Secondly, I would like to address the Amare issue. The Cavs had been in serious negotiations with the Suns about acquiring Amare. The Cavs were offering Z, Hickson, 2010 first rounder, and Danny Green. The Suns were talking to the Miami Heat, and the Heat were offering Mario Chalmers, Q-Richardson, Daequan Cook, and Dorell Wright along with a first round draft pick. The Suns wanted to either get Michael Beasley in the deal from the Heat, or get the Heat to find a 3rd team to take on Jason Richardson (he is owed $14 million next year). The Cavs on the other hand set a deadline with the Suns and they wanted to have an answer by today. The Cavs did not want another team to outbid them. Also as some of you remember, the Cavs were in serious negotiations for Shaq last year with the Suns but a couple hours before the deadline ended, the Suns pulled out of the deal. The Cavs did not want this to happen again so they were insistent on getting an answer. Apparently, the Suns had been stalling for a day or two, so Dan Gilbert got involved today. Both Gilbert and Cavs GM Danny Ferry approached the Suns and wanted an answer on our offer. Either we were not given an answer, or we were told "no". After this, the Cavs stuck to their word, and had a deal on the back-burner with the Wizards which they then completed. The Suns lost any leverage they had with the Heat, because now the Heat know they no longer have to compete with our offer. The Heat can keep their offer, or the Suns can just keep Amare for the rest of the year. If the Suns keep Amare for the rest of the year they risk losing him to another team in free agency (he is leaving the Suns, but the Suns can sign and trade him because they have his bird rights). The indecisiveness of the Suns really hurt them in the end, it seems that they did not know what they were doing. The Cavs did not want to have the rug pulled from under them at the last second by Phoenix, and that is why they ended up with Jamison.
On to the actual trade itself. I think this is a first degree felony. We traded our first round pick for Antawn Jamison. I'll say it again, first round pick for Antawn Jamison. Again, first round pick for Antawn Jamison. There is a great chance Z comes back as well. Jamison gives us the "stretch 4" the team needs. He can shoot the midrange jumper, rebound, and score inside. He is a great character and locker room guy. This will allow the Cavs to continue to develop Hickson, while adding another scorer to the Cavs. Danny Ferry was able to leverage the checkbook of Dan Gilbert on weaker teams. Ferry traded Damon Jones for Mo Williams, Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic for Shaq, and now a 1st round pick for Antawn Jamison. He took advantage of the fact that all of these teams needed to cut payroll and were bleeding money. Ferry positioned himself by using expiring contracts and draft picks to get these players. We should also be extremely thankful we have an owner like Dan Gilbert. He is willing to take on the final $28 million of Jamison' deal and pay the tax on that. If you look across the street to the Cleveland Indians and you will see an owner who is penny pinching. The Indians are constantly trading their good talent for younger prospects because they cannot afford to keep them. Gilbert has shown he will spend money to get great players. He is a man of his word who says he will do anything to win. We should really appreciate Dan Gilbert and all he has done for this organization.
The Cavs have put themselves in a great position to win the NBA Championship this year and next year. Probably the best part of this deal is the fact that we kept both JJ Hickson and Danny Green. We did not mortgage our future at all because we kept both of these guys. To me, the Cavs need to continue to add young players so they have something to build off of. I am not someone who likes throwing draft picks in deals and I am not opposed to using one in this deal, but the Cavs need to continue to surround LeBron with guys like Hickson and Green. Adding young talent around LeBron would only further convince him to stay. I wouldn't be surprised if the Cavs tried to trade for a draft pick tomorrow.
Back to the Amare situation, I would have loved to have Amare in the long term. He is 27, and is in the prime of his career. He would be a great running mate for LeBron for years to come. He throws down a lot of great dunks and can finish at the basket. To me though, Amare has a lot of potential negatives. One, when I see Amare carry himself on and off the court, he seems very cocky. Brian Windhorst made a good point that one time Amare was being interviewed this year and he took offense that no one asked him about 2010 free agency. He seems to be a guy who is concerned about himself. Secondly, he is someone who wants a max contract this summer. This is why he is leaving Phoenix, because they do not want to pay him $19 million a year. If he was traded to the Cavs, he would be getting 10-12 shots a game and not his usual 15 shots a game (he is averaging about 15 a game this year). He would be forced to take a role here in Cleveland and would he be willing to accept that role? In Phoenix he is the #1 scorer on the team. Amare would want to get as many touches as possible so he could justify a max contract. Third, he has had a history of injuries as he hurt his eye last year (was out for half the year), and has had microfracture knee surgery. A lot of Amare's game is based off of his athleticism, leaping ability and his ability to finish at the basket. How much longer can his knees hold up after microfracture knee surgery? Fourth, how would Shaq and Amare fit? The Suns did not do better until they fired Terry Porter (played half court sets), and hired Alvin Gentry (fast paced style). The Cavs play a half court offense and I have concerns about how he would fit. Fifth, there is no guarantee he would stay here after this year. The Cavs would have had to trade Hickson/Green/1st pick with no guarantee of Amare staying. You mortgage all of your future assets for Amare. Also, you can't guarantee that the Cavs would be committed to giving Amare a max extension. We all believe that since we have Dan Gilbert as our owner that he will just sign anyone to a max extension. What if Amare does not fit? What if he has injury issues? What if he is a locker room cancer? If Amare doesn't fit in with the Shaq this year and the Cavs don't win the title, would that motivate Amare to leave? Teams such as the Knicks, Bulls, and Heat will have a lot of cap space and you can bet they will all offer max contracts to Amare. Who knows if Amare would prefer to go to a larger market. Sources say he wants to go to Miami since his mother lives there and that he owns a house in the Miami area. There is too much risk and uncertainty involved with Amare, but the reward would have been great. Again, if Amare was committed to staying in Cleveland I would love to have him long term, but having him stay here long term coupled with past injury issues makes Amare a huge risk.
The Cavs again came away with a solid impact player for almost nothing. I hope the Cavs continue to build the organization around young assets and flexible contracts. Jamison's deal only goes another 2 years, so he can impact the team next year, and the year after he becomes an expiring. The Cavs did not hamstring themselves long term by acquiring Jamison and they continue to show LeBron they will do anything to improve the team. I think this increases the chances that LeBron stays because he has seen the commitment that the Cavs have placed to winning for the team. The team kept their young assets in Hickson and Green, Sasha Kaun overseas and an unknown in Christian Eyenga who is probably going to come over next year. The Cavs should try their best to get themselves a draft pick of two before the end of the deadline to keep themselves in a position to add young players to the roster.
That just about does it folks. Overall, I think Ferry did a great job on this trade as he kept all his options open, leveraged the checkbook of Dan Gilbert, and stuck to his guns in his offers. He did not want to be in a bad position at the end of the deadline where he would have ended up with nothing. Once again, the Cavs are showing LeBron that they are committed to putting a championship caliber team together. With Mo Williams coming back soon the Cavs will be getting fully healthy. Did I mention a guy named Leon Powe will be returning as well? I just hope in June we will be celebrating down the streets of downtown Cleveland.
Thanks for reading and go Cleveland!
-Raz
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