It’s shaping up to be one hell of a July—again: While We’re Waiting…

Happy Monday, you guys. Stay dry this weekend? Looking forward to this shortened work week? Just dying to talk about the Cleveland Indians’ Season of Embarrassment? Well, sit tight because I have a few other things I wish to discuss first…

While this week typically marks the beginning of what’s commonly referred to as the Dog Days of Summer in the sports world, it also marks the anniversary of one of the craziest weeks in the history of Cleveland Sports, one which was capped off by a certain essay. With NBA Free Agency kicking off once again on July 1, it was this very week one year ago that saw us all tracking planes, attempting to decode unused color schemes on web sites, and learning that cupcakes actually play a role in this entire thing. While it is impossible for this year’s seventh month to even hold a candle to the one of 2014, to say that this marks the beginning of the off-season is only doing so based on the league’s calendar as these next four weeks will be filled with just as many headlines as the month that preceded it.

“I guess this is somewhat anticlimactic for the fans of Cleveland,” said Cavs GM David Griffin following the most recent NBA Draft. Tis true: After years of picking in the top four, with a few of those selections being first overall, this year’s NBA Draft lacked the luster of years past. Not helping much was the fact that the Cavs drafted and then traded their No. 24 pick, opting for Cedi Osman, a player who is still two seasons away from potentially joining the roster. If anything, this was more like the MLB Draft than its basketball brethren, forcing fans to wait several seasons before fruit can bear.

As with other Griffian moves (why yes, I did just coin a term), one would be wise to wait for the entire fallout rather than judging the cover. If Griff has shown us anything over his first year as front office play-caller, it’s that he’s always thinking big picture—every move is made with subsequent moves in mind. Would it have been nice to be able to roll the dice on Tyus Jones? Perhaps. But would it have been worth the guaranteed money and roster spot given the other moves that appear to be on the horizon? Doubtful.

It is no secret that the Cavaliers are looking to move Brendan Haywood and his adjustable-rate mortgage of a contract this summer. Acquiring Haywood a year ago continues to be one of the more underrated moves of Griffin’s young career, but you’ll have that when the rest of your résumé includes names like Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and LeBron James. Nevertheless, that draft night deal from 2014 will finally yield results at some point this summer, and if all reports are accurate, it shouldn’t be long into July before a move is made.

“It’s a mess right now in terms of how you really gauge what good intel there is, but I really do think there will be an incredible number of moves between now and the end of July.”

Wings, defenders, maybe another big man, definitely a point guard… While we don’t know how, exactly, the team has ranked their offseason priorities, it’s safe to say that Griff is eying up a handful of moves that could potentially improve this Cavaliers team on the periphery. As we saw during the NBA Finals, depth and play-making were a bit of a concern. During his end-of-season address, the Cavaliers’ GM made it clear that he wants to find multi-position players who can create on the offensive end. And while we don’t know who, exactly, is available, did we think Iman Shumpert was for the having come last January?

“As you try to add the pieces we need, everything you can put in the hopper is important,” said Griffin of acquiring additional assets in the draft night deal with Minnesota. “I think it’s really important to us that we get the right piece to advancing ourselves in any trade we make. And obviously we are hopeful as we head into free agency that the flexibility we have because of the way his contract is structured will allow us to get someone who is the right fit for us who fills a need. We’re going to do everything we can to increase the talent level of our team—whatever that looks like.”

We know that Kevin Love, LeBron James and even J.R. Smith are looking at new deals. Tristan Thompson, Iman Shumpert and perhaps even Matthew Dellavedova will be getting qualifying offers before too long. But that’s just the tip of the Wine and Gold iceberg. At this point last season, no one in their right mind foresaw the flurry of moves that would soon follow. There’s no chance this July compares to last, but this one is shaping up to be one hell of a ride once again. That LeBron has been in contact with Independence essentially “every day” since the season’s close regarding the team’s roster speaks volumes. We’re talking about a guy who typically goes dark come July. He knows what’s at stake and he knows how crucial these next 30-or-so days are to next season’s success.

Buckle up, kids.

♦♦♦

‘Twas one hell of a weekend in sneakers. Rarely does the Jordan release get trumped, but between Nike’s July 4 line and Kanye West/adidas releasing the Yeezy Boost 350, David Griffin wasn’t the only one trying to prioritize his asset allocation. For those who care about this kind of thing (as I realize I’m in the minority), I recommend this piece from Complex Sneakers on the Yeezy 350s. Rare does a sneaker blog get into prose and well-thought discourse on a release. While it takes a release of this magnitude to produce such content, Complex kills it with their thoughts.

♦♦♦

Back to the NBA Draft. Everyone’s favorite Woj has been a subject of late thanks to his annual domination of the celebratory show. As we discussed following the NFL Draft, rather than blaming reporters for tweeting picks early, it’s time to start blaming the league for announcing picks upwards of a half hour after the selections are made.

In a recent interview with FOX Sports Radio, Woj discusses his thought process.

And if that audio clip was not enough, here’s a great interview over at GQ.com that discusses how he goes about his day-to-day life. Spoiler alert: He busts his ass.

“This job, for me, it’s a 52-week-a-year job. It’s not about cramming. To me, it’s an ongoing conversation that you have to be willing to have for 52 weeks a year. You can’t just call people when you need something. And it’s a two-way street of sharing information. The work you do over the rest of the year sets you up to hopefully have success in these very intense periods. … We were on the runway and there was not going to be any wireless on the flight. It was going to be a 5-6 hour flight from London to Newark. I was using my son as a human shield from the flight attendant. She was like, put your phone away. I had that [Serge] Ibaka signed, but I didn’t have the number yet so I was telling my son, alright, hold up this newspaper. For him it was a game. He loved it. And so we were just about to lift off and I got it was $48 million or whatever it was. and I was able to get the number.”

♦♦♦

If the rain this weekend didn’t douse those hot takes, this week’s edition of #ActualSportswriting sure will:

“Little League, Big Trouble” by David Mendell (SB Nation): “Janes has played many different roles in life: eldest sibling of six, high school and college quarterback, first in his family to attend college (at a small school in suburban Chicago then called the College of St. Francis), husband, father, youth sports coach. But to the general public of Chicago, he’ll forever be regarded as the rival youth baseball coach who blew the whistle on Jackie Robinson West.”¹

“The Death of Golf” by KarKarl Taro Greenfield (Men’s Journal): “The challenges golf faces are myriad, from millennials lacking the requisite attention span for a five-hour round, to an increasingly environmentally conscious public that’s reluctant to take up a resource-intensive game played on nonnative grass requiring an almond farm’s worth of water, to the recent economic crisis that curtailed discretionary spending.”²

“Eaton, Colorado lives and dies with baseball” by Benjamin Hochman (Denver Post): “This lifestyle and lifeblood — it’s Indiana and basketball, Texas and football. In this nook of a Colorado town about an hour north of Denver, where the population (4,647) is close to the elevation (4,839 feet), they live for the game — and, so it seems, they die with the game. … Eaton won the Class 3A state championship this spring, the school’s 11th title, all under Danley and the most in state history. Since 1990, only two times has Eaton failed to win its league. Since he became head coach in 1972, Danley’s teams have won an astounding 83.1 percent of its games.”³

♦♦♦

Have a great four-day week, y’all. Go Tribe?

1. For those who have been following this situation, here’s a great look at the human side of the story. [↩]
2. I like to golf. I enjoy playing the game, watching the game, learning the game. But it’s also a game that involves discretionary money, patience and an attention span—three things that this generation does not have much of. Here’s a great look at a social game in a world that is becoming increasingly less so. [↩]
3. I love bold endeavors like the one being rolled out at the Denver Post. Here’s the third installment of a nine-part look at the game of baseball in the state of Colorado. [↩]