The 5-Hole, CBJ News and Notes- 8/19/08
August 19, 2008Handing Out the Grades…And It Isn’t Good
August 19, 2008
A report from the Morning Journal has a lot of Cavaliers fans stirring. While the entire piece focuses on the ball-dropping summer of Delonte West, the last few bullet points were easily the most intriguing pieces to the off-season puzzle.
Rumor mill
* The rumor mill has been churning after the Williams deal. The Cavs could be talking to the Knicks about a big man.
* Technically, the Cavs can still trade point guard Eric Snow, but they wouldn’t be able to use the injury exception. There is no update on his injury settlement with the insurance company.
* A source said the Cavs could have gotten forward/center Dan Gadzuric from the Bucks in the Williams deal, but declined.
Mighty interesting. We have news about Danny Ferry turning down a possible big man. An update on Eric Snow. And most important, a rumor of possible dealing with the New York Knicks – The 2010 Enemy.
Amar over at Cavalier Attitude is under the impression that the possible target in said rumors would be glass-crasher extraordinaire, David Lee. Of course, this thinking is more than supported by the New York Post article that we touched on not all that long ago, stating that the Knicks could look to move Lee with the drafting of Danillo Gallinari.
Obviously, I am a huge fan of Lee. His hustle would more than compliment LeBron (and Mo) down low. He’s young – especially in comparison to our current starting power forward in Ben Wallace. And if stats are an issue, Lee’s PER was just a hair over 18. To compare, Ben Wallace was 11.98 and Zydrunas Ilgauskas was 18.76.
But what if the Knicks aren’t talking about Lee? If not Lee, who would they be looking to move? Alan Hahn from Newsday.com thinks he has the answer: Zach Randolph. THE Zach Randolph.
First, the first names that come to mind for each respective party are very telling as to what each respective set of fans would like to see. Why wouldn’t we want Lee? But why would we want Randolph? If we were concerned about the defense of Mo Williams, add about eight inches of height, and take away about 80 percent of the motivation – the perfect recipe for a Randolph cocktail.
Hahn’s retort to the defense argument:
“When Brown needs defense down low, he can go to Anderson Varejao.”
Great. So, in turn, we can trade for a guy who makes a ton of money and then sub him out on the off occasion that we – you know – want to play defense for a few minutes. Where do I sign?
Hahn thinks that the Knicks would only ask for Wally Szczerbiak and Ben Wallace in return. Two of our heaviest deals in terms of cap restrictions, that would indirectly make the Hughes/Gooden et al trade a package of Delonte West, Randolph and Mo Williams. Not bad on paper, but still not one that I would really want to make. Sure, it could add a 20-point guy to our roster, but at what cost?
2008/09: $14,666,666 (an omen if I’ve ever seen one)
2009/10: $16,000,000
2010/11: $17,333,333
So we would be trading with a team that is in the (media-based) hunt for LeBron James, taking on a huge contract, and clogging up more cap space for the 2010 season? No thank you.
The Portland Trailblazers were one of the bigger up-and-coming teams going into last season, and they could not wait to get rid of Randolph. He heads to the Knicks, and that team proceeds to be one of the worst in the league. With a track record, attitude and work ethic that comes along with the former Michigan State big man, Danny Ferry would be out of his mind to even consider this deal.
For now, let’s all remember that this is all currently in the rumor stage, and the entire Randolph story is obviously coated with the ever-present New York bias. Do not be shocked if said Randolph rumors gain more traction than the possibility of anything regarding David Lee. After all, why would David Lee want to live in Cleveland?
To be continued…
Report: Cavs talking to Knicks [Cavalier Attitude]
The Knicks Fix [Newsday.com]
17 Comments
To be fair to Randolph — and it pains me to say that — the Knicks were terrible long before he arrived. It’s never been a question of Zack’s talent. If, and this is a big if, he could behave himself and adapt to a team concept, he would undoubtebly help the Cavs.
I don’t know if Lee is the answer. He’s a high energy role player with limited offensive skill. He would be a slight improvement over Varejao and certainly has more potential than Anderson. But given the makeup of your roster, I wouldn’t trade for him.
First off, thanks for the line, Scott. I remember that you guys pointed to the D-Lee piece in Newsday back in June…that, in fact, is when I first got the idea of using Lee as one of the pieces to this puzzle, and when Finnan mentioned a big man from the Knicks, I took the idea and ran with it.
And that Randolph idea…what is that guy thinking? I live in Portland right now, and I was able to experience about two and a half years of watching Randolph with the Blazers. Dude is SOFT…I mean, the guy makes Drew Gooden look like Dwight Howard or Amare Stoudemire. He was called out by Brandon Roy when Roy was a rookie. He’s a good rebounder – maybe the best we would have since Boozer if Zebo found his way to Cleveland – but is that worth the exorbitant price?
Plus, Randolph and Ilgauskas up front would complement each other terrible. TERRIBLY. That would be a disaster waiting to happen. I mean, if the Knicks take Z straight up for Zebo, I can see Zebo and BW complementing each other well. But I don’t want any part of Randolph or his game. He’s never been a key member of a winning team in his entire career. We could actually have a Stephon Marbury effect with him – he left Portland, and the Blazers got BETTER, just like every team Starbury left instantly got better. Hmmmm…
Brandon – considering that we’re likely losing Anderson after this season, you wouldn’t trade for Lee? Intriguing, as I wouldn’t think twice, as long as the price was right…
I am pretty sure Lee’s offense is actually rather decent. I would love to see him here. He would be the best PF this team has seen since the back stabber
NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
We can’t actually trade for Zach Randolph! No! The children! What about the children!?
@ Scott: If your plans are to let go of Varejao, I suppose I’d take Lee. But they can’t exist with one another — even for one season. Especially since you have Ben Wallace too. Three frontcourt players who struggle to put the ball in the basket is two too many. I just think Cleveland needs a legitimate back-to-the-basket low-post scorer.
B- I’m under the impression that Wallace would be moved in said deal. It would be a logjam of non-scoring threat PFs, but if it came down to offense I would have to have Lee atop the list. Not that that’s saying much.
I agree though – we would need a scoring PF. I just dont want one with the baggage and issues that Randolph brings. Need I remind us all….
Zach Randolph: Handles
I like Lee as an eventual replacement for Varejao. He’s a more efficient scorer, better rebounder, and has far more potential. However, if the conventional wisdom is to hold on to Varejao until the deadline for maximum return, the frontcourt of “raw” “energy” players does become quite crowded with him, Lee, and Wallace playing the same role. Signing Lee also fails to address the hole created by Joe Smith’s departure– a big who can spread the floor by consistently knocking down the mid-range jump shot when Z is on the bench. It’s also important to keep playing time for Hickson in mind, as he seems likely to develop into an athletic banger/rebounder, albeit one with a much better low post repertoire than any of our other PFs. In my opinion, signing a veteran 4 who can knock down a jump shot potentially sets up a nice inside/outside combo with Varejao, Wallace, or Hickson when we choose to go small.
Now, I don’t want to come off like I am one of those crazy unrealistic fans. At the same time, when I found out we had some of the best expiring deals in the league, the names Zach Randolph and David Lee are NOT what popped into my head. I am waiting for the season to start and a team to falter. I am waiting for that unmotivated allstar making the big money to become available because the team is garbage. That is what the Cavs need to do with Wally, Eric Snow, etc.
Again, I don’t even know who I am targeting yet, but it ain’t Randolph’s bloated salary and minuscule motivation.
Speaking as a Knicks fan, I HOPE we get rid of Zach Randolph… I’d take a cheese sandwich back for him… clearing cap room for the Le Run on LeBron is the mustard to that sandwich.
I’ll just say that if the Cavs trade for Randolph, I will quit. Quit blogging, quit watching the NBA, quit rooting for the Cavaliers, quit caring…..all of it. I will quit.
How real is my threat, you ask? It’s every bit as real as all the celebs who said they would move to Canada if Bush got re-elected.
Oh, and I know I usually back up my statements, to at least explain why I feel so strongly one way or the other, but on this one, the tone of Scott’s piece explains it better than I could. Nice work Scott.
I think most people are expecting the Cavs to start the season as is Craig. Last season the Cavs found themselves out of time to get everything together after the huge trade in Feb. Partly because of the sheer volume of players involved, and partly because of the injury situation. Is it reasonable to think that Ferry is nervous about waiting so long to unload these contracts? Plus, in order to secure some home court advantage the Cavs might not be able to wait until January to beef up the roster.
Without major injury, this team as is should be one of the top 4 in the East. No question about that, but to make a run at the Championship the Cavs need to be the #2 seed at least IMO.
I’m not wanting Randolph, and I don’t know that adding Lee really makes the difference between being #2 and #4. Someone will be available in January that can be a difference maker.
I think Randolph is terrible and wouldn’t want him on the team, I wouldn’t mind lee though, but the best thing to do is wait until around the dead line and use Snow’s and Wally’s contracts to get a the peices we need from the teams that decide they want to rebuild and clear cap space. If we did that we would have better odds of landing peices that would be more important and of better quality.
@ Scott: I love that Randolph clip. Lol. If all else fails, I think Cleveland would be better served to let those contracts expire and try and improve themselves through free agency. I think Ferry has a made a lot of lateral moves in his tenure.
[…] negotiations haven’t progressed at all. The Knicks-Cavs trade rumors have been covered extensively (and may I add more extensively). I’ll briefly write up my feelings on the proposed trades […]
How about this trade proposal: Trade Szczerbiak’s expiring contract for Vince Carter?
Wait to if the Phonix Suns implode this year and take a stab at Amare. RaSheed wallace may leave Detroit if Dumars decides to rebuilding his roster and he is a team player who if you watched in his pregame ceremony really gets his team excited. Playing with lebron will give him a good reason to play hard fo two more years and he brings vet experience. Also CLE could pray/wait for the Chris Bosh to get fed up with the Raptors experiment.
The idea about surrounding Lebron with another “Me first” player is begining to look like an inversion of the Lakers. one selfish player surrounded by team players.