a checkered history of getting hurt, but I hope he can avoid that this year. You see what two expiring contracts can get you in the NBA. If you look on paper Joe Smith and Damon Jones for Mo Williams, it looks like a rip-off but both teams in the three way deal acquired cap flexibility in the expiring contracts. Hopefully in February, the Cavs can make another move.

Our 2008 Draft might be pretty good
J.J. Hickson, Power Forward, NC State. Once David Stern said that name, numerous people shook their heads, and even some of my friends were unhappy. Now I used to go to numerous websites (nbadraft.net, draftexpress.com, espn.com) to read up on this years prospects and watch some of their videos. I do remember reading up on Hickson, but I was not that familiar with him. He drew comparisons to Brandon Bass and Chris Wilcox. When watching videos of him, you can kind of see why the Cavaliers drafted him. The Cavs need youth down low. Z, Ben Wallace, and Joe Smith are all over the age of 33. Varaejo cant score downlow if you locked him in a gym. Hickson loves playing downlow, and he thrives on dunking on his opponents. He lead the ACC in rebounding (8.5 per game) and he scored 15 points per game. If you want a good indicator of how a player will transition to the NBA, look at his rebounding totals. Most college players who rebound well can hold their own when it comes to rebounding in the NBA. Post players Darnell Jackson and Sasha Kaun both played at Kansas, and were acquired for a draft pick and cash. Jackson will be a glue guy at best. He will be good for rebounding and defense. Kaun will be stashed over in Russia, and he will play over there for a couple years. We will evaluate him when his contract runs out. The Cavs added youth to their frontcourt with Hickson and Jackson, and they were able to get two guys who can rebound, and a guy who wants to bang down low in Hickson. (People said we should have drafted Darrell Arthur, well he got kicked out of Rookie Camp for having weed and women in his room. Also, he has concerns with his kidney)

The Cavs can win it all this year (with a mid season trade)
Yes I said it. I really feel that this Cavaliers squad can really win it all this year. All they have to do is stay healthy, develop Hickson and Jackson, and make another acquistion at the trade deadline. Last year, the Cavs were really bit with the injury bug, and they led the NBA in most man games missed. The longer the Cavs stay healthy, the more time they will have to gel and build chemistry. If Hickson and Jackson can develop, the Cavs will have more low post options to score, and they can also give these two increased playing time, and rest up Z and Ben Wallace for the playoffs. The big factor this year is making another trade for a good player at the deadline. The Cavaliers have the ammo (listed above) to make a move. By adding another good player to the mix of Lebron, Delonte, Mo, Boobie, and Z, the Cavs really set themselves up well. The Cavs have a lot of depth at guard (Williams, Boobie, West, Wally, Sasha,) so maybe they should try to get themselves a low post threat, but any good player will do.

Another reason why I think we will win is because the Cavaliers do not have any contract holdouts to worry about (Sasha and Varaejo), and everyone seems to be in good spirits about this year. The Cavs know they were very close to beating the Celtics, and by adding Hickson, Jackson, Kinsey, and Williams, the Cavs know they are a better team. The Cavaliers did a good job of shaking up the roster and making some moves. This brings excitement to the team and its fans. Last year, the Cavs were fresh off the NBA Finals, and they did not make any moves in the offseason. The team was basically stale all year, and they just looked like they ghost walked through this past season. The Cavs brought in new bodies, and they kept the team young (All 4 guys we brought in are under the age of 26). The Cavs are showing LeBron that we are committed to bringing in a good team (making 2 big trades in 6 months, adding salary to the payroll), thus increasing his chances of re-signing with us in 2010 (he is going to re-sign, don't worry). The East is also ours for the taking as well. Gilbert Arenas is out for about the first month and a half, so the Wizards will struggle. The Pistons are going stale and they won't make too much noise. Jermaine O'Neal is old, and he really has not shown the old player he used to be (Raptors). Elton Brand was out all last year and there is no guarantee he will continue to play well, also the 76'ers are very young, and they still need time to learn. The Celtics are returning everyone, but the fire to win a championship will be much less. Pierce, Allen, and Garnott had not won a championship at all, and they ALL really wanted a ring badly. Now that they have one, the desire to win another won't be as hot. The Cavs really have positioned themselves to get a good seed in the playoffs.

The Cavs now have West coming off the bench, which is great considering he started last year. We have two good shooters in Daniel Gibson (who is very clutch, game 6 vs. Pistons?) and Wally. I have read numerous stories that Sasha is starting to get his head on straight and that he might be getting if finally. In the 2007 playoffs he played great, but he really lost it after that. Sasha has shown flashes of being a solid player, but until I see it with my eyes, he is still an 8th man. Hopefully all this talk is true about him. Also, we now have a full roster together, and they will have an entire training camp together to work and gel together. The only concern I have is the age of our 2 frontcourt starters. Z and Wallace are starting to really show their age, and they have battled injuries. Keeping those two healthy is key because Z is a great rebounder and he can shoot. Wallace has showed he can play D, block shots, and rebound. Remember game 2 versus the Celtics last year? After he left the game with allergies, the Cavaliers really struggled defensively, and that was the only blow out game that the Cavs lost. This is why the development of Hickson and Jackson are key. The better they play, the more rest we can give these two guys. Another strategy the Cavs might try is to play LeBron at Power Forward. I really don't like this because LeBron does not really have good post moves, and this takes away his best assets (facilitating and driving to the hoop).

In conclusion, I just want to say that I am extremely excited for this comming season. LeBron James showed that he can take his game to another level (2008 Olympics), and that he is trying to improve his shooting. The acquisition of Mo Williams brought another scorer to help take the load of LeBron. Drafting Hickson and Jackson brought youth to the frontcourt. Signing Tarrance Kinsey was a bargain signing, in the last 24 games of the 2007 season he averaged 11 points per game. He will add athleticism to this team, and he can defend the perimeter well. Also, the Cavs will always play great defense and rebound under coach Mike Brown. All that was needed last year was a little more offensive push, and the Cavs got that this offseason. I am really excited about the fact that we have the assets to make a trade and make the team even better!

Thank you all for reading and I hope you will all comment on my review of the Cavaliers. I wish you all the best of luck, and go Cleveland!

-Raz