Casspi: Cleveland Provides a Great Opportunity
June 30, 2011Why The Indians Shouldn’t Trade For Jose Reyes
July 1, 2011While We’re Waiting serves as the early morning gathering of WFNY-esque information for your viewing pleasure. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email at tips@waitingfornextyear.com
“Rather than wait, the Cavs are moving on now — while acknowledging the rebuilding process could be a long one. For Hickson, they get a much-needed shooter in Omri Casspi and a lottery-protected future first-rounder who adds to the team’s trove of picks over the next several seasons. “This is another step in our on-going process to shape and position our team and roster for future growth and a platform for sustained success,” Cavaliers general manager Chris Grant said.
Hickson is still just 22, is skilled around the basket and rebounded better late last season than he had at anytime prior. But Hickson struggled with consistency and spent a little time in Byron Scott’s doghouse last season, and rather than wait and wonder if the light would ever really stay on, the Cavs can move forward now and eliminate any potential debate and discussion about Hickson’s future with the club while opening up minutes for Thompson and Samardo Samuels. Did Hickson really fit what Scott wants the Cavaliers to become? Does Grant think Thompson’s ceiling is that much higher than Hickson’s? We may never get concrete answers to those questions, but the Cavs now head into an uncertain period knowing they’ll eventually get to evaluate Thompson and Samuels in game settings and knowing they have another pick to potentially move again as they point forward to what’s expected to be a loaded 2012 draft.” [Jackson/FSO]
–
“There are a lot of reasons that the Cleveland Indians should not callup Triple-A second baseman Jason Kipnis to the big league club. He is not even up for roster protection until after the 2012 season, and he is still very green at second base since this is his second full season playing the position. If the Indians were not contending and simply going through another sub par season as they have the past few years, there would be no chance at a callup of Kipnis for these exact reasons. But winning changes everything, and desperate times call for desperate measures.
The Indians surprisingly are in a heated AL Central battle as at the end of June they find themselves in a first place tie with the Detroit Tigers, something many people – even the Indians themselves – did not expect at this point in the season. With winning now the priority and development taking a backseat, we are seeing several of their young heralded prospects such as right-handed pitcher Alex White and third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall getting called up much earlier than expected.” [Lastoria/Indians Prospect Insider]
–
“So the NBA leveled the lockout at midnight on Thursday, and there’s a real chance the NBA is gone for a full year now. This has the makings of the NHL’s labor war of 2004-05, where the cost of instituting a hard salary cap cost the sport a complete season. The union elders don’t want to give into that, nor do the agents who could be rendered far less relevant in an NBA world where there’s no middle class of players. Stars will get paid, and everyone else will fight for the scraps left under a hard cap.
“The key for this comes from, say, Sept. 1 to Sept. 15,” says a source involved in the talks. “The owners have always been willing to blow off July and August, but once they cancel the first part of the season, that’s when we find out if they have the stomach to go the distance.” For now, Hunter has the support of the players, but the agents could eventually erode it. Mostly, the agents don’t see a way out here. They don’t see a chance for Hunter to negotiate them out of harm’s way.” [Wojnarowski/Yahoo]
–
Jamison on the NBA lock-out- “It’s why just as the NBA was officially announcing Thursday night it was locking out its players, Jamison predicted the labor dispute will either be settled before games are missed—or the entire season will be lost. “I think in ’98-99, we didn’t think it would be a long, drawn out process,” Jamison said after speaking to children at a school in his hometown. “Just the unity, the guys understanding what we’re facing and what we’re up against is totally different than what it was when I first got into the league.”
Nearing the end of his career and due one of the largest salaries in the league next season—about $15 million—Jamison would have plenty to lose if next season is wiped out. But Jamison insists there’s unity from the rookie draft picks to the league’s stars.” [AP/Yahoo.com]
–
Not sure I even want to bring this one up. More details from the producers of ‘The Decision’. [The Point Forward]
16 Comments
While the owners are prepared to cancel the whole season to get what they want, there is no way the players can survive. They’ll cave by Christmas. How are they going to buy their entourages new iPads if they aren’t getting checks from the league?
yeah, I read that ‘decision’ piece yesterday. Just another attempt and justifying what has undeniably been a horrible way of announcing things.
the funny thing is, from those interviewed, they still don’t get why it was taken the wrong way.
gosh, that means a certain someone might lose a season of his prime…that’s a shame
/s
All I care about lockoutwise is, do al the ping pong balls get put back in the machine OR do they just go with last years list giving the Cavs the first pick again? I would gladly go without NBA basketball for a year for that first pick. Heck, I pretty much went all of this past season without the NBA. I needed a break.
I wish someone would ‘abuse me’ like LeBron for hundreds of millions of dollars. Those guys just don’t get it.
have you seen the Kings starting 5? they have approximately 0% chance of making the playoffs in the west, meaning we have exactly 0% chance of ever cashing in that “1st rd ” pick
@Chucky – for next year, you are correct. let’s give them a 0.5% chance to give ourselves a little hope in a lockout shortened season 🙂
but, i wouldn’t say that we don’t ‘ever’ have a chance at cashing in a 1st rounder. all it will take is one year of them playing above expectations and just missing the playoffs (outside the top10 after the first couple of years). I think the Kings can do that.
or, they could land a star in one of the next couple of drafts that puts them over the top as a playoff team.
Yeah, I wondered about the first round pick as well. If it’s still a lotto pick through 2017, we just get a second rounder instead? It also gives the Kings an even bigger incentive than most to tank rather than get the 7-8 seed, because they’d go from having a lottery pick to no pick at all.
here’s the actual parameters:
“The pick which the Cavs will receive will have the lottery protection reduced to top-13 protection in 2013, top-12 in 2014, and top-10 until 2017.”
What happens after 2017?
we get their 2nd round pick instead of a 1st.
can we have thm realigned to the East?
Okay, so this is essentially a smokescreen. It’s not a “first rounder unless” it’s a second rounder unless the Kings make the playoffs. Chris Grant has not done anything stupid enough to be compared to David Kahn, but neither has he done anything smart enough to rule it out.
I have very little faith that Tristan Thompson will be a serviceable NBA player, and if that is the case, I will consider Grant worse then Kahn
@4. Even if there’s no season and they keep this year’s draft order, that would be the Clipper’s pick since it was the pick that they dealt to us in 2011 that ended up #1, not the Cavs own pick. Even if there’s no season, that’s still the 2012 draft and the Clippers would control their own pick.
So, now there’s no good reason to look forward to the lockout:)
Did someone say 2017? Yikes