Stallworth and Edwards Together on Night Before Fatal Accident
July 7, 2009While We’re Waiting… The Sabathia Trade, a Korean Choo Jersey and Thoughts on 2010
July 8, 2009For those of you who are fond of chasing around message board rumors, here’s another one for you. This one was finally confirmed just before 11:00 pm by Brian Windhorst. (By the way, why can’t the Cavs do something during normal business hours anymore?)
Tonight’s rumor du jour involves our own Andy Varejao. As we detailed earlier, Andy is an important piece for the Cavs with one of the oldest center tandems in recent memory. In addition to playing both the 4 and 5 spots, Cleveland owns Varejao’s bird rights and can exceed the cap to pay him. Additionally, the Cavs will still have the full MLE (Mid Level Exception) and bi-annual contracts to offer.
Details have yet to come out, and given the history between the Cavs and Dan Fegan (Varejao’s agent) it is entirely possible that these negotiations take more than this initial round of talks. In fact, Brian Windhorst called the situation “fragile.” Great. Sounds like Fegan is demanding more than the Cavs are comfortable paying for the 26 year old big man. Fegan seemed to be holding all the cards at the end of the season, but the trade for Shaq, along with the availability of several free agent power forwards might have pushed things into a more balanced negotiation.
Brian also mentioned that the Cavs have entered negotiations with former Raptor Anthony Parker. Parker is a 32 year old shooter. The Cavs have targeted him for a couple of years, but have not been able to get him to Cleveland. What can Parker do for the team? He is a 2 guard that can knock down open shots. He averages 10 points a game and has a career 3 point FG% of 41. Don’t expect him to be a stopper on the defensive side of the ball, but on this team he will be forced to play to the best of his defensive ability.
Again, details of contract length and amount discussions are not available. Parker’s salary last season was $4.5 million. That scares me a little. Here’s hoping that Ferry isn’t giving him the full MLE.
31 Comments
I hate to be that guy, but Anthony Parker is 34.
His shooting percentage went down last year from the year before, and it will probably happen again
This item is awfully late for WFNY. I thought you guys had a curfew.
As for the “fragile” line by Windy…ehhhhh
“but on this team he will be forced to play to the best of his defensive ability”… Sounds way to close to Wally to me. When he came here he was a career 40? 3pt shooter who would have to play D to the best of his ability as well. We all know hoe that turned out. I’m not saying Parker is Wally Jr… well I guess I knind of am. He’s 34 as Ricky said and his numbers last year took a pretty steep decline as far as production. Hopefully he will be signing for the Bi annual b/c I don’t see another team giving him more than that anyway.
Andy should not get more than the 6.2 mil he would have been gauranteed this year. He’s not worth more than Artest, Ariza, Gortat or even McDyess imo. Really hs only advantage is that he’s still pretty young (which we need) and he plays well with LeBron. But that was when we had Z standing around the three point line. Andy doesn’t pick and pop too well which is what we would need him to do with Shaq in the paint and LeBron trying to get into the lane. I hope he’s been practicing that funky Brazilian jumper he has.
I would like to see Brandon Bass get a call or a meeting. I think he could be a real good player given the minutes. He was really efficient when he played the last two seasons. He likes to mix it up and can hit the 15footer with ease. Only problem is his height but Millsap isn’t the tallest either, so that’s a mood point to me.
Parker is much better defensively than Wally. He has good lateral movement and keeps his feet well. His main problem is that he can get lazy on defense…so the hope would be that we could keep him from losing focus.
Bass would be interesting….but I would be surprised to see us offer as much as SA, ORL or DAL for him.
Now that the projected salary cap numbers for 2010-2011 are out, let’s see how much of the MLE the Cavs want to give up for a guy like Parker.
I think the new salary cap could actually help the Cavs for next year. Just looking at the salary numbers for next year (assuming LeBron opts out with the intention of resigning) the Cavs are committed to $18 mil for 6 players. Hopefully, we can sign AV for under 7 which would put the Cavs at 25 for 7. Now imagine an extreme coup in getting Josh Childress for 5-6 with the mle for a couple years and Channing Frye for the biannual at 2+. Now the Cavs are at $33 mil with 9 players. The projected cap for NEXT offseason is 57.5 million. That gives the Cavs $24 mil and the bird rights to LBJ.
I guess my point to this, other than wasting an enormous amount of time at work, is that the Cavs need to use their MLE on a young guy like Childress who will be around for a couple years and can be part of a great young core. With that extra 24 mil (assuming the cap doesnt drop anymore) the Cavs could easily sign another max contract (Bosh or Wade) and probably another pretty good role player before resigning LBJ over the cap. The best way to get one of those two though is to have everything else set up.
This may sound overly optimistic, but im struggling to keep afloat given all the disappointments this offseason, so allow me to have these pipe dreams.
“Parker is much better defensively than Wally”
But how is his playoff blog?
In all seriousness, I wouldn’t mind Parker. I just don’t have him at the top of my list. This whole situation reminds me of the Indians free agency seasons when we lust over all of these names and then simply end up re-signing Casey Blake…
Well I apparently misread the cap story. The Cap for this season is 57.5. The cap for next offseason is 50 – 51. Still could get two max contracts but would reduce the number of quality role players i guess.
Lately it seems like a lot of people have been pissed that LBJ won’t sign an extension this summer. They figure quality FA’s don’t want to come to Cleveland with uncertainty about Lebron being here past 2010.
If Lebron re-signed this summer, what would that do to our ability to offer a max contract to another stud next off-season? From what I’ve read, it seems like the only way we get some monster combo of Lebron + Bosh, is if Lebron opts out, we sign someone else for a max contract and then use our bird rights on LBJ.
I’m a salary cap newbie so help me out.
I still dont understand how players dont want to play in cleveland…its not like you have to STAY here…keep your homes in miami and la…all you need to do is show up here 41 (maybe 60 with the playoffs) and thats it…youre not expected to buy east 6th street and hang out with the scum from Parma…you just need to suck it up and stay in a hotel while youre here…makes no sense to me…cleveland fans are some of the best fans in the US…how come free agents are so reluctant to come here?
*41 times/games
I don’t know much about Anthony Parker but I read some comments from a Cavs fan that lives up north and regularly saw Raptors games on the PD’s website. He compared Parker to an older Wally Z that is soft on D.
If we use our MLE, I just hope we don’t waste it.
And since this article waste about Varejao, I’m not thrilled about giving him $6+mil/year on a multi-year deal just b/c he is young, has “energy” and “chemistry” with Lebron. Are there really no better options, or at least cheaper ones?
Eshaw, you make some really good points, especially in your second paragraph.
I am still upset that McDyess isn’t getting more love from Cleveland. I would rather have him on this team than Andy. At least Antonio can hit the mid range jumper. Reghi said something yesterday that would be absolutley the best deal for the Cavs. Mcdyess and Childress.
This only solidifies my belief that Fegan is becoming the Rosenhaus/Boras of the NBA
I expect all players who play in Cleveland to buy E 6th street.
Anthony Parker is a guy that will come day in and day out and give it his all. That is what he did in Toronto, do not look at his stats, he is a way better player than that.
For all of yours who didn`t saw Parker play- the guy is one of the top 5 euroleague players of all time!
He was the best player in europe and was the Kobe/Jordan of europe.
The guy was considered as the “best player in the world not in the nba” before he signed with the raps.
He was was a legened overseas!
Anthony Parker won 3 euroleague titles and was the mvp of the euroleague for 2 years in a row.
He has a beautiful fade away/off balance shot(Picture perfect jumper) and he’s a very good all around player.
He just played in a terrible system with toronto. Instead of using him as the all around player that he is, they used him as a weak side spot-up shooter, and they rarely runs any plays for him.
He’s a first class human been and a class act. The problem with him is that he’s way too nice and way too unselfish.
Instead of playing like the spectacular player that he’s capable (he was an amazing player overseas)- he played like a team guy and he didn`t tried to do much (unfortunately).
Skill set, AP is a much better scorer than what his stat shows!
The reason that he averged only 11 points per game (his last season) is because that he was benched in the first 10 games of the triano era, and also because he was under-used in a very bad system for him.
Then Triano also used his as backup point guard (along with his natural shooting guard) and he showed that he’s a lot more than just a spot-up shooter.
And also, he has a tremendous basketball IQ (One of the smarter players europe has ever saw)!
He played as a point guard in his last 1 and half years in europe (he can play 1-3) and he makes everybody around him better.
The thing that is frustrated me about him is that he doesn`t show his true talent in the NBA (A big reason was the lack of touches and a bad system).
He’s playing there (nba) like 25% of the player that he really is (he will never complain about his role because he’s a class act).
Cleveland must sign this guy! He’s the perfect glue guy, and he’s is as good as character guy as there is (Colangelo describes his as “the best human been he ever been around in 20 years that he is in this business”)
Sorry for my bad english!
Sounds like Varejao is getting a long deal (5 yrs) so maybe he’s taking a little less in yearly salary in exchange for the extra security. A little less salary means a little more cap room for the Cavs next offseason.
A big NO to Parker. A big YES to Matt Barnes.
@17
“they used him as a weak side spot-up shooter”
With Shaq and LeBron on the team, that’s all he’ll be with the Cavs. If that’s not his strength, then he’s a terrible fit for this team.
Espn reported the estimated cap for next seaosn to be between 50-53.5 mil. That said, it would be much wiser for LBJ to sign the extension on July 18 (the first time the Cavs can offer it) because it would be the best way to currently maximize the deal, unless he accepts the option year and hopes there a big jump in cap the following summer (2011).
Along those lines, LBJ’s bird rights do not allow you to sign a player then go over by signing LBJ. His bird rights take up 16-18 mil in the cap next year, unless they renounce them, but that doesnt make any sense.
I agree with Boom about parker. Maybe he is a terrific player, but when he cant be the 1,2 or 3 option in an offense (LBJ, Shaq, then Mo) he will fail. The Cavs need a pure shooter, and maybe boobie will make it happen since Shaq will be creating a lot of double teams down low. If the Cavs are truly trying to maximize this year but still want space next year, then should go after McDyess. They could give him a 1-year deal, and if andy comes along for 6 mil or under, then that helps too.
Last thought here- The cavs could use their bird rights on Wally to sign him to a 1 year contract thats worth a ton (10-15 mil). then they could work out a sign and trade for a player of their choice (boozer?) and have it worked in the contract for Wally to get bought out for 4-5 mil. Now you ask, Why would Wally do that? He would get 4-5 mil for signing a piece of paper, then be able to sign where ever he wants still. Maybe Ferry is working on something like that, and won’t even use the MLE so he has more space for next season.
@Bobby – I posted a similar idea earlier. I’ve read conflicting reports on whether it’s legal under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, but it would be a great way to get a good player from a team looking to save money, if not cap space.
@Bobby Why would the Cavs be allowed to use Bird rights to sign wally over the cap and not LBJ next year? I have a very basic understanding of the NBA salary rules but I thought you could use your Bird Rights to resign an eligible player of the cap?
/hopes Denny doesnt reside in Parma…
Anthony Parker is a great shooter!
He such an unselfish player!
That is why he isn`t playing there like he’s capable.
He’s a lot like J-Kidd in terms of his selfishness.
He’s the perfect glue guy for this team.
He was known there as the “glue guy” that will do all the little things.
There is a reason why he averaged 33 min per game.
He was known in toronto as a lock down defender who has a fantastic basketball IQ and he’s a lights out shooter (even through he was a slasher/driver in europe).
He just not maximizing his talent in the nba (he’s playing like 25% of the player that he really is). As i said before- he played in a terrible system and was under-used.
Just to put it in perspective, in europe, AP was a much bigger star than Calderon, Scola, Turkoglu and those guys (he played against them a lot).
His style in europe was more flashy than what he shows in the nba (he was the Kobe/Jordan of europe). He just playing there a mistake-free in the nba.
Watch some of his highlights in youtube (include spectacular dunks).
@ 22- because LBJs salary hold is 16-18 mil. So when you factor in the cap room for next year, you add 16-18 mil for LBJ, and that is taken away if the Cavs sign bosh. Its like the raptors this year renouncing bird rights to Marion and parker to sign turkaglu
Thanks for the explanation Bobby.
Anthony Parker is 34 and is actually a very good defender. He even checked LeBron last year.
@27- Checked LeBron? Checked him how? In the game LeBron scored 28 or 33 points? Or how about the game LeBron scored 20 in the first 3 quarters and then sat out the 4th? I’m confused what you mean by ‘checked’?
You’re confused by the term checked? You probably shouldn’t be writing columns on basketball then. The term means he guarded him. The point I’m making is that he is a good enough defender that his coaching staff asked him to guard the best player in the world. And on those occasions LeBron basically came up with his per game average. I don’t think you’d see Wally CHECKING Dwyane Wade. So the assertion that he is a below average defender (something along the lines of a Wally Szczerbiak) is just plain silly. I (unfortunately) watched a lot of Raptors basketball over the last couple of years because I do business there most of the winter. The guy can play D better than the majority of the league and would mesh just fine with a squad that already plays great team D.
no one is going after andy. thats how you know he is looking for too much.
[…] twitter account the Cavaliers have come to terms with free agent SG Anthony Parker. As we reported last night, Parker played the last three seasons in Toronto. He averaged just under 11 points per game last […]