Sports in the Land (Cleveland)

The Real Chosen One

2011-06-30T14:39:00.002-04:00

Before I get into my Cavs NBA Draft Review, this afternoon Chris Grant and Co. made a trade with the Sacramento Kings. The Cavs traded 22 year old PF JJ HIckson to the Sacramento Kings for Omri Casspi and a conditional first round pick. The conditions on the first round pick are as follows: lottery-protected in 2012 (1-14). The pick is then protected in 2013 (1-13), 2014 (1-12) and 2015-2017 (1-10). If the pick is not conveyed by 2017, then Sacramento will convey its own 2017 second round draft pick to the Cavaliers protected (56-60). Here are my thoughts:

-First, I am not that happy with the protection parameters. I think having a lottery protected pick in 2012 is fair, considering how deep the draft class is. Someone at #14 would have been a #5 pick in the 2011 Draft. But the protections in 2013 and 2014 are killers. I think they should've been top 10 protected in 2013 and top 6 protected in 2014 and unprotected in 2015. The Kings have a solid young core in Tyreke Evans, DeMarcus Cousins, Marcus Thornton, Hickson and Jimmer Fredette. I don't expect them to make the playoffs next year, but they could show some steep improvements in 2013. The problem with the Kings are that they have 2 black holes on defense in Cousins and Hickson and a ball hog in Evans. This team will score points, but will give up a lot of them too.

-With that said, I have learned from a source connected with the Cavs that Hickson's camp let the Cavs know months ago that he was unhappy here. That displeasure only rose after the Cavs drafted PF Tristian Thompson last week. Also, the belief out of Hickson's camp was that he wanted $10 million a year and the Cavs were not willing to pay him that. With that said, it becomes obvious why the Cavs traded Hickson. One, he was unhappy here. Two, he had unrealistic expectations for his new contract. Three, with the Cavs emphasis on defense (this was addressed by Byron Scott after the draft), Hickson was not going to last long here. Often times last year, he clashed with Byron Scott, struggled to maintain focus, was late on defensive rotations or completely missed them and drew stupid fouls many times. I like Hickson's athleticism, rebounding and offensive skills, but he really lacked basketball IQ and didn't seem to care much about defense. On a side note, the source noted that PG Ramon Sessions was next to go....

-The Cavs addressed one of the main weaknesses on the roster by trading for Casspi, who is a 6'9 SF. He is the first Israeli born player to play in the NBA. He scored 8 points per game and grabbed 4 rebounds a game last year, as he both started and came off the bench last year. Those numbers don't jump out at you but he is a solid 3 point shooter (37% from 3 in 2011), has good ball handling skills and can get up and down the court well. He isn't a great defender as he lacks lateral quickness and cannot create his own offense. Creating his own offense isn't a big concern with me as the Cavs have both Baron Davis and Kyrie Irving to help set up players. Casspi is a passionate player who needed a change of scenery from the disfunction that is the Sacramento Kings. He is still young at 23 years of age and will either start or get major minutes off the bench. While he may not have the upside of Hickson, he is a solid player who will listen to coaches and give maximum effort every night.

-I think the front office's reasoning behind this was that they wouldn't keep Hickson after 2011 and to try their best to get a 2012 first rounder. I doubt any team 1-20 would trade their first rounder for Hickson. People think that Grant could have done better with the draft pick, but if he could've, don't you think he would have? With that said, the Cavs knew Hickson wasn't going to stay, they added cheap young talent, that fits a need on the team. Also, the first round pick could become very valuable in 2013 or 2014. While this may sound bad, this further worsens the Cavs roster as Hickson is a better player than Casspi, so I am guessing the Cavs are in full tank mode. Most Cavs fans are trying to rebuild this team in a year or so by throwing out free agent signing idea for players such as Nene, Jason Richardson, Marc Gasol and Tyson Chandler. We aren't going to trade for Dwight Howard or Chris Paul either folks. The only free agents the Cavs should sign should be young players to short term contracts(PF Brandan Wright and SF/PF Earl Clark are just some examples). No free agent will turn this team around serious contender anytime soon. We need to rebuild through the draft and trades. No need to try to hinder our future cap space for a short term fix. I am fine with tanking 2012, getting a high draft pick and hopefully landing a great young player. This model works, just ask the Oklahoma City Thunder.

-Another piece of news to consider, the NBA lockout is looming. If the Union and Owners cannot agree on a deal by midnight tonight, the Owners will lockout the players. Many analysts and observers are expecting a tough battle between the two sides, with no resolution in sight. If the 2012 NBA season is cancelled, the 2012 Draft odds would be the same as 2011. The Clippers would get their first rounder back, but the Cavs would have the 2nd best odds to get the #1 overall pick and would be guaranteed a top 4 pick. That means the Cavs would have a chance to get PF/C Anthony Davis, SF Harrison Barnes, SF Michael Gilchrist, SF/PF James McAdoo or SF Terrance Jones.

All in all, if I had to grade this trade right now, I would give it a B-. I thought the Cavs could have extracted more value for Hickson, but apparently the market was thin. Maybe teams had some leverage over the Cavs because of the fact that we drafted Tristian and already had Andy/Jamison at the 4 as well. While the protections aren't great, the Kings are a more talented team than people think. If this becomes a first rounder in 2013 or 2014, I will give it a higher grade. The Kings aren't going to be able to afford Hickson after this year, so this is basically a rental for them. Add in the fact we got a solid wing player and a possible lottery pick, it's not as bad of a deal as people believe. Kudos to Grant and Co. for continuing to gather first round picks as they already got one in the Baron Davis deal, 2 more firsts in the LeBron sign and trade (must be used from 2013-2017 but not in consecutive years) and another possible one in this deal. Besides Sessions, I am very interested in seeing what the Cavs can do with the $14.5 million trade exception (the exception cannot be used with another player, so we can't use the exception with Sessions). Let's see if they can get either a future first round draft pick for taking on a bad contract.

Thanks for reading. Go Cleveland!

-Raz

Cavs NBA Draft 2011 Preview

2011-06-20T20:10:00.002-04:00

Well, although I don't write as much, I think now is the time to write a good entry with the NBA Draft being 3 days away. The Cavs currently hold picks #1, #4, #32 and #54. What are the Cavs needs? Everything. When you are rebuilding a team, with no clear franchise player, your strategy is often to take the best player available. This is one of the weakest drafts I have seen in the past few years. There are no sure-fire All-Stars or franchise players, but there are a couple who could potentially be All-Stars. In my opinion, the best player in this draft is Duke PG Kyrie Irving. Here are some of the names that could have their name called by the Cavs on Thursday.

Kyrie Irving, PG Duke As stated, I believe he is the best player in this draft. He is a true PG, who can shoot, drive to the basket, pass, find the open man and play defense. He does everything very well, but does not have one attribute that makes him stand out from other PG's (Derek Rose' speed, Rondo's hands, Chris Paul's ball handling). He had a toe injury this past year that limited him to only 11 games. He has good size for a PG at 6'3 as well. He is a great kid who comes from a good family. He does not seem cocky or self-absorbed (we had a player in Cleveland who had these attributes a couple years ago). When hearing him speak, you get the feeling that he is intelligent, calm and classy. He is a true floor general that could lead this team for years to come. Also, Coach Byron Scott loves PG's and we saw how well this team played after we traded for Baron Davis. The Princeton Offense is predicated on a good ball handler who can make good passes and cut to the basket, exactly what Irving does.

This should seem like a no brainer at #1 for the Cavs, but the recent talk out of the Cavs front office/coaching staff is that they haven't decided on the #1 pick and could take Arizona's Derrick Williams instead. If you ask me, this is a smokescreen. There is a big difference between Irving and the next best PG, Kentucky's Brandon Knight, whom the Cavs had in for a workout today. It seems that the Cavs are trying to get both Irving and Williams, but Williams is expected to go #2 to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Wolves have no need for Williams as they already have Michael Beasley and Anthony Randolph, and are trying to trade the #2 pick. In my opinion, the Cavs are using their leverage at #1 to distort the value of the #2 pick by telling everyone they don't know who they want at #1. No team is going to trade for the #2 pick without know who will be there for sure. By doing this, the Cavs are trying to drive the the trade value of the #2 picks, maybe in hopes to acquire it at a cheaper price.

Now this all seems pretty crazy, but it could happen. I just think that Irving is too good to pass up at #1. Some people may say that we already have Baron Davis and Ramon Sessions, but Davis isn't in the teams long term plans as he is on the wrong side of 30, and Sessions is no more than a backup PG. Byron Scott loves good PG's, and it seems like a perfect match to have a smart, steady PG run the Cavs offense with Scott at the helm. Also, look at the 2012 Draft, there are no good PG's at the top of the draft and the Cavs will eventually need a floor general to run the offense. I would be very upset if the Cavs took Williams at #1 and didn't draft Irving. I am just not sold on Williams at #1 and would rather have Irving, who is a safer, better pick at 1.

Derrick Williams, Arizona SF/PF I like Williams as a prospect, but I don't want the Cavs spending the #1 pick on him and passing on Kyrie Irving. In the Cavs offense, Williams would play PF due to his size (6'9), skills around the basket and solid athleticism. I just don't think he has a position in the NBA as he doesn't have the ball handling skills to play the 3 or the athleticism to guard the position. He is a subpar rebounder (averaged 5.5 per game) who isn't a great defender. Also, he tended to disappear at times this year, which worries me for a #1 pick. He does have a pretty good 3 point shot, who can finish at the basket. He has the ability to get to the free throw line and throws down some monstrous jams.

If the Cavs took Irving at #1, and somehow got the #2 pick, then I would be more than happy to take Williams, as he could fit a need at the 3, but create a logjam at the 4. The Cavs already have JJ Hickson, Andy, Jamison, Luke Harangody and Samardo Samuels at the power forward position. Grant it, Jamison will probably be traded and Gody/Samuels being bench players, the 4 is still somewhat of a deep position. You already have young talent you can build with in Hickson and Andy, but you don't have that at the PG position, thus the need to take Irving. Jason Kidd (Mavs), Russell Westbrook (Thunder), Derek Rose (Bulls) and Rajon Rondo (Celtics) all lead their teams deep into the playoffs and it was partly because of their play at the PG position. 2 teams that faltered in the playoffs, the Heat and the Lakers, had big deficiencies at the position. I just don't see how Williams could fit it at the 3 on the Cavs and unless the Cavs unload Hickson or Andy, he creates a surplus at the 4. The Cavs had him in for a workout today, but again, I think its a smokescreen.

Enes Kanter, C Turkey No one has seen Kanter play, due to the fact he was ruled ineligible this past year for taking money for the pro team he played for overseas. He was supposed to play for John Calipari at Kentucky, but did not do so this year. We don't have much tape to go off of for him, but according to scouts he is a solid rebounder, good scorer around the basket, has solid size (measured at 6'11) and is a tough/smart kid. He lacks athleticism and a jumper, but I don't mind those weaknesses for a big man.

He would be a solid choice at #4 for the Cavs. He would fill a need at C for the team and could be a good running mate for Kyrie. The Cavs currently have Andy, Semih Erden and Ryan Hollins playing C, not a group too many teams fear. Adding Kanter would provide depth and a young piece who could grow into a solid rotation player.

Jonas Valanciunas, C Lithuania Many people are opposed to taking foreign white big men, but I don't mind Jonas. He has legitimate size for a C (7'0 with a 7'4 wingspan and a 9'3 standing reach). He can finish at the basket, rebound and has a great motor. He isn't scared of contact down low and is very young (19 years old). He has a high ceiling as a player. Some of negatives include the fact that he doesn't have a good repertoire of moves, his skinny (245 lbs.) and has some contract buyout issues with his team overseas.

ESPN's Chad Ford reported that a buyout is close to being completed with Jonas, but he won't come to the NBA next year. Also, he mentioned that if Jonas doesn't come over next year, that the Cavs won't take him at #4. That doesn't mean they won't take him at all, as they can move down the draft and take him later, but that seems unlikely. He is my second favorite option at #4, as I would prefer to have Kanter than Jonas. Kanter is a lower risk player who seems to have already developed a variety of low post moves and is more polished. Jonas has a lot more potential as a big man and offers great size in the front court. We all know that size matters in the NBA, as the Lakers had Bynum, Gasol and Odom, who were all over 6'11 and the Mavericks, who had Dirk, Tyson Chandler and Brendan Heywood, who were all over 7'0 tall. If Jonas can add some muscle and become a better defender, I think he could develop into a pretty solid post player int he NBA. Also, if he stays overseas for a year, he could further develop his skills, as he probably won't get much playing time his rookie year.

Kawhi Leonard, SF San Diego State Leonard's name hasn't been mentioned that much with the Cavs, but if the Cavs do trade down from #4 to lets say around picks #7-11, Leonard's name could be called. He fits a need at SF (least amount of depth on the roster), has great size (6'7), big hands, superior athleticism, solid defender, an improving jump shot and a non-stop motor. Think of Gerald Wallace with Leonard. He doesn't have a great 3 point shot and can't really create his own shot. If the Cavs take Irving, he won't have to worry about creating his own shot. I like Leonard a lot because he has a good attitude, can defend the SF position, an improving skill set and he seems like a safe pick. His weaknesses can be worked on with proper coaching. One of my friends is currently an intern at IMPACT Sports in Las Vegas, where Leonard is training. He told me that Leonard is the best player at the training facility and he described him as a "stud".

Alec Burks, SG Colorado I don't think Burks' name has even been mentioned with the Cavs, but again he could a target if the Cavs trade down to picks 7-11. He has good size at 6'6, is a solid free throw shooter who can get to the line, good ball handling skills, underrated rebounder, and can get his shot off over anyone. He isn't a great shooter and doesn't have elite athleticism, which could limit his ability to get to the basket. Again, his shooting weakness could be corrected with practice and good coaching. I like Burks in the lottery and believe he could be a solid NBA player.

Jeremy Tyler, PF/C USA Tyler is an interesting prospect, he left his junior year of high school to play overseas in Israel. He wasn't mature enough to play professional and got upset when he didn't get any playing time. He eventually left and played in Japan, where he fared much better. In recent interviews, analyst' noted that he seemed a lot more mature and that he learned from his mistakes. He has great size (6'10), athleticism and can play inside and outside. He still needs to develop/refine his overall game, add some bulk to his fram and this will take some time as he is only 20 years old. Much like Jonas, he is a project who will take some time to develop. I believe he could provide a lot of value at pick #32 because he won't be asked to do much his rookie year. There isn't much risk either as 2nd round picks do not have guaranteed contracts. Tyler reminds me a little bit of DeAndre Jordan, someone who could slip into the 2nd round, who has great athletic tools who shows some promise. The Cavs have no need to rush him, so I think he can take his time to develop into a good NBA player.

Norris Cole, PG Cleveland State The Cleveland State homer in me is making me write this, but with the Cavs drafting Kyrie Irving, I wouldn't bet on Cole wearing a Cavs jersey next year. I personally saw Cole play numerous times at his 4 year career at CSU. This past year I saw him play often as I was a season ticket holder. I love Cole's game as he is athletic, can handle to the ball, shoot, defend the perimeter and get to the basket. His performance at the NBA Combine has been very impressive. He is a very nice, intelligent kid who seems driven to be the best player he can be. He was salutatorian at his high school and was named Horizon League Player of the Year. This past year he scored 40 points, 20 rebounds and 9 assists versus Youngstown St. Remember, he is a 6'2 point guard. Blake Griffin was the last NCAA player to achieve such statistics. If for some reason the Cavs do not take Irving, I would love for the Cavs to take Cole with the 32nd pick, although he could be snatched up earlier. Cole is one of the most underrated players in this years draft, as he really doesn't have any big weaknesses besides playing in a Mid-Major conference.

David Lighty, OSU SG While I am not a big OSU fan, I think Lighty could be a good bench player in the NBA. He has good size (6'6), is athletic, smart and can defend the 2. He is an improving 3 point shooter and a good rebounder for a SG. He is a good kid who doesn't have any character issues. While he may never be able to create his own shot or finish at the basket, he could be a good find in round 2. He reminds me a little bit of Anthony Parker, someone with size, who can come off the bench and knockdown some shots. I think he could be available when the Cavs pick at #54 and I wouldn't mind taking him, especially if the Cavs get Irving and Kanter.

Jimmy Butler, SF Marquette If you get a chance, read ESPN's story about Jimmy Butler, its very "Blind Side"-esque. He has gone through a lot after his family left him but he has persevered through it all. A junior-college transfer, Butler is a great defender, who can rebound and is listed at 6'8. He can score inside and outside but he isn't that explosive or athletic. Again, he could fill in the deficiency at the 3 with his smarts and willingness to defend. He reminds me a little bit of Shane Battier, good intangibles coupled with a willingness to defend and do all the little things on a good team. Butler would be a good pick at #32 for the Cavs.

To wrap it all up, I really want Irving and Kanter at the top of the Draft. In the second round, I wouldn't mind a couple good role players like Lighty and Butler, guys who can step in and contribute to a young team. I would guess the Cavs could take a stab at an overseas player in round 2 (Nikola Mirotic or David Bertans) and stash them for a year or so. It's imperative the Cavs take the best players available to increase the overall talent pool on this team. Since we are rebuilding, we need guys who will be team players who can grow and develop together. Don't discount the possibility of a trade, especially with the $14 million trade exception coming due July 1st. The Sacramento Kings have been mentioned as a team that could move their pick (#7), since the Maloof Brothers are bleeding cash. Maybe the Cavs could absorb a contract (Beno Udrih/Francisco Garcia) with the TPE. It should be a very busy, exciting and interesting Thursday night for all Cavs fans.

Until then, thanks for reading and go Cleveland!

-Raz

The Cavs Win!!!

2011-05-18T08:30:00.003-04:00

What a great night for Cleveland sports, as the Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Royals and the NBA Draft Lottery took place. As many of you already know, the Cleveland Cavaliers won the NBA Lottery last night, acquiring the right to pick #1 overall in this year's upcoming Draft, along with picking 4th. The ironic part is that the #1 pick we got was from the LA Clippers in the Baron Davis/Mo Williams trade. Obviously, this is exactly what the Cavaliers franchise needed, after suffering one of its worst seasons after the departure of LeBron James. As I have stated in numerous blog posts before, having draft picks are one of the most important assets in the NBA. They sweeten trade offers and if used correctly, it allows teams to rebuild quickly. Draft picks are especially important to a smaller market team such as Cleveland. Most free agents prefer to go to nicer destinations with lower state taxes, so it is imperative that teams such as Indiana, Cleveland, Sacramento, Toronto and Milwaukee hit their draft picks.

Obviously, Duke PG Kyrie Irving will be the selection at #1. I have always been a huge fan of Irving because he is a true PG, has good court vision, is an above average shooter for a PG, great IQ, great motor, good defender and solid size (6'2 180 lbs). Unlike previous PG's who have come out of the draft, Irving does not have one skill or attribute that jumps out at you. Take for example John Wall's speed, Chris Paul's ball handling or Derek Rose' athleticism. Irving is a player you can build your team around because he plays the deepest position in the NBA, has a great overall skill set and is committed to becoming a better player. Also, he fits in perfectly with the Cavs because Baron Davis is nearing the end of his career, Ramon Sessions is more of a backup PG and Byron Scott's offense is better run with a PG who can see the floor and distribute (watch the Cavs offense after the acquisition of Baron Davis). I believe a part of the reason the Cavs struggled so much during the season was because Mo Williams was more of a scoring/shooting PG and not as much of a facilitating/slashing PG. Scott's offense is built around backdoor cuts and drives to the basket and the Cavs simply were not executing that under Williams. Hopefully this will change with Kyrie at the helm.

Now with the #1 overall pick settled, who do the Cavs take at #4? This is historically one of the worst draft classes I have seen. Players who I thought would be coming out such as UNC's Harrison Barnes, Baylor's Perry Jones, Kentucky's Terrance Jones and Ohio State's Jared Sullinger all went back to school. All four of those players were top 10 picks, with Barnes and Sullinger being top 5. This really depleted the 2011 Draft class of a lot of the top tier talent. Some of the names I would consider at #4 include Kentucky PF/C Enes Kanter, Congo C Bismack Biyombo, Colorado SG Alec Burks, Arizona SF/PF Derrick Williams and San Diego State SF Kawhi Leonard. The Cavs have needs everywhere on this team, but I am in favor of taking a SF/SG/C at the #4 pick. I will get into more details about these players as we move closer to the Draft.

One possibility that came through my mind is a potential trade for the #2 overall pick, which is held by the Minnesota Timberwolves. Their GM, David Kahn has been prone to picking up many young players, but has no way of piecing them together. He traded for Michael Beasley and Anthony Randolph, drafted Wesley Johnson, Johnny Flynn and the rights to Ricky Rubio. The teams best player, PF Kevin Love is unhappy in Minnesota and will become a free agent soon. ESPN's Chad Ford noted that the Wolves are looking for more veteran help, are open to trading the #2 pick and I wouldn't be shocked if the Cavs tried trading an Antwan Jamison (expiring contract) or Daniel Gibson along with the #4 pick for the #2 pick. Maybe the Cavs could take on the contract of Luke Ridnour (who is on the books until the 2013/2014 season). The Wolves have mentioned that they believe PG Ricky Rubio will come over to play with the Wolves this summer. Although Ridnour's contract isn't big ($11 million left), it would allows more playing time for Johnny Flynn and Ricky Rubio (if he does indeed come over). Kahn knows that he has to prove that Flynn and Rubio were worth lottery picks. I don't think this is a likely scenario, but it is something to think about. Cavs owner Dan Gilbert has been very aggressive in acquiring draft picks (almost acquired Rip Hamilton for the Pistons 1st round draft pick, which would have cost around $15-20 million to buy out Hamilton) and adding young talent to the roster. This could be an opportunity to leverage the #4 pick and the trade exception to move higher in the draft or acquire more picks in the future.

In conclusion, this is a positive step forward for this franchise. The ghosts of LeBron James and the playoff teams of the last few years really made it hard to watch this team last year. We didn't have a franchise player to build around, and just had a collection of veteran, young, unproven talent. There was no excitement, no marquee player. While Kyrie Irving might not be a franchise player, he is someone who can be the face of a franchise and build a team around. The look on Dan Gilbert's face after winning the lottery was awesome. Having his son Nick represent the Cavs at the lottery was very special, especially with his fight with a rare disease. Having Josh Cribbs, Joe Haden and Bernie Kosar sitting right behind Dan Gilbert, showing their Cleveland pride made this not only a special night for the Cavs, but for the city of Cleveland.

As Dan Gilbert said "We're coming back Cleveland!"

Thats all for now. Thanks for reading. Go Cleveland!

Browns Draft 2011 Follow-Up

2011-04-26T11:44:00.004-04:00

-This is a quick follow up post to my previous entry on the possible names the Browns could draft. From what I gather (from numerous sources), the Browns have DT Marcell Dareus as one of the favorite targets, although he is expected to be taken #2 by the Denver Broncos.

-Another name to remember is LB Von Miller. I didn't write about Dareus or Miller because I believe they will be taken by the Broncos and Bills in that order. If the Bills do surprise everyone and take CB Patrick Peterson, Miller could be taken by the Browns.

-I am of the belief and have read that the Browns have no interest in Auburn QB Cam Newton, and I am happy about that. While his physical tools are great, his ability to run out of the pocket are superior and he has stepped up when his team needed him, I am very concerned about his football IQ, accuracy, ability to read coverages and high character concerns. He seems more interested in being a superstar and icon, then being a great football player and winner. He was kicked out of the University of Florida for cheating and during his recruitment, his father auctioned him off to the highest bidder, yet Cam had no idea this was going on. During ESPN's Jon Gruden QB Camp Show, Cam basically admitted that they really didn't call plays at Auburn and that he would read one progression and make a play. When running the WCO, this is not the ideal mindset to have. While he may be confident, he does not seem humble. There seems to be this air around him that he is bigger than everything and that different rules apply to him. I would stay far away from him.....

-DT Nick Fairley is a player that I did not mention last week because I don't believe we will draft him. I think Peterson, Green and Quinn are rated higher than Fairley. I am not on the Fairley bandwagon, even though he would fill a need on our defensive line. He has solid size for a 4-3 lineman at 6'3 291, who can get through opposing offensive lineman, deliver punishing hits, display a repertoire of moves and was productive against some of the best competition in the SEC (11.5 sacks in 14 games). I am concerned about his focus, motor and character concerns. Reportedly, he showed up late to a meeting with an NFL team. I don't like defensive lineman that have talent but don't have a good work ethic or motor. I would rather have Robert Quinn over Fairley, because he has less character concerns, is more athletic, has more potential and less of a bust factor. When you are drafting in the top 10, the key is to get the best player you possibly can, that can make an impact on your team, while balancing downside risk. Fairley is a lot riskier than Green, Peterson, Jones and Quinn. He sounds a lot like Gerrard Warren to me....

In review, I will say that if the Bengals don't draft A.J. Green, and instead take QB Blaine Gabbert (Cincinnati Inquirer reported that Gabbert came in for a workout), then Patrick Peterson could be drafted by the Arizona Cardinals at #5. This would leave Green, Jones, Quinn and Fairley for the Browns. My first option obviously would be Green, then Jones, then Quinn, then look to trade down and then Fairley. If the Bengals take Green at #4, the Cardinals take Gabbert at #5, I would be more than happy taking Peterson at #6, then targeting a DT/DE in round 2, a WR in round 3 and a RT in later rounds. There are numerous scenarios that could take place, including a trade down by the Browns, but I think we stay place because Peterson and Green are too good to pass up at #6, if they are there. This is why the NFL Draft is so exciting and fun, no one really knows what will happen...

Thats it for now, thanks for reading! Go Cleveland!

-Raz

Cleveland Browns 2011 Draft Preview

2011-04-22T15:36:00.003-04:00

I've gotten lazy, but we're six days away from the 2011 NFL Draft. The Cleveland Browns currently hold the 6th pick in the NFL Draft. They have one pick in every round, with 2 in the 6th round (resulting from the Brady Quinn trade). The Browns' biggest needs are DE/DT, WR, RT and CB. The Browns have just Ahtyba Rubin at DT with little talent around him (Kenyon Coleman and Brian Schaefering). With the Browns transitioning to a 4-3 defense with Dick Jauron, the Browns will need to beef up the defensive line. The current RT is John St. Clair who had an up and down year last year. The Browns have a very solid offensive line, except for the RT position. With Joe Thomas, Eric Steinbach, Alex Mack and Floyd Womack/Shaun Lauvao anchoring the line, the Browns are one good RT away from having a great offensive line. Besides the deficiencies in the trenches, the Browns do not really have a great playmaker at WR. Our leading receiver last year was TE Ben Watson, that should really tell you something. If we want to see Colt McCoy continue to develop in the West Coast Offense, we need dynamic WR's for Colt to throw to. Both Brian Robiskie and Mo Massaquoi are #2 and #3 recievers and the Browns are in dire need of a WR who could garner some respect from opposing defensive coordinators. The position of CB was one where the Browns took Joe Haden in the first round last year and he proved to be a good pick as he had 6 interceptions in his rookie year. CB Sheldon Brown was acquired from Philadelphia last year and he is starting to get up there in age (he is 32 years old) and he will have to transition to nickel back. CB Eric Wright had a disappointing year and he will be a free agent this year (if there is a free agency!). With all this said, here are some names Heckert, Holmgren and Co. could draft in the first few rounds:

AJ Green, WR, Georgia Bulldogs Without a doubt, Green is #1 choice for the Browns draft in 2011. He fits one of the biggest needs on our team, provides a young weapon for a growing Colt McCoy and he is a safer pick than other options that could come about at #6. Green has great size at 6'3, 211 lbs. and who has great athleticism. He is fast, has great hands and great football IQ. His skill set would fit the WCO offense in that he can catch the ball consistently and gain yards after the catch due to his speed and agility. He was suspended for a part of the 2010 season for selling his bowl jersey but he does not have any character concerns. He is a hard working kid who both coaches and players rave about. If the Cincinnati Bengals do not draft Green at #4, he will be there at #6 and I expect the Browns to take him. I will be a very happy man if we draft Green.

Patrick Peterson, CB, LSU I know CB isn't the highest need for the Browns, but having a young tandem of Haden and Peterson would be down right scary for the next few years. Peterson is graded as the best CB in this years draft. He has great size at 6'0, he ran a 4.34 40 time and can play in either man or zone coverage. His athleticism is unparalleled. He has great hands, makes plays and can wrap up opposing WR's. He can return punts, and is very durable. He would fit the bill of "best player available" if he is there at 6. I would take Peterson over Julio Jones at #6 for these reasons, he could make an impact on day 1, where WR"s usually take some time to develop and Peterson has been rated as maybe the best overall player in the draft. Scouts and analysts rate Peterson as one of the safest players in the draft as well. I don't think the Browns could go wrong if they draft Peterson over Jones. I would be upset if the Browns take Peterson over Green, just because I think Green is one of the best WR prospects to come out in a long time (scouts compare him to Calvin Johnson).

Julio Jones, WR, Alabama Julio Jones is rated as the #2 WR prospect in this draft, but there isn't too much separation between him and Green. He ran a 4.3 40 on a fractured foot. He has great size at 6'2, good speed, tough, great inangibles and great leaper. He would also be a great fit in the WCO because he fights for yards after the catch. He has had some injury issues with his fractured foot and injuries to his shoulder and wrist. He has some concentration issues and can drop passes but it doesn't seem to be a major issue. If both Peterson and Green are off the board and we cannot trade down, I would take Jones at 6. He fits a need and is a safer bet than other DE's such as Robert Quinn and Da'Quan Bowers. I would also be very happy with Jones on the Browns next year.

Robert Quinn, DE, UNC Here is a name that has been popping up for the last few weeks. Quinn played DE for UNC but was suspended all last year for taking money from an agent. He has great size at 6'4 265, he has great athleticism, can penetrate, tackle and has a great motor. He had a brain tumor in high school that he seems to have beaten, he doesn't have a lot of moves, isn't great against the run and 10 of his 11 sacks in 2009 came against bad teams. I wouldn't want to risk taking a DE who needs time to develop and produced against lesser competition with the 6th pick. He could be a great player but he is a high risk/high reward prospect. I would stay away from Quinn.

Da'Quan Bowers, DE, Clemson When talking about production, Bowers was one of the best last year at Clemson. He had 15.5 sacks against some of the best teams in NCAA. He has great size at 6'3 280, who can shed blocks, deliver big hits and get to the QB. He has a good football IQ and is maturing as a person. This biggest knocks on Bowers are his motor and injury issues. He recently had knee surgery and there are conflicting reports as to how healthy the knee is and if it will hold up. I don't like drafting DE's with knee issues because they will never be the same after their operations. Bowers has been productive, but he sounds a lot like Courtney Brown to me. Recently, many draft analysts have him falling out of the top 10 into the mid 20's. He is too risky to take at #6, and I wouldn't be too eager to draft him, especially with Green, Jones and Peterson all potentially being on the board.

Christian Ballard, DT, Iowa Here is a guy that could be available in the 2nd or 3rd round. Assuming we take a WR or CB in the first round, we would need to draft a DE/DT in the coming rounds. Ballard is an interesting prospect because he was a three year start at Iowa, has great size at 6'3, 283, is athletic, strong and hard working. He is still refining parts of his game but I believe he is someone who has a lot of experience and could step in fairly quickly to contribute. He needs to continue to develop more pass rushing moves and improve his tackling, but any players that is seen as hard working by his coaches, teammates and scouts, will probably work on his weaknesses in the NFL.

Allen Bailey, DE, Miami (FL) Another interesting prospect out of the "U". He could potentially fall out of the first round and he could be scooped up in the 2nd round. He has ideal size at 6'3 285, incredibly strong, is a great bull rusher and is a hard working kid. He is still raw but with some refinement can be a terror in the NFL. He has been productive the last two years as he had 14.5 sacks in the last 26 games. If we draft a CB/WR, this could be a guy would could take in the 2nd round.

Sam Acho, DE, Texas Here is a guy who has a non-stop motor who played at one of the best NCAA programs. He was overshadowed by Sergio Kindle and Brian Orakpo in his career but after they left for the NFL he had a productive 2010, with 9 sacks. He is a great tackler, tough and is a hard working player. He has won academic awards at Texas and is well respected by his colleagues. He is a little small for a DE at 6'1 262 and isn't as athletic as you would like and could be engulfed by bigger blockers. With all this said, he could be a great prospect for the Browns in rounds 3 or 4. He fits a need at DE and would come from a program that is known for producing NFL players.

Jerrel Jernigan, WR, Troy A interesting WR prospect from a small school with blazing speed. He would be a great fit in the WCO due to his ability to gain yards after the catch with his agility. He is a tough kid who has great hands and has a solid build. He is a dangerous return man who offers a lot of versatility. He is very small at 5'8 185, and has difficulties getting off the line of scrimmage. Also, he will have difficulty blocking due to his diminutive stature. He should be around in rounds 2 or 3, and if the Browns take a DE/DT or CB in the first round, they could target a WR in the second round.

Torrey Smith, WR, Maryland This is my 3rd favorite WR prospect besides Green and Jones. Smith has amazing agility and speed, who would be a great fit in the WCO. He has good size at 6'0 and has great burst off the line. He is still developing his seperation skills. He is a solid blocker and has good hands. He has a great background who was forced into being a father figure when he was 7 years old with his single mother and 7 siblings. He is well respected on and off the field and has been humbled by his experiences. He should be there at our 2nd round pick and I would love to add him to this Cleveland Browns squad.

Marcus Gilbert, OT, Miami (FL) With needs at DE/DT and WR potentially being filled in rounds 1 and 2, this could be a prospect who is available in round 3. He has great NFL size at 6'6 330, who is strong and naturally athletic, He is versatile in that he can play both LT and RT. He can get to the second level and is very agressive, which is the type of attitude needed in the trenches. He is a hard working kid who doesn't have any character concerns. He could be very similar to what Shaun Lauvao was last year, someone who might not be a super-star, but could fill in the offensive line on day one, and be productive.

I know this is a lot to digest and we might not even end up with any of these guys, but if I was in the draft room, these would be guys I would target. The Browns still have many needs on this team and with the current NFL lockout, we might not get any help in free agency. I put a lot of trust into Heckert and Holmgren because their proven to know what they are doing. Together, they signed Scott Fujita, traded for Sheldon Brown and Peyton Hillis, cut Derek Anderson and drafted Joe Haden, TJ Ward, Shaun Lauvao, Colt McCoy and a potential contributor in Montario Hardesty. If the Browns can get 2-3 more starters in this draft, I think the Browns could further position themselves for a potential playoff run in 2011. If any new names pop up before next week, I will be sure to post them. Thanks for reading and go Cleveland!

-Raz

Welcome to Cleveland, Random White Big Men

2011-02-24T21:29:00.002-05:00

The Cavs finished the trade deadline by trading their 2nd round pick in 2012 (one that Minnesota previously owned) to the Celtics for C Semih Erden and PF Luke Harangody. I think this is a sideways move. I believe Erden provides the most value as he is 6'11, and can play down in the post. He doesn't have a lot of post moves and is very skinny (240 lbs.). He sounds like another Ryan Hollins to me. Harangody is another meat and potatoes player. He can shoot and score down low, but isn't athletic and is only 6'8. I didn't really like him when he played at Notre Dame either. I am just not a fan of big men who can't defend, aren't athletic and don't have post skills. With all that said, maybe one of these guys can develop into a guy we can put at the end of our bench. Again, it is a low risk move as we only gave up a 2nd round pick in 2012 for them. Here are some other thoughts about the Cavs and the trade deadline.

-Give Chris Grant and Dan Gilbert credit. The Cavs according to media reports had a deal in place to trade for Rip Hamilton for the trade player exception, along with a first round draft pick coming from the Pistons. The reason the deal did not occur was because the Cavs and Hamilton could not come to terms on a buyout agreement. Hamilton has 2 years and $25 million left on his deal. With that said, good for the Cavs for trying to turn the TPE into a draft pick, one that could be very high.

-The Cavs and the Warriors were in discussions to trade Antawn Jamison to the Warriors. It wasn't clear what the Cavs would have received in the trade, but I assume it would have been Troy Murphy's expiring contract. Again, good idea by Grant to try to clear more cap space to restore flexibility to the payroll. Brian Windhorst did mention that the Cavs and Warriors would probably entertain trade talks again when the season ends, as Jamison' contract becomes an expiring one.

-The Cavs stayed patient by not moving Anthony Parker. Although I would have liked to have seen him traded for a high 2nd round pick, the Cavs rebuffed offers from the Bulls and Celtics. Had the Cavs accepted a 2nd round pick from the Bulls or Celtics, it would have been a very low pick. I think its better to keep Parker around then give him away for basically nothing. He is a great veteran presence, can shoot and has an expiring deal.

-The Cavs have bought out Leon Powe. I think this will be a good move as he can try to sign on with a contender. He wasn't playing much and he could be a useful bigman off the bench for a playoff team. Again, another class act.

-We came away with Baron Davis, the Clippers 2011 first round pick, Semih Erden and Luke Harangody and all we gave up was Mo Williams, Jamario Moon and a 2012 second round pick. If i had to grade these moves together, I would give it a B+. I don't see why we needed Erden or Harangody, but maybe they can find their way to the end of a bench. I love the Baron Davis trade. As much as I love Mo, he seemed to be hurting (emotionally and physically) after LeBron left. Maybe a change of scenery will be good for him. I understand that the 2011 draft class isn't great, but this could be a top 5 pick if the Clippers continue to lose. I would love to see Kyrie Irving, Jared Sullinger, Derrick Williams or Terrance Jones on this team. Adding that 2011 Clippers pick will only speed up the rebuilding process. Also, I have to give Dan Gilbert a lot of credit, he took on extra salary for the Clippers pick. He seems to understand this won't be a rebuild on the fly, instead it will be through the draft. Now its time to execute in the draft.

Thats all for now. Thanks for reading and go Cleveland!

-Raz

Welcome to Cleveland, Baron

2011-02-24T02:31:00.003-05:00

It's been months since I last wrote, and I have been thinking about this blog a lot lately. I have decided I am going to write more often now a days (don't make fun of me!). The reason being, there is going to be a lot of activity in the Cleveland sports scene, and I just have been a slacker and need to get my thoughts out there.

With that said, the Cavs made a big move tonight in trading Mo Williams and Jamario Moon for LA Clippers guard Baron Davis and an unprotected 2011 first round draft pick. I will say it again, an unprotected 2011 first round draft pick! Currently, if the season ended today, the Clippers would pick 8th. With that said, the order can change from now until June, but the Cavs are going to have 2 lottery picks. Also, the trade itself works out financially, so there is no need to use the $15 million trade exception. The move is suprising to me from the Clippers point of view. Blake Griffin seemed to energize Baron Davis, as he is averaging 12 points and 7 assists this year, but it is clear the Clippers are trying to clear cap room to bring a big free agent in 2012. Here are some quick thoughts:

-Kudos to Chris Grant and Dan Gilbert for staying patient, maintain flexibility and looking for the right deal. They didn't part with any young players, they didn't use the trade exception, didn't use any draft picks and they didn't take on any longer contracts. Both Baron and Mo's contracts end in 2013, although Mo's last two years are player options, he is likely to exercise them ($8.5 million each, he won't get that on the open market). The Cavs took on some more salary now, but it paid off as they received the Clippers 2011 first round pick, which is unprotected. Grant learned a thing or two from Danny Ferry, and that was to not make a deal to just make a deal, and where we would come out winners. It is pretty clear that the Cavs will come out a winner in this deal.

-Adding draft picks has been a part of the teams strategy since the team began its collapse in December. Having the Clippers 2011 first round pick is a great asset, as it will surely be a lottery pick (they currently have the 8th worst record in the NBA at 21-37). We now have 2 first and second rounders this year, along with 2 first rounders from the Heat from 2013-2017, and another second round pick from the Heat. Building through the draft has been key, as it is very difficult to get key free agents to come to Cleveland. We saw with LeBron how difficult it was. Look at Oklahoma City (Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Serge Ibaka) built their young team via the draft, or even the Spurs (Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, Tiago Splitter, Gary Neal and DaJuan Blair). I am glad the Cavs aren't trying to rebuild on the fly, they are collecting assets and tearing the team down. Let's just hope they can get the draft right!

-The Cavs may not be done yet, they still have the trade player exception, Antawn Jamison, Anthony Parker, Leon Powe and most of the Cavs roster to shop for additional draft picks/young players. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw another move coming tomorrow, as the trade deadline approaches. The Cavs have been in talks with the Celtics and Bulls regarding Parker, Powe approached the Cavs about a buyout, and the Mavs have been rumored to have an interest in Jamison.

-What does this mean for the team now? Byron Scott gets a PG he feuded with in New Orleans, but Baron later came out and said that he learned a lot from Scott. The Cavs will continue to be the worst team in the NBA as they slowly strip the roster down. This is probably the best plan, as it will only increase our chances for the #1 overall pick. I believe the only players worth keeping on this squad are Sessions, Eyenga, Harris and Hickson. These are the players that have the most upside and could continue to develop into solid players.

-It is sad to see Mo Williams go. He was one of my favorite players on this team because of his heart and love for the city of Cleveland. He came out and said he didn't want to be traded in the summer time. He is a great 3 point shooter and he now gets to play with one of the most electrifying players in the NBA, Blake Griffin. A true class act. I wish him the best of luck.

Alright, its almost 3AM, time for bed. Thanks for reading and I will update the blog as I hear more news. It's great to be back. Go Cleveland!

Dog Days of Summer

2010-08-01T19:23:00.004-04:00

I haven't written a lot about the Browns and Indians latley, but here is an update.

Indians

-The Indians traded closer Kerry Wood, OF Austin Kearns to the Yankees for cash considerations and prospects, then dealt SP Jake Westbrook along with cash to the Cardinals for minor-league pitcher Corey Kluber. Kluber comes from the San Diego Padres farm system and was drafted in the 4th round of the 2007 MLB Draft. Kluber was 6-6 with a 3.45ERA in AA San Antonio. Its obvious the Indians are now going to let the kids play as they have traded away the heavy contracts of Kerry Wood and Jake Westbook. I think its a good idea because the Indians can get rid of some salary, and see what they have waiting in the wings. Giving starts to guys like Jeanmar Gomez and Josh Tomlin makes more sense than giving them to Jake Westbrook, especially when you know Westbrook is gone after this year and the season is lost.

-The trade of Jhonny Peralta was one that Tribe fans had longed for. Peralta reminds me of former Cavs guard Sasha Pavlovic. He had a lot of talent, but just didn't push himself enough to do get better. He seemed content hitting .250 with 24 HR a year, when he could have batted .285 and 30 HR a year. He did just enough to get by. The Indians picked up P Giovanni Soto, who is only 19 years old. He was 6-6 with a 2.61 ERA in Single A West Michigan. In his first start in Mahoning Valley, he went 5 innings, gave up 1 hit, 1 earned run, and 7 strike outs.

-Going forward, I think the Indians can be competitive in 2 years. They need to first figure out who is going to fill in the rotation. Past Fausto Carmona, the Indians need to get themselves 4 solid starters. Justin Masterson looks like a promising #3, Josh Tomlin and Jeanmar Gomez have looked good in the limited starts they had, Mitch Talbot was doing ok until he got hurt. Also, the Indians have stockpiled many young pitchers with Carlos Carrasco, Jason Knapp, and Nick Hagadone waiting in the wings. Secondly, the Indians have to figure out who is going to play 2B and 3B. Lonnie Chisenhall (.276 11 HR 51 RBI in AA) and Jared Goedert (.296 17 HR 37 RBI in AAA) are seen as their heir apparents at third base. Goedert will probably be a September call-up, especially after the Peralta trade. Luis Valbuena is not going to cut it with a .164 average at 2B and Jayson Nix seems more like on the bench than starting at 2B. Jason Donald came in the Cliff Lee trade, and he has been solid but an upgrade must be made.

-Our outfield seems set for the future with Trevor Crowe, Michael Brantley, Sin-Soo Choo, Grady Sizemore all in the fold, with Nick Welgarz coming in the future. Carlos Santana looks like a stud at C, Matt LaPorta is improving after coming back from the minors at 1B, Asdrubal Cabrera is a great fielder and solid hitter at SS. The bullpen seems to be coming along with Chris Perez filling in the closers role (12 saves 2.18 ERA this year), along with Tony Sipp, Rafael Perez, Frank Herrmann, and Joe Smith pitching much better. First round pick Alex White was projected to be the closer of the future but he has been starting at Class AA Akron (6-4, 1.49 ERA 57K in 78 innings).

-As I have said before, the Dolan's inability to spend a lot of money has hurt the Indians, but they did give out big contracts. The problem is they gave out big ones to the wrong players (Kerry Wood, Travis Hafner, Jhonny Peralta). Grady has been hurt for the past two years and Fausto did not pitch well last year. Had the Indians spent this money on retaining Victor Martinez or Cliff Lee, we would be a much more competitive team. The team does not have a lot of high salaries left on the books, so the Indians should identify the best talent going forward, then do the best to lock them up long term. This way we won't have to go with the "lightning in the bottle" theory, where we hope 4-5 guys on the team all have career years together, only too falter the next year. From 1995 to 1999 the Indians had consistent contributors in Kenny Lofton, Albert Belle, Manny Ramirez, Brian Giles, Paul Shuey, Orel Hershieser, Charles Nagy, Omar Vizquel, Jim Thome, Sandy Alomar Jr., David Justice, and Robbie Alomar. This is what the Indians need, a steady stream of players who can contribue consistently over a 4-5 year period.

Browns

-Browns 1st round pick Joe Haden signed his contract yesterday and practiced for the first time today. He is practicing with the 2nd team defense and is projected to be a backup to Sheldon Brown and Eric Wright. He will probably see time at nickleback. His deal calls for $50 million over 5 years, with $26 million guaranteed. Mike Lombardi of SI reported that Haden looked slow in OTA's. At the combine he ran a 4.57 40 time, but this was due to a back injury. At the Florida Pro Day he ran a much better 4.43 40 time. I think Haden is going to be just fine.

-Montario Hardesty twisted his knee and is out for a month. This should give Jerome Harrison the inside track to becoming the starter at RB. I think even if Harrison wins the job, Hardesty will slowly ease his way into getting some carries. With the Browns running the ball more this year, I can see Harrison getting 14-16 carries a game, with Hardesty getting 18-20. As the season goes along and the weather gets worse, I think Hardesty will see more time because he is more of a bruising back who can play in the cold weather and get the tough yards. Harrison has dealt with injury issues in the past and I doubt he can last the whole season, carrying the full load in the back field.

-I am very interested in seeing who the starters will be at S. I think Abe Elam and TJ Ward will end up starting. Elam did not do well last year and Ward is the teams 2nd round pick from the Draft. Ward is seen as a hard hitter who can stop the run, but is not good in coverage. Since their return in 1999, the Browns on average have ranked 27th against the run, and they were 27th last year. They need guys who can stop backs at the line of scrimmage. Mike Adams is suited as a backup and 5th round pick Larry Asante is seen more a special teamer. This will probably be the weakest part of the defense going into the season.

-I don't expect big things from QB Jake Delhomme. I just hope he can run the offense, not turn the ball over, and make key passes. We won't be a pass happy offense, so I don't want him throwing the ball 35 times. He was not good last year and he has to provide stability in the offense. Also, don't expect Colt McCoy to play this year, he is better off holding the clipboard and learning from Delhomme and Holmgren (who is known for developing QB's).

-I get the sense that the team is cautiously optimistic this year. We finally have some stability in the front office with team president Mike Holmgren and GM Tom Heckert. The players are getting used to Eric Mangini's no nonsense style of coaching as their have been less problems this year. Gone is Josh Cribbs complaining about a contract, gone are players running laps for missed snaps, gone are players being fined $1,700 for not paying for a bottle of water. The players seem to be buying into the culture, and it was evident in the last four games last year as the Browns were playing for nothing but beat the Steelers and Jaguars (both teams who had a lot more talent than the Browns). I will write my Browns preview in my next blog.

Thanks for reading guys. Go Cleveland!

-Raz

Class is in Session

2010-07-26T23:03:00.003-04:00

The Cavs today traded SG Delonte West, PG Sebastian Telfair to the Minnesota Timberwolves for PG Ramon Sessions, C Ryan Hollins, and a 2nd round pick in 2013. Here are my thoughts:

-I think this is a very good move for the Cavs. We have a PG in Sessions who can run the offense, distribute (had 24 assists in a game once), and get to the free throw line. He will fit well with the up-tempo offense the Cavs will run this year. He is 24 years old and has 3 more years left on his deal, for $4 million a deal. He has a very cap friendly contract.

-C Ryan Hollins is an unknown to most, but he is another young C who probably won't develop into much more than a big man off the bench. He is 7 feet and very athletic, thats it. He is a good finesse defender but doesn't do well against aggressive post players. He is 25 years old and has 2 years left on his contract at $2 million a year. He will throw down some nasty dunks and that is how he will get most of his points. He doesn't have a lot of skills in the post. He will serve as a solid backup to Andy and JJ.

-Seeing Delonte go is somewhat sad, but it had to happen. His off the court issues really hurt the team as the organizaiton could not depend on him on a daily basis. His play really fell off this year and he could never get it together. He was one of our most important players in 2008 and 2009, but he just didn't seem to have it this year. His contract will save the Wolves about $4 million in cap space because he can be bought out for $500K. He was one of my favorite players due to the grit and determination he showed on the court. I remember during game 6 versus the Magic in 2009, he was the only Cavs player hustling on the court at the end of the game. He is a fearless player who was a solid player when healthy.

-PG Sebastian Telfair was a throw in as his contract is an expiring one as well. Not much to miss here.

-This deal shows you how incompetent Wolves GM David Kahn is. He drafts point guards Ricky Rubio, and Johnny Flynn, signs Ramon Sessions, and then signs PG Luke Ridnour the next year. He had to give away Sessions for free, along with a draft pick. Flynn is now hurt and out for 3-4 months. This was the same guy who gave C Darko Milicic $20 million. As Bill Simmons calls him "KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHN!"

-The main reasons I like this deal for the Cavs are the fact that we got a young, cheap PG who can continue to improve, and we added an asset in the 2nd round pick. Most people will say the 2nd round pick is worthless, but in 2013 it will still probably be a high 2nd rounder. You can always find solid talent in the 2nd round. The Cavs are now asset collectors, which is good for a rebuilding team. This squad is going to be painful to watch for a couple years, but as long as we continue to add draft picks, we can build a young roster. We have 4 draft picks coming from the Heat in the next 6 years, and another 2nd rounder here. I hope we can add a couple more picks in the next few years.

-A stark departure from the LeBron era can be seen here. Most of the time we were trading draft picks for longer, more expensive contracts. Now we are adding cheap young talent, with shorter contracts and draft picks. Tear the team down, gather draft picks, and save cap space. If we draft well, this team could see a quicker turn around. Lets hope we don't rebuild on the fly.

-The Cavs signing PF Samardo Samuels was a move to add depth to the team. He played well for the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Summer League. He is small at 6'8 and not overly athletic, but he has great skills around the basket. If he can improve upon his athleticism, and work hard, he will have a place on this team.

-Bringing Christian Eyenga over here was also a solid move. He will probably spend some time in the D-League where he can continue to develop. He is going to wow some fans with his athleticism. I hope he gets some minutes here and there because he has the tools to thrive in Byron Scott's uptempo system. If he can continue to improve his overall feel for the game, then he can become a Mickael Pietrus type of player. I see him as a solid wing defender who can score in spurts in a up tempo offense.

I think that just about does it. Thanks for reading guys, go Cleveland!

-Raz

I Knew It Was You Fredo

2010-07-13T20:52:00.003-04:00

Well folks, I am sure we all know what happend with LeBron and the Cavs. I am not going to add any facts to the story, we are all seeing it come out now. Here are some thoughts:

-Seeing LeBron in a Heat uniform just sucks. Never could I imagine him anywhere else. I can see why he would want to go win a championship ring, but the best players who have won rings did it with one team and didn't go chasing. Its obvious LeBron understands he can't do it himself and needs to go elsewhere. Guys like Magic, Larry, Kobe, Michael, Duncan all did it with the teams that drafted them. I know one day LeBron is going to regret what he did. He failed here, plain and simple.

-What disgusts me the most is that it seems that he planned this for a long time. The writing was on the wall the whole time and I just didn't want to believe it. He never recruited free agents, didn't commit when Trevor Ariza and Ron Artest came for their visits last year, and didn't speak with Tom Izzo. I think after the Orlando series in 2009, LeBron knew he was going to leave for sure. I say this because he played amazingly in the 2007 playoffs and he gave it his all versus Boston in 2008. I think him, Wade, and Bosh thought of the idea in the Olympics in 2008, then when LeBron saw he couldn't get help here, he punched his ticket out of Cleveland.

-Notice how no one is talking about his elbow "injury". I wouldn't be shocked if LeBron decided to just float throughout the series. He obviously quit in game 5, and he didn't do well in game 2 and game 4. LeBron knew if he played to his abilities, the Cavs would have won that series, and I think he just got tired of his situation here in Cleveland. The way he ripped off his Cavs jersey after the loss gave me some shivers, but again I didn't want to believe he was going to leave.

-People cannot blame Dan Gilbert and Danny Ferry for this. Maybe Gilbert gave LeBron some special privileges here and there, but they spend tons and tons of money on the team. Whether it was new jerseys, stadium upgrades, a new practice facility, or added payroll, the Cavs did it. Any trade the Cavs made during Ferry's tenure, we took on more money. We had one of the highest payrolls in the NBA and the Cavs tried their best to get a #2 guy. They made offers for Jason Kidd, Amare, Pau Gasol, Kevin Garnett, and Chris Paul. I honestly believe the team the Cavs had this past year could have won it all, but the guy who was supposed to take us there failed.

-Dan Gilbert's letter, no matter how crazy and unrealistic it was, was pretty awesome. We know we aren't going to win a ring before LeBron does, but seeing an owner speak the words every Cavs fan was thinking is refreshing. Seeing how passionate Gilbert was in that letter was great, and he did not hold anything back. Clevelanders really needed to hear that letter.

-The way in which LeBron did what he did was horrible. Going on national television, saying your going to call it "The Decision", then leaving is sad. This is after LeBron said he understood the Drive, the Fumble, and the Shot. LeBron never respected Cleveland and never showed the love that we showed him. Wearing Yankees and Cowboys gear was just sad. I feel that LeBron just didn't have any good advice in this situation, he needed a male adult figure to sit him down and be stern with him. LeBron lives in his own little world and he thinks he is invincible from criticism at times. He is a very selfish person who did not think about the repercussions of his actions. Not once did he even mention the Cleveland fans who supported his every move here. For someone who always spoke of loyalty and family, LeBron left both of those behind to go to Miami. I guess he fooled us all.

-Where do the Cavs go from here? I say blow up the team up. Trade any old players (Parker/Jamison), long contracts (Jamison/Andy) for young players and draft picks. Clear cap space, not to sign big name free agents (they won't come here), but to use it in trades. We can use our salary cap space to take on big contracts for some players. The Cavs got 4 draft picks for LeBron, and I hope the Cavs continue to stockpile picks. Take the Oklahoma City Thunder route, load up on draft picks, and use your salary cap space to collect more assets. I am fine with the Cavs being bad for a year or two, but with solid drafting and some luck, you will see a good basketball team in Cleveland. There is no reason to try to re-tool this team, so forget guys like Monta Ellis and Andre Igoudala. Think guys like DJ Augistin, and Kyle Lowry.

-This has got to be one of the worst moments in Cleveland sports history. We always thought we could have a savior for this town with the Browns and Indians struggling. We were always scared we couldn't pay our superstars money (Manny, Thome, CC, Cliff Lee), but we could offer the most to LeBron and the saddest thing is, he is actually from this area. Since it is hard to attract free agents to Cleveland, we all thought if we could get a homegrown talent to play for us, he would never leave. Akron was so important to LeBron and he always spoke about how he wanted to put it on the map. Well he did just that, but for all the wrong reasons. LeBron can never show his face in Akron, Cleveland, let alone Ohio ever again. Its sad that we had our native son turn his back on us. I guess we just have to re-group and keep our heads up. As Terry Fox once said "Somewhere, the hurting must stop".

Thanks for reading, go Cleveland.

-Raz

Bosher-Nation

2010-07-04T11:28:00.003-04:00

Resident insider on RealCavsFans.com (great forum) W&G has informed us that the Cavs and Raptors have been discussing a sign and trade for F Chris Bosh. Here is what he said exactly:

"Can't really say this is a source that is totally in the know on this subject, but he tells me that in talking to a guy within the Raptors org., that they are disgusted with Bosh. He wants hius cake and wants to eat it too. He wants to dictate everything, but the fact is they are trying to force his hand and accept the trade to CLE. Lebron should talk to Bosh, basically ..and get this deal done. But., my guess from trying to piece the puzzle together ...a good chance exists that when Lebron decides and makes his announcement, it could be coupled with Bosh ending up alongside him here in CLE. If not, then Bosh can accept far less, and go elsewhere. We'll see how it ultimately plays out."

He also noted this:

"From what I gather, his stance is he'll play anywhere with Lebron BUT Cleveland. Toronto prefers the CLE offer to all others. They are now telling him, if he doesn't accept the CLE trade, then he can just cut another deal with another team and make far less cash. What happens now, I presume, is either some other team (Bulls, Heat) somehow come up with a trade that better satisfies TOR, and he joins either Wade at either, or James in Chicago,... or eventually accepts coming to CLE with Lebron in a S/T."

Reports that the Raptors will not help Bosh in a sign and trade probably aren't true. The Raps are probably trying to force Bosh's hand into taking a sign and trade deal. He hasn't talked with the Raptors brass and they want answers soon. It seems as if LeBron will have some major recruiting to do with Bosh. I am hoping that if LeBron commits, he will tell Bosh "Listen, come play with me in Cleveland. We will get national media attention all the time, and we will win a ring. You can't pass up $30 million by playing elsewhere." If LeBron re-signs in Cleveland, Bosh will have to ask himself, would I rather have a chance to play with LeBron, increase my chances of winning a ring, and make $30 million more or go elsewhere with maybe D-Wade, and make less money. Again, the Heat can only offer Beasley, Chalmers, and Anthony for Bosh. That offer doesn't come close to the Andy, JJ, West offer the Cavs could give the Raptors. Besides the Rockets (Scola, Battier, Brooks), I think the Cavs have one of the most competitive offers for Bosh. We offer talent, young players, and salary cap relief for the Raptors. As I said earlier, the Cavs held onto all of their assets after the NBA Draft and into free agency. I think there was a reason for that. The Cavs brass has to know that they had a legit shot at Bosh or they would've moved their attention elsewhere. The Raptors and Cavs have to work together to force Bosh to come to Cleveland because its what the Cavs, Raptors, and hopefully LeBron want.

For those of you who don't know who Wine and Gold is from RCF, he is a reliable source who gives great bits of info. on the website. He used to work for the Cavs and he still has some connections to the team. He informed us that Joe Smith was re-signing with the Cavs hours before it happend, the Shaq trade hours before it happend, the fact that the Cavs were close to getting Amare (Windhorst echoed the same things he said 30 min. after W&G posted), and the Mo Williams trade the weekend before it happend. He is a great source of information and I wouldn't post his thoughts unless I thought they were legitimate.

As developments continue to come in, I will update the blog. Thanks for reading, and go Cleveland!

-Raz

Great Scott

2010-07-03T02:23:00.003-04:00

Well its been a pretty wild couple days in the NBA. The Cavs hired their head coach in Byron Scott. I am not a huge fan of Scott as he is known as someone who doesn't game plan that well, stick to his lineups to closely, loses his team after 2-3 years, and runs a slow paced Princeton offense (in 2008-2009 the Hornets were 28th in offensive pace). I did enjoy the fact that he said he wanted to run more with LeBron. The difference between Scott and Mike Brown is that Scott has had previous head coaching experience before taking this job, played in the NBA, won NBA championships as a player, and seems to be able to rebuild teams. I think LeBron will respect a guy like Scott much more than he did MB because of Scott's previous experience in the NBA, both as a player and a coach (went to the Finals twice). I am not in love with this hire, but I don't hate it either. I just feel that its very telling that Scott lost both his teams after 2 years. Maybe he worked them too hard? Maybe he couldn't motivate his players after they overachieved? He sounds too similar to Mike Brown for me to like the hire a lot (slow offense, not a good game planner, bad in game adjustments).

Now, onto this whole free agency issue. The Nets, Knicks, Heat, and Clippers have all made their pitches to LeBron. I think the only real threats to getting LeBron are the Knicks and Bulls. I think the Cavs are the frontrunners, with the Bulls and Knicks being right behind. I think he will stay because he can make more money here in Cleveland ($30 million over 6 years, he gets a 2% higher raise per year), the Cavs were still one of the best teams in the NBA the past 2 years (won over 60 games past two years), the Cavs can still improve their roster through trades and the MLE (West expiring, Hickson, Andy), the Cavs have one of the best owners in the NBA in Dan Gilbert, and lastly this is his home. I'll go through each reason more in depth:

Money- We all know LeBron can make more money here in Cleveland than any other team can offer him due to the fact that the Cavs own his Bird-Rights. The reason why the free agent class this year features so many great players is because all these players want to get as much money as they can before the CBA expires next year. The CBA in 2011 is expected to be much more strict than the current one set in place. The hype surrounding this class has been crazy and media outlets made it seem like every free agent was going to change teams. Have you noticed that Rudy Gay is staying in Memphis? Joe Johnson is close to staying with the Hawks (every ESPN analyst was asked to predict where Johnson would go and none of them said the Hawks). Paul Pierce and Dirk Nowitzki are both expected to stay with their respective teams.

Can you name me 2 or 3 superstars who have taken less money in the prime of their careers to play with other players? I didn't think so. People have to understand these superstars have huge egos and they won't take less money to be on another team. Passing up $30 million would be really hard for LeBron to do. Some have thrown the idea that LeBron will make more in endorsements by going to a larger market, but the amount of money made from endorsements is not as high as people think. With the way the economy has been the past 2 years many companies have been scaling back their marketing efforts. Money always talks, remember that.

Cavs Roster/Moves- The Cavs have won 127 games the past two years, the most of any team in the NBA. Yes, we failed in the playoffs but this past year I attribute the collapse to Mike Brown's inability to make adjustments and LeBron's elbow injury. The Cavs were the number 1 seed in the NBA playoffs for 2 years in a row. Everyone makes it seem like our roster is horrible, but we have Mo Williams, Andy, Jamison, and Hickson already. I don't think you can have a bad roster and win 127 games in 2 seasons.

The Cavs have flexibility to make moves. Just because we don't have cap space does not mean we cannot make moves. Again we have the $4.5 million super expiring of Delonte West, along with $7 million of other expirings. JJ Hickson is a very attractive commodity, and Andy is a coveted big man for many teams. Did you notice the Cavs haven't made any moves yet on any trades? I think they are saving all their assets to attempt to make a sign and trade for Chris Bosh. The Cavs sales pitch tomorrow will be, if you re-sign with the Cavs, we can get you Bosh if you convince him to come. Brian Windhorst of the PD stated that his sources said that the Raptors were interested in the assets the Cavs have in a potential sign and trade. Think about this, Chris Bosh wants to get the maximum deal (the one LeBron will get if he signs with the Cavs), and in order to do this you must sign and trade him. The Cavs can offer the package of Delonte (immediate cap relief), Andy (great defender, something the Raps needs), JJ Hickson (promising big man), Jamario Moon ($3 million expiring), and the rights to Christian Eyenga (the Raps were interested in him in 2009). Now what deal sounds better, the one I outlined above, or trading Bosh to the Heat for Mario Chalmers, Michael Beasley, and Joel Anthony? In addition to having attractive assets, the Cavs could take on a bad deal that the Raps have, something the Bulls and Heat cannot do (will ruin their cap space). This means a guy like Hedo Turkoglu, or Jose Calderon could be traded as well. The national media hasn't really covered this, but if LeBron can convince Bosh to come here, I could definitely see this happening. Also, I have to appreciate the patient approach the Cavs have taken this offseason. They haven't rushed into a trade and I have to think LeBron might have given them some sort of indication that he would stay, or else I think the Cavs would've made a move by now. Theres too much risk and uncertainty involved in keeping all your assets in an attempt to sign and trade for Chris Bosh.

Ownership- Dan Gilbert is not going to go down without a fight. He has been putting up signs all over downtown Cleveland that say "Home" on them. Everyone seems to discount the Cavs and assume that LeBron is gone, but Gilbert will pull out all the stops for LeBron. He has always been willing and able to make any move to improve the Cavs roster. The Cavs took on the deals of Jamison, Mo, and Shaq, along with re-signing Andy and Boobie. Never has Gilbert vetoed a deal due to money considerations and he is willing to do anything to improve the roster. We have had one of the highest payrolls in the NBA for the past two years, and we had the 3rd highest last year. It was noted that LeBron wanted a coach who had played in the NBA previously and he got just that in Byron Scott. Gilbert even signed up LeBron to go to a workshop for billionaire businessmen. Anything LeBron has ever wanted, Gilbert has given him and will continue to give him.

One of the concerns LeBron might have with the Bulls is that their owner Jerry Reinsdorf is known for being cheap and not paying the luxury tax. If the Bulls bring in two big players, LeBron has to wonder if the Bulls will pay Derek Rose or Joakim Noah when they become free agents in a couple years. Also, Reinsdorf and then GM Jerry Krause were known for never giving into any demand Michael Jordan had, and we all know LeBron likes to have some sort of say in personel moves. I think LeBron is very comfortable with Dan Gilbert going forward because Gilbert and Co. have always supported LeBron, and will continue to do everything to make the team better.

Home- I will never forget seeing a poster for his high school documentary "More Than A Game" which featured LeBron and the rest of the SVSM starters along with coach Dru Joyce. Right under it, it said "Loyalty Never Dies". LeBron has always talked about how loyalty is so important to him, and that he loves Akron so much. When he accepted his MVP awards, he did so in Akron. His brand is predicated on being the local hometown guy, and being loyal. Leaving Cleveland (which is right near Akron), would go against everything LeBron has said in the past 7 years. He would be at the level of Art Modell is he left, and I don't think he could ever come back. Cleveland fans have suffered so much already and LeBron is seen as our beaming light of hope. If he left it would hurt our sports scene greatly, and even downtown Cleveland. Imagine not having any of those bars in downtown Cleveland packed if the Cavs stopped making the playoffs. Cleveland fans have fiercely defended LeBron in everything he has done (not shaking hands in the Orlando series, poor performance in NBA finals, constantly talking about free agency), and I do believe that no set of fans will ever LeBron as much we as do. We have never had a superstar of this caliber in our own backyard, and we will do anything to keep him. I just hope LeBron's loyalty to Cleveland and Akron, will never die.....

Well, I know this has been a lot, but I think in the end LeBron stays. When you add it all up the Cavs can get better, pay LeBron more, he can stay home with a great owner and organization. I just don't see LeBron passing up money to play elsewhere.

When looking at the Bulls and Knicks, here is what I think. The Bulls have a great player in Derek Rose and a solid player in Joakim Noah. Luol Deng is a good starter, and thats it. As I outlined above, they have a cheap owner who does not yield power to superstars. The Bulls can trade Deng and a couple other pieces to the Raptors in a sign and trade but he will offer no salary cap relief (3 years left at $12 mil a year). Plus, I think people overrate Joakim Noah as he averaged 11 pts 11 reb. a game this past year. He had one good playoff series and everyone believes he is an amazing player. Also, Rose is a PG who needs the ball in his hands to be successful, and we know how much LeBron loves having the ball in his hand. Rose and LeBron are both drive and kick players, and they don't have any shooters on the team now. The Knicks roster is Danilo Galinari, Toney Douglas, and Wilson Chandler. Even if you added 2 max players, the team wouldn't be as good as the Lakers. There would be no depth, and I don't think LeBron and Bosh would play for less than full max. money. Their owner James Dolan was the man who hired Isiah Thomas as GM and coach, enough said.....

I think by next week we might know what LeBron will do, but who knows how long he will drag this out. What will everyone else do? I think Amare will go to the Knicks, Wade will stay in Miami, and Bosh to me is the wildcard. Bosh will either go to the Bulls or Cavs depending on what LeBron does. If LeBron stays I think it enhances our chances to get Bosh because he wants a 6 year max deal and we can give him that in a sign and trade. I can see Carlos Boozer and David Lee going to the Nets, Bulls, and Heat if they strikeout on LeBron and Bosh. It's going to be a pretty wild weekend, we're going to hear a lot of speculation going forward. Remember, its always more news worthy to report that LeBron might leave and is leaning towards somewhere else, than if he stayed in Cleveland. Lets just hope LeBron stays at home.

Thanks for reading guys, go Cleveland!

-Raz

A Draft Ahead

2010-06-22T21:57:00.009-04:00

Its been awhile since I have written and the whole Tom Izzo situation has now passed. I didnt write a lot about him because I was waiting for the situation to play out. I didn't really know how I felt about Izzo being that he was a college coach and unproven at the NBA level. At the same time he did a great job with teams with marginal talent. The success rate of college coaches transitioning to the NBA has been very low. Because of this I really wasn't excited by the Izzo offer, and I think Gilbert was trying to swing for the fences.

The Cavs are now looking for a new coach and it seems to be down to a few names, Byron Scott and Brian Shaw. Scott is someone who I don't really get excited about. He seems like a solid coach but he is not known as someone who is a great gameplanner and runs an offense at a slow pace. Sounds like a coach you've heard before? Shaw to me would be an interesting candidate because LeBron is interested in a coach who has had NBA playing experience. Shaw has been a Lakers assistant for the past 7 years and has worked with Phil Jackson. He has experience running the triangle offense and the Lakers have won the past 2 NBA Championships. Personally, I prefer Shaw because he seems like a coach who has a solid background, played in the NBA, and has seen what it takes to win a NBA title. The problem with Shaw is that he has not had any head coaching experience, and if Phil Jackson decides to leave LA, Shaw could be his replace.

Going away from our coaching search, the NBA Draft is 2 days away. The Cavs currently hold no draft picks as they traded these picks in the Shaq and Jamison deals. Brian Windhorst is reporting that the Cavs have increased their efforts to acquire a late first or second round pick. I have always been an advocate for acquiring draft picks because it is imperative to continue to surround LeBron with young talent and to build your team through the draft. This years draft class is one that had one of two players with great potential (John Wall, Even Turner) and the rest of the draft is filled with either solid players or raw, unproven, high ceiling guys.

The biggest need the Cavs have to address going forward is PG and C. Mo Williams is likely to be dealt this offseason and Yahoo Sports had a report today that linked him to the Portland Trailblazers. I think the Cavs should draft a player they could maybe plug at the end of their rotation, and a developmental guy as well. This would require that the Cavs buy or trade for 2 draft picks. Here are some NBA Draft names the Cavs could consider:

Craig Brackins, PF, Iowa State- He is a 6'10 inside/outside forward. He has very good offensive skills who has a solid motor. He is athletic but is older for his class (22), can be inconsistent at times, and isn't a solid defender. I feel that Brackins would be a good fit here because he would add another big body downlow to our team and he could contribute immediately. He should be available near picks 20-35.

Solomon Alabi, C, Florida State- Here is a legit 7 footer with an amazing wingspan, high motor, and great athletic skills. He is a great shot blocker (2.3 per game) and has a developing post game. Some concerns I have with him are that he had average rebounding numbers for a 7-1 player (6.2 per game), and his offensive game has a ways to go. He would be a good C to groom and plug in the lineup in a couple years. He should be around during picks 20-35.

Kevin Seraphin, PF, France- I know, I know everyone is screaming to not draft a foriegn guy, but Seraphin is a guy who has a lot of value. He has an NBA body at 6'10, atheltic, and can finish downlow. He doesn't have much of a perimeter game, and needs to gain more experience playing. He seems like a guy you could draft and put in the D-League, a la Serge Ibaka. He had some injury issues at the NBA Combine so his stock has been slipping, so I expect him to be taken around 22-35.

Jerome Jordan, C, Tulsa- Jordan is another 7 foot prospect who can run the floor and rebound the ball. He is athletic but has struggled devolping an offensive game and his motor runs hot and cold. He is a developmental prospect who should be around in round 2.

Eric Bledsoe, PG, Memphis- John Wall's backup has been up and down draft boards. He would fill a need for the Cavs as a PG who is tough, can defend the perimeter, and the pass the ball well. He still needs to develop a jumpshot and cut down on his turnovers. He has solid size for a PG at 6'2 and is lightning quick. He should be around from 14-20.

Larry Sanders, PF, VCU- Here is another wiry forward with solid length and size (6-11 with a 7-6 wingspan). He is a high energy rebounder and defender who has slowly been developing his offensive game. The only concern on him is continuing to develop his offensive game. With the correct coaching, I think Sanders could become a really good low post player. He should be available from picks 23-30.

The odds are the Cavs won't end up drafting any of these guys. There have been reports today that the Cavs have ramped up their efforts to get a late first-second round pick for Thursday. We have already seen a flurry activity with the trades of Corey Maggette, Chris Douglas Roberts, and Daequan Cook. Expect there to be more moves on Draft Day.

I know want to take some time to talk about our offseason. I know I haven't written much but its been pretty quiet. I think the Cavs are really working hard behind the scenes to make a big splash. According to a source on RealCavsFans, the Cavs "...have big trade options on the burner that could answer many of his concerns (LeBron's concerns)" I don't know what to make of this but I assume the Cavs are working on a deal to get some draft picks or a big name player. Who are some guys you might hear linked here? Lets dig in:

Chris Paul, PG, New Orleans Hornets- I will start with this one because I think its the most unlikely. The Hornets have no reason to trade Paul, he is their franchise player and is getting paid only $15 million a year. I think the Hornets would prefer to trade Darren Collison instead of him because Paul attracts so much more attention, is a better player, and can sell tickets. The reason why his name is catching steam is for a few reasons. One, World Wide Wes has been telling teams if they acquire Paul, along with some cap space it will greatly enhance their chance to sign LeBron James. Two, Paul came out today and said if the Hornets weren't committed to winning, he would be open to a trade. He did reiterate that he was still happy with the Hornets and that it was his first choice. Three, their has been a delay in the sale of the Hornets from George Shinn to Gary Chouest due to financial reasons. Shinn's only source of income is the Hornets and he must pay the luxury tax straight out of his pocket. Many people believe he cannot afford Paul and that he should just trade him.

I'm sorry I hate to sound pessimistic, but I just don't see this happening. The Hornets would have to be crazy to trade one of the best PG's in the NBA and a top 10 NBA player. Second, I have read that teams have offered players such as OJ Mayo, Devin Harris, Vince Carter, and Jameer Nelson for Paul. The Cavs don't have a player of that caliber to trade to the Hornets, the only players to me that hold talent value to other teams is Andy, Mo, and JJ Hickson. Grant it, I would trade those guys any day for Paul, but I think the Hornets if they decided to trade Paul could find a much better deal.

Chris Bosh, F, Toronto Raptors- I will say this, the Cavs have a better chance of landing Bosh than they do Paul. With that said, I still don't think he will come here. It is Bosh who will decide where he lands and while we don't have any cap room for him, we could acquire him in a sign and trade. Sign and trades are complicated to pull off but they can be done. The 2 reasons I think the Cavs have a chance for Bosh is one, he is close friends with LeBron. If Bosh decides that he wants to go where LeBron will and LeBron commits to Cleveland, Bosh can tell the Raptors to sign and trade him to Cleveland. The Raptors, knowing that Bosh will leave will not want to let him walk for free, so they will try to negotiate a trade with the Cavs. The Cavs would probably offer a combination of cash, young players, and expiring contracts. A hypothetical trade could be Delonte West, Eyenga, Andy, and Hickson plus cash. The second reason I think the Cavs could make a move is because I think the Cavs could actually put together one of the better offers the Raptors could see. The Raptors were apparently one of the teams who were looking into drafting Eyenga last year. According to Brian Windhorst the Raptors have always liked Andy. Reports came out last week that the Cavs did call the Raptors about their asking price for Bosh. I still think its unlikely, but it should be a fun story to watch.

Al Jefferson, C, Minnesota Timberwolves- Jefferson has apparently been on the block due to his knee injury last year and inability to adjust with Kevin Love downlow. I would love to get Jefferson because he has great size at 6'11 who has some of the best footwork in the post. He would solve our issues at C for the next 5 years and he has a very affordable contract at $12 million a year. He is still young at the age of 25. The only risk I see with acquiring Jefferson is that he blew his knee out 2 years ago, but he should play much better this coming year as he continues to recover. He put up 17 and 9 this year and I would love to see him in a Cavs uniform. What would it take to get him? Well for one you would have to part with Andy and JJ, throw in West or Parker and you might get a competitive offer. I think the Wolves could get better offers for Jefferson, so I don't think he is coming here.

JJ Redick, SG, Orlando Magic- Redick improved by leaps and bounds this year in Orlando. He shot 40% from 3 and averaged nearly 10 points per game. He is an excellent shooter and someone who tries on defense. Coming off the bench, I think Redick could be very effective with so many open looks that LeBron could create. He is a free agent this year and we could offer some or most of the Mid Level Exception the Cavs have. If the Cavs end up trading Anthony Parker they could use a guy like Redick on the team.

These are all the names I can think of now. As I said earlier I think everyone on the team should be made available. To me Hickson (improving big man, still young), Andy (bigman entering his prime who is a good defender), West (super expiring), and Mo (solid PG who can shoot the ball well but doesn't defend) hold the most value on the Cavs. I wouldn't trade Mo unless we were able to get a PG who was of equal talent level back. I am fine with trading Andy or Hickson if it will net us a high draft pick or big name player. West should be added to a deal to help sweeten the pot for a team trying to save luxury tax money.

The next couple days should be very exciting. There will be a lot of activity and I think the Cavs will make a move because they HAVE to make a move. We have no coach, our roster is exactly the same as it was last year, and some guy named LeBron is a free agent. Brian Windhorst a couple weeks ago noted that Dan Gilbert wants to make blockbuster moves left and right and wants to turn the roster over. I am interested in seeing what the Cavs come up with after Thursday. Check back for any updates or breaking news that may occur. Thank you for reading and go Cleveland!

-Raz

The Ferry Has Sailed

2010-06-04T14:44:00.002-04:00

About an hour ago Brian Windhorst reported that Cavs GM Danny Ferry has resigned from his position. His contract was due up at the end of this month. The move was seen as one that was mutual. Cavs assistant GM Chris Grant has been moved up to GM now. Grant has been with Ferry since 2005 and two years ago Grant rejected a GM job offer from the Atlanta Hawks. Here are some thoughts of mine.

-Danny Ferry was a great GM. He learned from his mistakes in 2005 and he drafted Daniel Gibson, JJ Hickson, Shannon Brown, and Danny Green. He traded for Mo, Antawn, and Shaq. He never got ripped off in a trade and always maximized value. We go Mo, Jamison, and Shaq for nothing.

-One of my friends made a great point that while Ferry always maximized value, he sometimes was better off getting the BEST player available. Getting Jamison and Mo for nothing was great, but their contracts are going to weigh on our cap for a couple more years.

-I think this move indicated that Gilbert is indeed putting his foot on the pedal to get a big name coach. This includes Phil Jackson, Coach K, Tom Izzo, John Calipari, and Larry Brown. These coaches are going to want to have a say in personnel matters. Former Lakers GM Jerry West left LA because Jackson wanted more power within the organization. Ferry did not want to give up the power he had over all personnel and draft moves.

-I think Ferry wanted to go after a more conservative assistant coach (Kelvin Sampson) and Gilbert wanted to swing for the fences. Ferry would not be comfortable with a coach he did not hire.

-I am not sure if this is a smart move. We had back to back 60 win seasons but we failed twice in the playoffs. Gilbert is a successful businessman and I put a lot of trust in him. The organization needs stability. I know he has a plan going forward. He would not let Ferry go without knowing what he would do in the coming weeks.

-GM Chris Grant was Ferry's right hand man. He ran the Cavs draft and he was a part of many of the free agent signings and trades. I am sure he has learned a lot from Ferry and that we will see a similar strategy employed by Grant. The difference is I don't think Grant will want as much power as Ferry did, or Gilbert would have got rid of him as well.

-Charlotte Bobcats coach Larry Brown was asked today about his coaching situation and he said "I don't have anything to say. Dan Gilbert fervently pursued Brown in 2005 to become out team president....

I think that just about does it. Again these next 5-6 weeks will be pretty intense, especially with the uncertainty of LeBron, along with a new coach and GM coming on board. Thanks for reading and go Cleveland!

-Raz

Brown Out

2010-05-31T16:54:00.003-04:00

Last week Mike Brown was let go by the Cavs. This was a widely expected move. I always thought MB was a solid coach, but his weaknesses could not be masked in the last 2 years. His inability to make in-game adjustments, develop young players, and handle egos ended up hurting him. Brown was not good at adjusting to his opponent during the game, he rarely played young players (Ferry called for Hickson to start), and LeBron seemed to lose trust in him along with a few other players in the playoffs. He did a great job in terms of team defense as the Cavs were repeatedly at the top of the NBA when it came to defensive rankings. Twice he exceeded expectations by beating the Detroit Pistons in 6 games to make it to the NBA Finals in 2007 and he took the eventual NBA Champion Celtics to 7 games in 2008. The past 2 years the Cavs had the best record in the NBA going into the playoffs, and they exited early each time.

GM Danny Ferry's contract expired at the end of June, but Brian Windhorst is reporting that he will probably be back. Ferry has done a great job of getting good players to put around LeBron James even though we have not won an NBA Championship. I would love to have Ferry back because he does not over pay for players and he is very patient when it comes to trades.

What do the Cavs need now? In my opinion they need a coach who will command respect in the huddle, can coach an offense, develop young players, and make sound in-game adjustments. MB was on and off when it came to playing Shannon Brown and he is currently a rotation player on the LA Lakers, Danny Green rarely played last year even when Delonte was hurt, and MB struggled to give Hickson minutes throughout the season and the playoffs. With Sasha Kaun and Christian Eyenga coming in the next couple years, it is important to find a coach who will develop players. Also, it will be very hard for a coach to commit to the Cavs without knowing what LeBron will do. Here are some candidates for the next Cavs job:

Phil Jackson- Jackson called the Cavs job an "odd" one. His contract expires this year and Lakers owner Jerry Buss is going to ask him to take a $5 million pay cut. Jackson currently is making $12 million and I am sure Cavs owner Dan Gilbert will outspend Buss for Jackson' services. The problem is he already has a great team in LA and his girlfriend is Buss' daughter. Jackson interviewed with Gilbert during our first coaching search, but I think its unlikely he leaves the Lakers.

Coach K- Again I find it hard to believe he will leave Duke. He just won a championship and he rejected a lucrative offer from the Lakers years ago. It will take a lot of money to get him over here. He has solid experience coaching Team USA and the players seem to respect him. I wouldn't mind seeing him here, but again I think its unlikely.

Tom Izzo- Much like Coach K, I don't think Izzo is going anywhere. He is a highly accomplished NCAA coach, and I wouldn't mind seeing him here. It will take a lot of money to pry him away from Michigan State.

Byron Scott- He is an interesting pick because he led the New Jersey Nets to the Finals twice, and he led to the New Orleans Hornets to the Western Conference Finals. He worked well with PG's Jason Kidd and Chris Paul. The problem I have with him is after 2-3 years he seemed to lose control of the locker room and his players seemed happy that he got fired. He appears to be a likely candidate to interview with the Cavs.

Kelvin Sampson- Brian Windhorst reported that Sampson was high up on Ferry's list. I don't know much about Sampson other than the fact the he helped tutor and develop Brandon Jennings in Milwaukee this past year and that he had numerous NCAA infractions at Oklahoma and Indiana. He has no prior head coaching experience in the NBA. He seems like the developmental coach that the Cavs would hire if LeBron left.

Tom Thibodeau- While his name has not been linked with the Cavs, I wouldn't mind Gilbert and Co. interviewing this guy. Everything I have read and heard about Thibodeau is that he is the technician behind the Celtics defense. If he can develop players and command their respect than he would seem like a good fit for the Cavs. It is reported that the Hornets are in deep negotiations with him for their head coaching vacancy.

Larry Brown- He is currently under contract with the Charlotte Bobcats. I personally would like to see him here because he can deal with egos and he does not put up with players shit. He does not like playing young players and he and LeBron did not see eye to eye during the 2004 Olympics. Its highly unlikely the Cavs go after him.

Well I think these are the names you might hear in the coming months. If LeBron re-signs (which I think he will), then look for the Cavs to try and land a big name. If LeBron leaves, then look for a young developmental coach to come on board. Gilbert and Co. shrewdly kept Brown' assistants (Chris Jent, Mike Malone, Melvin Hunt). Jent became LeBron's personal shooting coach and he had input on the offense. Malone was defensive coordinator last year and this past year he took over for John Kuester on the offense. Malone is seen as an upcoming head coach in the NBA. These assistants can asses the NBA Draft and could even stay on with the next coach of the Cavs. It will be a roller coaster ride of an offseason with a new coach, and the uncertainty surrounding LeBron. Buckle up......

Thanks for reading and go Cleveland!

-Raz

The Future is Unwritten

2010-05-17T08:46:00.003-04:00

Well the Cavs season came to a quick end last week, and I don't know what to say about it. I am extremely disappointed in the team, and it is sad how everything just vanished so quickly. I put most of the blame on LeBron James as he just did not play well in the series, sans game 3. Everyone keeps talking about what he is going to do this summer, and I don't think LeBron even knows what he is going to do this summer. I think he will stay for a few reasons. One, this is his hometown and he has to know how important it is to build a legacy with one team. Two, he can get more money by re-signing in Cleveland. Three, the Cavs have one of the best owners in the NBA in Dan Gilbert and he has shown LeBron that he will do whatever it takes to bring an NBA Championship to Cleveland. Four, it seems that LeBron no longer has a want for Mike Brown as his head coach anymore and there is little doubt that Brown will be gone in the next few days.

Watching ESPN and other major news media outlets, you would have thought LeBron had already signed with the Chicago Bulls or the New York Knicks. Its funny how bad they want him out of here and they are making it a foregone conclusion that he has already left. Everyone makes it seem like he would do better in New York or New Jersey, but he won't as their teams lack serious depth (Knicks can sign 2 max free agents, but they would have to fill the rest of the roster with min. contracts) and the Nets don't move to Brooklyn for another 2-3 years. Chicago is the toughest player of all in this because they have two young pieces in Derek Rose and Joakim Noah. Would he be willing to play in Jordan's shadow? Would he take a risk of going to a front office that has historically fought with their coaches (physically and verbally)? Would he risk leaving money on the table to become public enemy #1 forever in Ohio? LeBron always talks about how important loyalty is to him and the Cavs have been nothing but that to him. Anything he ever asked for they gave him. After the Celtics series in 2008 he said we need to get better, we got him Mo Williams and JJ Hickson. After we lost to the Magic in 2009, we got Shaq, Jamario Moon, Anthony Parker, Danny Green, and Antawn Jamison in a midseason trade. The Cavs have tried their hardest and will continue to try to make the Cavs the best team they can possibly be. Finally, I find it very hard for LeBron to make the argument that he tried his best and couldn't get it done here, because he didn't. It is obvious that he either was hurt or just didn't try hard enough in this series. Had he dropped 40 a game, and we lost the series, then he would be packing his bags now. The reason we lost was mostly on LeBron and his lackluster effort. As Brian Windhorst put it, "The blood of this series is solely on LeBron"...

What do the Cavs do from here? Well I am not going to write my offseason preview here, but I will give you a little taste of what the Cavs SHOULD do.

Hire a new coach
-It is obvious MB lost most of the locker room and that LeBron was longer in his corner. MB's inability to make in-game adjustments killed this team. Playing JJ Hickson zero minutes in game 6 was horrible (in the 108-88 Cavs win in Boston in Feb. Hickson played 23 minutes, had 8 points and a +27 +/-), and playing Jamario Moon 9 minutes was also a dumb move as he should have had more minutes. The strategy to beating the Celtics was pretty simple, run. Shaq can start the quarters playing 4-5 minutes, then you put in Andy, Hickson, Moon, and West. Andy should have been guarding KG, not a combination of Z, Shaq, and Jamison. It was tactical errors like this during games that cost the Cavs. Also, MB has not been an expert at developing talent as Shannon Brown is now a rotation player on the champion LA Lakers. While I thought MB was a great defensive coach and an overall solid coach, I think his inability to make adjustments in games really hurt the Cavs. I think the newest coach will have a great impact on whether LeBron stays or goes. If the Cavs can get themselves a big name who LeBron will respect, then I think it only helps out chances. Later, I will write who I believe should coach the Cavs next year.

Buy a draft pick
-This team needs to continue to get younger and surround itself with young talent. The Minnesota Timberwolves have 3 first round picks, The OKC Thunder have 2 first round picks, and the Atlanta Hawks have expressed interest in selling their first round pick as well. Dan Gilbert has deep pockets and must be willing to spend $2-3 million on a first round pick.

Keep GM Danny Ferry
-Ferry's contract is up after this year, but I would love to have him back. He turned around as a GM after his horrible signings of Larry Hughes, Donyell Marshall, and Damon Jones. He drafted Shannon Brown, Daniel Gibson, JJ Hickson, and Danny Green. He got Mo Williams for Damon Jones, Jamison for a first round pick, Shaq for nothing, and signed Parker and Moon to small cheap contracts. He re-signed Andy at a reasonable price and put team options on the last years of Andy's, Boobie's, and Moon's contracts. He did a great job of taking advantage of other teams financial hardships by acquiring talent for pennies on the dollar.

Use the expirings of West/Parker/Moon/Telfair
-The Cavs have about $13 million worth of expirings between these 4 guys. Moon's deal goes until next year, but it is a team option so a team can decline the option and not pay his salary. West' deal is a super expiring contract as he is due $4.6 million but a team can buy him out for $500,000 and not pay the rest of his salary. West could be hard to trade as his mental issues took a toll on him this past year and his pending legal case (will probably be settled). Use these expirings to acquire some young talent, draft picks, or as a package with JJ Hickson. Expiring deals are very valuable in the NBA now a days.

Put everyone on the trade market
-Make everyone on the Cavs available. Seriously, the Cavs need to find a trust #2 guy, and they must find a way to do so. By putting the expirings of the 4 players listed above, a high energy bigman Andy, a young developing big man in Hickson, a solid PG in Mo, one of the best 3 point shooters in the NBA Daniel Gibson on the market, the Cavs could get some interesting offers.

Bring Sasha Kaun and Christian Eyenga to the Cavs
-I think it is quite obvious that Shaq will not be back here next year as he feuded with MB over minutes. Z is basically finished and the Cavs need a legit C. Sasha Kaun has improved greatly overseas and he could provide the team with a solid backup C. He has size (7'0) and solid rebounding and defensive abilities. Eyenga would be brought over because he his minutes overseas have been spotty, and there will probably be an opportunity for him to play here. With a new coach coming in he will probably get more minutes than if MB was our coach and I don't think your going to see a combination of Parker/West/Gibson here next year. Eyenga has amazing athleticism, solid size (6'5), and a good defender. He still has a shaky jumper. If he could develop a solid shot, I see a lot of Mickael Pietrus in him.

Well, I think this just about does it. I say all this assuming LeBron re-signs. If he doesn't I have no idea what should happen. My next blog will get into specifics about how we should use our Mid Level Exception and what coaches to bring in. It is going to be a wild couple months and we're going to hear a lot of crazy rumors. The key is to decipher the ones who come from solid sources (Brian Windhorst) from bad ones (New York Daily News). Keep your head up and go Cleveland!

-Raz

Cleveland, We have a problem

2010-05-12T11:53:00.002-04:00

Well, I don't even think its necessary to talk about the loss last night against the Celtics. In general this Cavs team has played with no heart, no desire, no passion, and no hustle. They thought this Celtics team would just roll over and they didn't. This team is over and done with, they aren't going to win game 6 in Boston.

I think there are some bigger issues arising with this team and Brian Windhorst pointed them out pretty clearly last night. He is reporting that there are some chemistry problems right now. Players are upset with Mike Brown's erratic rotation and in-game adjustments. LeBron seems to be not taking an active leadership role since this series began. After our game 2 loss, he went to the podium completley stoic, while MB was pulling the fire alarm.

I ask myself why is LeBron playing the way he is? He had 3 field goals all last game. I have a couple reasons for why he seems disinterested out there. One, he is unsatisfied with MB, and no longer trusts him. I can believe this because MB is not a master of in-game adjustments (which confuses our players), and these two seem to be echoing two different trains of thought. MB is trying to warn the team to wake up, while LeBron is saying "We'll get them next game". Often times player and coaches echo the same tune when it comes to post-game press conferences, but this has not been the case. Also after game 4, Shaq did not speak to the media as he was upset that he did not play in the 4th quarter. Shaq is known to have a massive ego, and while we haven't seen much of it, it seems to be flaring up now. If LeBron is indeed tuning out MB, he is doing it at the worst time. He needs to be a man and just go out there and play as hard as he can and not use this series as an excuse to get rid of your coach. The problem lies even deeper than LeBron can do this because he knows every single team in the NBA would do anything to get their hands on him, teams will still want to sign him despite what happens in this series.

The second issue I see is LeBron's elbow is much more injured then we have been led to believe. Although the team has done an MRI on his elbow, LeBron has not been the same "attack mode" player we are used to seeing in the playoffs and regular season. He was settling for jumpers yesturday and was not taking an active role in the offense. I wouldn't be suprised if in a few weeks from now we heard that LeBron's elbow was a much more serious injury than previously reported.

What do I make of this series debacle? For one, I am shocked. I knew this team sometimes would get complacent, but not for stretches of 3-4 games. I knew if this team turned the light on and kept it on that no team would beat us in a 7 game series. Who do I point the blame at? 2 people, LeBron James for one, especially if he is trying to show up Mike Brown by playing disinterested basketball, and two Mike Brown for not being able to enable the trust of his players in the most important time of the year and get on the same page with all of them. His inability to manage in-game adjustments has finally taken precedent here. Shaq, Z, and LeBron have all been upset with MB this series, and it is up to him as a coach not only to solve these problems, but to motivate his team. I find it hard to believe that all these chemistry issues will be solved in a matter of 2 days. I don't think I have ever been this dissapointed in a team before in my life. At least the Indians and Browns when they played in high level games showed some fight and heart. Yes, the Orlando Magic were down 3-2 and had to play a game 7 in Boston and won, but I don't see that coming from this team. This team is like the Night of the Living Dead, just a bunch of zombies walking around with no signs of life......

The most important question everyone is asking is LeBron going to stay in Cleveland? I think he is because of the fact that we have a great owner, GM, and we can pay him the most money. The Gilbert/Ferry team has shown that it will do whatever is necessary to put a winner on the court. I defintley MB is fired after we lose this series, so I am sure we will be looking at long list of new coaches (cough cough John Calipari). This offseason is going to be interesting because we have the expirings of Parker/Telfair/West, a reliable 3 point shooter in Gibson, the Mid-Level Exception to sign a free agent, a young piece in Hickson, and the issue of Z/Shaq coming back. This has defintley been an extremely dissapointing season, but it should be a very interesting offseason.....

-Raz

Another Preview

2010-04-28T22:24:00.004-04:00

Well the Cavs disposed of the Bulls in 5 games, and I am very impressed with how the Bulls fought. They didn't back down from the Cavs and they played pretty resiliently. Joakim Noah as a player is pretty solid but he needs to learn to keep his mouth quiet. The Cavs on the other hand need to step their game up a little more versus the Boston Celtics. The series begins this Saturday at the Q, here is my preview.

-The Cavs again are going to deal with a lightning quick PG in Rajon Rondo. In my opinion he is probably the best PG in the Eastern Conference. He can defend, steal, handle the ball, and penetrate. He can't shoot if his life depended on it, but he is still very effective. It took the Cavs a couple games to realize it but putting Mo Williams on a quick PG will not work. Look for Parker, Moon, and LeBron to take turns guarding Rondo, as their size and length can bother him. They will probably give him a lot of space when they guard him, in hopes of baiting him to shoot jumpers.

-The Celtics are going to try to make this a very physical series. They cannot run up and down the floor as well as the Cavs can, and besides Tony Allen and Rondo, they don't have any athletic players on their team. Playing JJ Hickson and Jamario Moon more minutes will help the Cavs. When the Cavs beat the Celtics in Boston a couple months ago, they played without Shaq and had a very small and quick lineup out there.

-LeBron's elbow should be fine. They took an MRI on it on Monday and there was no structural damage. I am sure he had some flare up, and that it is some tendinitis. Rest and ice will do the trick. The more rest he has the better he will be.

-The Celtics are not as good as they used to be as KG, Pierce, and Allen have all lost a step. LeBron can drive to the basket anytime he wants to against this team. KG no longer has the explosiveness around the basket that he had, Pierce has struggled with injuries, and Allen's shooting percentages have decreased (36% from 3 this year, 40% career average).

-The Cavs need to have Mo and Parker hit their 3's, force the Celtics to shoot jumpers, play small, and defend the pick and roll well. LeBron and Jamison are going to get their touches and points, but the Cavs need to run a little more this series, and make their outside shots. The more we keep Rondo out of the paint, the better off the Cavs will be. Rose found many open players when he drove, and the Celtics have better players who Rondo can dish to.

-Winning the first 2 games of the series will be huge. Why? The Cavs have won once in Boston in the last 3 years. While the Celtics did not have a good home record (24-17), we cannot afford to lose games in Cleveland and shift momentum to the Celtics. We saw how the Cavs fared after they lost game 1 versus the Magic last year.

-Getting Shaq some touches would be nice but I wouldn't put too much emphasis on it. The Celtics have a pretty good low post defender in Kendrick Perkins, length with KG and Rasheed and the Cavs did play better against the Celtics after Shaq got hurt. Having Andy and JJ being active down low will be key.

-The Celtics bench is a pretty average. Rasheed Wallace looks finished as he is content shooting 3's, Marquis Daniels is just average, Glen Davis provides energy, Tony Allen provides athleticism, Michael Finley is on his last legs, and Nate Robinson has been in and out of the rotation. As you can see this group of guys are not that athletic, and it is imperative that the Cavs run the ball.

-This team has a lot of veteran experience and they won the NBA championship two years ago. I don't think they will be a pushover at all. They have a lot of guys who have hit clutch shots (Finley, Pierce, Davis, Allen) and the Cavs cannot take them lightly. The Celtics know that this is their final chance of winning an NBA championship as Ray Allen will become a free agent, and Paul Pierce can become a free agent.

-The internal problems of the Celtics could be a benefit to the Cavs. There has been tension within the team as Kendrick Perkins and Rajon Rondo have been vocal about this displeasure with the team. You already have 2 fiery personalities in KG and Sheed, so things could get ugly....

-Again, the Cavs cannot take this team lightly. They need to come out and play with fire and intensity for every minute of the game. They cannot coast through these games because the Celtics have the talent that will make you pay. The Cavs need to take their defense to another level and look interested in the game. When the Cavs are locked in and focused, they are very very hard to beat.

-We have homecourt advantage, size, athleticism, a solid supporting cast, and LeBron James. Mo played pretty well the first 4 games against the Bulls (16 and 5), Jamison has been averaging 19 and 7, and Shaq had 14 points and 8 rebounds in game 5. If the Cavs continue to get consistent production from these 3, along with some clutch shots from Parker, Moon, and West, then I think the Cavs will be fine.

-My fear is that the Cavs will loathe and take some quarters off, which could cost them a game. If you thought the Bulls didn't give you a good fight, I can guarantee you the Celtics won't stop fighting. Also, free throw shooting has been a concern, and the Cavs need to continue to practice on free throws. It hurts seeing Jamison make an amazing flip shot or LeBron finish at the basket with two guys in front of him, only to see them clank a free throw. They need to step to the line, relax, and make their free throws.

-The Celtics have a lot of experience, but I think the talent drop off with the Big 3 is too steep to overcome, along with the fact that their bench is not as good as it used to be. 2 years ago, the Cavs had Delonte West as LeBron's #2 option, Z and Ben Wallace starting, and Sasha Pavlovic playing solid minutes. Now, Delonte comes off the bench, Z barley plays, a guy named Shaq and Jamison start for us, KG/Pierce/Allen have all lost a step, Leon Powe now plays for the Cavs, James Posey left for free agency, Eddie House got traded, and PJ Brown has since retired. LeBron himself took the series to 7 games two years ago, and I think the Cavs have a much better supporting cast, and the Celtics are just not as good as they used to be. With all that said, Cavs in 6.

Thanks for reading and go Cleveland!

-Raz

A Quick Review

2010-04-25T20:12:00.003-04:00

We had a pretty sports filled weekend. Lets review.

Browns

-With Eric Berry off the board, the Browns selected Florida CB Joe Haden. I didn't write about him in my preview because I didnt think they would draft him because of the addition of Sheldon Brown. Although Haden does not address an immediate need, he will be the replacement for Brown if he falters this year, and it adds more depth to our secondary. Brown is 32 and he doesn't have many effective years left in him. I liked the Haden pick, he was the best CB in the draft.

-Browns fans might complain that we took Haden too high, and we probably did. The Browns did try to trade down but were unable to do so, so they took the best CB that was on the board.

-The selection of S TJ Ward was a pick I did not like. He is not fast and not great in coverage. He does have solid size, great strength and is good against the run. He seems too one dimensional to me. Also, he has injury issues in the past. He doesn't seem like a good value pick in the second round. He did address our need of a S in the draft though.

-Montario Hardesty was a very solid pick. He will be a great compliment to the elusive and quick Jerome Harrison. He is a tough runner who is quick and can carry the ball 20-25 times a game. He is a hard worker and has a ceiling to improve. He doesn't have great timed speed and will not break away for the huge 45 yard run. He also has had issues with different injuries. I like this pick because it adds another offensive playmaker to the team, which is sometime we need.

-OG Shaun Lauvao was a depth pick. He will probably compete to back up Floyd Womack at RG. He isn't that athletic or strong, but he is a smart player who works hard. This was an ok pick.

-Drafting QB Colt McCoy with pick #85 in the 3rd round was a steal. He was graded as a 2nd rounder, and I am ecstatic that we got him. In my previous blog I wrote about why I wanted him, and the fact that we didn't have to trade up to get him was great. He probably won't play much this coming year, but he is our QB of the future. Holmgen and Co. did a great job of staying patient and not paying too much for McCoy.

-S Larry Asante was another solid pick who might not have amazing physical tools, but is very smart and hard working. He was another depth pick, and it was apparent that the Browns continued to address the lack of depth at S.

-WR Carlton Mitchell was a really good pick. This could be a steal for us in the 6th round. He was graded as a 3rd rounder, and the Browns got a receiver who is very fast and can stretch the field. He doesn't have great hands, but he is a hard working kid. I though from rounds 4-7 the Browns needed to add a WR to help add a young playmaker to the offense. The Browns added another young WR to the corps of Mo Massaqoui and Brian Robiskie. I like this pick.

-DE Clifton Geathers was a project pick who has amazing physical tools (6'7 300 lbs) who is perfect as a 5 technique lineman in our defense. He is very raw and has had some off the field issues, but the Browns obviously see something in him. This was a low risk (6th round) high reward pick.

-Overall, if I had to grade this draft I would give it a B-. I thought we reached for Ward, and I thought we could've drafted a WR or TE earlier. The team did a good job of adding depth to the secondary, adding a couple of offensive playmakers, and hopefully drafting the QB for the future. I hope the Browns can reap the fruits of this draft soon.

Cavs

-The Cavs came away with a huge victory against the Chicago Bulls this evening (121-98). LeBron notched his 5th career triple double, and the Cavs will look to end the series on Tuesday.

-The Cavs are very hard to beat when guys like Mo (19 pts), Andy (+14 plus minus), and Jamison (24 points) are all stepping up. This is the supporting cast that LeBron needs every night.

-Shaq continues to struggle and I am not that upset about it. He is 4 games in, and he is going to look a little rusty. We really need him to step up when we play Orlando. He looks a slow out there and he is not finishing well.

-I was very happy to see JJ Hickson play out there. In 17 minutes he scored 10 points and he provided a lot of energy in the low post. He is a good matchup against the likes of Taj Gibson, Noah, and Luol Deng.

-Daniel Gibson needs to play a little more if you ask me. When Parker is not hitting his shots, we should put Gibson in. He was one of the best 3 point shooters in the NBA this past year and he can hit open shots. I understand you need Parker out there to help defend Rose, but when Rose is out of the game we should try putting in Boobie.

-The Cavs seemed to go away from it during game 3, but switching defenders on Derrick Rose seemed to work a little bit today. Putting Parker, West, and Moon on him really allows the Cavs to help distort Rose' game. The Cavs have to force him to shoot jumpers and thats what the Cavs did. When Mo Williams is on him, Mo cannot stay in front of him so Rose is able to penetrate the basket easily. Stopping Rose has been key to this series. When he is unable to penetrate, we force him to shoot and it does not allow him to distribute to his other teammates.

-I think the Cavs will win game 5 and finish the series. The Cavs really seemed to snap out of the funk they were in during game 3. From the 2nd quarter on, the team seemed very focused and played very good defense. As long as the Cavs stay focused, play defense, and make their free throws, they are going to make it to the Eastern Conference Finals. The only concerns I have going forward is continuing to get Shaq back in the offense, getting JJ Hickson some minutes, and trying to put Daniel Gibson in the game for 5-7 minutes.

Well that just about does it folks. Hope you enjoyed reading and go Cleveland!

-Raz

Big Night in Cleveland

2010-04-22T13:27:00.002-04:00

Hello everyone, as you may know today begins the first round of the NFL Draft, and game 3 of the first round series between the Cavs and the Bulls. Here are some quick thoughts.

Browns

-I am seeing mock drafts from left to right that have Eric Berry falling to us, or the Browns selecting DE Derrick Morgan, QB Jimmy Clausen, DT Dan Williams, RB CJ Spiller or S Earl Thomas. My first option would be to get Berry, my second option would be to select Thomas, my third option would be to take Spiller, and my fourth option would be to take Clausen. I didn't write about Morgan or Williams in my NFL Draft preview, but I wouldn't want to select them. Defensive line is a need for this team, but I would rather spend the #7 pick on someone in the secondary, a QB, or an offensive playmaker.

-Spiller would be an interesting pick as he would add an offensive playmaker this team lacks. He is elusive, extremely quick, high character guy, and is a great return man. While the Browns already have a guy named Josh Cribbs retuning kicks and punts, Spiller would be great running and catching passes out of the backfield.

-If Berry is gone by #7, look for the Browns to try to trade down a few slots. If they cannot accomplish that, then look for them to select either Thomas, Williams, Clausen, Morgan, or Spiller at #7. If I am the Browns, I take Thomas at #7 if you cannot trade down.

-There is talk that the Redskins are thinking about selecting Eric Berry. The Redskins desperately want to move down because after their pick in the first round, they don't pick til the fourth round. They don't need a safety as they have La'Ron Landry, but the team is trying to send a smokescreen to the Browns. To move up to #4 it would probably cost the Browns a third round pick, and I don't know if I would pay that price for Berry. The Browns could try calling the bluff of the Redskins and hope Berry falls to them at #7, but we will see.

-CB Kyle Wilson of Boise State could be an interesting pick in the second round as well. He is a smart, quick, aggressive player who can sometimes lose matchup problems with his small height (5'10), and average instincts.

-Everyone keeps talking about QB Colt McCoy coming to the Browns at pick #38, and don't be surprised if the Browns make a trade to get back into the late parts of the first round or the very early part of the second round. Remember, the Browns have 3 third round picks and 3 fifth round picks at their disposal. Look for a trade to happen with some of those extra picks. If we don't select McCoy, look for guys such as Tony Pike, Dan LaFavour, Tim Tebow, and Tim Hiller to be drafted by the Browns.

-The Browns in their first 5 picks need to come away with a S, QB, RB/WR, OT. I believe these are the positions most in need as we need to add a playmaker to our secondary, a QB of the future, a playmaker on offense, and depth on the right side of our offensive line. This is a very deep draft class, so the Browns should come away with some solid picks.

-I don't think the Steelers would ever trade Big Ben to us, so any talk you hear of that is probably not true. It would cost the #7 pick, and while I would pay that price for a 2 time Super Bowl champion QB, I don't think the Steelers want to help their rivals. Yet again, the Eagles traded Donovan McNabb to their division rival Redskins.

Cavs

-As I expected, the Cavs are up 2-0 on the Bulls here in the first round. I think they will lose tonight in Chicago. The Bulls have played the Cavs pretty tough, and its evident that they are just a less talented team than us.

-LeBron's 40 points in game 2 was great as he was just making jumper after jumper. When LeBron is making 3 point and mid range shots, he is unguardable. If you get in his face to prevent him from shooting, he will just drive right by you. LeBron stepped up on a night where Jamison (14 points) and Shaq (8 points), did not impact the game that much.

-You saw how rusty Shaq looked in Game 2 and there is going to be a period of adjustment for the Cavs. It will take some time for the team to get re-acclimated with him and Jamison. The Cavs now have to slow the tempo down a little bit, and grind games out.

-I wish Daniel Gibson would see the floor a little more often. Instead of throwing Anthony Parker out there, put in Gibson who was 47% from 3 for the season. Parker has been getting a lot of open looks and in the first 2 games of the series he is 4-11 from 3. While Parker is a bigger and better defender, Daniel is a quicker and better shooter than Parker.

-JJ Hickson is someone I would like to see out there. Yes he is young and still developing, but his athleticism down low would be key for a team like the Cavs. He can dunk with the best of them, and he can get up and down the floor pretty easily. We saw how well he and Shaq worked in the middle of the season. I know the minutes are hard to come by when you have to give Z and Andy time, but I hope to see Hickson out there more.

-Jamario Moon stepped up big hitting 4 3's in game 2, but most importantly he had 2 blocks and defender the perimeter pretty well. The Bulls shot 4-13 from 3, and Moon's athleticism was key in this game. I don't think we would've seen a performance like this from Wally Z or Sasha last year in the playoffs.

-It just goes to show you that in the playoffs, every team needs other players to step up besides their superstars. In Game 1, Mo (19 pts 10 assists), Jamison (15 points 10 rebounds), and Shaq (12 points 5 rebounds) all stepped up, and in Game 2, Moon stepped up with his defense and timely three point shooting. When the supporting cast of the Cavs steps up, we are a very hard team to beat. D Wade in Miami is currently down 2-0 to the Celtics, why? Because no one on his team can score. In game 1 of that series, besides Wade only 1 player scored in double figures (15). In game 2 of that series, besides Wade only 2 players scored in double figure (13 and 10). It goes to show you that every superstar needs a great supporting cast.

-I am still very fearful of the Magic and I have watched both of their games versus the Bobcats. I am thoroughly impressed with the way the Magic have been coached and played. If we do meet them in the Eastern Conference Finals, it will be an all out battle.

Well folks that just about does it. I will write my thoughts on the NFL Draft next, along with some thoughts on the Indians. Thanks and go Cleveland!

-Raz

NFL Draft Preview 2010

2010-04-16T14:37:00.008-04:00

The most exciting time of the year is coming up for Browns fans. This coming Thursday, April 22nd the NFL Draft will begin. Instead of having the first 3 rounds on Saturday, they are splitting up the draft over 4 days. The Browns have a total of 10 draft picks, one pick in the first round, one pick in the second round, three picks in the third round, three picks in the fifth round, and two in the sixth round. The Browns are armed with draft picks and this could give them some ammunition to trade up if they wish.

The areas that the Browns need to address are the positions of S, QB, WR, and DE/DT. The Browns have Abe Elam, Mike Furrey, and Mike Adams as their safeties, and that doesn't put a lot of fear into the hearts of other teams. We currently have Jake Delhomme and Seneca Wallace as our QB's, and we have no long term starter. We have 2 sophomore WR's, one who didn't play much in Brian Robiskie, and another who should some potential in Mo Massaqoui. At DE/DT, Shaun Rogers got arrested and could face a suspension, and the team has no impact DE.

The Browns currently hold the 7th overall pick in the first round, the 38th pick in the second round and there are a bunch of ways the team can go. Here are some players the Browns could possibly end up with.

Sam Bradford, QB, Oklahoma- He is slated to go as the first overall pick, but the Browns have called the Rams about that pick. To get the first overall pick you have to trade next years first rounder, your first rounder this year, a second rounder, and probably a couple more draft picks. You basically have to sell your entire draft for that one pick. The Browns have too many other needs to trade away 3 or 4 draft picks for one player. Bradford has great size, accuracy, and mobility, but he has question marks when it comes to durability, and the spread offense he played it. If I am the Browns, I don't trade for the first overall pick.

Jimmy Clausen, QB, Notre Dame- I feel that Clausen will probably be there at 7, but the Browns shouldn't take him. He is a better prospect than Brady Quinn was coming out of college, but I am not sold on Clausen being a franchise QB. He comes off as a little bit cocky, doesn't have good mobility, and he has had injury issues in the past. He is a pretty accurate QB who played in a pro style offense with solid arm strength, but I don't think he is worth the 7th pick.

Eric Berry, S, Tennesse- This is the one guy I would LOVE the Browns to get. He fits the mold of exactly what the Browns need. A safety who can cover, tackle, and make plays in the secondary. Look at the AFC North, you have 2 of the best safeties in the NFL in the same division in Troy Polamalu and Ed Reed. Berry is a hard working kid who was productive in college. My only concerns with him are that he is a little short at 5'11, and has had some durability concerns. Make no mistake, he is the guy I want at 7.

The biggest fear Browns fans have is that he might be gone by the time we are on the clock. The Rams will take Bradford, Lions will take Suh/McCoy, Bucs will take Suh/McCoy, Redskins will take OT Russell Okung, and after the 4th pick it gets interesting. The Kansas City Chiefs own the 5th pick, and they do have a need at S, but the team had a horrible offensive line last year, and is looking to move former first round pick Brandon Albert to RT. Factor in the idea that the Chiefs just gave QB Matt Cassell an extension last year, and you have to wonder what GM Scott Pioli will do. Pioli stated months ago that he does not believe in taking safeties in the top 5, but he comes from the Patriots organization, where anything can happen. If the Chief take OT Brian Bulaga from Iowa, it leaves the Seahawks with the 6th pick to decide whether they want an OT, S, or RB. Their franchise LT Walter Jones is retiring, and the team is devoid of a play maker on offense. Also, the team has a young productive S in Jordan Babineaux (had 104 tackles and 2 INT's last year), so I could see the Seahawks either taking OT Trent Williams from Oklahoma, or Clemson RB CJ Spiller. We all know how much Pete Carroll loved RB's who were playmakers at USC (Joe McKnight, Reggie Bush, Stafon Johnson). I think the Browns have a 50% chance of drafting Berry.

Earl Thomas, S, Texas- If Berry is gone, this is the guy I want next. Again he fills a major hole in our secondary. He is athletic, can tackle, can help in the run, has very high football IQ, and is a hard worker. The only knocks on Thomas are that he is a little small (5'10), and that he might miss some tackles because of his lack of height. I would try my best to trade down a couple of slots, gain a couple more draft picks, and select Thomas somewhere between 10-12. If the Browns are scared he might be gone between 9-12, then I would just take him with the 7th pick.

Jared Odrick, DT. Penn State- Odrick has been flying up draft boards, but I am cautious about the Browns drafting him in the first round. Yes he fills a need on our D-line, but the needs of QB, S, and WR are more pressing than DE/DT. If he is available in the second round, then I might take a stab at him. The Browns are interested in him because he is a very developed player who can step in and play DE in our 3-4 defense. He has great technique, great size (6'5 304 lbs.), great speed, and a non stop motor. His weaknesses are some durability concerns, and his lack of strength. Also, Penn State lineman in the past have not succeeded in the NFL (Courtney Brown, Aaron Maybin, Jimmy Kennedy). I'd prefer to pick a QB over him in the 2nd round, but he is someone to watch out for.

Colt McCoy, QB, Texas- This is the QB I want out of this draft. He is a winner, agile, smart, and extremely accurate from 25 yards in. The Browns will be running a version of the West Coast offense, and that is predicated on a short passing attack, which McCoy fits perfectly. Some of his concerns are his arm strength concerning the deep ball, shoulder problems, and a lack of size (6'1). If he is there when the Browns pick at 38, we have to take him. From watching him play at Texas I believe he can turn into a really good QB in the NFL. He is a winner who came from a great program, and he is a hard worker. If he is available a few picks before we select at 38, and a team calls us offering that pick, I would try to use one of my extra 5th rounders to nab him.

Tim Tebow, QB, Florida- One of the most hyped up prospects I have ever seen. Tebow is a winner and while everyone outside of the state of Florida hates him, you have to give him credit. He is someone who doesn't back down from a challenge and he is a fighter. Aside from his religious views or home-school upbringing, Tebow has some interesting tools at QB. He is very mobile, has solid height (6'2), and solid arm strength. He has not played in a pro style offense, his delivery is weird, and he does not have good accuracy. He is a project in every sense of the word. I wouldn't touch him until the 3rd or 4th round.

Tony Pike, QB, Cincinnati- Pike came onto the scene this year and he is an interesting prospect. He has great size at 6'5, has solid arm strength, can move in the pocket, and has good accuracy. His main knock is the fact that he has dealt with a few injuries in his career and that he might not be durable. Also, he is a raw QB who needs to work on his mechanics and footwork. Again, he seems like a project, so I would take a stab at him in the 4th or 5th round.

Dan LeFevour, QB, Central Michigan- LeFevour is an interesting prospect. He is an accurate passer who can get rid of the ball quickly, and has good size at 6'3. He tends to float the ball at times and did not play against great competition. He is not good at reading coverages and he again is a project too. If he is around in the 5th-6th round I would take a look at him.

Mardy Gilyard, WR, Cincinnati- Gilyard, along with Pike played a huge role in the Bearcats resurgence this year. He is a fast, smooth WR who has solid hands and ideal size (5'11). He is not strong and isn't a great route runner, but he can work to improve those traits. If he is around in round 2-3 I wouldn't mind taking a look at him.

Eric Decker, WR, Minnesota- Decker has a great work ethic, great size (6'3), and has great hands. He runs routes very well and while he is not athletic, he can make tough catches in tight areas. He reminds me a lot of Joe Jurevicious. Again, if he is around in round 2-3, I would take a look at him.

Taylor Price, WR, Ohio- Price is a WR who brings speed, and athleticism to the table. He is a hard worker who has good size at 6'0. He has a good work ethic and is a durable player. He does not have great hands and he does not block well. He is another receiver I would take a look at in rounds 2-4.

Freddy Barnes, WR, Bowling Green- Another Ohio product who has good size at 6'0, and who is a tough WR with good hands. He might not have great speed but he is someone who will block and is not scared to make a big play. He is someone I would take a look at in rounds 5-6.

Jimmy Graham, TE, Miami (FL)- Graham is a huge target at 6'6 and has great athleticism. He is fast and can jump really high. He is good at absorbing hits and he puts in good effort into blocking. He is still raw, does not run routes well, and does not have good hands. Also, he plays basketball for Miami. Graham would be an interesting pick in rounds 2-3.

Nate Allen, S, South Florida- If the Browns don't come away with either Berry or Thomas, look for them to go after this guy. We know how much Mangini covets smart, hard working players and Allen is one of them. He has good size at 6'0, athleticism, good ball skills, and has great instincts. He is not a great tackler, and he doesn't have much upside, but he would be a good pick in round 2.

Chad Jones, S, LSU- Jones has great size at at 6'2, and has great athleticism and can support the run. He has great upside potential and has great ball/hand skills. The issue with him is that people question his devotion to football as he plays baseball for LSU as well. Also, he has is raw and lacks awareness. If he is around in rounds 2-3, I would take a look at him.

Myron Rolle, S, Florida State- Sticking with the theme of high character, hard working, intelligent guys, look no further than Myron Rolle. He took a year off from college football to study abroad as a Rhodes Scholar. He has good height at 6'1, and good instincts. The concern's about him is his commitment to football (how long will he stay in the NFL for? he wants to be a M.D.), his athleticism, and how long it will take him to get re-acclimated after being away for a year. If he is around in rounds 4-5, I take a look at him.

Kareem Jackson, CB, Alabama- Jackson has solid size at 5'10, and has quick feet. He has good instincts and is very physical. He is good against the run, but he has to redefine his technique and sometimes struggles against quick receivers. He seems to be a good fit for a secondary that plays a lot of zone, and in the 3-4 you see a lot of that. I would take a look at him between rounds 2-4.

Tyson Alualu, DT, California- Alualu has a non stop motor and a very good work ethic. He makes a lot of tackles and has good speed. He is a bit of a tweener at 6'2 295, and he projects as a 5 technique lineman in the 3-4. Mangini likes players that are smart and hard working, Alualu fits that mold. I would take a look at Alualu around rounds 4-6.

Andre Roberts, WR, The Citadel- Roberts is another hard working kid who is a team leader. He has very good hands and is very smooth. While he isn't very strong, nor does he have good size (5'10), he could project to be a solid slot receiver. He is a high intangibles guy that Mangini craves. I would take a look at from rounds 3-4.

Ciron Black, OT, LSU- Black has good size at 6'4 327 lbs. He is pretty athletic and good and the point of attack. Black is durable, can get a good push in the run game, and is a team leader. He dealt with inconsistency, and does not have good balance. He project as a RT in the in the NFL. I would take a look at him in rounds 4-6.

The three safeties I want the most are Berry, Thomas, then Allen. The QB's I want the most are McCoy, Pike, and LeFevour. The WR I like the most are Gilyard, Decker, Price, and Roberts. If the Browns can come away with Berry and McCoy in the first two rounds, I will be a very happy man. By taking these two guys, it fulfills the two biggest needs on the team, and it will allow the team to address other areas such as WR, DE/DT, RT, and RB. I am sure the Browns will make another trade during the Draft.

This is a huge draft for the Holmgren/Heckert regime. The team is loaded with a lot of picks, and the team has a lot of holes to fill. The team needs a future QB, playmaker on defense, and depth on the offensive line and WR. Holmgren has had a solid offseason so far by adding Chris Gocong and Scott Fujita to the LB corps, Sheldon Brown at CB, Ben Watson at TE, Tony Pashos at OT, Peyton Hillis at RB, and Jake Delhomme at QB. All of these guys are stop gaps, and the Browns must first fill the needs of S, QB, and WR, then look adding depth at DE/DT, OT, TE and CB. From what I have seen in the offseason, I have confidence that Holmgren and Heckert will do a fine job in the draft. Until next time, thanks for reading and go Cleveland!

-Raz

Its that time again

2010-04-15T01:18:00.004-04:00

Well we now know who the Cavs will be playing in the first round and it will be the Chicago Bulls. We are 2-2 versus the Bulls this year, as our only real loss came in the very beginning of the year, and we lost by 2. Here are some keys to the series.

-The Cavs must work hard to integrate Shaq back into the rotation. Mike Brown must quickly figure out how many minutes everyone should get. Usually there are 8-9 players in the rotation in the playoffs. This means your going to see Mo, Parker, Lebron, Jamison, Shaq, Z, Andy, and either Moon/Jawad/Powe. Your not going to see Green, Telfair, and Gibson play. The reason for this is because the team struggled when first integrating Shaq and Parker, as we started 3-3. We then lost 3 straight when we added Jamison.

-Slowing down Derek Rose will be key because he can drive with his superior speed. Rose is the best player on the Bulls. He is a floor general and we have seen the struggles that Mo Williams has had with quick PG's. Look for West to be checking Rose for a period of time in the series.

-Having Andy on Joakim Noah will be key because these players are very identical. Noah is a great rebounder who plays with a lot of energy and can defend. He is the type of player who can frustrate any opponent.

-The Bulls have some size on their team as Noah is 6'11, Brad Miller is 7'0, Luol Deng is 6'9, and Taj Gibson is 6'9. It will be important for the Cavs to continue to pound the middle with Shaq, and have LeBron and Jamison finish around the basket.

-The Bulls have much less offensive firepower this year than they did last year. They lost Ben Gordon to free agency and traded John Salmons in February. This team depends on Derek Rose and Luol Deng for much of its offense, and if the Cavs can frustrate these 2 players, then they should be fine.

-My hope is to see the Cavs tune up their defensive intensity in this series. Without Shaq in the middle, the Cavs are softer in the middle and did not play as well defensively. Before Shaq hurt his thumb, the Cavs allowed the least amount of points in the paint. The team needs to go back to the tough, hard nosed defense we were used to seeing the last couple years in the playoffs.

-It will be imperative for Mo Williams to get going early in the playoffs. Last year he struggled and it really hurt the Cavs. He needs to play with confidence and hit his shots early. When he is playing well, the Cavs are very hard to beat.

Well folks, I know this is brief but I think it sums up most of my thoughts. I don't think this will be a cakewalk, but the Cavs should be able to get through this series. It will take the Cavs some time to adjust to having Shaq back, along with Jamison. This is why I believe the Cavs might lose a game. My prediction: Cavs in 5.

Thanks for reading and go Cleveland!

-Raz

It has been awhile again....

2010-04-05T13:33:00.003-04:00

Sorry folks, I know I have been really lazy. Here are some quick thoughts on Cleveland sports as of late.

Cavs

-The Jamison trade has been a huge plus for this team. He has developed into our second scorer as he is averaging 15 ppg and about 8 boards since his arrival to Cleveland. He is very creative around the basket, and can shoot.

-The return of Z was great and I am very happy to see him back here. He will be very valuable against the Lakers and the Magic come playoff time. We need his height and rebounding ability against the likes of Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol, and Andrew Bynum.

-The injury of Shaq hurts us somewhat because the Cavs were playing great with him in the middle. He was getting in a groove and he was providing the low post threat we craved. Also, our interior defense has suffered since the in jury of Shaq. While we are scoring more, we are giving up more points as well. My only concern is that when he comes back there will be a little bit of an adjustment period. We saw the Cavs come out of the gate at 3-3 when Shaq first came on, and the Cavs dropped 3 straight when Jamison was first acquired. According to sources, Shaq is healing quickly and he is looking to come back for the last few games. If I am the Cavs, I lower the minutes for all of our starters and main rotation players. I give more minutes to Powe, Moon, Jawad, and Green. I would like to get Shaq acclimated back with the starting lineup for a game or two, so they can be prepared for the playoffs.

-Getting homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs this early is great because it allows us to slowly rest our starters. Homecourt advantage will benefit us most in the NBA Finals because of the 2-3-2 format. If the Cavs win the first 2 home games, they just have to steal one in LA (which they can do). Homecourt against the Magic isn't as effective because as they showed last year, they can beat us in Cleveland. They will shoot great whether they are in Cleveland, Orlando, Montreal, or Paris.

-The playoffs are coming up in a couple weeks and it is going to be great. The biggest threat to the Cavs title hopes to me are the Orlando Magic. I saw this team play against the Dallas Mavericks last thursday and I came away very impressed. Howard can rebound and finish at the basket with ease, Lewis can still shoot 3's over most players, Nelson can zip through defenses, and Pietrus can light it up anytime (he was 6/6 from 3 point land vs. the Mavs). Not to mention that Vince Carter can run hot and cold. They have a frantic, but effective coach in Stan Van Gundy. The key to the Cavs beating the Magic is getting Howard in foul trouble. If he gets in foul trouble, the Magic become a perimeter team. I put Shaq on Howard and let them battle by themselves. I do not double Howard at all, and I try to minimize the amount of 3's taken. As Brian Windhorst described, a potential series between the Cavs and Magic will be an "all out war".

-Mo Williams has played better as of late, after struggling for a couple of weeks (past 3 games he is averaging 20 ppg). He is averaging more assists, but less points this season. I think there are a few reasons behind this, one, his shoulder still might be bothering him. Two, the acquisition of Jamison takes away touches for Mo. The Cavs need Mo to be aggressive and hit his shots. The Cavs are 16-3 when Mo scores more than 20 points. He is the best shooter on the Cavs and we need him to bury big shots come playoff time.

-Free throw shooting is killing this team. The Cavs need to continue to work on their free throw shooting during practice and not take the issue lightly. You can not afford to lose games in the playoffs because of free throw shooting. The coaching staff must make it a priority to work on this during practice.

-Do I think the Cavs will win the championship this year? I am not sure yet because I have to see how Shaq get re-acclimated. If the Cavs are playing to the best of their abilities, then I believe we can win it all, but our margin of error is pretty small, especially against a team like the Magic. Also, when you have a battle tested team like the Lakers, with a great coach in Phil Jackson, they will always be a tough out.

Browns

-Team president Mike Holmgren and GM Tom Heckert have done a pretty solid job thus far. We have 10 draft picks in the NFL Draft. LB Scott Fujita will provide a solid defender and OT Tony Pashos will add depth to the right side of our offensive line. Both signing are low risk and provide good depth for the team. TE Ben Watson gives our offense a solid receiver. I don't really like the Delhomme signing, but he is simply a stop gap at QB. I compare it to the signing of QB Trent Dilfer a few years ago. The Browns are certain to draft a QB in April.

-Possible QB's the Browns could draft include Sam Bradford, Jimmy Clausen, Colt McCoy, Tim Tebow, Tony Pike, Dan LaFavour, John Skelton, and Tim Hiller. The QB's I want the most are McCoy, Pike, and LaFavour. I will discuss this in the NFL Draft preview next week.

-I am hoping that S Eric Berry falls to the Browns at the #7 pick. He is a great playmaking safety who would help shore up our secondary. Again, I will discuss this later.

-The trade for LB Chris Gocong and CB Sheldon Brown was a good one too. We had extra draft picks, and Alex Hall didn't get much playing time. Brown is 31 and he probably only has 2 good years left, but he is a definite upgrade over Brandon McDonald. Chris Gocong can provide solid depth at LB and could even start. Don't be surprised if D'Qwell Jackson gets traded, especially with the addition of Fujita and Gocong. He has solid value and he could get us some more draft picks.

-The Browns need to add a S, QB, CB, WR, RB in the draft. We need playmakers in the secondary and on offense. Massaqoui is a solid building block, and Jerome Harrison showed good potential. Robiskie did not see the field much, and the Browns need to add more big play threats on this team.

-You can get the sense the Browns are on solid footing with Holmgren and Heckert at the helm. Holmgren explains his actions very clearly, and he seems to be getting along very well with Heckert and Mangini. They seem to have a sense of direction, and they aren't trying to fool anyone. They addressed the needs of OT, CB, TE, and LB this offseason, and I hope they address the need of S, QB, and WR in the draft.

Indians

-While I don't expect the Indians to destroy this year, they do have a pretty solid young team. We should be able to score runs with Choo, Asdrubal, Valbuena, Grady, Branyan, LaPorta, Brantley, and hopefully Hafner.

-The rotation is a major concern of mine. Fausto was not good last year, Westbrook is coming off Tommy John surgery, Huff and Masterson are inconsistent, and Talbot is an unknown. If the pitching staff can keep things together and put together 6-7 solid innings a night, the Indians can do some damage.

-It will be interesting to see how Chris Perez does in the closers role. The injury of Kerry Wood opened this up for Perez. Perez struggled greatly after he came over in the DeRosa trade, but he seemed to settle down as the season progressed. The bullpen was horrible last year and I don't think it can get much worse. It is important for the Indians to get off to a good start and the bullpen will be a key to that.

-Hiring Manny Acta was an ok move. He is very good at dealing with Latino and Hispanic players. While he did not have a great record in Washington, he did not have a lot of talent to work with. In Cleveland he will have better players, and we can see what he is made out of.

-The Indians have a lot of young promising players in the wings that fans should get excited about. Beau Mills, Lonnie Chissenhall, Carlos Santana, Matt LaPorta, Michael Brantley, Lou Marson, Alex White, and Hector Rondon. The Indians consistently have one of the best farm systems in baseball and its very sad that we cannot keep these guys together.

I think that wraps it up. I will soon write my NFL Draft preview, along with some thoughts on the Indians and Cavs playoff matchups. Thanks for reading and go Cleveland!

-Raz

The Army of Antawn

2010-02-17T23:55:00.004-05:00

Well folks, after months of speculation the Cavs finally made a deal today. The Cavs acquired F Antwan Jamison and PG Sebastian Telfair for Z and a first round pick. To clear this issue quickly, Z's agent Herb Rudoy told the Cleveland Plain Dealer "I'm going to try and get them to do a buyout. I think his heart is in Cleveland, that's for sure. But we'll see how this plays out". The Cavs can sign Z for the bi-annual exception of $1.9 million (which is more than most teams can offer) after he gets bought out. Z's 2 adopted sons and wife live in Cleveland, and he spent his entire career here. The Wizards really have no reason to keep Z as they are in last place, plus they have youngsters JaVale McGee and Andray Blache to play. Also by buying Z out, the Wizards would get under the luxury tax. Getting under the luxury tax has been the main objective for the Wizards. Through the dealings of Caron Butler and Jamison, the Wizards cleared about $22 million off their cap for this summer.

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

One Week Left

2010-02-11T11:50:00.005-05:00

Well folks, there is about one week til the trade deadline and there is a lot to cover. To start, I am of the belief that the Cavs are working extremely hard to get a deal done. Brian Windhorst of the Plain Dealer reported last week that Cavs GM Danny Ferry has been "in a bunker" on the phones trying to work a deal since last week. He has not traveled with the team and he is in the team offices trying to get a deal done. I outlined a few weeks ago why I think the Cavs would make a deal (Dan Gilbert, Z's expiring deal as the last asset before 2010 FA, Buyer's market). Windhorst also reported that Z would be willing to take a buyout from the team, but the team has to be cautious because of the way he reacted by the benching of Z earlier in the season. He commented that the Cavs would like to make a trade sooner rather than later, so they can integrate all the necessary parts quicker. Also, he made note that the Cavs have about 3 deals on the table right now, but these deals all include JJ Hickson, and the Cavs do not want to put him in these deals. I have stated my opinion before, and unless your trading for Bosh or Amare, you don't put Hickson in a deal. During this time of the year we are going to hear a ton of names out there, and I will make a brief list of who I think the Cavs could end up with by next week.

Antawn Jamison- I have written about Jamison numerous times. Jamison's agent has told the Wizards that he wants out, and the new owner of the Wizards plans on rebuilding the entire team. The recent talk on him is that the Wizards are very reluctant to do a deal with us for Jamison, and that the Cavs do not trust the Wizards to buyout Z. With that said, the Cavs are trying to get a 3rd team involved in this deal and Windhorst mentioned the Houston Rockets. An insider on the RealCavsFans forum (he works for the Cavs, he informed the board of the Ben Wallace, Shaq, and Mo Williams trades hours before they happened) stated that the Cavs/Wizards/Rockets have an offer on the table that has Z going to Houston, Jamison to Cleveland, Caron Butler to Houston, and Tracy McGrady to the Wizards. The Cavs hope is that Houston will buyout Z. Butler would give Houston the wing scorer they need, and the Wizards would get about $22 million off their books for next year via McGrady's expiring deal. The insider mentioned that fillers would have to be added, and I am guessing a draft pick or Danny Green could be thrown into the mix to sweeten everything up. He said the deal is being "consummated" by all the teams, and that this could be the deal that goes down. Also, the chatter in the locker room is that Z does expect a trade for Jamison to go down sometime by next week.

As you can see, Jamison is the Cavs #1 target. He fits exactly what we need, and if we don't have to give up JJ Hickson for him, the Cavs have to do it. I don't mind us giving up a future 2nd rounder or Danny Green to get the deal done either. Z getting bought out could be tricky, but the Cavs trust Houston GM Daryl Morey much more than they do Wizards GM Ernie Grunfeld. If this deal breaks down, other 3rd teams include the Milwaukee Bucks (they have made the expiring contracts of Luke Ridnour, Hakim Warrick, and Joe Alexander available ) and NY Knicks (Al Harrington's $10 million expiring deal and Larry Hughes' $12 million expiring deal) could be used. Windhorst noted that the Cavs will not directly help the Knicks, but that Harrington or Hughes could go to the Wizards to help with cap relief. Trust me, Larry Hughes will not wear a Cavs uniform again. The Cavs will also use the negotiations with Troy Murphy as leverage against the Wizards because it has become apparent that the Pacers and Cavs have come closer to a deal. I have a feeling Ferry will try to trade Z and maybe a pick or Danny Green for Murphy, and if he gets a deal agreed upon, he will go to the Wizards one last time offering the same package to see if they will budge. One thing Cavs fans have to realize is that Danny Ferry will not overpay for a player and that he wants to win in trades. He turned Damon Jones into Mo Williams, Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic into Shaq, and Larry Hughes into Delonte West. He is going to offer financial relief to teams, and his logic is that the Cavs should be the team getting a draft pick in return for saving a team large amounts of money. 2 years ago Kurt Thomas got traded from the Suns along with 2 first round draft picks to the Seattle Suppersonics for a future 2nd rounder. The Suns paid 2 first round picks for the SuperSonics to give them cap relief. I just can't imagine any other team who will be willing to take on another 2 years of Jamison' deal. Ferry will not budge come deadline and he will wait for a team to give into his demands. I think landing Jamison is about 50/50 right now.

Troy Murphy- Much like Jamison, I have written about Murphy in the past. His impact might not be as great as Jamison' but his contract becomes an asset next year as he becomes an expiring contract. The Pacers have lowered their demands for Murphy, but they are still asking for JJ Hickson. I assume Ferry will just offer Z and a filler for Murphy. The problem here is that Pacers C Jeff Foster is out for the year and Tyler Hansbrough has been out for the last month. The Pacers need bodies in their frontcourt and they are looking for a PF in return that could play. I don't think there would be any problems of Z getting bought out by the Pacers if he was traded either. Also, I think Murphy will be the #2 option if we do not land Jamison. I think there is a solid chance we could land Murphy.

Andre Iguodala- I don't believe I have written about Iggy before. His name is being made available by the Sixers due to their desire to cut payroll. Teams wanting Iggy would have to take on the last 2 years of Samuel Dalembert's contract as well ($12 million). Elton Brand's horrible contract has been mentioned, but I wouldn't go near it as there are 4 years left on his deal. I am not sure if Iggy would fit here as a SG because he isn't a great shooter (47% FG 37% from 3), but he is a great perimeter defender. We saw what happend the last time we had a SG who couldn't shoot play on the Cavs. At the same time, Iggy has been asked to be the #1 guy on his team but his skill level seems to be that of a #2 guy, which the Cavs have needed. Also, his contract goes for another 4 years at about $15 million a year. I don't mind taking on Dalembert because his deal becomes an expiring one next year. I am just very reluctant to add JJ Hickson to this deal because I feel we are saving the Sixers a lot of cap space in the future. I'm not sure if Iggy is the perfect fit in Cleveland either. Taking on a big deal like that could hamstring us in the future as well. We would be stuck with Iggy as our 2nd fiddle, and if it doesn't work, it would be very hard to move his deal. Talks seemed to be heated last week, but since then the fire has seemed to died down. I don't think Iggy will be wearing a Cavs uniform by next week.

Kevin Martin- I mentioned his name earlier and how Martin could fit in here. I believe there is a chance he could be dealt. Since Martin's return to the starting lineup the Kings are 3-12. It is obvious that rookie Tyreke Evans and Martin cannot exist in the same backcourt as they both need the ball to be effective, and that neither is a true PG. The Kings were doing better when they had PG Beno Udrih running the team, and Evans playing SG. Due to the fact that they have two players who are very similar, the Kings could look to unload Martin and Andres Nocioni as well (2 more years left on the deal). The Cavs would have to give up Z (buyout), Hickson, and sign and trade Wally Z too. I would consider it, but I am not sure if I would go through with it. I don't see Martin getting traded here though. The Kings probably won't be making Martin available though.

Amare Stoudemire- I wrote my last blog about him, and since then it seems like the talks have died. The Cavs are scared of the me-first personality of Amare, lack of defense, lack of commitment, lack of cohesion with Shaq, and a history of injuries (eye/knee). With that said, the Miami Heat look like a possible suitor for Amare because of the Heat's willingness to move Michael Beasley. You're going to hear his name a lot in the next week, I just don't think the Cavs will be in the mix. Amare won't be wearing a Cavs uniform anytime soon.

As you can see, the names have not changed that much in the past couple of months. The Cavs are driving hard for Jamison, and are using Murphy as their backup option. Hickson is playing better as of late (in his last ten games he is averaging 10 points and 6 rebounds in 21 minutes per game). I am glad Ferry is not going to include Hickson in any of these deals. The Wizards have to be criminally insane to hold onto Jamison, pay him the remaining 3 years on his deal at the age of 33, while trying to rebuild. They have young players such as Nick Young, Andray Blache, and JaVale McGee waiting in the wings. The uncertainty of the Gilbert Arenas situation also plays into this because they might not be able to void his contract. Jamison has made it known he know longer wants to be in Washington. Again, I can't think of a team that would give into the demands of the Wizards, and absorb the deal of Jamison at the same time. You can say the Dallas Mavericks could absorb the contract, but Mark Cuban has stated that he will not trade promising PG Rodrigue Beabouis in any deal (he learned his lesson in the Jason Kidd deal after trading 2 first rounders and Devin Harris for him). Also, the Mavs really don't have a need for a shooting bigman as they already have the best one in the league in Dirk Nowitzki. It's not good business to purposely not deal with a team, especially when they can satisfy your needs. If the Wizards want to spite the Cavs because of the so called "rivlary" go ahead, the Wizards will end up hurting themselves the most. The Wizards are better off playing their youngsters and evaluating the talent they have now, rather than trying to play Jamison for the next couple of years. They should know that even without a trade the Cavs can win the NBA Championship this year.

Next week should be one of the most fun/pivotal weeks of the year for the Cavs. Danny Ferry has to do a great job of balancing this years aspirations of a championship (Z buyout/Jamison/Murphy), while looking at the future of the team (Hickson/Green/Draft picks). Ferry does not want to hamstring the Cavs financially in the long term and he does not want to strip the team of its young assets. In the four years Ferry has been here, he has only had draft picks in 2 of the drafts. Unlike last year, I won't be upset if we don't make a deal this year because I do believe we are one of the 3 best teams in the NBA right now. Thanks for reading, and go Cleveland!

-Raz

Black Jesus

2010-01-25T23:12:00.011-05:00

Brian Windhorst of the Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote a great beat blog piece last night regarding the Cavs and Amare. Here is the whole article:

Cleveland Cavaliers and Phoenix Suns talking Amare Stoudemire trade, according to report: Windhorst Beat Blog

The Arizona Republic reported late Sunday night that the Cavaliers are one of three teams to be in talks recently with the Suns about trading for star Amare Stoudemire.

The reporter on this story is the Republic's Paul Coro, which why there is a blog going up on this topic now and it is not being regarded as common fodder. Coro has a good reputation for being credible. For example, was the first to report the Cavs and Suns had re-started trade talks for Shaquille O'Neal last June.

I had not heard the Cavs have discussed trading for Stoudemire, but league sources have said the Suns are quite worried that Stoudemire plans to leave via free agency next summer and have been looking for a commitment from him now. If they can't get it, a source told me last week, they will press ahead looking to make a deal before next month's deadline.

The Suns have already made several salary-dumping trades over the last year, the biggest was sending O'Neal to the Cavs for Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic, which saved the team more than $10 million when both players were bought out (figuring in luxury tax savings).

It would be surprising that the Suns would want to do another salary dump trade with a star, but it isn't impossible. This move potentially could save team owner Robert Sarver another $10 million, and perhaps more.

The natural trade that makes sense here would be Zydrunas Ilgauskas and J.J. Hickson for Stoudemire. The Suns could also ask for draft picks, as the Cavs own their full slate of first-round picks in the future. The Cavs and Suns talked about Hickson in the O'Neal deal, but the Cavs wanted to keep him. So the Suns have a history of interest in Hickson. They also considered drafting him in 2008 but took Robin Lopez instead.

Straight up, this type of deal would save the Suns around $3.4 million off their payroll ($6.8 million including luxury tax). However, the Suns currently are a little more than $5 million over the luxury-tax line. It is possible they could then negotiate a buyout with Ilgauskas and get below the tax, which would probably enable such a trade to save them around $10 million in real money. The cash advantage could actually increase because, if the Suns got below the tax line of $69.9 million, they would be able to get their share from the fund created by the tax-paying teams. In other words, it would be worth millions more.

In addition, because of a clause in his contract, Ilgauskas has already been paid about 75 percent of his $11.5 million salary this season. He would be owed a trade kicker of around $2 million, but the Suns could save up to $3 million in the swap from money already paid to Ilgauskas that wouldn't have to come out of their coffers. All of that is subject to negotiation, of course, but the point here is this is a potential deal worth lots of money to Phoenix if they worked all these details out. But, in short, it is complicated.

Coro reports that the Golden State Warriors and the Minnesota Timberwolves have also talked to the Suns. The Suns and Warriors nearly pulled a deal for Stoudemire last June before the draft but it fell apart. There is little doubt that both the Wolves and Warriors could put together more talent-rich offers for Stoudemire. The Cavs cannot and will not offer the same package of young players.

But with Stoudemire having the right to become a free agent this summer, it would be foolish for either team to trade for him without an agreement he'd re-sign with them. He already made it clear he didn't want to go to Golden State last summer, which was one of the sticking points to that failed trade. It is hard to believe he'd want to stay in Minnesota, which is in the middle of a large rebuilding project.

That factor reduces Stoudemire's value on the trade market and is why such a deal would make some sense for the Cavs. Stoudemire has said he wants to play for a contender, but probably would also be attracted to New York or Miami in the offseason. So the danger is the Cavs may find themselves renting him as well.

Another issue in thinking about this potential trade, however, is Stoudemire's relationship with O'Neal. The people in Phoenix say that O'Neal and Stoudemire got along just fine in the locker room, but they didn't so much on the floor. Their styles got in each other's way, and it was one of the reasons the Suns first thought about trading Stoudemire a year ago and then flirted with the idea again in the summer before trading O'Neal instead.

Stoudemire is a pick-and-roll specialist who loves going to the rim. O'Neal was often in his way. It is questionable whether pairing them together again would work on the floor or be acceptable to either player. There would have to be agreement on all sides, and that doesn't count Ilgauskas, who would have to agree to a buyout to make the trade even come together.

Of course, LeBron James is in the picture as a playmaker, but O'Neal and Stoudemire had Steve Nash, one of the greatest playmakers of this era, to help in Phoenix. So all of this could be simple posturing and due diligence from the Cavs. They'd have to be convinced the two could work together and that they would have a good chance of re-signing Stoudemire to go forward with it.

If nothing else, this rumor should create a lot of chatter, which is why fans like this time of year. If I didn't think there was some basis for it or that it wasn't possible, this blog would not have been written.

Now why would the Cavs want to deal for Amare? I have 2 theories. One, the Cavs think that they can get Amare at the price of Z (buyout), JJ, and picks. By adding Amare, the Cavs will have one of the best frontcourt players in the NBA. Amare is only 27 years old, and he would be a great 2nd fiddle to LeBron. He is a strong finisher at the basket, can run the pick and roll, and has a good mid range jumper. The Cavs do not have the cap space to sign a max free agent in 2010, but if they have the opportunity to add a max player via trade then they will. Getting a talent like Amare at that price would be a steal. The other teams that are interested include the 76'ers, Nets, Bulls, and Heat. The Heat are a team that could definitely trade for Amare because they could trade the expiring deal of Quentin Richardson, and they could dangle Michael Beasley in a trade. The Bulls could offer the expiring deals of Tim Thomas or Brad Miller, along with Tyrus Thomas. The 76'ers don't have any expiring contracts, but they do have Jrue Holiday and Andre Iguodala to offer. The Nets could offer the expiring deal of Tony Battie, along with Devin Harris or Courtney Lee in a deal. As you can see the Cavs do have some competition in terms of trading for Amare.

Second, this could be a smokescreen by the Cavs to get the Wizards and Pacers to lower their demands for Jamison and Murphy. I think this is a more plausible theory to believe because I don't believe the Cavs have the assets to pull a deal for Amare. The Cavs could be sending a message to the Wizards and Pacers that they are talking with other teams, and that they can get a star player like Amare by giving up a little more.

Some of the risks I see with Amare are that he is known as someone who could be difficult to deal with, and that his attitude might not be the greatest. I have heard from a couple sources that Amare and Shawn Marion caused a few problems in the Suns locker room as they were unhappy with the amount of shots they were getting. Another risk is that Amare' defense is just bad. Yes, he plays for the Phoenix Suns, where defense is optional, but he has never impressed me as a defender. I remember watching the Cavs play the Suns once last year, and Anderson Varajao drove to the basket and just dunked in front of Amare. He made no attempt to even defend Anderson. Also, the idea of having Shaq and Amare down low would clog the lane as Amare is great at the pick and roll, while Shaq is a tree down low.

The final thing I will say about this is that the Cavs must get some sort of assurance or indication that Amare is going to stay in Cleveland. The Cavs would own his Bird Rights which would allow them to sign him to a max deal after this year. It makes no sense for the Cavs to just rent Amare for 4 months. This would greatly increase our chances of keeping LeBron. I don't see Amare giving an indication that he will stay unless LeBron does the same. Do I want Amare? Yes, he would be a great low post threat who has a lot of good years left in him. Will it happen? Probably not, but the fact that Windhorst is writing so in-depth about it gives me some sort of hope that the Cavs are looking to add a big name player by the trade deadline. Read the last two paragraphs of the article. They are trying everything to keep LeBron, and utilize the last key asset the team has (Z's expiring deal). Keep this in mind too, Suns GM Steve Kerr is very good friends with Cavs GM Danny Ferry. Kerr traded Shaq to the Cavs for nothing. Celtics GM Danny Ainge got Kevin Garnett from then Timbervolves GM Kevin McHale (Ainge and McHale were teammates for the Celtics in the 80's). Jerry West was the GM of the Grizzlies when they traded Pau Gasol to the LA Lakers (West played for the Lakers). I'd be surprised if a deal for Amare happend, but you never say never....

Thanks for reading. Go Cleveland!

-Raz

One Month Left

2010-01-19T14:09:00.007-05:00

Well folks, we are just one month away from the NBA trading deadline. I have gone in depth with a few names that the Cavs could go after. There have not been too many new developments on the trade front. Brian Windhorst of the Plain Dealer reported last night that no trade appears imminent but that the Cavs continue to have conversations about different players. Windhorst reported that the Pacers made an offer in which we would acquire PF Troy Murphy, but he said it was a laughable offer. He mentioned that they wanted multiple draft picks as well. Bob Finnan of the News Hearld reported that the Cavs offered Z for PF David West and probably another contract. I will dedicate this blog to the reasons for the Cavs making a trade, and then list a few names you might hear in the next month.

Reasons for a Deadline Deal

1. This is the Cavs last chance to add a big name player for at least the next year. Next year, the team will have very little cap space, one first round draft pick, and a guy named LeBron James will become a free agent. The uncertainty surrounding Z and Shaq will also come into play. With Z's expiring contract and the ability to sign and trade Wally Z, the Cavs have put themselves in a position to help a team save money and cut payroll. Wally Z did sign with CBS Sports to do commentating for March Madness, so the Cavs would have to convince him to come back and at least travel with the team he is traded to. I am strongly against putting JJ Hickson or a first round pick in any deal unless its for a superstar. The Cavs need to keep young pieces around LeBron and retain as many assets as possible. LeBron wants to win many championships, not just one. You don't just throw in first round picks, no matter how late they are. Just ask the Spurs (PG Tony Parker), Knicks (PF David Lee), and Mavericks (SF Josh Howard).

2. Dan Gilbert. The Cavs have one of the best owners in the NBA. Aside from Mark Cuban, I don't know too many owners who are willing to take on more money in these economic times. We currently have the 7th largest payroll at $80.2 million. Most teams are trying to cut salary (ask the Suns, Bucks, and Nets), but Gilbert knows he can't be cheap now. He bought this team hoping to win numerous titles with LeBron James, and he will pressure the front office to continue to improve this team. He took on the contracts of Mo Williams, and Shaq. He has bought 3 second round draft picks in the last two drafts. He just got the Casino amendment passed in Ohio (which he was a big part of), and he got Chinese investors to buy a 15% stake in the Cavs (further exposing LeBron to the Far East markets). These are all seeds that Gilbert has set up in hopes of keeping LeBron.

3. Sellers Market. Right now, a lot of teams are trying to get more cap space for the summer of 2010, or trying to cut payroll to avoid paying the luxury tax. Teams such as the Washington Wizards, Philadelphia 76'ers, Utah Jazz, and New Orleans Hornets will all try to cut salary. Teams such as the Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, NY Knicks, and New Jersey Nets are trying to clear more cap space for the 2010 free agent class. Teams are trying to rid themselves of long contracts, and they appear willing to package a young player in a deal. Why do you think the Jazz gave away rookie PG Eric Maynor for nothing? Because the OKC Thunder had enough cap space to absorg F Matt Harpring's $6 million deal. Also, an important fact to remember is that only 8 teams have full season sales of 10,000 tickets or more (the Cavs being one of them), compared to 11 teams last year. As you can see, the economy is indeed affecting the NBA.

Who are some of the players that you will hear?

Antwan Jamison, PF, Washington Wizards
I have written about Jamison a few times, so no need to go over everything. He would fit great here, and I would love to have him. He is averaging 22 ppg and 9 rpg this year. He can score inside/outside, and rebound. He would be the ideal stretch 4 we could use. His defense needs some work, but Mike Brown's system could mask that. His contract goes for another 2 years after this year, but after next year he becomes an asset because he becomes an expiring contract. The most I would trade for Jamison is Z (who gets bought out by the Wiz and comes back to the Cavs), Danny Green, and a future 2nd rounder. I wouldn't use a first or JJ Hickson in this deal. Why? The Wizards have no leverage. Aside from the Dallas Mavericks (who already have Shawn Marion and Dirk), I can't think of a contending team who will take on Jamison' contract, especially since he is 33 already. The Cavs can save the Wizards $28 million by trading them Z and buying him out. We need Z's size against teams such as the Lakers, Celtics, and Magic. You saw how well we played against the Lakers with Z and Shaq out there. I think there is a good chance Jamison ends up a Cavalier, but it probably will happen the day of the deadline. We all know the mess the Wizards are in now (14-26 record) with the whole Gilbert fiasco, and the team will be blown up. The possibility of a 3 team trade has also been mentioned with Jamison and the Cavs. As a note, last year late Wizards owner Abe Pollin vetoed a deal that would have sent Jamison to Cleveland because he wanted to keep the core of the team together. Ted Leonsis is trying to buy the Wizards now (he owns the Washington Capitals of the NHL). Once the Gilbert Arenas and ownership situations begins to clear, then I believe you will start to see Wizards GM Ernie Grunfeld make some trades.

Troy Murphy, PF, Indiana Pacers
As I stated earlier, the Pacers did offer us Murphy is a lopsided trade. Again, I would trade Z (buyout) and either Danny Green or a 2nd round pick for Murphy. Murphy is a better outside shooter than Jamison, and a better rebounder, but he isn't as good of an athlete or defender. He is averaging 14 ppg and 10 rpg on 40% shooting from 3. He would fit the bill of a stretch 4. The Pacers front court already has C Roy Hibbert, PF Tyler Hansbrough, F Mike Dunleavy, and C Jeff Foster. The team is not doing well as they have a 14-26 record and a $66 million payroll. I think there is a solid shot Murphy could become a Cavalier if Jamison does not.

Kevin Martin, SG, Sacramento Kings
People will be surprised to see him here, but they need to realize that the Kings have 2 SG's on there team. Tyreke Evans is now the #1 option, and since Kevin Martin's return the Kings are 0-3. It will be hard to put 2 scorers on the floor at the same time with no real PG. Both Martin and Evans need to ball to be successful and I don't there the touches are there for both of them. Windhorst reported earlier in the year that the Cavs had an interest in Martin, and he would be a good fit here. He would be a great #2 option for the Cavs, and he is only 27 years old. He has great size 6'7 and he can flat out score. The Kings would definitely want talent back, and they would probably send the contract of Andres Nocioni as well. I am guessing JJ Hickson, Delonte West, Z, and draft picks would be involved. I don't think Martin will be traded, but you never say never.

David West, PF, New Orleans Hornets
The Cavs have already offered Z for West, so we'll see what happens. Again, West would fit well here as he can rebound and score inside and out. His contract goes for another 2 years. The Hornets would probably want JJ Hickson, and I am not sure if I would give him up along with Z. West is 29 and he has played well this year as he is averaging 17 ppg and 7 rpg. A team would have to take on the bad contracts of either James Posey, Mo Peterson, or Peja Stojakovic. The Hornets are barely above the luxury tax, and they have played well lately (21-19 this year, 7-3 last 10 games), so I don't think there is a great chance he gets moved.

Rip Hamilton, SG/ Tayshaun Prince, SF, Detroit Pistons
These are 2 names you will hear during the deadline. The Pistons drafted 3 SF's in last years NBA Draft (Jonas Jerekbo, Austin Daye, DaJuan Summers). The team signed SG Ben Gordon, and they have two guys who play the point, but are SG's in Will Bynum and Rodney Stuckey. As you can see the team has a influx of SG and SF, with no real PG or C. Both Hamilton and Prince have dealt with injuries this year. The team is currently 14-26. I am hesitant to trade for both of these guys, as we already have a guy like Prince on the Cavs in Jamario Moon, and Hamilton's contract goes for another 3 years at $12 million a year. With that said, I would rather have Hamilton than Prince only because he is a 6'7 SG who can shoot the ball very well. He is averaging 19 ppg this year, and he is a solid defender. The Pistons will want talent back, and I am not sure if the Cavs would be willing to surrender JJ Hickson in a deal for one of those two. I think one of these guys will be traded, just not to the Cavs.

Amare Stoudemire, PF, Phoenix Suns
I know last year we were all freaking out when we heard his name to the Cavs. With the Suns pedestrian play as of late (started out 14-3, and are now 24-18), frugality of owner Robert Sarver, and uncertainty of Amare's future in Phoenix makes him a possible trade target. ESPN's Chad Ford said that the odds of Amare being traded are 40-50%. Just like Chris Bosh, if Amare does not give a good signal that he will sign a contract extension, then the Suns might have to deal him in hopes of getting something in return instead of letting him walk for nothing. The Cavs would have to take on the contract of Leandro Barbosa as well. I don't think the Cavs have enough talent to trade for Amare. You would probably have to part with JJ, Z, West, and either a draft pick or the rights to Eyenga. The Suns could possibly ask for more or receive better offers elsewhere. Amare would be a great low post threat, but coupling him with Shaq could prove difficult as we saw last year in Phoenix (he is averaging 20 ppg and 8 rpg this year). He is not a good defender either but I believe coming into Mike Brown's system could help. Also, the Cavs would probably want Amare to commit to signing with us before we trade for him. I wouldn't be surprised if a 3rd team would try to get involved in a deal like this. Again, I think its highly unlikely that Amare comes here, but you never say never.

Well I think those are the names you might be hearing for the next few weeks regarding the Cavs at the deadline. Don't be surprised if Delonte West is traded for a bigger, more talented SG either. The team is looking to upgrade this position due to the inconsistency of West and they are hoping to move Anthony Parker to the bench. I would hate to see him go, but if we can get a better player, I am all for it. The reason why West is attractive is because his $4.5 million salary next year is partially guaranteed. Much like Sasha Pavlovic' contract, West has a $500,000 buyout clause in his contract. So a team that trades for him could save about $4 million if they buy him out. This makes him essentially an expiring contract. I hope West stays because I love his hustle, toughness, and fearlessness, but the Cavs will try to do anything to improve the team. As a side note, Cavs GM Danny Ferry added these partial guarantees to the final years of the contracts of Daniel Gibson, and Anderson Varajao. I also believe he did it for Jamario Moon and Anthony Parker. This gives the Cavaliers much more flexibility in terms of trades (this is how we got Shaq, Sasha' contract was partially guaranteed which saved the Suns a lot of money).

That just about does it. In the coming weeks I will write more about the Browns and there upcoming offseason/NFL Draft. If I hear any updates on potential names near the NBA trading deadline I will be sure to write about it. Thanks for reading and go Cleveland!

-Raz

One Man Gathers What Another Man Spills

2010-01-04T22:18:00.003-05:00

Brian Windhorst of the Plain Dealer is reporting that the Cavs might be close to making a small trade. The reasoning for this is the Cavs have 4 non-guarenteed contracts on the roster. These 4 players are Coby Karl, Danny Green, Darnell Jackson, and Jawad Williams. According to Windhorst, he believes Jackson and Green are safe. This Wednesday, all contracts in the NBA are guaranteed. 15 teams are in the NBA the luxury tax, which is $69.92 million. For teams that are close to the luxury tax, they could make a trade with the Cavs for these contracts, and they could renounce them. Once the teams renounce these contracts, they will be able to cut payroll and either get under the luxury tax or save some money. A key point in these trades is that the Cavs might look to get a cheap bigman who can play sparingly if Z does get traded and bought out. If he is bought out, Z has to wait 30 days to come back, and someone will have to help fill in his minutes. Leon Powe is a candidate, but he will be coming off surgery and he might not be able to handle that workload. Some people have made the notion that Danny Ferry might ask for a draft pick in a deal as well. Here are some names that could become available.

Kosta Koufos, C, Utah Jazz

-As I have said before, the Jazz have a high payroll of $77 million. They traded PG Eric Maynor along with F Matt Harpring's large contract to the Oklahoma City Thunder for nothing. The team is 18-15, and they won't be contending for a title anytime soon. Koufos hasn't really played much with the Jazz, which is another reason I could see them trading him. He is a 7 footer who enjoys shooting 3 pointers, and he can block some shots from time to time. He sounds a lot like Z to me. This is his 2nd year in the NBA, and he is averaging 9 minutes a game. This year he is averaging only 3.5 minutes, compared to 11.8 last year. With his playing time diminished this year, the Jazz could save themselves about $2.8 million. A trade that works is Coby Karl and Jawad Williams for Koufos. If a team is over the luxury tax, they pay a dollar for dollar penalty for any contract that helps them exceed $69 million. Karl and Williams' contracts add up to about $1.4 million, and the Jazz can just cut them without having to guarantee their contracts. Koufous could serve as someone who could play limited minutes if Z gets traded and has to wait 30 days to come back to the Cavs. Now, will Koufos get traded? Probably not, but he is an interesting name to throw out there. He is in his 2nd year, his minutes have declined, the team has a high payroll, and they traded their first round pick this year to help save money. One last note, according to the Deseret News, Jazz GM Kevin O'Conner said that the team might be making a trade this week.....

Joey Dorsey PF/ Jermaine Taylor G, Houston Rockets

-This is an interesting idea here. The Cavs again could send Karl and Williams for these 2 guys. The Cavs could save the rockets around $2.8 million. The Rockets are above the luxury tax with a payroll of $73 million. While the team is playing above expectations, the team could save a few million dollars. The reason I have these two on here is because Dorsey has played 3 games this year, and Taylor has played 12. The Rockets really don't use these guys, and they have an opportunity to save some money. While Dorsey is 6'8 who is strong, athletic, he has no offensive game to speak of. He is a lot like Ben Wallace. He was a great rebounder and post defender in college. Taylor is an athletic 2 guard who can shoot but is undersized (6'4) and does not share the ball. The Cavs could use a bigman to help share minutes if Z is traded.

Royal Ivey PG/ Primoz Brezec C, Philadelphia 76'ers

-The 76'ers are another team with high payroll with mediocre results. The team has a $62 million payroll, and has a record of 10-23. Their payroll is expected to increase next year as well. Ivey is a 6'4 PG who isn't great on offense but is a solid defender. The Cavs could use a backup ballhandler. Brezec is 7'1, and he can shoot a midrange jumper. He can help play a few minutes if Z is traded and bought out. Karl and Williams will do the trick for Brezec and Ivey, and the 76'ers will save about $1.4 million. Again, since the 76'ers would be saving money, Ferry could ask for a future 2nd round pick in this deal.

Francisco Elson, C, Milwaukee Bucks

-The Bucks are a team who are a team who is doing average with a record of 13-18. The team is under the tax, but they have a high payroll of $67 million. Elson is 7'0 who is mobile and can defend the pick and roll. He could be useful if Z is traded and bought out. Karl and Williams will get the deal done. The Bucks would save about $1.4 million by trading Elson.

Again, these names are pure speculation. I by no means have any inside information. I am just trying to make sense with names that I think of. Koufos would be the name I would like to see the most. He is only 20, and he could become a serviceable bigman down the road. I really feel that Ferry might be trying to either pawn a draft pick by using a couple of the non-guaranteed deals he has or he is trying to get 4th PF/C to split time with Leon Powe while Z is gone if he is indeed traded and bought out. The reason I am writing about this is because Brian Windhorst is probably one of the best beat reporters in the NBA, and he has very reliable sources that are close to the Cavs. To me, where there is smoke, there is fire.....

Thanks and go Cleveland!

-Raz

Total Destruction

2010-01-01T23:35:00.005-05:00

Hope everyone had a great holiday and a wonderful New Years! Here are some quick Cavs thoughts.

-According to numerous reports, the Washington Wizards are going to be blowing their team up. This shouldn't be a shock as they have 10-20 record, injuries to Antwan Jamison and Mike Miller, a $79 million payroll, and the Gilbert Arenas fiasco on hand (he supposedly had guns in the locker room, and he drew them at teammate).

-With this said, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports is reporting that the team is looking to trade Gilbert Arenas' long contract, and Antwan Jamison. Rockets G Tracy McGrady has a $23 million expiring contract and the Wizards are apparently trying to trade for it, as they will try to use Caron Butler has a "sweetener" in the deal. The Wizards are trying to get a large expiring contract in a deal.

-With all this said, there aren't many contenders who will trade for the 33 year old Jamison. Lakers? They have no expiring contracts worth trading for. Celtics? They have small expiring contracts, and they didn't want to take on the contract of F Andres Nocioni earlier this year. They just signed Rajon Rondo to a new deal, and Ray Allen will be a free agent next year. Magic? Again they have no large expiring contracts. Hawks? Their ownership had to fight with each other to take on G Jamal Crawford's contract. Spurs? They have a bunch of small expiring deals, and that of G Manu Ginobili, but he isn't going anywhere. Suns? They are bleeding money, they traded Shaq to us to save money. Portland? They have the $9 million expiring contract of F Darius Miles, but I feel that they would be reluctant to trade some of their younger players (Rudy Fernandez/Jerryd Bayless) for Jamison. The injury of C Greg Oden really hurts this team, and they won't want to take on the 3 year contract of a 33 year old that could hamstring them in free agency.

-The Dallas Mavericks are the only team I could see going after Jamison. They have an owner who will take on more money in Mark Cuban. They have F Josh Howard who has 2 years left on his deal, with the final deal being a team option. They could use that to trade for F Jamison, but do they really need him? The team already has Shawn Marion, Drew Gooden, Erick Dampier, Dirk Nowitzki, Tim Thomas, and James Singleton at their 3 and 4 positions. The team has a payroll of $87 million this year, and you have to wonder when Mark Cuban will realize that trading young talent, draft picks, and expiring contracts (2 first round picks, Devin Harris, DeSagana Diop, Devean George, and Maurice Ager) for aging talent (Jason Kidd), will not get you a championship. You never say never in the NBA, but there is a shot Dallas gets in the mix for Jamison.

-My point is that everyone keeps throwing JJ Hickson's name in the deal. Why? What leverage do the Wiz have? Everyone knows they aren't good, and they have said that they are going to blow the team up. There aren't going to be a lot of contenders calling for Jamison, and if ownership says that the team has to cut payroll, they will have to be forced to trade Jamison. Jamison is 33 years old, and his deal goes until 2012. His production will eventually begin to erode, and while he has played well the last few seasons, he did suffer a shoulder injury that kept him out for the first few weeks of this year.

-The Cavs and LeBron know that JJ Hickson can be a solid contributor in the future, and you can't trade your young talent for aging/long contracts of players. They want to win many NBA championships, not just one. Ask the Toronto Raptors how long it took them to get back to playoff contention after they traded Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter, and Marcus Camby. Cavs GM Danny Ferry puts a lot of value into young talent and draft picks, so I find it hard that he would trade Hickson or a pick for Jamison. Ferry worked with Spurs GM RC Buford and GM Wayne Embry in Toronto. He saw how to rebuild a team in Toronto, and how to build a championship team in the Spurs.

-Also, the Wizards have to know that there are going to be other PF's on the market that the Cavs could realistically get for Z's contract. One player is PF Troy Murphy of the Indiana Pacers. According to NBA sources, the Cavs have shown interest in Murphy. Again, the Pacers will probably try to cut payroll as they have a $66 million payroll, and a 9-22 record. If they bought out Z, it would again save the team more money.

-As long as a non-contending team decides to not take on the contract of Jamison (like the Grizzlies did this year by taking on the large contract of Zach Randolph), then I could really see Jamison here with the Cavs. We could save the Wizards even more money if they agree to buy Z out of his deal. Instead of paying him the remaining $6 million of his contract, they can pay him $2 or $3 million to release him. This will help cut there luxury tax bill, as teams who are over the luxury tax pay double for any new salaries added.

-GM Danny Ferry will probably make an offer to the Wizards in the coming weeks, and just wait to it out. He will offer what he thinks is the best deal for the Cavs, and he won't hyperextend himself in adding a player like JJ Hickson or Christian Eyenga. I have heard that the Bucks wanted a draft pick in the Mo Williams deal, and the Suns wanted a first round pick in the Shaq deal. He did neither. He will continue to play hardball when looking to make a trade. Ferry will wait for a team to bite on an offer.

This Jamison story will probably continue to fester like the Stephen Jackson rumors did. Hopefully this time we will actually get Jamison. If the Cavs can get Jamison and get Z back, then I really think they can legitimately win the NBA Championship. He would add more size, scoring, and rebounding to our frontcourt. He is probably the hungriest player on the Wizards, he would definitely love to win an NBA title in his career, and the Cavs give him a great opportunity to do so. Even if the Cavs add F Troy Murphy for Z getting bought out, then we improve our chances of winning an NBA Championship. I am sure a couple more names will pop up in the near future. Stay tuned, it should be an interesting couple months. Thanks for reading and go Cleveland!

-Raz

Its that time of the year

2009-12-24T19:02:00.002-05:00

Here are some thoughts on the Browns and Cavs.

Browns

-The hiring of Mike Holmgren to be the President of our organization seems like a step in the right direction. He is a viable face in the NFL, he has a Super Bowl ring, and he has coached well in the past. According to reports, he will have the power to hire a new GM, and a coach if he desires. I wouldn't want Holmgren picking players, because as GM of the Seahawks from 1998-2002, the only solid players he drafted were LB Anthony Simmons, RB Shaun Alexander, WR Darrell Jackson, G Steve Hutchinson, CB Ken Lucas, FB Heath Evans, G Floyd Womack, RB Maurice Morris, and DT Rocky Bernard. In these 4 drafts, he had 46 picks and only 9 of them turned out to be solid/fringe NFL players.

-John Clayton of ESPN is reporting that Holmgren will probably fire HC Eric Mangini. I know I supported Mangini when he was first hired, and I still think he is a solid coach. I think you have to give the guy one more year. Yes he got rid of Braylon Edwards, and Kellen Winslow, but the Jets have no faired well since they added Edwards, and the Bucs have won 2 games this year. Alex Mack has improved, Mo Massaqoui looks like a solid WR, LB Maiava has been solid so far (39 tackles and 1 sack), Jason Trusnik has had 44 tackles in 10 games with the Browns, and Matt Roth has been impressive in his 4 games with the Browns (2.5 sacks, and 21 tackles). Also, the team has dealt with a lot of injuries as well as D'Qwell Jackson, Shaun Rogers, CJ Mosley, Kenyon Coleman, and Brodney Pool missing time.

-Mangini has cleared up a lot of cap space for he team next year (2nd most out of any team in the NFL), and we have 11 draft picks. Lets see what he can do with them. He has done well for the last few weeks as his team fought hard against San Diego, upset the Steelers, and beat the Chiefs.

-Overall, you have to give Mangini some credit as his team has played with discipline (we are the least penalized team in the NFL), and while we might not have a lot of skill players, we fight hard. Yes, WR Brian Robiskie hasn't seen much of the field, and neither has LB David Veikune, but Mangini has been finding some solid players. We can't just say game over after one year with Mangini. We need to be patient, make good use of our cap space, and draft solid players. It is easy to fold your tent when you have one win playing the Steelers, but the team showed that they were not going to back down from anyone. This is a testament to coaching.

-I feel that if Mangini does stay, it will be good to have a GM over him. This is because Mangini right now is doing 2 jobs, which can be very overwhelming. If Mangini turns his attention to coaching, then I think we will see better results.

Cavs

-Everyone seems to be in an uproar about how the team isn't blowing teams out anymore. Well don't expect us to win 66 games this year. Its not about the regular season. Yes, getting a top seed is important, but we need to save our energy and resources for the postseason. Last year, it was smooth sailing the entire year. We faced no problems, no adversity, but when lost game 1 versus the Magic at home, we didn't know how to react. We lost that invincibility. Throughout the year, teams were adjusting to our play, but when we had to adjust to the Magic, we had no idea what to do. The team last year faced no adversity, and its good that we are going through all the bumps in the road now. I would rather have this team be battled tested now, lose a few more games, save some energy and bodies, then winning 66 games again.

-Everyone is whining about how Shaq doesn't fit here. Read Chris Broussard's article about Shaq, its a good one (http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insider/news/story?id=4762941). Our 3 point shooting is #1 in the league (44%). I am sure Shaq has had some effect on that. Also, Shaq isn't here to beat the Bobcats, Kings, and Warriors. He is here to beat the Magic, Celtics, and Lakers. He will be judged on how well he does in May and June.

-LeBron needs to not stall the offense in the fourth quarter. He gets in LeIso mode, and he dribbles for 15 seconds. The team needs to continue to move the ball around, and keep the ball out of LeBron's hands. We need him coming off screens, setting picks, and rolling to the basket. When everyone stands around LeBron, we become a very ineffective team.

-I have stated numerous times, that this team needs to make a trade. We will barely get out of the Eastern Conference with this team. The Lakers will make quick work of us in the Finals. We need either a tall guard who can create his own shot, or a bigman who can stretch the floor and create his own shot. Antwan Jamison sounds perfect right about now. Brian Windhorst, and Marc Stein have re-iterated that the Cavs have been active on the phone for trades. I would expect a deal to go down before the deadline. Again, as a sign of the tough economic times, the Utah Jazz gave away rookie PG Eric Maynor to the OKC Thunder, along with Matt Harpring's $6 million contract. The Jazz basically said we will give you a young rookie PG if you take on $6 million of salary. The Jazz can't afford to pay the luxury tax, and this shows how desperate they were to get under the luxury tax line. The Pacers, and Hornets are 2 examples of teams in financial problems as well. Again, the Cavs have Z's expiring deal, and the ability to sign and trade Wally Z in a trade. These two trade chips could be very valuable to teams who are looking to get under the tax or get cap space for the future. The NBA trade stove will be cooking for the next couple months.

This about does it. If I hear any substantial rumors about trades, I will be sure to right about them. Until then, have a great holiday and go Cleveland!

-Raz

Blowin in the Wind (Part 1)

2009-12-20T13:55:00.002-05:00

Its been awhile since I last wrote, I apologize. I had foot surgery, finals, and laziness all in one. In this blog, I am going to discuss some possible trade options for the Cavs in the coming months.

Brian Windhorst of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported last night that the Cavs have made inquires of 3 PF's. He believes that the Cavs biggest need is a PF due to the fact that we might have to play Kevin Garnett, Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol, and Rashard Lewis in the playoffs. I don't disagree with this, as I do believe the Cavs need an inside/outside PF who can score. I also would love to see the Cavs get either a solid backup PG (one who can handle the ball and set up an offense), or a tall SG who can defend and create his own shot.

As I have stated before, the Cavs have a few assets in their hands. One, they have young players with some upside with cheap rookie contracts (JJ Hickson, Christian Eyenga, Danny Green, Darnell Jackson, and Sasha Kaun). The Cavs will only include Hickson in a deal if it is for a super star or a "home run" deal. Two, the Cavs have the expiring contracts of Z. It is worth about $11 million which can give a team some cap space, or get under the luxury tax. We can also sign and trade Wally Z because we own his bird rights. Three, the Cavs have draft picks to trade as well have they have their first round picks for the next few years at their disposal. With all this said, here are the names that Windhorst said, and my thoughts.

Anthony Randolph, PF, Golden State Warriors

-Randolph is 21 years old, who was drafted in the same draft class of JJ Hickson. He is 6'11, can handle the ball, athletic, and can score inside and out. The problem with Randolph is that he is still somewhat raw, skinny, and he has had immaturity issues. He left after his first year at LSU, and he has had many run-ins with Warriors head coach Don Nelson (who hasn't!). The Warriors are 7-19 and last in their division, so they seem destined to blow their team up. He is averaging 11 points, 6 rebounds, and 1 block a game, in 23 minutes per game. There have been some discussions according to the San Jose Mercury News that the Cavs might be offering Hickson straight up for Randolph. I don't see the Warriors doing this trade as I think they are going to try to package him in a deal with a bad contract (Corey Maggette). According to Windhorst, Cavs coach Mike Brown is enamored with Randolph because of his size and athleticism. Randolph would give us some more size up front, but again he is an unproven scorer, and in a year where we are aiming for a championship, I don't want to put it on the shoulders on a 21 year old sophomore.

Troy Murphy, PF, Indiana Pacers

-Murphy is a 29 year old 6'11 PF who is averaging 13 points and 9 rebounds a game. The Pacers are 9-16 and are last place in the Central Division. He is very good defensive rebounder, a great pick and pop player, and he can shoot the 3 ball very well (39% for his career). He would fit in perfectly with what we want to do offensively because he can space the floor out to the 3 point line, and rebound. Again, he would give us size on our frontcourt. The problem with Murphy is two things, one, he is very slow on defense. He will get killed on pick and rolls, and he cannot play physical in the post. Two, his contract goes until 2011 for $11 million. Murphy would be a good backdrop option for the Cavs because he does what we need to do offensively, except he would hurt us on defense. With the Cavs going all in this year, and have Dan Gilbert as an owner, I don't think his contract will be as big of a problem. I wouldn't trade Hickson for him, but I would definitely trade Z for him.....

Antwan Jamison, PF, Washington Wizards

-Jamison is a 6'9 PF who is averaging 21 points and 8 rebounds. The Wizards are 8-17, and seem to be headed no where. Yes, Mike Miller is injured, but will he make that much of a difference? For the past four years, the Wizards have blamed injuries for their mediocre performance, but the more I hear that, the more I think that this team isn't that good. The Wizards have a payroll of $79 million, and if we took Jamison' contract off their books, their payroll would be around $40-44 million next year (they have 8 expiring contracts). I would love to have Jamison here, as he can score inside and out, he is a leader, and he has been consistent over his career. He fits in with what we need, as he has size, and can defend as well. He can match up with Odom, Rasheed, and Rashard Lewis. He is averaging 20 points and 8 rebounds for his career, and this year he is averaging 21 points and 8 rebounds. Some drawbacks to getting Jamison would be that his contract is very long. It goes until 2012, and he gets paid $11 million this year, $13 million next year, and $15 million the year after. This could badly hamstring us in free agency in the future. Also, Jamison is 33 years old, and he will be 35 when his contract ends. Can he continue to play at this level for the next 2 and a half years? The only hurdle I see getting in our way of getting Jamison is Washington's willingness to trade him to us. Their owner Abe Pollin just passed away, and the team has stated they are going to wait for Mike Miller to come back to see if they can get into contention. I still think Jamison's name will be one that is floated around a lot in the next couple of months. Would I trade trade Z and Hickson for Jamison? Yes, but I would strongly prefer that we buy Z out and bring him back to bolster our front court. I will say this, if the Cavs do acquire Jamison then the Cavs are my favorites to win the NBA Championship.

Here are some other names one could see get floated around in the next few months:

David West, PF, New Orleans Hornets

-The key to looking at possible players to get traded is to see teams with high payrolls, that are not doing well. New Orleans is a team that has documented financial troubles, and their team payroll is $74 million, and their payroll next year as it stands will be $73 million. The team is hamstrung by the bad contracts of James Posey (another 3 years), Peja Stojakovic (another 2 years), Emeka Okafor (another 4 years), Morris Peterson (another 2 years). David West' contract goes for another 3 years as well. The Hornets are currently 12-14, and even if they do make the playoffs, they probably won't go far. West is a great pick and pop player, he can stretch the floor, shoot well, and defend the pick and roll. He is 6'9, and isn't as athletic as Randolph or Jamison. He is averaging 16 points and 7 rebounds a game, and he would be a solid addition to the Cavs. Z's expiring contract would provide some luxury tax relief for the Hornets.

Corey Maggette, SG, Golden State Warriors

-As I explained earlier, the Warriors seem destined to blow up their team, and they can start by getting rid of this guys contract. It goes until 2013, and Maggette is already 30 years old. He would be great off the bench as he can create his own offense, and draw a high rate of fouls. He is averaging 16 points and 5 rebounds a game. He is 6'6, and while he doesn't play D in Golden State, he has the skills to be a solid defender here in Cleveland. He would give us more size on our team, but his contract scares me a lot.

Caron Butler, SG/SF, Washington Wizards

-Again, with the Wizards' struggles of late, I wouldn't be surprised if they cleaned house. Butler is 29, and has a contract that goes until 2011. He is struggling this season as he is averaging 17 points and 7 rebounds, but he is shooting 30% from 3 and 43% from the field. Historically he is a great mid range shooter, and who has good athleticism. He is also a solid defender has he can anticipate passing lanes well, as he averages about 1.5 steals a game. I don't think Butler would put us over the top, but he definitely would provide us with some size and scoring, but again, will the Wizards trade him to us?

Well that just about does it, I will talk about the Browns/Holmgren situation next time. Until then, go Cleveland!

-Raz

Mount Ellis?

2009-11-17T19:00:00.006-05:00

Right when we thought we were done talking trades regarding the Golden State Warriors, Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News has reported that Monta Ellis and his agent will meet with the Warriors this week to discuss is future. I'm not close in any NBA circle, but I believe that if your meeting with a team the week one of your best players gets traded, something isn't right. According to other reports, Ellis has been very upset with coach Don Nelson, and he even said today that he was the teams only defender, because of the trade of Jackson. Another source indicated that the Warriors HAVE been calling teams to offer Ellis in a trade. He doesn't seem happy, and I think he saw the blueprint of getting your way out of Golden State. Complain to the media enough, and alienate your teammates will get you your wish. The entire franchise seems to be a mess. Don Nelson never got along with GM Chris Mullin, and he eventually was replaced by Larry Riley. Ever since their epic upset of the Dallas Mavericks in the 2007 playoffs, this team hasn't made a playoff series, and they seem to be in a serious disconnect. The team let Baron Davis go, let Mickael Pietrus go, traded Jason Richardson, let Matt Barnes go, and traded Stephen Jackson. There doesn't seem to be any continuity with this team. As if things weren't bad enough, it is being reported that F Anthony Randolph is also very upset with the team, but I highly doubt they will trade him.

Another reason you could see Ellis get traded is the fact that the team is going no where. The Warriors are 3-6, they just traded Jackson, and they are battling a bunch of injuries. G Kelenna Azibuke is out for the year, F Brandon Wright will be out for an extended period of time, newly acquired G Raja Bell is having wrist surgery, and C Andris Biedrins is battling a bad back. The Warriors season already looks to be in trouble and we are only 9 games in.

In regards to Ellis, I can see him getting traded, but I have a feeling he will stay put. He is young (24 years old), has solid size for a PG (6-3), solid defender, good finisher, has lightning quick speed, and he has a solid mid-rangejumper. He doesn't dish out a lot of assists (5 per game), and he can't really shoot the 3 well (29% for his career). I just don't see how he would fit here in Cleveland. We already have a PG in Mo Williams, and while he isn't a great assist man, neither is Ellis. You could move Mo to the bench, but you would have to trade a combination of Gibson/West/Hickson/Z. If you have to trade Hickson to get Ellis, I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't trade Z for him unless you could get another bigman in return (Ronny Turiaf). If you can trade him for Wally and Delonte/Daniel, then I might consider it, but I would still be hesitant trading Delonte. He returned tonight, and while he is still uncertain, he can handle the ball and he can play D on the perimeter.

Ellis' contract is also very long. It pays him $11 million for the next 4 seasons. While it isn't that bad because he is so young, but it could hamstring us in a couple years when it comes time for free agency. With Ellis' elite speed, he seems better suited to play in a fast paced style of offense, such as the one in Golden State or New York. Also, Ellis does not have to size to guard Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Vince Carter, and Kobe Bryant, which was something Jackson had (this is one reason I wanted Jackson). While this isn't a fact, I don't think the Warriors will trade Ellis for pennies on the dollar like they did Jackson. They will look to get nearly full value for him because it would look bad to their fan base if they trade 2 of their best players for either draft picks, young un-proven players, or expiring contracts.

I have always been a big fan of Ellis, he is an excitingly good player. I just don't think he fits with the Cavs style of play. The Cavs biggest need is a tall SG/SF who can guard the perimeter, score at will, and be willing to come off the bench. Ellis doesn't fully fit that description for me. I just think the Cavs will end up having to give up more than people expect. You never say never in the NBA, but don't count on Ellis wearing a Cavs uniform anytime soon.

Also, since Allen Iverson has been released, people have tried to rationalize him on the Cavs. You have a better chance of me playing on the Cavs than AI. He is a small SG at 6'0, who doesn't defend, pass, and isn't willing to come off the bench. Not the exact description the Cavs are looking for.

If I hear any updates about Ellis or other possible name, I will continue to write my thoughts to put some pieces together. Untill then, thank you and go Cleveland!

-Raz

No Jackson

2009-11-16T22:24:00.002-05:00

Well I guess we can kill all discussion about a possible trade for a Stephen Jackson deal. The Warriors traded him to the Bobcats for G Raja Bell and F Vlad Radmonovic. With the uncertainty of Delonte West this season, I really thought the chances of trading for Jackson would be high. As I stated earlier, I always thought Jackson would be a good fit for our squad. He can defend the perimeter, he can score, and he worked with Mike Brown in Indiana and San Antonio. According to Brian Windhorst, the Cavs offered Z in the deal but only if he would take a buy out. According to Marc Stein of ESPN we offered Delonte and a sign and trade of Wally for Jackson. Apparently the Warriors were close to accepting the Delonte deal, but the Bobcats came up with a better offer. I feel like the reason why the Warriors didn't accept our deal was because of the Pau Gasol effect. They would be trading Jackson for almost nothing, especially with Delonte's pending court case and the uncertainty of his mental condition. At least with the Bobcats deal they get a defender in Bell, who also has an expiring contract. Radmonovic provides Don Nelson a 6'10 bigman who can shoot. We know how much Nelson loves shooters.

To be honest with you, I would've done both deals. Delonte right now is stabilizing and he needs to get his life in order. He has not been responsible, evident in the fact that he has not been taking his meds, and that he got caught with his gun charges. The Cavs cannot babysit him his whole life, he needs to put his life in order. I love him as a player, and as a person he his hilarious, but he has to show that he is going to be accountable for his actions. With Z, I have stated before that I am not going to be upset if he gets traded. His expiring deal is a huge trade chip for us and if it can get us a player who will improve our roster I am all for it. If we can buy him out even better, and we also must get a bigman in return if he is traded.

Where do the Cavs go from here? I don't know any available names right now. I can guess some guys who could become available. The key is to look at teams who are not contending, not rebuilding, and have high pay rolls. There are two teams that I can think of that fit this mold right now, the Washington Wizards, and the New Orleans Hornets. The Wizards are 2-7 and the Hornets are 3-8. The Wizards added Randy Foye and Mike Miller this offseason, and have Gilbert Arenas fully healthy, and were expected to be the 4th seed in the East. Instead their offense has sputtered (94 ppg), Arenas is averaging 4 turnovers a game, and the team can't defend well (allowing 98 ppg). The team has the 8th highest payroll at $79 million and they are paying the luxury tax. The team isn't rebuilding with a core of Jamison, Butler, Arenas, Miller, and Foye. If the team isn't going anywhere soon, they might as well rid themselves of a bad contract or two. Caron Butler could be a name you hear as his deal goes till 2011.

The New Orleans Hornets are a team that could start unloading some of its players as well. With a payroll of $73 million, they have the 11th highest payroll in the league. The team isn't rebuilding with such a high payroll, and the team has no viable young talent (Julian Wright? ha, Hilton Armstong? ha). Some players names you might hear are Emeka Okafor (contract till 2014), Peja Stojakovic (contract till 2011), and David West (contract till 2011). I really don't want any part of Okafor or Stojakovic, but I wouldn't mind West. Peja is another Wally Z, and Okafor has a very long contract, who isn't that good at scoring in the post. The problem with West is that we are seeing JJ Hickson develop before our eyes (18 and 20 points the last two nights), and we still have Leon Powe waiting to play in February. We might not need another PF.

Hickson is untouchable according to Windhorst, which is reasonable. Hickson won't get traded unless its for a superstar (Chris Bosh or Chris Paul). Also, I mentioned earlier that Rudy Gay could be a guy whose name you hear later in the year as well. Remember the Cavs have assets to make a trade, young talent (Danny Green, Christian Eyenga, JJ Hickson, Darnell Jackson, expiring contract (Z), non-guarenteed deals for 2010 (Delonte West, Jawad Williams, Leon Powe) and a draft pick (first round in 2010 NBA Draft). If a team is looking to unload some salary, they can attach it to a good player come February. Only time will tell....

Thanks for reading, go Cleveland!

-Raz

Ch Ch Ch Changes....

2009-11-02T21:19:00.003-05:00

At around 6:00 PM today it was reported by numerous sources that Browns GM George Kokinis has been let go. I haven't really written much about the Browns this year, and its probably because they are so bad. I am shocked that this team is 1-7, because I look at the talent and theres no one we can be this bad. Here are some thoughts.....

-I feel like Kokinis is taking the fall for Manigni and Daboll. Browns owner Randy Lerner is letting Mangini know that he isn't scared to make changes. Mangini is the one who makes the calls, not Kokinis. Mangini hired Kokinis to be his GM, but in most of the organizations in the NFL, the GM has a say in hiring the coach. After the Chicago game, Lerner stared at the players and coaches and was apparently disgusted with the team. He made it known that wants to hire a VP of football operations, and firing Kokinis is a step in that direction.

-I don't really know who to place all this blame on. A part of me wants to put it on the players and the fact that they make stupid mistakes which kill us. Jamal Lewis fumbling the ball, Mo Massaqoui dropping passes, Steve Heiden fumbling the ball. Mangini has no control over these actions. Yes, Mangini brought in some of these players, but Massaqoui has showed signs that he can be a solid receiver in the NFL, Alex Mack has continued to improve. At the same time, some of Mangini's acquisitions have not panned out as well (Robert Royal, Abe Elam, John St. Clair). Also, our defense is dead last in the NFL which is inexcusable, but you can see that the defense at least shows some life in that they attack the QB and make some stops sometimes, especially in the Chicago game. The offense just looks horrible out there, and no one seems to know what to do.

-While I think it is still too early to fire Mangini, he needs to really start to make some changes in coaching style/philosophy quickly. If the team continues to flounder and sputter going into week 15, then I think you fire him. Up until now, Mangini has had complete control over this organization, but now with the firing of his GM, and his assistant Erin O'Brien was fired last week. Also, the team hired Bernie Kosar as a consultant to the team, without Mangini's blessing. You can see that Lerner is now starting to loosen the grip that Mangini has on the team. I feel that if Mangini responds to this pressure and does well, that he will survive the season. If Mangini continues on the path he is on, I am all for firing him.

-There is no reason why this team should be 1-7. The lone win we got was probably the worst win I have ever seen us win. I wouldn't be as concerned if we showed some progress, but the best game we played all year was versus Cincinnati, and we still lost. Since then, the team hasn't shown any progress, and has gotten worse. The talent on this team isn't that horrible. Josh Cribbs, Joe Thomas, Shaun Rogers, D'Qwell Jackson, Eric Wright, Brodney Pool, Kamerion Wimbley, Eric Steinbach, and Ryan Pontbriand are all very solid players. Alex Mack and Mo Massqoui are good up and comers in the league as well. There just seems to be a problem with game planning and execution.

-I am interested in seeing who Lerner brings in to be a VP of football operations. What will their responsibilities be exactly? Who has the final say in decisions? If this person clashes with Mangini, I think you'll see Mangini out of here pretty quickly as well.

-In terms of the team itself, I don't even think its worth talking about now. Both QB's we have don't seem like they can play well now. Jamal Lewis wants to retire, and I don't blame him. We heard so much in the offseason that everyone had bought into the system of Mangini, but we haven't seen any positive results.

Cavs

-The return of Delonte West is huge. I am so happy to see him back as he will provide a great spark off our bench. He can play backup PG, and provide another ballhandler that we really needed. I still think the biggest problem for our team going forward is trying to integrate Shaq into our offense. His numbers haven't been stellar, but his impact on the floor can be seen at times with teams double teaming him, and leaving guys like Boobie, and Parker open for 3's. Its still going to take a little bit of time to integrate all the new parts on this team.

-I still think our team should try to trade Z sometime this year. He is our last chance at getting a big name. We have the assets to pull off a trade for a big name player, this includes an expiring contract (Z at $11 million), first round pick in 2010, and young players (JJ Hickson, rights to Christian Eyenga). Our team really need another true perimeter scorer who can create his own shot off the bench. West will not be sufficient enough come playoff time.

-Here is one name to keep in mind for now. Memphis Grizzlies SF Rudy Gay. Yes, I said it. Here is why he could be traded.

1. He is unhappy in Memphis. It was reported by ESPN's Bill Simmons that Gay is unhappy in Memphis, and who wouldn't be. The team traded Pau Gasol for nothing, and they haven't won anything in years. When your on a team with AI and Zach Randolph, I don't blame you for being upset. They will probably be one of the worst teams in the West.

2. They have a cheap owner. The Grizzlies have the 27th lowest payroll in the NBA at $56 million, and their owner is one who will try to avoid the luxary tax. He traded Pau Gasol because he knew he couldn't afford to keep him anymore, and the same might happen to Gay, which brings me to my next point.

3. Gay did not agree to an extension, which means he will become a restricted free agent next summer. While the Grizzlies can match any offer, if a team comes in and offers a large deal, it is unlikely that the Grizzlies will match. There are numerous teams with cap space going into next year. Add in the fact that Zach Randolph will be making $17 million next year, and that OJ Mayo, Mike Conley, and Marc Gasol will be coming off their rookie deals in the next couple of years, this doesn't add up well for Gay. The Grizzlies and Gay had until today to come up with an extension for a deal (Rajon Rondo, and LaMarcus Aldridge both did), and they didn't. Come January when the Grizzlies are losing, the team could look to unload Gay, along with the bad contract of Marko Jaric (2 years $14 million left). If the team couldn't agree to an extension now, they could look to unload Gay to just get something for him, instead of letting him walk for nothing.

4. The Cavs have the assets to satisfy the needs of the Grizzlies. Z has an expiring deal, and there is even a possibility of a buyout there. If we could save the Grizzlies $2-3 million then I am sure they would definitely look into the deal. A deal of Z, Hickson, and a 2nd rounder in 2011, for Rudy Gay, Marko Jaric, and Steven Hunter works out. The Grizzlies still get a young bigman, and another draft pick.

Rudy Gay would be a great fit in Cleveland. He is a SF with great size (6'9), who has long arms and could defend the perimeter. He is very athletic, and he is very capable of scoring. Acquiring Gay would allow LeBron and Moon to play the 4 more often as well. Hunter would provide the Cavs with a center who is 7'0 to put behind Shaq. Gay could easily defend all the guards I have listed before, along with Rashard Lewis. By no means do I have any insider information on this, I am just going off intuition. The chances of this happening are very slim, but in the NBA you never say never.....

Thanks for reading, go Cleveland!

-Raz

Update on Jackson

2009-10-30T00:25:00.002-04:00

According to Chris Broussard of ESPN, the Spurs, Clippers, and Nuggets have not made any offers for Jackson, but the Cavs do remain interested. The Cavs apparently are in "wait and see" mode, and they still do not want to give up Z for Jackson. The Warriors don't want to give up Jackson for nothing either, so they might be taking a patient approach to this as well. In Broussard's twitter feed he re-stated that many league execs believe that Jackson WILL end up in Cleveland. As I said earlier, the Cavs would probably wait a little bit to make this type of move, one to see what is available in the trade market, and two to see if they can get a 3rd team involved to get the Cavs a bigman. Stay tuned on this story......

-Raz

Stephen Jackson

2009-10-29T17:23:00.004-04:00

After the 0-2 start by the Cavs, I am a little surprised we are playing this bad, but at the same time it was expected because of the Delonte West, and injury situations. Its only been 2 games, so its tough to gauge a solid analysis of the team, so I will wait a little longer to post my thoughts.

Recently, there have been reports that a trade for Stephen Jackson is on the horizon. This comes from both Marc Stein and Chris Broussard of ESPN. According to Stein, executives around the league believe that the Cleveland Cavs are the favorites to land Jackson. I believe this to be true for a few reasons:

1. Of the known teams that are interested in Jackson (Nuggets, Spurs, and Hornets), the Cavs can probably offer the best deal to the Warriors. The Nuggets have a trade exception they can use, but it is too small to acquire Jackson. The Warriors want Manu Ginobili for Jackson, which won't happen. The Hornets have no expiring contracts to offer. The Cavs can offer Z's expiring deal, which offers immediate cap relief to the Warriors. Jackson's trade value is low right now because teams know that he wants out. Think about it, Z for Stephen Jackson. Z for Stephen Jackson. Wait, I'll say it again, Z for Stephen Jackson. Did you see Z play at the end of last year and these first two games? He can no longer score in the post, and if he isn't shooting well, he provides little aside from tip in's on offense. On defense he is too slow on pick and rolls, and he can't play with Shaq due to their lack of speed. Against athletic bigmen (Raptors last night), the Cavs were killed on D when these two were on the floor. Z can't guard the pick and roll, and he is too slow to close out on his man. When we play Orlando, they will have Rashard Lewis, and Ryan Anderson who can stretch the floor, and one of the most athletic bigmen in Dwight Howard.

Now people say, "We can't trade Z, he has been here forever!" Well guess what people, if the Cavs walk away from a deal because of this reasoning and it costs us a championship, then I really won't care about Z or anyone on this team aside from LeBron. If LeBron walks because we wanted to show our loyalty to Z, then I can never forgive Danny Ferry and Co. No one will talk about how we kept Z if LeBron walks. My point is, a championship ring is the most important piece on our agenda. There is too much riding on this season to worry about feelings....

2. According to these reports, both LeBron and Shaq are open to trading for Stephen Jackson. I'm not saying these guys demand Jackson, but its nice know that they are open to a trade with him. They obviously believe it wouldn't hurt our chemistry to much (we really don't have much chemistry right now anyways). Jackson could either start, or play with our 2nd unit and provide much scoring spark. If you saw our 2nd unit play versus Boston, you can see that we need someone who can create their own shot, and with Jackson he does that. Even in the Orlando series, our bench was outscored by Mickael Pietrus himself. As I stated in my last blog, Jackson is an ok shooter, good scorer, and good defender. He can guard Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kobe Bryant, and Vince Carter. This will allow LeBron to catch his breath on defense, and roam around with his great speed. Also, Jackson played while Mike Brown was an assistant at Indiana, and his game grew under Brown. We need someone who can come in with our 2nd unit, and keep a lead or stay in a game while LeBron is resting.

3. Where there is smoke, there is fire. Aside from the reports Stein and Broussard have written, Plain Dealer Cavs beat writer Brian Windhorst reported a week ago that the Cavs are having internal discussions about acquiring Jackson. These rumors don't seem to be going away, and if executives around the league believe the Cavs are the favorite to land Jackson, shows that the Cavs have a legitimate interest in Jackson. Aside from an increase in scoring with our 2nd unit, discussions for Jackson lead me to believe that the Delonte situation is really in the air. We don't know when he is going to come back, and if he doesn't stay on his medication, he could really hurt his mental health. The Cavs can't go very long without getting West back. He is so important to our team with his defense, shooting, and ballhandling.

While I don't think we will acquire Jackson tomorrow, if the Cavs continue to struggle, especially the 2nd unit, I could definitely see the Cavs pulling the trigger down the road, contingent on the Cavs finding another team to supplement us with a bigman. The only way the Cavs make a deal for Jackson is if we find a 3rd team to give us a bigman, and in return we trade Daniel Gibson (he becomes expendable because Jackson plays SG too), or Darnell Jackson. The Cavs won't trade a bigman for a guard, they need a backup to Shaq.

Some of the reasons for not doing this deal are that Jackson is 31, and still has 3 years on his deal after this year. The Cavs are going to be paying the luxary tax as long as LeBron is here, and I am sure Dan Gilbert won't mind paying for Jackson. It is early in the season, and while the Cavs are 0-2, they do need time to gel and play together. Also, if/when Delonte comes back, he or Anthony Parker will help our 2nd unit, but it still won't make it as good as if we had Jackson. Also, the Cavs need to find themselves a solid backup bigman if they do trade Z, because they will have a real thin frontcourt. To me, finding a 3rd team willing to bigman is the biggest sticking point in the trade.

Well thats about it for now. I think a lot of people are against this trade, but I think this situation will re-visited in a few weeks. If the Cavs continue to struggle, especially with Z's declining play, our 2nd unit struggles, or if Delonte doesn't come back, then I definitely think you will hear the Cavs in a lot of trade conversations. Remember, LeBron can become a free agent on July 1st 2010.........

-Raz

Cavs Season Preview

2009-10-26T23:58:00.005-04:00

Alright, its the night before the Cavs first game versus the Boston Celtics. The Browns are a mess, and the Indians are the Indians. At least we have something to look forward to until June. Here is my preview of the Cavs season.

This is the best Cavs team we have ever seen

Think about this, the Cavs lost forwards Ben Wallace, Joe Smith, Lorenzen Wright, and guards Sasha Pavlovic and Wally Szerbiack and replaced them with C Shaq, SG Anthony Parker, SF Jamario Moon, and SG Danny Green. As a side note, the team is on the verge of adding PG/SG Antonio Daniels. The Cavs last year won 66 games. Im not saying we are going to go 72-10, but I can see the Cavs easily winning 60 games again. Its sad to say, but out of all those guys we lost, the only one who kind of made a difference on the court was Ben Wallace, and his output was pretty minimal. We addressed the problem of size we saw last year in the Orlando series. Jamario Moon is 6'9 and can dunk over anyone, Anthony Parker is 6'6 and was one of Toronto's best defenders last year, Danny Green is 6'6, and Shaq is 7'0. Parker is a solid shooter, Green was a great shooter in college, and Moon is a great finisher at the basket. Moon can now effectively guard Vince Carter, Rashard Lewis, Mickael Pietrus, Ryan Barnes and Ryan Anderson. Aside from LeBron, name me one player on the Cavs last year that could guard all of those guys? This allows guys like LeBron to play PF in small ball lineups, imagine Rashard Lewis and Ryan Anderson trying to guard this guy. Also, Delonte won't have to guard 6'10 forwards anymore. Adding Daniels is a move to just bring a veteran presence in the locker room, he won't play more than 10 minutes a night, and he will just handle the ball when Mo, Delonte, and Lebron are out of the game.

The Cavs looked to find someone to contain Dwight Howard downlow, and they got themselves Shaq. Shaq is the most dominant center of our generation, and when he is motivated he is still a force to be reckoned with. The Cavs will keep a close eye on Shaq, and limit his minutes to keep him healthy. Dwight Howard will not be able to just move Shaq around downlow like he did last year. Also, this acquisition finally allows Z to move to the bench. Now teams have to deal with 2 7-footers for most of the game. Z will cause huge matchup problems because most second units in the NBA don't have someone with that much size to stop Z and his outside shooting. The only drawback to having Shaq is that he is not the best at defending the pick and roll, and this is where the Cavs must find a way to use their team defense to neutralize this disadvantage.

Delonte West's personal issues somewhat scare me

Delonte West is one of my favorite Cavs. He was arrested for possession of guns a couple months ago, and he has been dealing with depression and bipolar disorder. He came to the first day of training, but then did not show up for the next few days and had unexcused absences. Delonte finally showed up, and he has been practicing with the team for the past few weeks, but has not played in any preseason games. Im not worried about Delonte's playing condition, last year he missed 2 weeks of training camp and he was fine throughout the season. The part that worries me is the fact that his personal problems have threatened his status with the team. This is the biggest season in Cavs history, we acquired Shaq, we have the most talented roster ever, and by the way, that guy LeBron, yeah he can be a free agent next year. There is too much riding on this season. I am not trying to be selfish, I want to give Delonte as much time he needs to recover, but he needs to take responsibilities for his actions, take his medication, and make sure he becomes well. Do you find it funny that the Cavs have inquired about Golden State G Stephen Jackson?

Z's expiring contract might be the last big trade chip we have

Z has an $11 million expiring contract, and we all know how valuable expiring contracts are. With the state of the economy, NBA franchises are losing money and this can be evident in the fact that the salary cap is going to decrease next year. Revenues are down, and if teams are out of the playoff hunt early, they may look to unload some contracts. The reason why his contract is so valuable is because of the fact that Mo, Anderson, Delonte, Daniel, JJ, Jamario, Darnell are all under contract in 2010. Delonte's deal is partially guaranteed, and so is Leon Powe's. We don't have much cap space to sign anyone else in 2010, and we don't have any big expiring deals to use. I know everyone loves Z because he has been here from the start, and it would be sad to see him go, but guess what, if you can get a young, athletic, proven PF who can score, then you can't hesitate on a deal. This season is too big for the Cavs to not consider trading Z. Also, the reason why Z is so valuable is because he could accept a buyout from the team he gets traded to, wait 30 days and re-join the Cavs. I'm not 100% sure Z would do that, but if you could think of any Cavs player who would do that, it would be Z.

Another big trade chip that the Cavs could develop is that of F JJ Hickson. Already in preseason basketball, Hickson is showing considerable improvement in his game. If he could learn to cut down his defensive mistakes he could be starting. The signing of Leon Powe was genius because if Hickson is slow in development, the Cavs can plug Powe into the rotation, and dangle Hickson as trade bait to sweeten a deal. Powe is a low risk signing because he is signed for 2 years, but his 2nd year is a team option, so if he gets hurt again we can decline his option and save some cap space.

Briefly talking about the Stephen Jackson deal, if I am the Cavs I don't pull the trigger now. Jackson is 31, and he still has 3 years on his deal. His trade value is pretty low right now, as he has made it known that he doesn't wanna play for the Warriors anymore. The Cavs could probably get a player of the same caliber with a much friendlier contract for Z's expiring deal. I would love to have Jackson because he did his best when Mike Brown was an assistant for Indiana, and Jackson seems to respect Brown. Jackson has made it known that he wants to play here. Also, Jackson could defend Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Vince Carter. Jackson is an ok 3 point shooter at 34% for his career, but he turns the ball over way too much (2.5 TO's per game last year, and 3.8 TO's for his career average). If I am the Cavs, I just wait it out a little bit, and see what other opportunities arise.

Expect improvements from JJ Hickson and Daniel Gibson

Aside from Jamario Moon, Lebron hasn't played with a guy as athletic as Hickson. He is what you look for in a power forward, he can jump, block shots, rebound, and score in the post. He has size as he is 6'10, and he can jump almost as high as Lebron. He is expected to be the 4th bigman in the rotation behind Z. He will get a good 15-20 minutes of playing time. One of the ways for Hickson to improve is to continue playing, and try to correct the mistakes he makes. He is still a raw defender, but hopefully Mike Brown can fix these problems.

Daniel Gibson has been disappointing since his 31 point breakout performance in Game 6 versus the Pistons 3 years ago in the Eastern Conference Finals. He might not be the PG of the future we imagined, but I believe he is someone who can shoot very well. When Gibson is confident, he can make it rain from anywhere. He battled a toe injury last year which affected his shooting. Now that he is healthy, he has been working on his game in the offseason. With Shaq and Lebron on the floor, teams will be concentrating their efforts to try and stop these guys. This will allow guys like Gibson to become free and get lots of good looks for Gibson. If Gibson can't shoot between 37-40% from 3 this year, then I will consider Gibson a disappointment.

The Cavs will win the Eastern Conference

I will say it now, barring an injury to any of our core players, the Cavs will win the Eastern Conference. We can play the slowdown, grind it out tempo with the Celtics, and we now matchup with the size of the Magic. One facet of basketball I have come to realize in the past few years is the NBA is a game of match-ups. Last year, the Cavs could not match the size of the Magic as they looked helpless in the conference finals. Think about this, 2 years ago the Cavs almost beat the Celtics in the 2nd round of the playoffs. Our team this year is so much better than the team we had back then. For the previous 2 years, the Cavs played two teams who had better talent then they did (Celtics and Pistons), but the Cavs just matched up with them, and they won one of the series due to an amazing performance by Lebron (Pistons Game 5), and the Celtics big three were just too much for LeBron himself to beat. Both those series on paper made the Cavs look like underdogs, but the team contended and even won because of the fact that the Cavs were able to matchup well with their slow, grind it out, defense oriented gameplan. The Cavs can now matchup with most teams, and they have comparable talent as well. Lebron has so much heat taken off of him now with Shaq in town.

When Mo wasn't hitting his shots, it was all on LeBron to carry the team and this was evident in the Orlando series. Now Mo is our 3rd option, with Shaq being the main sidekick. Dwight Howard will not be able to score with as much ease as he did last year. He won't move Shaq like he moved Z and Wallace last year. If Howard is struggling, as we saw in the Lakers series, the Magic are not as effective. Also, the loss of Hedo Turkgolu by the Magic hurts the matchup problems they caused last year (He's 6'10 playing SF). He ran the pick and roll so well, as he could just shoot over Delonte because of his height. He hit huge shots last year for the Magic. Vince Carter is a great player, but the Cavs found ways to shut him down when he played for the Nets. I remember in the 2007 playoffs, both Larry Hughes and Eric Snow shut down Vince Carter to beat the Nets in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Delonte and Parker can easily contain him. Carter doesn't strike as much fear into me as Hedo does. Yes, the Magic might have a deeper and more talented roster, but they no longer can shoot over teams with as much ease as they did last year.

The Celtics are a year older, and if any of their core players get hurt their chances are basically shot. I personally believe that Rasheed Wallace is close to being done, and his impact won't really be that big. Rajon Rondo wants a new contract and he was put on the trading block this offseason. This Celtics team isn't as deep as the team they had 2 years ago who won the championship. The fact that this teams 3 best players are all over the age of 32 just scares me. By the Magic series last year, the Celtics just looked tired out there. Pierce didn't seem to be as effective as he was in years past, and this team needs all its pieces to contend.

I just think the Cavs can play dual styles of basketball, and their team is much deeper than last year. We have the athleticism to run with Lebron, Delonte, Mo, Moon, and Hickson, but we can slow the tempo down with Shaq, Z, Delonte, and Anderson. Hickson will get more playing time, Moon has been consistent in his 2 years in the league, Parker has been a rock during his time in Toronto, Shaq can still score when motivated/healthy, who is a force to be reckoned with, and Powe was an integral part of the Celtics bench in his times with them. Shaq will be motivated for a few reasons, one, he wants to play for a couple more years. If he can prove he can play at a solid level at 37, then a team will definitely give him a contract offer. Two he wants to get his 5th ring. Both Tim Duncan and Kobe Bryant have 4, and he wants to top them. I am sure he wants to tell Kobe how his ass tastes. We finally have players who have proven that they can be counted on to produce when needed. O yeah, I forgot to mention that guy LeBron, he's pretty solid.

The LA Lakers will win the NBA Championship

I know Cavs fans, this is the best Cavs team we have had, but I still don't think we can beat the Lakers. Had the team not signed Ron Artest, I would say the Cavs win it all. Artest is one of the few guys that can slow LeBron down in the NBA. This allows Kobe to guard someone else on defense, which gives him more energy on offense. Lamar Odom will cause matchup problems for us because Shaq and Z can't guard him. The only guy I can think of that can hang with him is Moon, but Odom could easily post up Moon. If Lebron tries to guard Odom, then Bryant will have a much easier time scoring because Lebron is out best perimeter defender. While Gasol might be neutralized by Shaq, Andrew Bynum didn't even produce much last year, and the Lakers still won it all. If Bynum stays healthy and produces, the Lakers will be very hard to beat. The only way the Cavs can beat the Lakers is if Mo Williams destroys Derek Fischer, because Fischer is one of the few weak links on the Lakers. Also, another way the Cavs can beat the Lakers is if Artest just implodes and goes crazy, which is possible. Artest said last year he saw a sports psychologist. During the Rockets/Lakers playoff series last year, Artest missed the first two team busses to the Staples Center for game 7. Artest came out in his boxers and got on the last bus which was for the owners, and team officials. If the Cavs make a move for a tall scoring PF, or if Hickson develops much quicker than we think, then I might change my mind.

Miscellaneous

The Cavs do have a tough stretch of games in the first part of the season. PD's Brian Windhorst wrote a great piece about our schedule this year, and you should all check it out. Don't be shocked if the Cavs start off a little slower this year than expected. The team has dealt with the Delonte issue, nagging injuries, and the flu bug. It will take some time to integrate Shaq, Moon, and Parker into the rotation. West might not even be starting for a part of the season, as he might come off the bench to play backup PG, while Parker starts at SG. We will see an expanded role from JJ Hickson and that will take some getting used to.

I expect LeBron to win the MVP award this year, finish top 3 in Defensive Player of the Year, and be all NBA First Team. I think the Cavs will end up beating the Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals, but I see us losing to the Lakers. I know most of you disagree, but I just think the Lakers have too much size, depth, skill, and coaching for us to overcome. Also, I think LeBron stays after this year as well, but I will write about that at a later date.

Thanks for reading, go Cleveland!

Updates

2009-10-19T02:26:00.003-04:00

Here are some quick thoughts about recent Cleveland sporting events.

-Browns are still bad. The team fought for most of the game today against the Steelers, but you can tell the Browns are still a few players short of beating the Steelers. The receivers couldn't catch a cold, and the defense couldn't cover anyone. Not a good combination when playing the Steelers.

-Trading Braylon was probably a good thing. He did not want to be here, and he once asked Houston Texans safety Will Demps in between plays during a game last year how he could get into modeling and acting. Boy, I am glad we don't have Braylon anymore. The guy has tons of potential, but he is someone who always wants the spotlight, and didn't seem to embrace the city of Cleveland. He didn't understand the fact that when you lead the NFL in drops, fans aren't going to like you that much.

-We might as well start 3rd string QB Brent Ratliff. Its obvious DA is nothing more than a fringe/spot starter at QB, and Brady Quinn seems to have just lost it. There are trade rumors going about Quinn and Anderson, and I wouldn't be shocked if one of them was dealt. According to sources, a team has called about the availability of Anderson. Jacksonville and Tennessee are two teams who remain interested in Brady Quinn as well. If you ask me, if you can get some mid-round selections for Anderson or Quinn, you do it. This team is going to be drafting in the top 5 next year, and they will need a franchise signal caller.

-If this team trades Josh Cribbs, I will never watch a Browns game again. This guy is simply amazing. It shocks me the Browns will not give him his contract extension. Lets see, he returns kicks (had a great one today), makes special teams tackles, and runs your wildcat offense. He is completely fearless out there, and he seems to keep the Browns in a lot of games whether it comes from his returns, or with his great rushing abilities.

-I have not been impressed with head coach Eric Mangini these past two games. After showing people he could hang with the Bengals, he follows it with 2 sub-par performances. I know it takes time to implement your system and turn it around, but the coach has to have some sort of accountability. Passion and emotion on the football field will only take you so far, you need smart, physical, and just flat out good players to win. Right now, we just don't have that. Hopefully with the 11 draft picks we have next year we can find some good players.

-There has been some discussion about the Cavs having an interested in disgruntled Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Jackson. The Plain Dealer's Brian Windhorst said that the Cavs HAVE had internal discussions about acquiring Jackson. Some believe he is worth the risk, but not the price the Warriors are asking for. The Cavs do not want to part with Z, Hickson or AV in a deal for Jackson. The team needs as many bigmen as possible. The Cavs will not trade a bigman for a guard. If we could use Daniel Gibson in a trade it would be nice. Jackson grew as a player when Mike Brown was an assistant with the Pacers, and Jackson is a great perimeter defender who can shoot. The only part I don't like about getting Jackson is that his deal goes for another 3 years. This could hurt future cap space, and with Jackson being 31, he could be dead weight by the last year of his deal.

-I hope Delonte West can get back soon and start playing in the pre-season games. The team has been resting there players with nagging injuries, and the team needs to play together for a couple games just to get in rhythm.

-The Indians are interviewing Manny Acta, and Bobby Valentine for the managerial position. I would prefer to not have Acta as he did not do well with the Nationals. Valentine would be interesting because of his personality (fake mustache), and experience he had with the NY Mets. It will be interesting to see where the Indians go with this.

That about does it. Go Cleveland!

-Raz

I Don't Even Know...

2009-09-27T23:51:00.002-04:00

I am just gonna focus this one on the Browns game versus the Ravens today.

-I don't even know anymore about this team anymore. This is probably almost as bad as the first game the Browns played since game 1 of the 1999 season. The defense is slow, out of position, and cant tackle. The offense is too predictable, short, boring, and fringe.

-When Brady was in, he threw a horrible INT because the cornerback knew Braylon wasn't going deep. I said this last time, when teams know you won't stretch the defense, they will be able to pick off your short passes. Once DA came in at halftime, his turnovers came back as he threw 3 INT's. He tried throwing the ball deep, but its not easy to complete passes with 3 defenders surrounding Braylon. This is because you don't have a true #2 receiver to take pressure off your #1 receiver. I guess the Browns are kind of screwed, they can't throw the ball deep because of a lack of playmakers, and they can't throw the ball short because teams will just pack the box. This is why we need to play Mo Massaqoui and Brian Robiskie more, the season is over, we have nothing to lose, lets see what our 2nd round picks are made of.

-I was watching the game with one of my best friends today and we both noticed how every time the Browns threw the ball, a Ravens defender was right there to tackle him. Anytime the Ravens threw the ball, the Browns would be 3-4 yards away from the defender, and could barley tackle. We just stared at the TV in amazement asking ourselves why? Also, after the Ravens would score or hit a field goal, we would hope Cribbs would return it for a TD. Never once did we mention a big run by Jerome Harrison, or a bomb to Braylon Edwards. When your counting on Josh Cribbs to be your main source of offense via special teams kickoffs, thats just sad......

-The Browns defense was on the field for 31 minutes, over half the game again. Even with that said, 2 of the TD's scored by the Ravens, the runner went in the endzone untouched. This tells me the Browns D did not hit their gap assignments and were out of position. With 11 guys on the field coming after you, its hard for one of them to not touch you. Also, Derrick Mason' TD pass was just horrible, it was a case of a missed coverage assignment and horrible tackling. I've seen both Eric Wright and Brandon McDonald get tossed trying to tackle players, and its just sad.

-Eric Mangini really disappointed me today. I really gave him the benefit of the doubt from the minute he was hired, but I am starting to believe what most people said about the team. He did a solid job with the Jets, and he seemed to instill a sense of discipline with the team, but it has not translated to the regular season. Sports Illustrated's Peter King said he got he worst vibe from the Browns Training Camp. They predicted us to go 2-14, and I don't think they are that far off. The team looked like they just quit today. Earlier in the week rookie CB Coye Francies punched a Browns player in the face after a prank, 3 Browns players filed grievances for fines levied by Mangini, Mangini's opening day starter Brady Quinn was benched at halftime after he completed 6/8 passes, and the team isn't showing any improvement in play. I am not sure, but I feel like the team could be jumping ship sooner or later.

-The QB controversy will linger all week, and honestly I have no idea who should start next week. Mangini doesn't seem to trust Quinn fully, and Anderson proved he is the same quarterback he was last year with the 3 INT's. Mangini needs to pick a QB, use him to the best of his abilities, develop a gameplan that will put him in the best situation to win, and stick by him. If you keep switching QB's, you shatter their confidence, and the team as a whole will not be able to trust the coach because they will see that the coach doesn't have enough confidence in his QB, 3 games into the year.

-Another thing that shocks me, is that the team lost TE Kellen Winslow, and RT Kevin Schaeffer on offense, LB's Andra Davis and Willie McGinest, and S Sean Jones, and replaced them with somewhat serviceable players, but the team looks so much worse than it was last year. LB Eric Barton is a definite upgrade over Davis, Abe Elam is comparable to Sean Jones, but this team just looks awful. I don't know who to point it on except the coaches. They are the ones who are supposed to establish an identity for the team, put players in the best situation to win, develop gameplans to attack opposing teams and utilize players to the best of their ability. I have seen none of this so far.

-Where do the Browns go from here? Honestly, I don't know. You really can't get much worse. We haven't scored a meaningful TD since my last Business Stats exam last November. The defense has yet to get an interception this season. If I am Mangini, I play Mo Massaqoui, Brian Robiskie, David Veikune, James Davis, and Coye Francies. It is obvious the people in front of them aren't cutting it, so why not give them a shot.

Well that does it for now. Lets hope the Browns can keep the game competitive versus the improved Bengals. At least the Indians swept the Orioles today. Did I mention Cavs training camp starts tomorrow? awoof awoof. Go Cleveland.

-Raz

Updates

2009-09-24T18:45:00.003-04:00

Hello everyone. Sorry for the long delay. Lets get going.

Browns

-Boy do the Cleveland Browns suck. I thought they would at least win 6 games this year but that is a huge stretch. In the first half of each of the two games, the Browns defense has kept the team in the game. Due to the fact of our anemic offense, the defense stays on the field too long. Throughout the first two games, the Browns defense has been on the field for 66 minutes and 6 seconds, while the offense has been on the field for 53 minutes and 54 seconds. As you can see the offense is not holding up its end of the bargain.

-Brady Quinn is struggling (QB rating 66.9, 1 TD, 2 INT, 59% completion percentage), and he seems nervous in the pocket. He seems to be scared to making the big throw because he does not want to throw an interception. I understand the new offense is a ball control, short passing oriented style, but at the same time you need to let your quarterback loose a little big. Let him do some roll out plays, and slants. Every pass seems to be a checkdown pass. We need to be aiming for the endzone, and not just settle for field goals.

-People are questioning whether of not we should've drafted Jets QB Mark Sanchez in the first round and traded Brady Quinn. I understand Sanchez is 2-0, but at the same time, Quinn has made 5 starts his entire career. He needs time, and a couple more weapons on offense. An obvious need is a TE who can catch, and a #2 receiver. 2nd round picks WR's Brian Robiskie and Mo Massaqoui haven't seen too much of the field in the first two games, and they really need to step up. Josh Cribbs does not seem like he can fill the position of a #2 receiver (he dropped an important first down catch in Denver).

-The right side of the offense line is a mess. RT John St. Clair could not handle DT Elvis Dumervil on Sunday, as he had 4 sacks. Hank Fraley will be filling in at RG, and he will do a serviceable job. Quinn needs as much protection as he can get because of the fact that he is a young QB (24 yrs old), and has limited experience. He is still getting in the flow of offense.

-C 1st round pick Alex Mack has been struggling a little bit. He had a bad snap that led to a fumble in Denver. Give him some time, I think you will see a very solid player that will anchor the line. People often time complain that we traded our 5th pick to get a C, but at the time can you tell me a player we could've drafted that would start on this team, and that was a need? Mangini was right when he called WR Michael Crabtree a "diva" as he has yet to sign with the 49'ers, DE Brian Orakpo wasn't drafted till the middle of the first round, LB Aaron Curry was gone, there was no TE worth taking in the first round, and the Browns had Brady Quinn at QB.

-Mangini and offensive coordinator Brian Daboll need to open up the playbook a little bit. They need to stretch defenses out. If you are just throwing the ball 5-6 yards a play, defenses will just stack the line and put 8 men in the box. By throwing the ball down the field a little bit, it opens up defenses and allows more operating room for our wide receivers. Remember how many times DA threw the ball down the field in 2007? That offense really seemed to work.

-I don't have much to say on the defense because the offense can't seem to stay on the field. Any defense that stays on the field that much will eventually break down. You can defintley see the Browns and defensive coordinator Rob Ryan are blitzing more. While this is nice to see, it leaves CB's Eric Wright and Brandon McDonald in one on one coverage. We saw Denver WR Jabbar Gaffney burn Brandon McDonald because he had no one to support him. The Browns need to blitz a little less because our corners aren't strong enough to be left alone for a good portion of the game. You saw Eric Wright get tossed by Adrian Peterson and Corell Buckhalter.

-Kamerion Wimbley seems to have improved a little bit. You can see him pressuring the QB more often. He might not be the dominant 11 sack a year LB, but he is solid. LB Eric Barton is a solid veteran out there, and he seems to know Mangini's system well. I would like to see 2nd round pick LB David Veikune more often. We passed on LB Rey Mealuga (who is doing well for the Bengals now) to draft 2 WR's and a LB. It seems that the Browns won't be going to the playoffs, you might as well play some of the youngsters you got to see what you have.

-It is going to be a long season for the Browns. I had no idea things were this bad. The offense is timid and lacks a playmaker aside from Braylon Edwards, Jamal Lewis has looked OK so far, maybe we should see more of James Davis and Jerome Harrison. Play Mo Massaqoui and Brian Robiskie more, play rookie CB Coye Francies as the nickleback (Hank Poteat won't cut it), and play LB David Veikune more. Lets see what Mangini's draft could be made of. As long as the offense cannot convert 3rd downs, the defense will get worn down and we won't win too many games....

Indians

-Man, talk about another struggling team. The Indians have lost 10 straight games. They seem to have run out of gas. Seeing them out there play is just difficult. I bet you most people can't name 5 people in the starting lineup. Chris Giminez anyone?

-Manager Eric Wedge will probably be fired at the end of the year. I have no idea who will replace him or who will be a candidate. In his years here, he has made the playoffs once in his tenure. I really haven't been a big fan of Wedge. He doesn't seem to get my attention, and he just never seems to have a complete grip on things with the team.

-The Indians should be playing OF's Michael Brantley, Matt Laporta, Trevor Crowe, INF's Luis Valbuena, and Ande Marte. Lets see what these youngsters are made of. Brantley and Laporta were the key pieces of the CC deal. These are the future of the Indians and they can give us a glimmer of hope next year.

-The rotation next year is a complete tossup. If we do fire Wedge, I am interested in seeing what GM Mark Shapiro will do. Will he go out and sign a middle of the rotation pitcher? What is the status of Jake Westbrook? Will Kerry Wood get traded? Is Justin Masterson a starter or reliver? Will Grady Sizemore come back healthy?

-The Indians have a lot of question marks going into next year. This offseason could be a very active one for the Indians.

Cavs

-With training camp coming up soon, I am very excited about the upcoming season. According to sources, all the players are in the training facility working out now.

-Delonte West' arrest is a scary one. He has a history of depression, and I hope he gets better. He needs as much emotional support as ever. Brian Windhorst wrote a piece about how the Cavs are now examining their future with West. He was charged with marijuana possession last year, but the charges were dropped. He left the team for 10 days during training camp, and he showed up an hour before the Cavs played the Lakers this year. He has a history of problems and the Cavs have done a great job of giving Delonte freedom on this issue.

-I really hope Delonte stays in Cleveland. He plays a tough, nitty gritty style of basketball. He never quits, and he puts his heart into every game. He was a key piece to the 66 wins we had last year, and he is the 2nd best ball handler behind LeBron. In terms of a suspension, Delonte will probably be suspended for about 5-7 games. G Sebastian Telfair was suspended 3 games for gun possession, and G Stephen Jackson fired a gun in a parking lot and he got a 7 game suspension. West won't miss much time this year, but lets hope he stays healthy.

-Lastly, JJ Hickson is reportedly 100% and has been playing 5 v 5 for the past few weeks. This is great news as he missed the end of last season with back problems. He has been working out with LeBron this offseason, and he is excited for the upcoming season. I am a big fan of Hickson, as he posses great athletic skills, and low post skills. He will get time as the 4th bigman in the rotation. If he continues to develop, he could also be used as a trading piece come trading deadline time.

Thats it folks, I hope to update my blog more often. Thanks for reading and go Cleveland!

-Raz

Long Time (Part 2)

2009-08-11T02:46:00.005-04:00

Alright, now that I have written about the Cavs' rash of moves, lets move onto the Indians. While most Indians fans have been blasting owner Larry Dolan for these trades, I don't put as much blame on him as others do. The real problem is the system of baseball and the salary structures. There is no salary cap like there is in the NFL and NBA. The Indians started the year with an $81 million payroll, good for 15th in the league. Thats pretty good considering how cheap the Dolan's have been since rebuilding began in 2001. When the team started losing, people stopped going to the games, thus revenues decrease and payroll must be cut. When you are losing money, you have to start cutting salary. Like any business, when the business is in the red, you have to start making cuts, and thats what the Indians did. Cliff Lee, Victor Martinez, and Mark DeRosa are all very solid players with good contracts, thats why they were so attractive at the deadline. If the MLB had a salary cap, all teams would be able to spend the same amount of money. This would increase parity in the league, and you wouldn't see the same teams in the playoffs every year, teams wouldn't have to rebuild every 2 years, and in the case of the NBA, if a team wanted to go over the salary cap, the teams would have to pay a tax for it. With the MLB, there are no limits, and this is the problem.

Now looking at these trades, many people believe we got ripped off in these deals, but I think the DeRosa, and Victor trades are going to look the best in the end. So far, we traded Mark DeRosa, Ryan Garko, Rafael Betancourt, Victor Martinez, Cliff Lee, Ben Francisco, and Carl Pavano for a total of 10 minor leaguers. In the DeRosa trade we got reliever Chris Perez, who has been solid this month (2.57 ERA) and minor leaguer Jess Todd. Perez seems to be finding a groove in the back end of the bullpen, and Todd is ranked as the 4th best prospect in the Cardinals organization this past year by Baseball America. The reason I believe this trade will go down as one of the better ones is the Indians got a good young reliever in Perez (only 24), and a solid pitching prospect in Todd.

In the Victor trade, it was very sad to see him go. He seemed like he truly wanted to be here and he even cried in his final interview as an Indian. The Tribe recieved pitchers Justin Masterson, Nick Hagadone, and Bryan Price. Notice the theme here again? Masterson is a young pitcher (24 years old), who can be a solid #3 guy in a rotation. Hagadone is ranked as the Red Sox 3rd best prospect, and Price is still in single A. The Indians got themselves young pitchers again. The other trades the Indians made were Garko being dealt for minor league pitcher Scott Barnes. Garko never impressed me that much here in Cleveland, he just never seemed to be consistent. Barnes is ranked as the 9th best prospect in the Giants organization. Carl Pavano was dealt to the Twins for a player to be named later, and Betancourt was traded to the Rockies for minor league pitcher Conor Graham, who is projected to be a back of the bullpen reliever. Betancourt was not going to be around next year because he has a $5 million team option and the Indians weren't going to pick it up.

Finally, the Cliff Lee trade. I think this trade will either be a complete steal, or a complete disaster. Lee and Francisco was traded for Triple-A right-hander Carlos Carrasco, Class A righty Jason Knapp, catcher Lou Marson, and shortstop Jason Donald. Knapp is the key to this deal. He is an 18 year old starter who throws 98 mph. All four of these guys are top 10 prospects in the Phillies organization. Everyone is making a big deal out of us not getting pitchers JA Happ or Kyle Drabek, but the truth of the matter is if we wanted one of those guys, the Phillies could've just traded one of them for Roy Halladay. The Blue Jays wanted both, but the Phillies wanted to keep one of them. Halladay can be seen as leverage for the Phillies because he was seen as the superior pitcher to Lee. Take Halladay off the market, and Lee is the only great starter in the market and his price will increase because he will be the lone pitcher in demand. In terms of the rest of the deal, Carrasco is struggling in AAA now, but there is some hope he can be a solid starter in the big leagues. Trading for a catcher seems pointless because of the fact we have Carlos Santana (considered a top 3 prospect in our organization), and we already have Asdrubal Cabrera, Beau Mills, Carlos Rivero, and Lonnie Chisenall ready to take positions in the middle and corner infield spots, so why trade for shortstop Jason Donald and catcher Lou Marson? The Indians could flip those 2 prospects, but it seems unlikely. Those two pieces confused me, I would've rather had another pitching prospect or an outfielder.

Now looking back on all this, we acquired 2 major league ready pitchers, and 7 minor league pitchers, 2 position players, and a player to be named later. Not only did we cut our payroll from $81 million to $64 million through the trades, Our management team thought we would have 2.2 million for attendance this year, but it looks like the number is going to be between 1.8-1.9 million. We are projected to lose about $16 million this year. Add in the fact that our front office has not been able to scout and develop any pitching talent in the Shapiro regime, you can see why we made some of our moves. The Indians farm system has been depleted of pitchers. Aside from CC Sabathia and Jeremy Guthrie, the Indians have not drafted, signed, and developed a solid starting pitcher in the past 8 years. Guys such as Adam Miller, JD Martin, and Chuck Lofgren were just some names of Indians pitchers who were supposed to develop but never did. Mark Shapiro and his scouting staff have not done a good job of developing young pitchers, but I do trust Shapiro to be able to find good prospects through trades (Grady Sizemore, Brandon Phillips, Cliff Lee, Asdrubal Cabrera, Travis Hafner, Shin Soo Choo, Kevin Kouzmanoff, Ryan Ludwick). I think in the end, we might not see the Bartolo Colon trade all over again, but I feel that with so many highly regarding pitching prospects being brought over, a couple of them have to pan out and do well. Remember, we also have outfielders Michael Brantley, and Matt LaPorta waiting in the wings with catcher Carlos Santana. These guys were all considered to be the top prospects in their organizations, and they will make contributions in the near future. While we didn't get the one hot name like JA Happ, Doug Drabek, or Clay Bucholz, we got a good collection of young pitching talent to use in the future (2011 looks like a good starting point). Brooklyn Dodgers GM Branch Rickey once said that with pitchers its always better to have "Quantity over quality".

Thats all folks! Next time I will be writing a few thoughts on the Browns, and the recent signing of PF Leon Powe by the Cavs. Thanks again!

Long Time (Part 1)

2009-08-04T12:25:00.006-04:00

Hello everyone, it has been a pretty longtime since I last wrote. In between my laziness, and work I never got around to this. I also wanted to wait till the NBA offseason was complete, and the MLB trade deadline to finish before writing. Since both of those have finished, I will share with you my thoughts.

Cavs Offseason

-The addition of Shaq was a great move in my opinion. As long as he stays in shape he is good for 15 points and 6 rebounds a game. Since Carlos Boozer, the Cavs have not had a serious low post threat. Shaq will be much better against Dwight Howard one on one, but he will struggle defending the pick and roll.

-Teams will now have to respect Shaq by doubleteaming him. This leaves shooters such as Daniel Gibson, Anthony Parker, Mo Williams, Delonte West and Danny Green open. Remember how well Damon Jones and Jason Kapono shot with Shaq on their teams? Kapono shot 40% and 51% from 3 in his 2 years with Shaq, and Jones shot 43% in his lone season with Shaq. Kapono is a career 45% shooter from 3, and Jones is 39%. Yeah, Shaq will make a difference...

-People often times complain about Daniel Gibson's struggles, and I was dissapointed in him last year. He had a toe injury that affected his shot and confidence. Now that he has an offseason of rest, he will come back strong, and I expect him to shoot well.

-Andy's extension was a pretty big one (6 yrs $43 million, could go up to $50 million), and he did get overpaid. Bigmen in the NBA tend to get overpaid, look at Kenyon Martin ($15 million a year), Kenny Thomas ($8 million a year), Zach Randolph ($17 million a year), and Brian Cardinal ($6.7 million a year). Anderson is only 26 and he is a great energy guy, who will bug opposing players, play tough defense, and grab rebounds. LeBron likes him a lot too. I am sad we overpaid for him, but he fills a solid role on our team.

-The addition of Anthony Parker was a solid move. He will fill the role that Sasha couldn't fill. He is a solid defender, great midrange shooter (Top 10 midrange shooter in the NBA), and solid 3 point shooter (39% last year). Although he is 34, he has the legs of a 31 year old because he played 6 seasons overseas. Overseas basketball does not have the rigor of an 82 game schedule like the NBA does, and they do not play 4 times a week. He adds size (6'6), and some scoring punch to our bench (10 ppg last year). The Cavs signed him to a 2 year deal, thus not getting bogged down in a longer contract (Damon Jones? Donyell Marshall?)

-Jamario Moon was a GREAT pickup. People do not realize how athletic this guy is. Go to YouTube, type his name and see what you will find. He is a solid defender with long arms, and can finish when near the basket. He is exactly what we need to guard the Orlando Magic, a long athletic perimeter guy who can close out quick on the Orlando shooters. He will be catching many alley-oop dunks from LeBron this year. The Cavs signed him to a 2 year deal, with a team option for a 3rd year, thus increasing his trade value after next year.

-Drafting Christian Eyenga was a head scratcher for me, but I think he could pan out to be a Leandro Barbosa/Mickael Pietrus type of player. He is a freakish athlete, who has good size for a SG/SF (6'6), a developing jumper, solid defender, and he is only 19! Eyenga lacks some fundamentals as he isn't a great shooter, has low basketball IQ, and he cannot create his own shot. Add to the fact that he speaks no English, you have yourself a project. While playing for the Cavs in the NBA Summer League he showed some flashes of his amazing athletiscm and defense. The Cavs even thought about keeping him here for the year. He signed a 3 year deal to play with Spain's DKV Joventut (same team Ricky Rubio player for), with an opt out clause every year, so the Cavs can bring him back next year. He is better suited to play overseas anyways because they develop players in a more fundamental way than the NBDL.

-SG Danny Green was a great pick. He will be able to contribute right away. Playing for Roy Williams and North Carolina for 4 years was a great benefit. Williams has a knack for sending a lot of players to the NBA. His teammates Wayne Ellington, Ty Lawson, Tyler Hansbrough were all drafted in the first round. Green will be a solid SG off the bench, who has good size (6'6), smarts, a great shot (51% from 3 last year), and a good defender. He will benefit from the double teams Shaq will get. Again, this is what the Cavs wanted out of Sasha and Wally, and they really never got it.

- The Cavs bought the Suns 2nd round pick SF Emir Preldzic. He is 6'9 who can pass very well, and is a very smart basketball player but he lacks a great shot and athleticism. He is a good gamble late in the draft, and he will be stashed away overseas for awhile. I am glad Dan Gilbert was willing to spend some money on a developmental player like him.

-Former Kansas Jayhawks PG Russell Robinson accepted an invitation to training camp. He could make the roster because of the fact that he plays solid defense, and was a solid PG in college. The Cavs do not have a true point guard on the team, and Robinson could fill the void of 3rd PG.

-The Cavs have made a contract offer to PF Leon Powe. He will miss at least half the season after knee surgery. He could be a low risk/high reward pickup because it will allow us to play JJ Hickson more, and see what we have with him exactly. If Hickson struggles and is not ready, we can plug Powe in half way, if Hickson is doing well we can continue to play him, or use him or Powe as trade bait. Powe will probably come cheap as well because he won't be able to play half the year.

-The Celtics added Rasheed Wallace and might end up losing Glen Davis and Leon Powe. Their team is very old, and after players reach their 1,000th game, their numbers tend to fall. Did anyone watch Tim Duncan after his 1,000th game? Garnett got injured after his 1,000th game. Ray Allen is 34 (will hit 1,000th game this year too), Garnett is 33, and Paul Pierce is 32. Rasheed is 34 as well. Rajon Rondo was on the trading block the entire NBA offseason because he clashed with both his teammates and Doc Rivers. Both Rivers and GM Danny Ainge badmouthed Rondo during the offseason as well. Also, after Rasheed who comes off the bench for the Celtics? Eddie House? Ha. Tony Allen? Ha Ha. Brian Scalabrine? Ha Ha Ha. Think about this too, you have 2 of the most wild personalities in the NBA on the same team in Rasheed and Garnett. Cavs fans have seen Rasheed blow up numerous times, and even shut it down if his team wasn't winning. Garnett will chase after white PG's in an attempt to scare them (Ask Jose Calderon and Luke Ridnour). Age, chemistry issues, and a lack of depth are really going to the hurt the Celtics.

-To me the Cavs and the Magic are the teams to beat in the East. The Magic lost their BEST offensive option in Hedo Turkoglu, backup PG Rafer Alston, backup C Tony Battie, and young up and comer Courtney Lee. Alston is expendable because of the return of Jameer Nelson, but losing Courtney Lee and Hedo was huge. Lee is going to be a good player in the NBA, and he was even starting for the Magic. He is a great shooter and a good defender.

-Turkoglu is a matchup nightmare at SF because he is 6'10, can drive, shoot, and run the pick and roll to perfection. The Magic lost height on the perimeter, and one of their main facilitators in Hedo. While Vince Carter puts up big numbers (21 points per game last year), he gets his offense mainly through himself, as he creates his own shot to score. What makes the Magic so deadly is their ability to pass out from Howard to the perimeter and knock down 3 point shots, or run the pick and roll to get open looks. Carter cannot facilitate like Hedo, and he does not drive as well as him either. If Carter is trying to create his own shot, it neutralizes the Magic's strengths. Carter played with Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson, and they still could not beat the Cavs in the 2007 playoffs.

-The Magic re-signed Marcin Gortat and added PF Brandon Bass, SF Matt Barnes, and PF Ryan Anderson. Losing Courtney Lee is a bigger loss than the gain of Matt Barnes, but Bass and Anderson will be solid upgrades over Battie. Anderson is a solid 3 point shooter, but he doesn't defend that well. The Magic gained more depth downlow, but they lost some of their backcourt depth, and their best forward. Losing Hedo and Courtney Lee (who were both great shooters and defenders) will really come back to hurt the Magic in my opinion.

-The Lakers are my favorite to repeat for the NBA championship. They re-signed Lamar Odom, lost Trevor Ariza, but added Ron Artest. They got tougher defensivley, and still kept a lot of the length that helped them win it all last year. It will be great to see the Cavs and Lakers play on Christmas Day.

-Overall, I think the Cavs had a great offseason. They addressed their most pressing needs of a scoring bigman downlow (Shaq), an athletic wing defender (Moon), and taller perimeter defenders who can knock down shots (Parker and Green). We overpaid to re-sign Andy, but the Cavs need to win now and there weren't any replacements out there. We need to show LeBron we are serious about a championship here in Cleveland. We currently have the 3rd highest payroll in the NBA, and it will probably be 2nd highest after we sign Danny Green. I have a lot of appreciation for Danny Ferry's patience and smarts (losing out on Artest, Ariza, and Villanueva/turning Ben Wallace and Sasha into Shaq), and Dan Gilbert's willingness to open his checkbook. It just goes to show you that you have to spend money to put a quality team on the field.

I will write about the Indians trades' in a little bit. Thanks for reading!

NBA Draft Preview

2009-06-21T13:07:00.006-04:00

Hello everyone. It has been awhile since I have last written a blog. I wanted to write a preview of what the Cavs might do in this Thursdays NBA Draft. I have been trying to find out who the Cavs have worked out, and they really haven't worked out too many players. The last 2 times the Cavs had draft picks, they drafted the player they worked out. Since the Cavs own the 30th pick, they really have no idea who will be around when they pick. A lot of what I have read from RealCavsFans message board, and from Brian Windhorst is that the Cavs will look to trade up or buy a pick. The reason why this is reasonable is because in the NBA Draft, teams can buy draft picks and they usually cost $3 million. Since we have an owner willing to spend money, if the right opportunity comes about then I believe the Cavs will try to buy a pick. Also, with tough economic conditions, teams could be looking to save some money.

Previously I have written the needs that the Cavs have. They need a backup PG, a tall athletic SF/PF, and another bigman. This draft is full of PG's, there is a few athletic SF's/PF's, but not a lot of bigmen. I believe the Cavs should take someone who could contribute immediately with there first pick, and with their second pick they should take a developmental player. The Cavs need people who can step in immediatley, but at the same time they need to develop young talent for the future. I think the Cavs will end up with a PG and a SF when the draft is said and done. Here are some guys the Cavs could take....

Earl Clark, SF, Louisville- Clark is a guy the Cavs would probably have to trade up to get. He is projected to get taken between 15-20. He is exactly what the Cavs need: an athletic defender who can guard the perimeter, handle the ball, and shoot the midrange shot. He has great size at 6'10. He can also grab rebounds and pass well. While he is a little raw, he is someone who could come off the bench and get solid playing time his rookie year. He matches up well with the Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkgolus.

Sam Young, SF, Pittsburgh- There is an outside chance that Young could be there at 30, but probably not. Again, the Cavs would need to either buy him, or move up to get him. He is 6'7, atheltic, good finisher, solid shooter, and defender. He is a little old for his class (24 years old), but he is someone who would be able to step in and contribute immediately to the Cavs. Again, he is someone who could matchup well with the Magic, and he can be had at a cheap price.

Ty Lawson, PG, UNC- Lawson is a little undersized for the PG position (6'0), but he is lightning quick, and he can go to the hole with ease. He is a good defender, has good court vision, and he does turn the ball over a lot. Lawson needs to work on his jumper, but he is someone who can run the 2nd unit. There is a chance he could fall to the Cavs with the influx of PG's in this draft.

Terrance Williams, SG/SF, Louisville- Williams, much like Clark is an athletic forward from Lousiville. He isn't as tall as Clark, but he is 6'6. He can guard the SF position, and he seems very interested on that side of the floor. This makes him very attractive in the Mike Brown style of coaching, in that Brown emphasizes defense first. He is very long, and he can handle the ball pretty well. The only major knock on his game is that he is not a great shooter. He can get to the hole, and he is a very good dunker. He to go mid-late first round, so the Cavs would have to move up to get him.

Eric Maynor, PG, VCU- Although his name has not been mentioned with the Cavs, I personally would love to see Maynor here. He is projected to be taken between 15-22, so the Cavs have to buy him or move up. He has excellent size for the PG position at 6'3, and we all know how much Mike Brown loves size. He is a jack of all trades, but a master of none. He is a floor general in every sense, he is improving his 3 point shot, he is a great defender, and he takes very good care of the ball. He fits the bill of someone who could run our 2nd unit.

Darren Collison, PG, UCLA- Collison is a PG who could fall into the 2nd round because there are so many good PG's in this draft. Collison could step in day one and play with the 2nd unit. He played 4 years at UCLA, and he is very experienced. A true floor general, great defender, incredibly fast, and he takes good care of the ball. He is a little small at 6'0, but if the Cavs do stand pat at 30, he is definitely a guy who they should consider.

Patrick Mills, PG, St. Mary's- Mills is another lightning quick PG who is a solid defender, and a true floor general. He is great at getting to the basket and he can defender the perimeter. He is somewhat of an inconsistent shooter, and he is very small at 5'11. He played at a small time school and he didn't play the best competition. If he is around at pick 46 (our 2nd round pick), I definitely think he would be a great pick up for us. He drew a lot of attention to himself this past summer with his play for Team Australia in the Olympics. He played very well versus Team USA, and he will definitely have a place in the NBA.

DaJuan Summers, SF, Georgetown- Summers would be a solid pick, and there is a chance he could be around late in the first round. He has great size at 6'9, and he is a very athletic guy. He would be very good in a Cavs uniform because he is a very good shooter, and he could open up the floor for LeBron. While he isn't a great rebounder or slasher, he is someone who could sneak under the radar.

Danny Green, SG/SF, UNC- Green is a smooth player who can shoot the ball very well. He is a very good defender and he has good size at 6'7. He is a tough player who has high basketball IQ. He isn't that athletic, and he lacks explosiveness, but he is someone who is crafty and smooth enough to make things happen. Green is projected to go a little after the lottery, so the Cavs would have to trade or buy him.

Omri Casspi, SF, Israel- Now I know Cavs fans would be upset if we drafted this guy, and I would be too a little bit. Casspi plays for Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel, and he plans on staying there next year. The Cavs could draft him in the 2nd round, hold his rights, not pay him anything, then when he is ready bring him over. This would be an ideal situation because Casspi has good size at 6'9, and he can guard the perimeter well. He is a tough player, solid rebounder, and he can get to the basket. He isn't a great shooter, and he isn't that athletic. With the Cavs trying to win now, I don't see Casspi being drafted by us in the first round.

Joe Ingles, SF, Australia- O no, not another foreign white guy! The Cavs did indeed workout Ingles, but we won't take a stab at him untill the 2nd round, if we decided to go with him. I only have him here because of the position he plays, and the fact that the Cavs worked him out. He is listed at 6'8, and has a smoother game that Casspi does. He handles the ball better and he has good court vision. Again, Ingles would be an overseas developmental guy.

James Johnson, SF/PF, Wake Forest- The only reason Johnson is here is because his stock has dropped because he showed up to the Chicago Pre-Draft Camp 15 pounds heavier. Teams picking in the 20's are looking at him now, but before he was projected as a lottery pick. He is an atheltic forward who is stuck between 2 positions. He can rebound, shoot, and he is a strong guy. He isn't a great penetrator, and he doesn't have too many post moves, but he has the size the Cavs need. Johnson seems to be a longshot out of everyone listed here, but you never say never.

Derrick Brown, PF, Xavier- Brown is a 6'9 PF, who is very athletic, and he has long arms. He can shoot the ball very well (43% from 3 last year), and he can finish around the hoop. He isn't a great ballhandler, and he can be passive at times, but the Cavs really don't need a ballhandler with Delonte, Mo, and LeBron on the team. Brown could be available when the Cavs draft at #30, and he could fall into the 2nd round.

Now after listing all these guys, I really don't have a clue who the Cavs will take. These are just my logical guesses. I wouldn't be shocked if the Cavs didn't take one of the 13 guys listed here. If I had to guess a sleeper I would guess Terrance Williams because of the fact he is an excellent defender with size. The guys I want the most are Eric Maynor, Darren Collison, Sam Young, and Earl Clark. Maynor is a solid floor general who can lift a team himself, Collison has a lot of experience and plays great defense, Young is a tough player who has a lot of experience as well, and Clark is someone who has great size and athleticism, and the most potential to improve as well. I think these guys can make an impact on our team from day one. They each fit our need of either a backup PG or athletic SF. Also, remember that there are always a few draft day deals that go down. Last year we saw the Jermaine O'Neal/TJ Ford trade, and the year before we saw the Ray Allen deal. I have nothing to speculate, but I hope Danny Ferry can get a good start to our offseason this Thursday.

Looking Forward....

2009-05-31T22:05:00.009-04:00

After last nights disappointing loss, the Cavs have a very big offseason to look forward to. LeBron can opt out of his contract in 2010, and this could be the Cavs last chance to put together a championship caliber team for LeBron. Heading forward, I don't have any inside information about what the Cavs are going to do, but I will try to make some educated guesses. Our biggest needs going into the offseason are a tough low post scorer, a tall small forward who can guard the perimeter, and a backup PG. We saw how Dwight Howard, Yao Ming, Pau Gasol, and Andrew Bynum torched us in the post, we saw the mismatches the Magic gave us on the perimeter, the limited production we got in the post from our bigs was just awful, and we have no one to handle the ball with our 2nd unit.

Offseason Summary
-The Cavs have a lot of salaries coming off the book. Wally ($14 million), Joe Smith ($1.2 million), Eric Snow ($7 million), Lorenzen Wright ($1.2 million), are all off of our books. This brings our salary cap number down to $71.8 million. Anderson will opt out, which brings our cap number down to $65 million. I think the Cavs will try to bring Anderson back, but on a budget. They don't want to pay him too much because they need to save some cap room to get another superstar with LeBron in 2010. Z will pick up his player option, so we stay at $65 million. Sasha Pavlovic's contract is partially guaranteed, and he can be paid $1.5 million dollars and be let go, or we can pay him $4.95 million next year and keep him.
-The wild card here is that Ben Wallace is strongly considering retiring. If he retires he can do one of many things, this includes walking away from his $14 million salary next year, he can negotiate a buyout, or he can play it out. If Wallace was to walk away from his contract completely, it was bring our salary cap number down to about $48 million dollars. This would bring us under the projected $58 million salary cap. The probably won't happen, but the Cavs will have some flexibility if a buyout is agreed upon, and if Sasha is bought out. If Wallace retires, we can still trade his $14 million salary but he can negotiate a buyout with a team we trade him to. Ferry has to decide if he can get a better player in free agency or through a trade. In a trade it would save the team we are trading him to a lot of money because they would be trading away $14 million dollars worth of salary, but only pay the buyout amount. This makes him very valuable.
-Draft Picks: The Cavs have 2 draft picks in the upcoming draft. We own the 30th and 46th picks in this draft. While this is considered a weak draft class, it still has some solid players in it. One of the needs the Cavs need to address is a backup PG. Daniel Gibson won't cut it, and we have no one to handle the ball with our 2nd unit. This draft class is loaded with good PG's. This includes players such as Brandon Jennings, Ricky Rubio, Jeff Teague, Jrue Holliday, Johnny Flynn, Ty Lawson, Eric Maynor, Stephen Curry, Patrick Mills, and Curtis Jerrells. The only guys I see falling to the Cavs are Mills and Jerrells. Also, there is a glut of athletic SF's in this draft, it includes DaJuan Summers, Sam Young, and Damion James. All 3 of these guys are seasoned players, and they could contribute early in their NBA careers. These guys could be around at #30.
-There aren't many good bigmen in this draft, and since we are drafting so low, we probably would have to take a developmental prospect with our 46th pick. A tough bigman is needed to replace Ben Wallace, Joe Smith, possibly even Andy. Our chances of finding one late in the draft aren't good, so I think trading one of our picks is a possibility.
-The Cavs still have a very valuable trading piece in JJ Hickson. His name was tossed around in a few deals last year, and I expect to hear the same this offseason. I believe he will only be traded if we land a big name.
-Chinese investors bought a 15% stake in the team last week. This is huge because it will give us immediate capital for the team. This will give us financial flexibility, and it will allow us to take back some bad contracts in our attempts to land a superstar next to LeBron.
-With the U.S. economy still reeling from the current recession, a lot of NBA teams are trying to cut salaries. The New Orleans Hornets, Phoenix Suns, and Milwaukee Bucks are all trying to save as much money because they have felt the pinch of this recession. The Cavs on the other hand have lots of salaries coming off their books, an injection of cash into the team from the Chinese investors, and an owner in Dan Gilbert who is willing to spend money. This could be very beneficial to us because teams will be looking to dump salary, and the best way for teams to dump salary is to pair them with a great player, and receive an expiring contract in return (Ben Wallace/Sasha).

Possible Names to Consider:
-Andrei Kirilenko, SF, Utah Jazz- This one is my wild card player I think the Cavs will go after. He fits the bill of exactly what we need. He is tall (6'9), plays great defense, can drive to the hoop, and he is very energetic. He is the type of guy who can matchup very well against a Rashard Lewis or Hedo Turkgolu. He would be replacing Sasha Pavlovic and Wally. The reasons why I don't think we would get him though is because his contract goes past 2010, and he is making $16 million next year, and $17 million in 2010, which would kill our 2010 plans. I think if the Jazz got a good offer for AK47, they could trade him because the Jazz struggled last year in the playoffs, and they have to decide on what they are going to do with Paul Milsap, and Carlos Boozer becoming free agents, and Mehmet Okur having an early termination option as well.
-Shaq, C, Phoenix Suns- The Cavs tried acquiring him at the trade deadline, and it did not work out. I still believe the Suns are going to try to trade Shaq because they know they won't win with him, their owner Robert Sarver is hurting in this bad economy, and their window of opportunity for winning a championship is basically shut. There was even talk of them trading Amare Stoudemire in February! The Cavs will probably have to part with some draft picks, Ben's contract, Sasha, and maybe JJ Hickson. Shaq would give us an immediate post threat that teams would have to account for. Also, his contract expires in 2010 which is huge. I think Shaq would be great in Cleveland because of his ability to score in the post, and rebound. While Shaq is old (37 years old), he put up 18 points and 8 rebounds per game last year. His PER went from 17.07 the year before to 22.33 this past year. When Shaq is healthy and motivated, he is still a force to be reckoned with.
-Chris Kaman, C, LA Clippers- The only reason I have him here is because the Clippers will be taking Blake Griffin with the first pick in the NBA Draft, and Zach Randolph's contract is impossible to trade, and Marcus Camby has an expiring deal, thus Kaman becomes expendable. Clippers owner Donald Sterling is always looking to save money, and Kaman is set to make $10 million next year. Kaman has good post skills, and he is a great rebounder, he just isn't that great of a defender. The reason why I don't think it would happen is because his contract goes past 2010. The Cavs need to decide if they can get a guy now that can help them win a championship, or get someone who might not be as good but have a 2010 friendly contract. This is a big issue.
-Chris Bosh, F, Toronto Raptors- If the Cavs get this guy, we win the championship. Its that simple. I know I have listed Bosh before, but according to a report from the NY Daily News, people inside the Raptors organization are realizing that they might have to trade Bosh. Toronto has no young talent around him, limited cap room this year, and it might make sense to trade for him before he becomes a free agent in 2010. Bosh can score downlow, he is big (6'11), and he is a great defender, who played with LeBron on Team USA this past year. I really think the Cavs have a chance at getting this guy too. Think about this, Pau Gasol was traded for Kwame Brown (expiring deal), Javaris Crittenton (young PG, with the Wizards now), 2 first round picks, and Marc Gasol. Marc Gasol is the only solid piece to come of that deal. Kevin Garnett was traded for Al Jefferson (great young player), Ryan Gomes (bench player), Sebastian Telfair (bum), Gerald Green (he rarely plays for Dallas), and Theo Ratliff (throw in). The Cavs can offer a first round pick this year, and in 2011, JJ Hickson, expiring deal of Ben Wallace, and either Sasha or Darnell, and we can take back the bad contract of Jason Kapono as well. The Raptors would save loads of money, get a promising young bigman, draft picks, and another young player. The only team I can think of that could do such a trade is Portland, but it makes no sense for them to do it because they have a young PF in LaMarcus Aldridge and a young C in Greg Oden. It will be interesting to see what happens.
-Tyson Chandler, C, New Orleans Hornets- The reason why I have him on the list is because the Hornets tried trading him at the trade deadline for 2 expiring deals (Chris Wilcox and Joe Smith), so obviously they are having financial difficulties. Chandler is a good low post defender, can block shots, and rebound. He has excellent size at 7'0, and he can run the floor. His contract does go past 2010, but he would give us great size downlow to defend, and his offensive game is not that polished. We again have the expiring deal of Ben Wallace to work with, along with Sasha Pavlovic's expiring deal. Taking back a bad contract would probably be required to pull off this trade.
-Jason Kidd, PG, Dallas Mavericks- Kidd is a free agent, and with so much cap space coming off of our books, the Cavs could make a small splash in free agency. With few teams having cap space, a tough U.S. economy where NBA teams are looking to save, free agents won't be getting huge deals we've seen in the past. We would probably use our mid level exception to get Kidd. He said earlier in the year he could see himself playing here, and while he isn't as good as he use to be, he can shoot the open 3, find and help set up his teammates. He takes very good care of the ball, and he is a true floor general. He played with LeBron on Team USA this past summer, and LeBron lobbied to get him in the 2008 trade deadline. There is a definite chance it could happen. I would love to see Jason Kidd as our backup PG.
-Matt Barnes, SF, Phoenix Suns- Barnes will be a free agent as well this offseason. He would fit our need for a backup SF. He is 6'7, extremely athletic, and he can defend. If the price is right, I think the Cavs will take a look.
-Ron Artest, SF, Houston Rockets- This would be a huge long-shot. Artest is a free agent, but his price tag will be high. He is an excellent, tough defender, with great size (6'8) and solid offensive skills. He would be a nightmare matchup for most teams because the Cavs would then have 6'9 LeBron paired with 6'8 Artest in the frontcourt. I only see Artest coming here if the Cavs are under the cap, and if Artest does not get the offers he is looking for.
-Lamar Odom, F, LA Lakers- Odom is a free agent this offseason as well, but his price tag will be somewhat high as well. He has great size (6'11), speed, athleticism, and he can score both inside and outside. He can defend the perimeter and when he puts his mind to it, he can rebound as well. He is versatile enough to play SF and PF as well. The Lakers have to decide what to do with Odom, and Trevor Ariza (he is a free agent too) because both are very valuable to the Lakers. Much like Artest, I only see Odom coming here if we are under the salary cap, and he doesn't have any good offers from good teams.
-Brandon Bass, PF, Dallas Mavericks- I love Brandon Bass because he is a tough, physical bigman, who can grab rebounds. He will be a free agent this offseason, and we could use a part of our mid level exception to sign him. He would be a solid bigman off the bench, and while he wouldn't solve our problems of low post scoring, he would give us much needed depth, as Joe Smith did last year.

Again, I have no inside information on any of this stuff, but I these are just my thoughts. A lot of this offseason is going to hinge on what Ben Wallace decides to do, and what direction the Andy negotiations go. If I am the Cavs, I bring Andy back only at the right price. He is a young bigman, and if his offensive game continues to develop he could be a very reliable asset to this team. Wally I wouldn't bring back because he is getting old, and he is not athletic enough to defend anymore. I would bring Joe Smith back at a very cheap price. Depending on what the trade market is like, I might hold on to Sasha because his deal expires, and he is still a young player (25 years old). I will write a NBA Draft preview later this month, contingent that the Cavs keep their picks! Thanks for reading!

-Raz

Mission: Failure

2009-05-31T00:05:00.012-04:00

Well folks, not a fun night. The Cavs dream season came to a slamming end against the Orlando Magic tonight with a 103-90 loss. I thought we had a very good chance to beat this team, but in the end, the combination of a dominant bigman, and consistent three point shooting became our achillies heal, which led to our demise this season.

-Losing Game 1 killed us. I have said all along that winning Game 1 is huge in any series, and we did not do it. We lost our homecourt invincibility, and we lost our confidence. Once the Cavs saw that they could be beat, especially in the playoffs, we seemed tentative and afraid. We took Orlando too lightly in the second half of Game 1, blowing a 16 point half time lead. After that, we never really quite looked the same for 48 minutes....
-Its sad that LeBron had such a dominating series (41 ppg 8 assists 8 rebounds), and it all basically goes to waste. Add the fact that he hit the biggest shot in Cavs history in Game 2, you get an uneasy feeling inside. He didn't even speak to the media after the loss tonight, and he went straight to the team bus......
-I am disappointed in LeBron's game tonight somewhat because he just seemed too tentative tonight. He didn't not come out aggressive, and he seemed to shy away from the basket when he didn't get foul calls early on. Also, Delonte and Mo each stepped up scoring 22 and 17 respectfully. He seemed tired in the end of the game, and it was probably from carrying the team on his back for so long.
-I give a lot of credit to Delonte West in this game and series. He was the only one fighting this entire game and he seemed fearless. He had a few step back jumpshots, a three pointer, and he attacked the basket. With 1 minute left in the 4th quarter, off of a missed shot, he went and stripped the ball out of Hedo Turkgolu's hands, even though the game was long over. He had to guard Hedo the entire series and he was giving up about 7 inches too. For those of you who play basketball, giving up that much size on defense isn't fun.
-Mo Williams was truly a disappointment in the first four games. He seemed very nervous, and he couldn't get any consistency out of his 3 point shot. He came alive when it was too late, he scored 25 points in game 5 and 17 tonight. The Cavs needed production out of him earlier in the series and they didn't get it. In the series as a whole, he only shot 35%....
-The bench was also very bad. Joe Smith, and Wally gave nothing, Daniel did hit a couple of 3 pointers, Sasha didn't get enough playing time, Ben Wallace tried his best on Dwight, but its obvious his best days are way behind him. This is an area in which the Cavs will need to get a Mickael Pietrus/JR Smith type of guy off the bench who can just score as a 6th man.
-Everyone is making an issue of LeBron not talking to the media after the game. Big deal. Have you ever played a sport where you wanted to win very badly, worked a very long time to get to where you were and you lost? Did you want to talk to anyone afterwards? LeBron was so focused on winning a championship, and he came up short. I don't think he needs to explain himself to everyone. The national media will make this out to be something big, and that he is going to NYC in 2010. You really think that while LeBron was walking out of the locker room, he said to himself "NYC, here I come!". I think not. Some of the members of the media should consider playing team sports, it could help in situations like this.
-Mike Brown got outcoached in this series. He should have played Sasha more instead of Wally because of his athleticism, and ability to drive. He could have better guarded Hedo or Rashard. Z played too many minutes in the first 4 games, as he played over 28 minutes a game in each. Z cannot guard the Magic pick and roll because he is too slow. He cannot score in the paint anymore, and if he can't shoot his jumper, there isn't much use for him aside from rebounding. Darnell Jackson should have gotten more playing time because he is a big body who can absorb contact and eat fouls. Joe Smith should have played more as well, because of his ability to shoot jumpers and guard the 3 point shot. Also, Mike Brown really didn't try doing anything radical or different. How about putting Tarence Kinsey in to guard Courtney Lee or Mickael Pietrus, so LeBron could guard Rashard or Hedo? Kinsey is definitely athletic enough to do so, and he has the height to matchup with them (6'6). Throw something at the Magic that they haven't seen, force them to adjust to you. Go with a smaller, quicker lineup, run the ball up the court faster or maybe post up LeBron. Brown seemed to go with his same rotations, and when your in an elimination game, you need to try to do EVERYTHING to win.
-All in all, I don't know what to think about this offseason. Andy and Z can opt out of there contracts (Andy probably will, Z probably won't), Wally's contract expires (he won't be back), Sasha has a partially guaranteed contract (trade bait), Joe Smith is a free agent (might be back), we have 2 draft picks in the upcoming draft, Ben Wallace has a $14 million expiring deal, the mid-level exception at hand, and Chinese Investors bought a 15% stake in the Cavs (more cash to use). I am not sure what all this adds up to, but Danny Ferry and company are definitely going to have to get creative this offseason. I will write a more detailed review of our season, and preview of our offseason later.

I am proud of the way the Cavs played this year and they played great. I am thankful that we got to see this team achieve the best record in the NBA, go 39-2 at home in the regular season, develop great team chemistry, pull off last second heroics (@ Clippers, @ Atlanta, @ Golden State), blowout wins, hilarious pre-game rituals, the awards won by LeBron James and Mike Brown, but in the end our one goal of a championship was a failure in itself.......

-Raz

Eastern Conference Finals Preview

2009-05-18T14:30:00.005-04:00

Hello everyone. Last night the Orlando Magic defeated the Boston Celtics in the 7th game of their series. While I would have loved to seen us play Boston, we are stuck with the better team. This series is going to be a real dogfight. Today's blog will be dedicated to a preview of the series.

-The Magic are a team that can beat you one of two ways, with the three point shot, or by pounding you in the block with Dwight Howard. While we have played great defense in the playoffs thus far, the Magic have length in their 3 point shooters. JJ Reddick, Courtney Lee, Hedo Turkgolu, and Rashard Lewis are all over 6'5, and Turkgolu and Lewis are both 6'10.
-Courtney Lee, Mickael Pietrus, and Dwight Howard are all great defenders. Howard won the Defensive Player of the Year Award this year, and the Cavs must be physical, attack and grind out games against these guys.
-Orlando can win both at home and away. But they can also lose very easily at home because of their dependence on the 3 point shot. Game 1 will be huge for the Cavs because Orlando is coming off a huge victory in Boston, and Cleveland will have had almost 8 days of rest and need to shake off some rust. Also, Orlando beat Cleveland twice this year, once by 11 points and once by 29. The Cavs beat the Magic at home by only 4 points....
-If I am the Cavs, I try my best to close out the perimeter, and force Dwight Howard to beat you. Closing out on the 3 point shooters of Orlando will be huge. If we can pressure the shooters or just force them to not take shots, the Cavs will win the series.
-While Howard is the best big man in the league, and a great rebounder, he still does not have any consistent post moves. He does not have a consistent jump shot, hook shot, and he is a horrible free throw shooter (59%). Our post defenders must play physical with Howard, as Kendrick Perkins did in the previous series. Versus Boston Howard averaged 16 points and 17 rebounds a game, and while his rebounding increased, his scoring decreased by about 4 points.
-Getting Howard into foul trouble early will be important because it not only take away their best player, but it takes away their best post defender. This opens up the floor for LeBron James.
-The reason why I believe we should try and let Howard beat us is because the if the Magic get hot from the outside, the game will be very hard to win for the Cavs.
-The Magic backcourt is somewhat weak with Rafer Alston, Anthony Johnson, and Courtney Lee coming off an injury. Alston struggled in the Celtics series as he averaged only 10 points and 4 assists a game.
-The way the Cavs will win this series is our shooting and defense. Z, Joe Smith, Daniel, Sasha, Delonte, Wally, and Mo all must hit their shots. This will keep the defenders on them close, and it will open the floor up for LeBron to drive and create.
-Delonte needs to attack the basket to keep Courtney Lee off balance, and Mo must hit 3's to help keep pressure off LeBron on offense.
-LeBron needs to continue his improved jumpshooting. He is averaging 32.9 points, 9.8 rebounds and 7.8 assists a game thus far in the playoffs. He is shooting 55% from the field, and 48% from 3. The better LeBron shoots, the more floor space he will have to operate with.
-Z hitting his jumpers and even a 3 pointer here and there is huge because it will force Howard to close out on him out of the block, which will give us better chances to grab offensive boards.
-Anderson needs to do a good job of playing physical defense on Rashard Lewis. Lewis has a very high release on his 3 point shot, and Anderson must do his best job to disrupt his shot.

While I am not happy that we are stuck with the Magic, I think the Cavs can win the series. LeBron needs to continue his great play, and his teammates must help him out on offense. Our defense needs to continue to suffocate, and we have to get all the loose balls and hustle plays. The reason I think we are going to win is because teams that usually live by the 3, die by it. Rebounding will be another key factor, and I believe the Cavs will put up a very good fight on the boards. With the extended rest for Ben Wallace, Z, and Joe Smith, the Cavs should have fresh legs to grab boards. Add the combination that we have Anderson and LeBron attacking the glass will only help our cause. I am confident that LeBron will lead the team in the series, and he will not let us lose. We have been an extremely focused team throughout the year and we must not lose sights on our goal of an NBA Championship. I have the Cavs in 6 games.

Keeping It Up

2009-05-14T00:47:00.004-04:00

Hello everyone, its been awhile, so lets get to work.

Cleveland Browns
-Not much to report here. Braylon rumors continue to fester but I don't think there is much to them. I think the Browns think Braylon can have a Pro Bowl year and make great contributions to this team. To me, he is a headcase, can't catch, and he probably won't stay past next year, and thats why I advocated for a trade. Since the draft is complete, I guess you have to go with the guys you have.
-I predict that Brady Quinn will be the starting QB of the team opening day. According to Tony Grossi, the Browns rejected 2 trades for Quinn and both these offers included a 1st round pick. The Browns used Quinn as a smokescreen to bait teams into trading up for Mark Sanchez. I like Quinn and I think he can be a good QB in this league.

Cleveland Indians
-This team is in somewhat of a mess. The players held a players only meeting a couple games ago. Our bullpen cannot hold a lead, and when we do get solid pitching, our hitting doesn't come through.
-We need consistency out of our bullpen. Can you name a solid bullpen arm that the Tribe has had this year? Raffy Perez was optioned to AAA, Betancourt has a 4.91 ERA, Kobayashi has a 8.38 ERA, Joe Smith has a 7.11 ERA, and Kerry Wood has an ERA of 6.00.
-Fausto Carmona has continued to struggle this year. He is 1-4 with a 5.57 ERA. He has 25 walks, 25 strikeouts in 42 innings. He is a key to our pitching staff, and if theres any chance of salvaging our season he needs to get his act together.
-Cliff Lee has not been that bad. Yes his record is 2-5, but he has an ERA of 3.00. In 4 of his 5 losses the Indians offense scored a combined 2 runs...
-People are starting to call for Eric Wedge to be let go. I still would give him another 2-3 weeks to see if this team will have any chance at all to make it out of the Central. We are only 6 games back, and we are just a solid winning streak away from climbing in the standings.

Cleveland Cavaliers
-The Cavs have done great in the playoffs so far. They swept the Detroit Pistons in 4 games, and the Atlanta Hawks in 4 games. They won every game by double digits.
-Our defense continues to be impressive as we held the Hawks to 78.5 points per game in the series. We out-rebounded them 44.5 to 30.75.
-LeBron James continues his amazing performance throughout the playoffs, and his shooting touch seems to have been improved. He is averaging almost a point a minute throughout the playoffs.
-If the Cavs play the Celtics, they need to finally knock the defending Champs out. The Magic have a better team but they can't seem to close the envelope. The Cavs must deliver the killer blow to the Celtics and not let them hang around. It will definitely be a grind out series.
-The Cavs need to continue their stout defense and aggressive rebounding if they want to beat the LA Lakers. The Lakers can score 120 points on any given night, but they are an inconsistent team. The Cavs must be focused on boxing out, defending the post, and slowing the tempo down. By doing this, the Cavs will be playing to their strengths of defense, rebounding, and half court offense.
-I still believe the Lakers will beat the Cavs if they play in the Finals. I have written why in earlier blogs. Any other team out of the West, I have the Cavs.
-This upcoming offseason will be big for the Cavs as Wally, Joe Smith, and Anderson will all be free agents. There is a early termination option with Sasha's contract as well. We should have the mid level exception to use, along with millions coming off the books. And did I mention we have 2 draft picks in this years up coming draft?

Well folks this just about does it. With the Cavs on a break for a little bit, the Indians struggling, and the Browns a couple months from training camp, sports talk has been a little slow. It will pick up once the Cavs begin to play again and when we know the direction the Indians are headed. Thanks for reading!

-Raz

NFL Draft Review

2009-04-26T20:06:00.004-04:00

Boy was I wrong. None of the guys I listed in my last draft were drafted by the Browns. Neither Brady Quinn and Braylon were traded. GM George Kokinis and Head Coach Eric Mangini made a flurry of moves during draft day. We traded our 5th overall pick to the NY Jets for the 17th overall pick, their 2nd round pick, and 3 reserves from the NY Jets. We then traded down two more times to the 21st pick. I was initially shocked and mildly disappointed with our selection of C Alex Mack of California. I thought the Browns should have taken LB Rey Meualuga or LB Clay Matthews, because of our need of LB. The Browns thought otherwise, and all in all I am starting to make some sense of what the Browns did.

1st Round- Alex Mack, C, California- This was a tough pick to understand at first, but it makes some sense. Mack was the best rated C in the draft, he broke his right wrist during the season, and he continued playing with his left hand. He is nasty, tough, strong, hard working, and he is great at anchoring the line. He is a safe pick and can contribute immediately.

2nd Round- Brian Robiskie, WR, Ohio State- This was another head scratching move to me when it initially occurred. With Rey still on the board I thought we should have taken him, but we went with the OSU wideout. I think Robiskie can be a very solid #2 WR in the NFL. He is smart, has great hands, has some speed, and can run routes very well. This means he can contribute immediately and fill our need for a possession receiver. He can fill the role that Joe Jurevicius had (3rd down receiver, reliable hands).

2nd Round- Mohammed Massaqoui, WR, Georgia- By this time, I started to see what the Browns were trying to do. They were concerned about the depth at WR, and they wanted to get 2 good WR's who could contribute quickly. Massaqoui has great height (6'1), great speed, improving hands, a hard worker, elusive, and can go across the middle. He sounds like a good slot reciever, and he will complement the deep threat of Braylon, and the sure hands of Robiskie. He played with #1 overall pick Matt Stafford at Georgia, and he has a lot of experience. I like this pick a lot.

2nd Round- David Veikune, DE, Hawaii- Finnally, the Browns take a DE that they will convert to LB. I liked this pick because Veikune offers good size (6'2 260 lbs.), is a hard worker, has a nasty streak, has quickness, and great strength. He can compete for a LB position in our 3-4 defense. He sounds a little like Rey, which I like...

4th Round- Kaluka Maiava, LB, USC- We took a USC LB, just not one of the ones I listed! Maiava is tough, strong, and fast. His weakness is his lack of height (5'11), and his short arms. Maiava seems like a good candidate to be on our special teams and could see some time on defense during the game.

6th Round- Don Carey, CB, Norfolk State- After addressing our LB and WR problems, we went to shore up our secondary. He is a smart, somewhat quick, and solid tackler in the secondary. He saw time at both S and CB, and he could serve that purpose with the Browns. The only problem I have is his lack of height (5'11), and average leaping ability. He seems like a solid backup for our secondary and could see some time with Mike Adams at S.

6th Round- Coye Francies, CB, San Jose State- Here is an extremely quick athlete, who has pretty good cover skills, but he struggles against the run. He is not that aggressive, and has some character problems (he was kicked off Oregon St. and was arrested on weapons charges in 2007 but they were later dropped). Francies will probably serve as a solid backup, and he adds youth to our secondary.

6th Round- James Davis, RB, Clemson- The Browns decided to go back to offense, and they used their last pick on Davis. I thought getting a RB was important, and good RB's can be found late in the draft. Davis has good vision, good blocker, and hit the hole with authority. His weakness is that he does not have great speed, and he isn't that elusive. Davis sounds like a good workhorse, 3rd down back, and maybe he could develop into a guy who can take 10-12 carries a game. With the aging Jamal Lewis, and the unproven James Harrison, the pick of Davis makes a lot of sense.

The right side of our offensive line is in some trouble with the underachievement of G Rex Hadnot, and the injury problem of T Ryan Tucker. With Mack as our starting C, Hadnot and Hank Fraley can battle for the RG position, and Tucker can play RT (he started one game at RT last year versus the New York Giants, we all know how well that went). John St. Clair and Floyd Womack will provide depth for the line as well. We solidified our line, found an anchor, and we saw how important a good offensive line was to an offense (anyone remember 2007?)

When I actually sit down and think about this draft, it might not have sexy names, but they filled a lot of holes on the roster. We acquired DE Kenyon Coleman, and S Abram Elam, in trading the 5th pick, and both will provide solid depth, as they are familiar with Eric Mangini (they played for him last year). We saved a lot of money by not selecting at the 5th pick, and I didn't feel that there was anyone we could use at the 5th spot. We got an extra 2nd rounder, and we began to use it on our defense.

The 2 LB's we got are quick, strong, tough, and good workers. We got rid of our two slowest LB's (McGinest and Andra Davis), and we are replacing them with strong and fast players. We still have LB's Leon Williams, and Beau Bell to work with, free agent Eric Barton (played with Mangini), along with stud D'Qwell Jackson. If our coaches can develop more moves from Kamerion Wimbley, we could really have an improved LB's corps.

Now I know I spoke highly of Rey Meauluga, but after thinking about it long and reading more scouting reports, I came to notice that he has 3 red flags. Durability, character issues, and inability to drop back in coverage. Rey does not change directions quickly enough, and is not fluid in his movements. He has faced disciplinary action more than once at his time at USC, and he was once arrested on suspicion of battery. He did have a calf and leg problems that he dealt with this past year as well. While I love his "kill em all" attitude, he could be a real wild child, and pose problems for the team. Also, the New England Patriots worked him out numerous times, and they passed on him twice. Remember the Patriots lost Mike Vrabel in the offseason, and they could have used a LB....

Before Saturday could you name our #2 WR? Syndric Steptoe. That scares me a lot right there. I think our need for LB was magnified by the fact that Aaron Curry was in our reach, and we really didn't concentrate on the fact that we needed to replenish the depth at WR after cutting Joe Jurevicius, and the impending legal problems of Donte Stallworth. We added a potential possession and a slot receiver which compliments the vertical threat of Braylon, and our short passing game very well. Both receivers that we drafted are experienced, hard working kids, who can contribute pretty quickly.

The last three picks of the draft addressed our needs at S, RB, and CB, and they will provide good depth for us. All three guys are pretty durable, and have a lot of experience. These guys might not pan out to be Pro Bowlers, but if they serve as solid backups/special teamers, then we will have found good value.

We had 8 draft picks in this draft, and we added a lot of young talent to our team. We won't know how well we did, but I am content with our draft. We filled our needs of LB, WR, CB/S, most of our picks are smart, tough kids, and none of these guys have character concerns except Francies. 2-3 of our picks could be starting for the Browns this year. If I had to grade our draft I would give it a solid B. These guys are starting to sound like "football players"......

Thanks for reading and go Cleveland!

-Raz

NFL Draft Preview

2009-04-21T16:41:00.003-04:00

Hello everyone. I am going to dedicate most of my thoughts today to the upcoming NFL Draft that will take place this Saturday. As most of you know, the new regime of Eric Mangini and George Kokinis have kept the lid shut on what their plans are for the draft. My friend and I have a subscription to the Orange and Brown report, and these guys really give out great bits of information. What I will right today will be facts I have heard from these guys, and my own opinion of what I think could happen. Here we go:

The Browns hold the 5th pick in the NFL Draft. This draft does not have any star power names in it, but there is a lot of depth with good players. The Browns probably feel that the money they will be paying the 5th overall pick is not worth the skill set they are drafting. Not many teams are looking to trade up, and I feel that the Browns if given the opportunity would definitely trade down. With this said in mind, the Browns have shown "genuine" interest in USC QB Mark Sanchez. This is why you hear so many trade rumors about QB Brady Quinn. Quinn fits in with the short passing game that Eric Mangini uses, so why would he trade him. He hasn't seen much of Quinn, so whats the point of drafting Sanchez? Your better off drafting someone else or trading down than getting a QB. Why are the Browns showing interest in Sanchez? I believe that they are trying to bait a team to trade up for their pick. Will it work? Who knows, but I would be shocked if we drafted Mark Sanchez.....

The player that the Browns want the most is LB Aaron Curry. He is a tough linebacker who makes all the tackles, and has can play the run well. He is intelligent, has great character, and he won the Butkus Award (best linebacker) his senior year. He will fit our need at LB. The problem is he will probably be gone by the time we pick (the Chiefs will probably take him at #3). IF Curry is there at #5, the Browns will draft him for sure. Now if this happens, should we still trade Braylon? Yes we should, if you can get a 1st, 3rd, and a WR for him do it. He said when he got drafted that he really didn't want to play here, last year he said he didn't feel liked here (catch a pass, it might help you), and he is in the last year of a contract. There are several good WR's in this draft that will be available in the latter part of the first round (Harvin, Maclin, Nicks, Britt). Now if Curry isn't there, and Sanchez isn't a possibility who do the Browns take? Here are some names we could take at the 5th pick:

Michael Crabtree, WR Texas Tech- I think the only way we draft this guy is if we trade Braylon. Many reports have surfaced that the Browns do have a deal in place for Braylon (1st and 3rd and player from Giants), but the guys at the Orange and Brown Report can't confirm this. If Curry is gone, and the Browns can't trade down a few picks, I expect that the Browns will have the Giants on speed dial, and work out a trade. Crabtree might not be as fast as Edwards, but he runs routes much better, is a team leader, and has great hands. These are all qualities Edwards lacks, and it would be a great fit for our shorter passing style.

Brian Orakpo, DE/LB Texas- I like Orakpo as a defensive end, but as a linebacker I am somewhat scared. He is an incredibly strong guy, fast, elusive, and a hard worker. The problem with Orakpo is that he will be converting from DE to LB, and we know how well that has worked out for Kamerion Wimbley. I read a scouting report on Orakpo on the Orange and Brown Report, and they are also somewhat skeptical of him. Apparently his stats were padded at Texas as they recorded more QB pressures than he deserved. They believe he will be a good DE, but he might struggle at the point of attack as a LB, and might not be able to develop pass rushing moves. The Browns biggest need is a pass rushing LB, and if Orakpo struggles at the point of attack, he doesn't sound like a fit. A lot of mock drafts have Orakpo going to the Browns, but this is because we have a need for LB. He isn't worth the 5th pick, especially since he is such a high risk, and this is why I believe the Browns are trying to trade down and get LB who fits their needs.

Eugene Monroe, OT Virginia- Now this pick would have a lot of Browns fans scratching their heads and mad. I would be happy with this pick because we have a very weak right side of our offensive line. Monroe has great size 6'5 310 lbs, who is agile, can protect the QB, hard worker, and is a very smart player. We saw in 2007 how important an offensive line could be to a team. Monroe would play RT for the Browns and fill in for the released Kevin Shaffer. He would help solidify our offensive line for the next 5-10 years with Joe Thomas on the left side. This pick seems unlikely, but we all saw the effect that Joe Thomas has had on our offensive line.

Now if we trade down, or trade Braylon for a draft pick later in the first round, here are some names to consider:

Rey Maualuga, LB, USC- I would love to have this guy on our team. He has good size (6'1 260 lbs.), speed, and just wants to kill opposing offenses. The Browns need scary guys like this on our defense. He should be available from picks 6-20. He would fit our need of LB, and bring some serious toughness to our defense.

Clay Matthews III, LB, USC- This is another LB I would love to have. He has amazing size for a 3-4 defense (6'4 240 lbs.). He has a motor that never stops, a nasty demeanor, good lineage (father player for the Browns), and is very tough. Again he fits a need, and he should be available near the end of the 1st round.

Brian Cushing, LB, USC- Another USC LB could be a possibility for the Browns. Out of all of the USC LB's, I am the most skeptical of Cushing. He has good size (6'2 243 lbs.), was productive at USC, is very strong, and tough. The problem with Cushing is that he is injury prone, and not that fast. We need a quick LB to attack the QB.

Robert Ayers, DE, Tennessee- Ayers might be a DE, but he could transfer to a LB in a 3-4 defense because he is great at the point of attack, is good in pursuit, great tackler, and can shed blocks. He checks out as a good character, and he too should be available later in the first round. I would like this pick as well.

Everette Brown, DE, Florida St.- This guy on the surface might look like another Kamerion Wimbley, but if you take a closer look he might actually be a good fit. He has a wide variety of moves, very athletic, fast, tough worker, strong, and can close in on the QB quickly. Again, he should be available in the middle of the first round. I would rather have the three guys I listed above, but Brown would be a pretty good fit as well.

Jeremy Maclin, WR, Missouri- If we trade Braylon, and we take Curry at #5, this is the guy we could draft with the 1st rounder we would get with Braylon. He has great speed, good hands, and great upside. He is a threat anytime he touches the ball, and he would give our offense much energy. He can be used as a special teams guy, and he is versatile. I like Maclin, but only if we get a LB before him. Also, a knock on Maclin is that he might not fit with our short passing game, since he is better at running deep routes.

Hakeem Nicks, WR, UNC- Again, Nicks would be the guy we draft with the first round pick if Braylon is traded. He has good size (6'0), great hands, runs routes very well, tough, runs across the middle of the field, and is a team player. He would be a fit for our offensive passing game as well. He should be available in the end of the first round. Hicks would be a great pick, and I like him a little more than Maclin

Louis Delmas, S, Western Michigan- He would help fit the need of the departed S Sean Jones. He is tough, good in coverage, physical, productive, and a great team leader. The Browns could use an enforcer type safety, and he would be a good fit. Delmas should be available at the end of the first, beginning of the second round. I would like Delmas a lot because if you think about it, Mike Adams is our starting safety right now......

Again, not a lot of information has been released, and I am trying to be logical in who the Browns might take. There are a lot of "if's" in this draft. There will be some sort of activity going on, and I am excited to see what will happen. If I had to make a prediction, I say we end up trading Braylon, drafting Crabtree, and either Maualuga/Matthews/Ayers/Brown/Cushing with the other 1st round pick we acquire. Well I know this is a lot of information, but I hope it made you a little less confused on what the Browns could do.

Notes

-Congrats to Mike Brown for winning 2009 NBA Coach of the Year. He has done a great job trusting his assistants (Chris Jent, John Kuester), and his players.
-The Cavs looked very good in Game 1, and they should continue their dominance over the Pistons. People should appreciate the fact that the Pistons have gone to the Eastern Conference Finals for the past 6 years. They are one of the few teams to win a championship without a superstar player.
-I hope Ben Wallace's leg continues to improve, because his inside presence will be huge in the coming rounds. We need his defense and rebounding to combat the Dwight Howard's, Al Horford's, Pau Gasol's, and Andrew Bynum's. Our front line is going to be key in the playoffs.
-The Indians seem to be improving a little bit, and their offense is seeming to click. They scored 22 runs on the Yankees on Saturday.
-The bullpen is a big concern of mine as Jensen Lewis (8.10 ERA), and Rafael Perez (16.71 ERA) seem to be lost. Its sad that the Carl Pavano pitches well against his former team, but the bullpen blows it.
-Jon Meloan is was acquired in the Casey Blake deal, and has a 4.32 ERA in the minor leagues. Maybe its time we give him a try.
-Cliff Lee rebounded well after his 2 horrible starts. He seems to have better command, and is getting ahead in the count early.
-Travis Hafner continues to be steady as he is batting .286 with 4 homers and 8 RBI's. If he continues this, our offense will be much more potent and stable.

Well folks, thats about it. Thanks for reading and go Cleveland!

16 More Wins

2009-04-14T23:57:00.004-04:00

Hello everyone. Here are some of my quick thoughts.

Cleveland Indians
-Man this team has gotten off to a bad start. 1-7 won't cut it. Pitching has really killed us as we have allowed an average of 8 runs a game. Cliff Lee has struggled to find his command as he is 0-2 with a 9.90 ERA, Fausto is 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA, and Scott Lewis is on the DL.
-Travis Hafner has looked somewhat good so far, he has hit 3 HR and 6 RBI already. He looks like he cut some weight, and his swing is starting to come back. He is vital to our teams success.
-We need to get some legitimate starters in our rotation. Carl Pavano just isn't going to cut it, Lewis is hurt, and Reyes (your 5th starter) has the teams only win. Compare our pitching to the Rays rotation: Matt Garza, Andy Sonnanstine, James Shields, Scott Kazmir, and David Price. Look at the Red Sox: Dice K, Lester, Beckett, Bucholz, and Brad Penny. Yanks have CC, Burnett, Wang, and Pettitte. Do you really think our rotation matches up with these guys?
-Our hitting really hasn't been too big of a problem. I am excited to see some of our youngsters come up at play in the coming months.
-Eric Wedge's leash is starting to become tight, and he needs to start winning if he wants to keep his job. One year he has a good season, the next a bad one, this team flip flops too much. We need consistency, and our team is too good to be 1-7. This team has great potential, and they need to start playing like men.

Cleveland Browns
-I really have no idea what the Browns are going to do in the upcoming draft. They want "football players", I am not sure what you mean by that.
-At the #5 pick, we can go any different direction. WR Michael Crabtree, QB Mark Sanchez, LB Aaron Curry, OT Jason Smith, OT Eugene Monroe DE/LB Brian Orakpo are all names that have been mentioned.
-I think the Browns are trying to bait a team to trade for the #5 pick. I don't really believe LB Aaron Curry will be there, neither will OT Jason Smith, Orakpo isn't worth the 5th pick, if we don't trade Edwards we have no need for Crabtree. Where do we go?
-I believe the Browns want to trade down, and collect more draft picks. They don't want to pay a player #5 money, especially if that player does not fit a need. If we do trade down, pay attention to these names: DE Robert Ayers, OT Michael Oher, S Louis Delmas, LB's Rey Meualuga, Clay Matthews, and Brian Cushing and WR Jeremy Maclin. These are all guys that the Browns have brought in for workouts.
-The Browns should keep Brady Quinn. We haven't really seen much out of him, and I want to see him for a whole season before we trade him. He fits our short passing style very well, he is a competitor, and he doesn't make dumb mistakes.
-If the Browns are offered a 1st and 3rd for Braylon, they should trade him. He is unhappy here, he is in the final year of his contract, and he cannot catch a pass. We aren't going to be Super Bowl contenders, so you might as well trade away an unhappy player. Should we trade him, we should use our 5th pick on Crabtree, and depending on where the 1st round pick is, draft the best available LB or S. After that, go after an OT, S, RB, and LB.
-I will give a more extensive preview on the draft in a future blog.

Cleveland Cavaliers
-Congrats on getting homecourt gentlemen. It has been truly a great season, and we are 16 post- season wins away from a championship. If we don't win a championship, the season means nothing. LeBron talking about the heartbreaks we've had in Cleveland, and how it motivates the team is just awesome.
-Detroit will be a tough opponent in the first round, but I think we can handle them. PD's Brian Windhorst made a good point in that they have a rookie head coach in Michael Curry, crumbling team chemistry, no main scorer, and they run a very simple offense. The Pistons fell apart yesterday at home versus the Bulls. They needed to win that game to avoid playing the Cavs, and they didn't make it happen.
-According to RCF insiders, Ben Wallace should be ready for the playoffs this weekend. He is vital in our success, as he will give us a tough interior presence with our 2nd unit. When he came back, Wallace looked like he had fresh legs. He meshes will with the smooth inside/outside game of Joe Smith.
-The Cavs need to win game 1 at the Q, and game 3 in the Palace. By winning the first game, you establish yourself in the series, and its hard for a visiting team to win game 2. If you win the first away game, then the Pistons will just fold in game 4. My prediction Cavs in 5.
-This is going to be a very tough playoff run. We have to beat Detroit, Hawks/Heat, Celtics, and Lakers 4 times each to win the championship. My hope is the Lakers will get upset in the West, and the Cavs propel themselves to a championship against a weaker team (Nuggets).
-If the Cavs win every post season home game, we win a championship, its that simple.

We have a very exciting month coming up with the Browns draft, the Indians season in full swing, and the Cavs playoff run. I will do a Browns draft preview, some more Indians talk, and Cavs playoff thoughts. Thanks again for reading and go Cleveland!

-Raz

End of the Month

2009-03-31T21:27:00.005-04:00

It has been a long time since I last wrote. Here are some thoughts...

CSU Basketball

-I am very proud of these guys. They shocked the world by beating 4th ranked Wake Forest. The Vikings did not back down at all during the game, they hit clutch 3's, and they fought the entire game. Cedric Jackson's alley oop is still one of the best plays of the tournament. He made Wake Forest PG Jeff Teague look stupid.
-For their second game, the Vikings did not play well at all. They couldn't hit the 3, as they were 1/15 at one point. Arizona has 3 great players in PF Jordan Hill, PG Nic Wise, and SG/SF Chase Budinger. We looked very scared, and tentative during the game, and we were playing from behind the whole time.
-Even though CSU is losing bigmen George Tandy, Chris Moore, J'Nathon Bullock (who is trying out for the NFL Draft), and guard Cedric Jackson, this team has a lot to look forward to. Guards Tre Harmon, Jeremy Montgomery, Norris Cole form a solid core of guards. D'Aundrey Brown will return to play forward, and the team has 6'8 270 lb. PF Aaron Pogue (sat out this year) waiting to play. 6'9 C Kevin Anderson will be transferring from Juco, and the team signed Shaker Heights PG Anthony Wells. While CSU will have its growing pains next year, the future is bright.

Cleveland Indians
-I haven't written about the Tribe in a little while. I really feel like this team can be a sleeper team, and take the Central division. As long as Kerry Wood stays healthy, our bullpen will be very solid. Add Jensen Lewis, Joe Smith, Rafael Perez to the mix, and you have 4 dependable, good arms. Rafael Betancourt is due to make a comeback, and Masa Kobayashi can give a few solid innings.
-Mark DeRosa will make a big difference at third base. He adds a solid bat to this lineup, and if we can get Travis Hafner to 60% of what he used to be, the Indians will have a lethal lineup. Sizemore, Choo, Martinez, Shoppach, DeRosa, Peralta can all hit. We also have Michael Brantley, Matt LaPorta waiting in the outfield, and Carlos Santana waiting to play catcher. Add in the fact that Ben Francisco had a solid first half before burning out after the All Star Break, and you have an Indians lineup could be more dangerous that people believe.
-The biggest concern I have is our rotation. Its ironic that our rotation was our strong point last year, but now it is a weakness. We can't expect a 20+ win season from Cliff Lee, we don't know if Carmona can come back fully healthy, Carl Pavano has been inconsistent and injured throughout his career, Scott Lewis has been rocked in spring training (he gave up 10 runs in his last outing), and Anthony Reyes is still a question mark from last year (he has had a good spring training, 0.77 ERA). The best case scenario is Pavano stays healthy, Lee stays consistent, Carmona regains his form, Scott Lewis gets a grip, and Anthony Reyes gives us 6-7 solid innings an outing. This is a lot to ask for, but we will have to see.

Cleveland Browns
-With the Jay Cutler debacle in front of us (Broncos tried to trade him for Matt Cassell, now he is upset), many insiders including John Clayton have said that if a trade does happen for Cutler, Cleveland will have to be involved. This is because we have 2 QB's available in Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson. I would rather see Derek Anderson get traded because I believe Quinn has a higher upside, and will fit our short passing game offense much better. Quinn does not have as much experience, and I think we should let him play more.
-The issue of trading Braylon Edwards has come about, and if we can get 2 high draft picks (2nd and a 4th) along with a player, I am all for it. This would give a lot of picks day one of the draft, and allow us to rebuild this team. Braylon does not seem happy here (he went to Michigan), he can't catch, and his contract is up after this year. If he doesn't seem apt to staying here, trade him while you can. There was an offer reported by Orange and Brown Report that the Browns were offered the 2nd, and 5th pick from the Giants (New Orleans picks, Jeremy Shockey trade) and Dominix Hixon for Braylon. The Browns want WR Steve Smith from the Giants instead, and it hasn't worked out. With the Plaxico Burress mess still in form, look for this conversation to be revisited soon.
-I like the approach that Mangini is taking, he isn't going out and blowing all of our cap space on big name free agents. Look at all the bonuses that were due earlier this month (Donte Stallworth, Corey Williams, Shaun Rogers, Derek Anderson, Kevin Shaffer). Instead of spending, he is trying to find guys who fit his system through free agency, and building the team through the draft. I really believe Braylon, DA/Quinn will be traded for draft picks and young players. He wants guys who will play the game his way, and be responsible for themselves.
-If LB Aaron Curry does not fall to us at the 5th pick, and we cannot trade down, the Browns should select DE/LB Brian Orakpo. He has incredible strength, speed, productivity, and he is a hard worker. With the next 3 picks (2 in the 2nd rd and one in 3rd) we should go after a S, RB, WR. We need a S to help offset the Sean Jones loss, a RB to groom behind Jamal Lewis, and if Braylon is traded, we have to use one of our first three picks on a WR. Draft Day this year should be pretty busy.....

Cleveland Cavs
-The Cavs won their 13th straight game versus the Detroit Pistons tonight. We are 3 games ahead of the Lakers for the best record in the league, and 5 1/2 games ahead of Boston and Orlando for the top seed in the Eastern Conference. Home court is so important to us, as we have lost just 1 game at the Q all year. Without homecourt, I don't think we can get to the NBA Finals.
-LeBron James is inching closer and closer to winning his first MVP. The Cavs own the best record in the NBA, and LeBron is averaging 28, 7 and 7 this year. D Wade is great, but his team has only 39 wins, and he shoulders the load on his team. His season reminds me a lot of what LeBron did last year. LeBron lead the NBA in scoring last year with 30 ppg, 8 rebounds and 7 assists last year. Last years Cavs team only won 46 games. D Wade has 30 ppg, 5 rebounds and 7 assists a game this year. Remember, LeBron finished 4th in MVP voting last year....
-Kobe Bryant should be considered as well, but his numbers are down just a little bit from last year (he is scoring 1 less point, and 1 less rebound per game than last year). His team is doing very well (58 wins), but he has a lot of support from Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom. Many analysts believe that that he won the MVP award last year as a lifetime achievement award. They wanted to make sure he got the MVP, to justify the fact he has been the best player in the NBA for the past few years. Once he gets Andrew Bynum back, he will have to carry the team even less.
-The stars are aligning for the Cavs this year, as we will be getting Ben Wallace back soon, we acquired Joe Smith and he has played well for the Cavs. Kevin Garnett will not be playing for the next 4 games as his knee is still bothering him, Andrew Bynum will be returning from the Playboy Mansion to play soon, the Magic lost PG Jameer Nelson for the season, and the Spurs are dealing with the nagging injuries of Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobli. I still believe that if the Cavs go to the Finals with homecourt versus the Lakers, they still will not win. The Lakers have great outside shooters, size downlow, and Kobe Bryant. This will be hard to handle in a 7 game series. The Cavs will need another game 5 performance from LeBron to win it all this year. This could be a special year for this team.....

Thats all folks. Thanks for reading and go Cleveland!

-Raz

Dancing with myself!

2009-03-10T23:33:00.003-04:00

What a huge victory for the CSU Men's Basketball squad as they beat the Butler Bulldogs 57-54 in the Horizon League Championship. I am so happy for this team right now. The last time CSU went to the NCAA Tournament was in 1986. In 1986, I wasn't even alive, Ronald Reagan was the president of the U.S., LeBron James was 2 years old, Brad Daughtery was the first overall pick of the NBA draft, and "Sledgehammer" by Peter Gabriel debuted. My point being, its been awhile since CSU got to the tournament. This is such a great victory because earlier this year, CSU lost to a buzzer beater shot against Butler, and two weeks ago, CSU lost by 2 against Butler, in Butler. This team fought so hard to end the game as they never fell apart in the second half. They were down by as much as 8 points, but they never gave in. Senior guard Cedric Jackson played the game of his life as he scored 19 points, 8 assists, 7 boards, and 3 steals. Jeremy Montgomery hit huge three pointers throughout the game, Norris Cole had a huge steal near the end of the game, Tre Harmon played great defense, and George Tandy did a solid job on Matt Howard. J'Nathon Bullock struggled with foul trouble, but he fought his heart out. The 6'4 forward battled against forwards Matt Howard and Gordon Hayward, and he did not want this to be his final game in a CSU uniform. The only negative was that Chris Moore struggled throughout the game.

You could really tell CSU wanted this game more than anything. I have been cheering for CSU since I was a junior in high school. Back then, Mike Garland was coaching the team, they rarely won games, and the Wolstein Center had no fans. For many years, CSU had the lowest attendance rate of any Horizon League team. When Coach Gary Waters took over, he brought a new attitude and new philosophy to this basketball team. CSU started winning with defense, and smarts on offense. Me and one of my friends went to his summer basketball camp in 2006, and he was a great guy to speak to. I got to speak to him, and his assistant coaches, and these guys were awesome. They treated us like family, and I am so glad Coach Waters and his staff made it to the dance. Seeing him cry on the sidelines after CSU won tonight These guys deserve it and now the rest of the U.S. can see what this squad is made of. I am excited to see who this team will play in the tourney. Here is a link for your enjoyment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZ-bnob1edA

Thanks for reading folks, and go Cleveland!

-Raz

The Trifecta

2009-03-08T00:00:00.003-05:00

What a great night to be a Cleveland fan. The rest of Ohio can suck a cock after tonight. Columbus has nothing but the Ohio State Buckeyes football team, the Columbus Blue Jackets, and the Columbus Crew. No one watches hockey, I could play MLS soccer, and OSU football won't be good for another two years. You can collectively add the talents of Columbus athletics, and they wouldn't come near LeBron James. The other big city in Ohio is Cincinnati, and they have their MLB team in the Reds. I don't know what other sports teams come from there. All I know is that it would suck to be a sports fan in Cincinnati, because you really have nothing to cheer for, and your next to the state of Kentucky. Some of you might be wondering why I am calling out these cities, and its because this blog is about Cleveland sports, and how great it is. People always talk shit about this city and how we can't win anything, but I have a feeling it is going to change soon.
The John Carroll Blue Streaks basketball team heads to the Sweet 16 of the DIII NCAA Tournament after defeating Carnegie Mellon at the buzzer, the CSU Vikings defeated UW Green Bay to advance to the Horizon League Tournament Finals, and the Cleveland Cavaliers rebounded from a horrible loss to the Boston Celtics by defeating the Miami Heat. I will write a little bit about each of these three teams.

John Carroll Basketball
I am very happy that our squad advanced to the Sweet 16. I have a few friends on the basketball team, and they are a good group of guys. Our team plays great defense, and they just outwork every team. Our tallest player is 6'4, and we never give up in games. I am excited to see what this team will do this year, and next year in that we have 1 senior graduating. Also, our starting lineup features 4 juniors, and 1 sophomore. These guys are coached by Mike Moran, who has been a staple in coaching at JCU. Lets hope he can continue to lead our guys deep into the tournament.

Cleveland State Vikings
This is the team I was quietly cheering for the most. One of my favorite basketball players ever, J'Nathon Bullock played a great game tonight. He had 16 points and 8 boards. I would have been very sad if this was his last game. CSU trailed by 6 at half, and in the second half they played great defense, and attacked the basket on offense. Senior Point Guard Cedric Jackson had 14 points, 8 boards, and 4 assists. George Tandy had one of the best put back dunks of the year, and I am sure it will be on ESPN's top plays tonight. Sophmore Norris Cole stepped up big off the bench with 23 points. He is one of the building blocks of the future at CSU. This win is huge in that it came without one of CSU's best players in D'Aundrey Brown. I am very excited for the Horizon League Tournament Finals versus #22 Butler. Twice, Cleveland State has lost to Butler by 2 points. CSU has to have revenge on their mind, they are one game away from the Dance. Playing in the Hinkle Fieldhouse isn't easy, but I really think CSU can pull off the upset.

Cleveland Cavaliers
-Good win tonight versus the Heat. The Cavs returned to playing solid basketball, and they lead for most of the game.
-The Cavs played without any heart versus the Boston Celtics Friday night. The Celtics beat us because they wanted that game more than we did. Without Kevin Garnett and Glen Davis, the Celtics continued to pound us inside. Too many times Leon Powe, and Mikki Moore got 2 feet within the basket and just layed it in. Yes, we did not have Ben Wallace, and this game showed how much we really need him, but there is no excuse for Leon Powe to have 20 points on us.
-How does one stop this, two things, Its pretty simple, one box your man out. If you stay low, put your body on your man (I know this sounds gay), you will box your man out. I have done this numerous times while playing the game of basketball, and it works!
-Two, force your man to stay out of the paint. If he is trying to post up, put your arm and shoulders into him and force him out of the paint. If you just stand behind your man, and allow him to get the ball, he will either force his way in (like Glen Davis did with his big big body, like Leon Powe did with his quickness, and like Mikki Moore did with his athleticism and length). I know this sounds simple, but you have to play physical with the Celtics. In one of my previous blogs, I wrote how TrailBlazers forward Travis Outlaw said that you just need to hit the Celtics back if you want to beat them. That definitely didn't happen last night.
-Paul Pierce hit so many damn shots from the outside. He did this during game 7 too. Heres an idea, force him to go to the hoop. He has destroyed us from the perimeter, and putting a hand in his face isn't working. If we suck him to the middle of the floor, then he will be forced to take a bad shot or dish it out.
-We just looked outmatched yesterday, and we didn't seem to play as a team. Once we got behind, we gave the ball to LeBron. This didn't work in that he made 5-15 shots. He needs to quit his perimeter shooting, and go to the hole. When your 6'9 and 260 lbs. you shouldn't be shooting jumpers.
-The rest of the starters did fine as Anderson had 15 points and was the only active body downlow, Mo had 26 points as he put on a shooting clinic (4-5 from 3 pt. and 6-6 from the free throw line), Delonte had only 5 points, but he had 8 assists, and 6 boards, and Z continued his consistent play with 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Z also did a good job sticking up for Anderson again after Davis knocked him to the ground.
-JJ Hickson looked like a rookie (2 turnovers, 1 reb. 0 pts.), Joe Smith looked rusty (he shot 3-8), Daniel Gibson continued his struggles (3 pts, 1 reb. 1 assist), and Wally couldn't get any good looks (4 points).
-If we have any chance to win in Boston, we need great bench play, and a great game from LeBron. The Celtics feed off of their crowd so well, and we just need LeBron to be coldblooded (much like Kobe was earlier in the year in Boston). I think a another Game 5 performance is needed to knock the Celtics out....

Well folks, that just about does it. I hope we can continue winning here in Cleveland! Thanks for reading and go Cleveland!

-Raz

She Cried Mo, Mo, Mo.....

2009-03-02T22:17:00.012-05:00

What a huge win for the Cavs tonight versus the Miami Heat. The Cavs ended their recent roadtrip with a 3-1 record. The Cavs started off with a horrible loss to the Houston Rockets in which we lost Ben Wallace to a broken leg. We had our worst shooting night of the year that game. We picked it up with a win versus a injury depleted San Antonio Spurs squad, and a nail biter last night versus the Atlanta Hawks. Tonights win to me though was one of the best wins of the year. We were down 11 in the fourth, and the Cavs did not fold their tent. This team showed how it could overcome adversity at the end of games, and fight their way through a game. The Cavs flight into Miami was delayed numerous hours because of the snow storms in Atlanta, and the team did not get into the hotels in Miami until 7:00 AM. This team just has a different flare and swagger than teams in the past. In this game, Mo hit big shots in the last two victories, Andy drew charges, and LeBron had a huge dunk at the end of the game. This all came against one of the best players in the league in Dwyane Wade. Kudos to Mike Brown for shifting the defensive strategy in the fourth quarter by double teaming Wade with LeBron. Wade was held to 2-8 shooting in the 4th quarter. Remember, Wade scored a total of 41 points in this game. Brown forced the rest of the Heat to beat us, and the Heat had not seen this all game. I ussually don't interject my opinions of non-Cleveland players, but I think Wade is one of the best players in the league. I don't like when people compare LeBron to MJ because he is not the same player. To me, LeBron is more of a Magic Johnson with much more scoring. LeBron facilitates, rebounds, and is just a freak of nature when it comes to his size and speed. Wade is more like MJ in that he can shoot, he is consistently bringing pressure on defense, and he is an amazing finisher. LeBron, Kobe, and Wade are without a doubt the 3 best players in the game. I am glad to see Wade back in healthy form.

Back to the victory, this puts us 1 game ahead of the Celtics for the #1 seed. This is huge for us because if we get homecourt advantage I honestly believe we can go to the Finals. This victory shows us that we are a much better team than we were last year, and this game is definitely a confidence builder. Also, the addition of Joe Smith will only help this team. Chemistry really won't be affected because he played with us last year, and he brings a great veteran presence. He purposely got a buy out so he could come back here, and get a ring. We now have a solid big man off the bench, and this will allow Andy, and Z to get some rest. He is a good jump shooter, he rebounds well, and he is good at drawing offensive charges. When Ben Wallace comes back, we will have 4 solid bigmen, along with Hickson and Jackson. Its crazy to think that we traded Damon Jones for Mo Williams......

I want to write some quick scribbles about the Browns. This past Friday, the team traded TE Kellen Winslow to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a 2nd round pick this year, and a 5th round pick next year. I think this was a trade that needed to be made. Winslow is a difficult character guy, who wanted a new contract. The Browns paid this man $11.6 million in the 2 years he was hurt. The Browns made him the highest paid TE in the league before he took a snap in the NFL. He had one great season, and he wanted a new contract. He has bad shoulders, 4 knee surgeries, ankle problems, and 2 staph infections. He can no longer block as a TE, his speed decreased this past year, and he was flagged for 7 offensive pass interference penalties last year. He said the organization treated him like "a piece of meat".
There are two reasons why K2 was so vocal about the organization and his contract demands. One, he has been pampered and told that he is the greatest his whole life. His father was a TE for the San Diego Chargers, and Winslow once compared himself to a soldier. After the first touchdown he scored in the endzone his junior year at Miami, he did the Heisman pose. If he doesn't get what he wants, he whines. Second, K2 obviously knows that he is not 100% in terms of health, and he probably will never be. He once said that he will probably be at 90% the rest of his career, but him at 90% is "better than any TE in the league" (ego issues?). He wants to make as much money possible because he knows his body won't stay healthy for much longer. Did you notice that his contract demands came right after his first Pro Bowl year? Maximizing ones own value? He played in only 10 games last year and was hurt for most of it. Lately, he was unable to practice at full speed because of his health problems. Now, don't get me wrong, K2 is one of my favorite players on the Browns. He plays with a lot of heart, and he has great hands, but he is just way too much to handle. What made me love him so much (his swagger, great plays as a receiver), also made me cope with the trade. His contract demands, coupled with his large ego probably did not bode well with the new staff. Our new staff is not like Romeo where they will just let players do what they want. Also, a positive from the trade is that we saved saved about $3.6 million for the cap. I was sad to see K2 get traded, but the Browns are in need of picks, and he was just too much. Here are some other quick notes about the Browns:

-Speaking of cap space, the Browns have about $25 million free.
-Kokinis and Mangini have been looking at players that will fit into their system. They are not going for "big name" signings. Some guys that might be brought in for visits are S Jim Leonard, and CB Jabari Greer.
-Shaun Rogers is unhappy because Phil Savage promised him numerous things when he was signed. The new regime did not get that memo, and he is unhappy. Also, Rogers is unhappy that Mangini did not speak to him when he was first hired. Again, like K2, Rogers is a pro athlete who will get upset when someone does not speak to him. There are worst things in the world Shaun. Also, seeing Albert Haynesworth get a $100 million contract does not help.
-Josh Cribbs met with Mangini and Kokinis and Cribbs came away very impressed. Notice how last year Cribbs and Jamal Lewis called out the team for quitting, and you didn't hear a word out of Braylon, K2, or Rogers? How many times did we see Braylon drop a pass and him saying that the game was his fault? I remember Willie McGinest said the Pittsburgh loss last year was on him because of a missed tackle...
-The insiders on the Orange and Brown report said that the Browns front office will meet with Braylon. If he is open and receptive to a new contract and team philosophy, then they will look to lock him up, as he is in the last year of his contract. If he does not seem inclined with the visit, then look for the Browns to trade him....
-There is nothing new to report on the DA/Brady Quinn situation.
-The Matt Cassell trade to the Chiefs basically insures that they will draft LB Aaron Curry. The Browns can either draft DE/LB Brian Orakpo from Texas, or trade down to draft USC LB Rey Mealuga.

Well folks, sorry about the information overload. I am on Spring Break, and I thought I would update the blog. I have to watch a few Indians games, and I will hopefully write about them. Also, the CSU Vikings Basketball team is playing in the Horizon League Tournament this week, so I hope to have some good things to write about. All in all, thank you, and go Cleveland!

-Raz