Honk Shoooooo…. Tribe Drops Another One
June 30, 2009Josh Barfield Gets Lost in the Shuffle
June 30, 2009After being discarded in the Eastern Conference Finals by the Orlando Magic last season, the Cleveland Cavaliers knew that changes had to come. Big changes. As in, more big players who could help the Cavaliers match up against teams like the Magic who were able to use their size advantages to control the paint both offensively and defensively against the Cavs. The Cavaliers wasted little time in addressing this concern by trading for Shaquille O’Neal, but by all accounts, Danny Ferry isn’t done.
One of the names that has grabbed the most traction among Cavs fans is Charlie Villanueva. However, the prospects of the Cavaliers being able to sign “CV31” always seemed slim at best. Being a restricted free agent (or so we thought), the Bucks would be able to match any offer made to the young PF, and with only the MLE at their disposal, many people always figured that $5-6 million was an amount the Bucks would be willing to match.
Which is why the news coming out of Milwaukee Monday night was so surprising. Throughout all of my following of the upcoming free agency season, I had yet to hear anyone seriously suggest there was a good chance the Bucks wouldn’t make Villanueva a qualifying offer. Some people, such as the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Charles Gardner had subtly hinted that there was a chance the Bucks wouldn’t be able to make the qualifying offer, but after the moves the Bucks made last week, clearing Richard Jefferson’s salary, the popular opinion was that now the Bucks would be in a position now to at least make the qualifying offer and thus make sure CV31 was at least a restricted free agent.
According to Gardner, though, that’s not the case.
Bucks general manager John Hammond confirmed Monday that Charlie Villanueva would not receive a $4.6 million qualifying offer by the Tuesday deadline.
The Bucks’ decision means Villanueva will be an unrestricted free agent, able to sign with any NBA team beginning July 8. Teams may begin negotiating with free agents on Wednesday.
[…]
After lengthy discussions involving the front office and coaching staff, it was determined not to send Villanueva a qualifying offer. The decision effectively ends Villanueva’s career with the Bucks.
And so it is, just like that, Charlie Villanueva is about to become an unrestricted free agent and can accordingly sign with any team he pleases, and the Bucks no longer have the right to match any offer. This is nothing but good news for the Cavaliers.
So many times, when news of free agents hits the rumor mill and everyone gets excited about a player, the anticipation is initiated by the fans themselves, spurred on by a flurry of rumors and hearsay. With Villanueva, however, the fan excitement over the prospects of seeing him in the Wine and Gold come directly from the player himself.
It started earlier this month in Gardner’s “Bucks Blog” for the Journal Sentinel. In a post titled “Charlie V likes thought of joining LeBron”, he wrote:
Villanueva was asked what he thought about the possibility of joining the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are expected to make some lineup changes after being ousted by Orlando in six games in the Eastern Conference finals. The Cavs were bitterly disappointed at falling short of the Finals after posting the best regular-season mark in the NBA with 66 victories.
“I understand the situation Milwaukee is in financially,” Villanueva told Coleman. “They don’t want to go over the cap or what not (actually the luxury tax level). Whatever team decides to make the best offer, I’m going to think about it.
“Cleveland definitely is not a bad spot. I’ve played with LeBron. I played with LeBron in the McDonald’s All-American Game, and we played well together. Is there a possibility? Yes. Will it happen? Time will tell.”
Coleman asked Villanueva if he could be a difference-maker in helping Cleveland reach the NBA Finals.
“I think I would be able to help out a lot,” Villanueva said, “just the fact I bring my versatility and create mismatch problems. One of the reasons Orlando is in the Finals is because of Rashard Lewis. They have a legitimate big man (Dwight Howard) that demands attention, and they surround him with guys that can play on the perimeter.”
And as if that wasn’t enough to make Cavs fans notice, CV31 then to took to his Twitter account after the Shaq trade and posted:
well, twitterland like I said there will be more trades to come, very interesting, Shaq to Cleveland, nice, all Cleveland need is a PF now
As if that wasn’t enough, Villanueva gave a little shout out to Cavs fans on Sunday evening, tweeting:
Cleveland fans are showing me mad love on twitter, appreciate the love
It’s hard to see all these quotes and not let the imagination start to wander and the excitement start to build. But, as is always the case in these matters, there are plenty of issues to consider before we can consider this signing a shoo-in.
Who Is Charlie Villanueva?
First, the Cavs must consider what exactly they’d be getting in Villanueva. CV is a 24-year old (he turns 25 in August) power forward who has had a +15 PER in every season of his career. At 6’11”, he would give the Cavaliers some more size, but beyond that, he provides the Cavaliers with so much more that they need. With Shaq providing the inside scoring they so desperately need, Villanueva gives the Cavaliers the versatile scoring option from a “stretch forward” that they crave. Villanueva is an excellent mid range jump shooter, has decent enough quickness to get around bigger PFs, and is very good at finishing around the hoop. After a couple down years adjusting to the multitude of changes in players, coaches, styles, etc in Milwaukee, Villanueva finally settled into the starting lineup last year and he proved what he was capable of offensively, averaging 16.2 ppg. He’s also been improving his rebounding skills, and he averaged a career-high 6.7 rebounds per game.
The issues with Villanueva concern his defense and his shot selection, as well as his focus and awareness. His defense is a serious concern. Opponents actually score 4.7 more points per 100 possessions with Villanueva on the court as opposed to when he’s off the court. You might be tempted to just chalk that up to Milwaukee being a poor defensive team overall, but CV’s defensive rating of +4.7 ranks pretty poorly compared to teammates such as Mbah a Moute (-4.9), Ridnour (-1.4), Jefferson (+0.4), Bell (+1.7), and Sessions (+2.0). I’ve heard some people call him lazy on defense, and while I haven’t seen enough of him on a consistent basis to make a claim like that, I do know that when the Cavaliers have played them in the past, Villanueva has routinely been late to help out on defense, if he even helps out at all. This is a bit of a red flag when you consider Mike Brown’s style of help defense.
Villanueva’s problems with his shot selection comes from the fact that he fancies himself a 3 point shooter, when he is not. Despite being a career 32.7% shooter from three, he still loves to chuck up a lot of 3s every year. Last season alone he shot a career high 258 three pointers, but hit only 34.5% of them. With such a great mid range game, it’s unfortunate that he allows himself to be drawn outside so frequently and that he loves to fall back on the three point shot.
Finally, his focus and awareness can be seen in his defensive shortcomings and in his shot selection. Beyond that, we saw first hand an example of Villanueva losing his cool and allowing it to hurt his team. Back in February, with the Bucks trying to take down the Cavaliers and trailing by only 3 late in the 4th, Villanueva was in the midst of a 26 point, 13 rebound, 6 assist night. He was terrorizing the Cavaliers all night long, but then he let Anderson Varejao get under his skin. After fouling Varejao hard, and eventually being assessed a flagrant-2 on the play, he got into a confrontation with Ilgauskas when Z went to AV’s defense. Villanueva put his hands on Z’s neck, and ultimately Villanueva was ejected from the game, and without Villanueva, the Bucks went on to lose 111-103.
The fact is, though, that every player in the NBA has their shortcomings. Villanueva is no different from anyone else, and when you weigh his positives against his negatives, the positives FAR outweigh any weaknesses he may have in his game. The fact is, Villanueva is precisely the kind of young, talented forward with loads of skills and potential that the Cavaliers are so glaringly missing from their long term plans.
Those long term plans may be just what keeps Villanueva out of Cleveland, though.
How Would Villanueva Impact The Cavaliers’ Long Term Plans?
For Danny Ferry’s part, he has to weigh the long term ramifications of signing a player like Villanueva. Assuming Ferry signs CV for the full Mid Level Exception, and then re-signs Anderson Varejao using his Bird Rights, the Cavaliers will essentially be eliminating any chance of having enough cap space to offer a max level deal to a superstar like Chris Bosh.
The question is whether or not that’s really a realistic goal for the Cavaliers anyway. In the past when we were projecting that the Cavaliers would have a ton of cap space in 2010, we were basing it on a $60+ million salary cap. That’s not going to happen anymore. We’re still waiting to see what the cap number is for next season, but projections actually have it slightly decreasing, but many experts expect 2010 to be the offseason when the economic decline really hits the cap space. As we discussed prior to the trade deadline, ESPN’s John Hollinger has projected a 2010 cap number as low as $55.2 million. We went a little more optimistic in our projections and went with $56.93 million. If we can assume that’s the cap figure, the Cavs roster in that offseason would be:
- Mo Williams – $9,300,000
- Delonte West – $4,658,500 (only $500,000 guaranteed)
- Daniel Gibson – $4,015,334
- JJ Hickson (team option) – $1,528,920
- Darnell Jackson – $854,389 (fully unguaranteed)
- Danny Green – ~$730,000 (approximated)
That’s a total of only $21,087,143. If you include LeBron’s “cap hold” of $16,073,488 (based on a $56.93 million cap figure), the Cavalier’s salary goes to $37,160,631, leaving them with $19,769,369. The Cavaliers have already said they want to re-sign Anderson Varejao anyway, and if his salary in 2010 is even $7 million, that already knocks the Cavaliers’ cap space down to close to $13 million, which isn’t enough to offer anyone else a max contract. And even if they could, the Cavaliers would be an awfully thin team at that point, and it would be hard to round out a full roster. Not impossible, but it would be tough. We don’t know how much the Mid Level Exception will be this year, but let’s guess a round number of $6 million (perhaps a somewhat optimistic figure, we’ll see). If the Cavaliers sign Villanueva to the full MLE, that would leave their 2010 cap space at around $6,769,369. The Cavs would then have that amount, plus the 2010 MLE (another $6 million or s0) and possibly the Bi-Annual Exception if they don’t use it this year (approx $2 million) to round out the roster of:
- LeBron James
- Mo Williams
- Anderson Varejao
- Charlie Villanueva
- Delonte West
- Daniel Gibson
- JJ Hickson
- Danny Green
Certainly not a bad core, but not necessarily a great one, either. That is the core, though, that Danny Ferry would have to be confident that LeBron would want to re-sign with. We know Mo and Villanueva are good friends after playing together in Milwaukee, and it has been written that LeBron and Villanueva met in some high school all star games and they have kept in touch ever since. It’s a close knit group that LeBron certainly feels comfortable with, but for Ferry, this is the gamble he must make.
Charlie Villanueva and Anderson Varejao
One final issue that must be addressed is fitting in Villanueva with Varejao. Despite the fact that both players play the same position, they are in fact two completely different players. AV lacks the talent and skills CV has, but whereas CV often times lacks intangibles and fails to do some of the little things required to win, that’s where AV excels. Some people may tell you that AV is a superior rebounder, but that’s really not true. They are actually pretty similar rebounders, and it’s something CV has been improving on.
Last season, Villanueva averaged 6.7 rebounds per game in 26.9 minutes, while Varejao averaged 7.2 rebounds per game in 28.5 minutes. According to 82games.com, Villanueva’s Rebound Rating was 26.9 while Varejao’s Rebound Rating was 26.6. So if we can chalk their rebounding up to a wash, you have to look at them as sort of offensive and defensive counterparts.
Varejao has been improving as an offensive player, and he’s been the best at running the pick and roll with LeBron throughout the years. But as an overall offensive player, Varejao doesn’t compare to Villanueva’s pure ability to score. On the other hand, Varejao provides a defensive tenacity that Villanueva has yet to show. Therefore, it stands to reason that the Cavaliers can’t have one without the other. I feel it’s important that even if the Cavaliers sign Villanueva, they must keep Varejao as well to be the yin to CV’s yang.
Varejao may not like the prospects of coming off the bench, but we have seen AV do some of his best work coming off the bench while CV tends to thrive more in a starting role. Would signing CV impact the Cavaliers’ ability to keep AV? That’s a possibility. If we’re talking about leverage, it kind of goes both ways. On one hand, the Cavaliers could use Villanueva as leverage to make AV appear more expendable, but if you buy into my belief that the Cavs can’t afford to let Varejao go because of CV’s poor defense, then the leverage pendulum swings back in AV’s favor. Furthermore, as we have said, CV has had a +15 PER in every season of his career, while AV has been sub-15 with his efficiency rating over the last 3 seasons. This could make putting a price on AV quite difficult, as they are essentially going to have to pay more for Varejao than Villanueva, even though it’s counterintuitive to NBA standards to pay more for defense and hustle than pure offensive ability.
Villanueva On The Open Market
Finally, we must consider the fact that just because the Cavaliers are interested in CV and will likely offer him the full MLE, there’s no guarantee it will be even close to the best offer CV will see. Other teams, such as the Detroit Pistons, are sure to be interested and have more money to offer him. Even though Villanueva has hinted at an interest in coming to Cleveland, some of that could have been a ploy for leverage against Milwaukee. If he didn’t know he wasn’t going to be a restricted free agent, perhaps he was just trying to drum up interest from teams in an attempt to get the Bucks to make a higher offer than the MLE.
According to nbaroundtable, the teams with cap space this summer are believed to be Memphis, Detroit, Oklahoma City, Portland, Toronto, Atlanta, and Minnesota. Guys like Paul Millsap, Carlos Boozer (if he opts out), Trevor Ariza, Hedo Turkoglu, Lamar Odom, Ron Artest, etc are probably likely to draw the attention of these teams with money to spend, and it’s possible CV could slip under the radar a bit. However, a team with PF needs such as the Pistons might see a guy like Villanueva as a much more affordable alternative to the likes of Boozer and Millsap. If Villanueva wants to come to Cleveland, it’s reasonable to guess that he may have to take a little less money to do so. We’ll find out soon just how serious Villanueva is about his interest in Cleveland.
We’ve only scratched the surface of the issues Danny Ferry and crew must consider in this free agency period that begins at midnight tonight (when teams can begin to negotiate with players). If you look at the sheer length of this article, that alone should tell you how little sleep Ferry is probably getting these days, as he weighs all of these concerns and issues. What is the best step for the future of this franchise? What is most likely to keep LeBron in Cleveland past 2010? What are the chances the Cavaliers can even have enough cap space to bring in another max level player in 2010 while still fielding a competitive team?
The only thing we know with 100% certainty is that LeBron is only guaranteed to be a Cavalier for one more season, and Danny Ferry has said he’s not willing to be patient and he is going to try to set this team up to win now. If that’s true, then how can you not make a run at getting Villanueva? CV would be a perfect fit for Cleveland in terms of injecting some youth into the frontcourt and giving the Cavaliers the “stretch forward” they’ve been looking for. If the Cavaliers do indeed offer him the Mid Level Exception, lets just hope that he’s genuine in his interest and is willing to come to Cleveland to help this franchise end the Championship drought.
46 Comments
Great post Rock. Very thorough. I’d take Villanueva for 4 or 5 years at the full midlevel, make a reasonable offer to AV in the 7-8 million a year range (seemingly too much if Villanueva is only getting the full midlevel), try to sign a long perimeter player with the bi-annual, and take my chances with the team winning this year.
I often wonder how much Varejao’s “improved offense” is attributed to teams not even guarding him at times. There were countless layups – usually from LBJ passes – when Andy was the only player in the key. Yes, this has a lot to do with a well-executed play, but if he was manned up every time down the floor, I wonder how effective he would be…
Great stuff on Charlie V. The defensive efficiency numbers have been touted elsewhere.
And it appears that some MIL fans are saying good riddance to his shot-selection as well.
Will be an interesting few days…
A deal for CV would start with a low # this year and would balloon with some sort of team opt-out after 3 years most likely. A risk worth taking.
Personally, I think CV is smart and using Cleveland to posture for more $$$ elsewhere.
He and Shaq would be one hardcore tweeting frontcourt, that’s for sure…
MIL fans were saying good riddance to Mo shot selection too. I’ll take him. Overall team defense scheme will help him develop more into a defensive player, or at least help him be in the right spot at the right time. I mean come on. Whoever we get has the chance to play with LBJ. That alone should make anyone want to play harder. Instant chance to compete for a title changes everything.
Even if we can offer the full max to a free agent, do you really think a guy like Bosh is going to come to Cleveland over places like Miami or New York? I think our best bet that summer will be to do sign and trades and the more assets you have to trade, the better (and Charlie and Varejao, along with Delonte) would be considered tradeable assets.
i think Mo Williams has been privately telling CV to come here….
One thing that might work to the Cavs advantage. If CV thinks that he can really win a championship here in the shorterm, it may be to his financial advantage to take a shorterm hit on what he could make in the open market. Just look what happens with Ariza. He’s alright, but I bet he gets signed for way more than he is worth just from the fact that he looked good playing with other fantastic players on their way to winning a championship. If CV signs a 2 year deal or something like that and wins a championship here, his free agency numbers could get him a lot more money than if he took some decent money now from a non-contender like the Pistons or Memphis.
He’d be great here, but if Detroit wants him he’ll be a Pistion. With Rasheed signing elsewhere, Detroit needs a starter and CV fits the mold. The Pistions have a lot of cap room and I really think CV is a money chaser. For all we know he was talking up the “Cleveland Love” to drive up the Piston’s offer.
CV can be made into a better defender. I remember how people were saying similar things about LBJ a few years back and then he finished 2 in the Def Player of the Year.
Fact is CV is a hyper athletic player with some of the same natural gifts as LBJ and while Mo and Shaq have gotten play as the “Robin to LBJ’s Batman,” CV could really be the Pippen to Bron’s Jordan.
I remember that McDonalds All-American game. LBJ was not a Cav at that point and of all the players CV impressed me the most. His defense is the next stage of his game to improve and what a better place than cleveland to make it happen!
Honestly, I think the time is NOW. We can not afford to go the NY Knick way and go on a fire sale for 2010. That is just stupid. Very nice article though, I enjoyed it very much and appreciate the time it must have taken you to write this up.
One thing I do disagree with is the importance of AV. I think that he is the key player feeding off LeBron and doesn’t have nearly the amount of talent that other forwards have that have a much smaller asking price. What about bringing in Joe Smith for another year? He has proven himself to be more than serviceable and will come fairly cheap. AV just isn’t a franchise player and with the way this NBA economy has been going so far, I think we’ll be able to wait him out again.
Eli makes a good point. CV has to look at the long term financial benefits of playing with Lebron. While he may be able to make more money now, playing with Lebron for four years at the MLE will make him look like a much better player, and he can cash in big when the time comes.
I think the concerns about CV’s defense are legitimate, but I think the Cavs have to make a run at this guy. If the Cavs land him, I don’t think AV becomes expendable, but I think the Cavs can survive without him if they can bring back Joe Smith for another year and then develop the trio of Hickson, Jackson and Green.
The salary situation is always a consideration, but I just don’t see how the Cavs can sign another max contract without doing a sign and trade next summer. In any event, we have Shaq now, and if Danny Ferry is serious about winning now, he’ll make his best pitch for CV. Why not sign him to a two-year deal (or maybe a 3 year with a player option in the third), giving him the chance to hit the free agent market again after the economy has (hopefully) stabilized.
so while i hate to think of it…if LBJ does leave after this season, and we passed on CV, what does that leave us with in 2010? Mo, West, JJ and Boobie?? OUCH.
adding Andy and CV would at least give us some youth and protection if LeBron does leave.
obviously he’s the cornerstone, and this entire team falls apart without him, but that is still a decent core to add someone like Joe Johnson to, right?
can the cavs still do a sign and trade involving AV? if so, AV + hickson + gibson to Tor for bosh? or maybe even, AV + hickson + gibson + nathan jawai to phoenix for bosh to Cle for Amare to toronto?
Im not trying to blast Villanueva at all, but…can someone tell me what makes him all that different from Drew Gooden? Both are uniquely skilled “stretch forwards” with solid mid-range games who at times seems lost at the defensive end. While Charlie may have a slightly more deluxe offensive skill set, one could argue Gooden is the superior rebounder, especially on the offensive glass.
Im not saying Villanueva couldnt be a solid addition, but it seems to me that he is being overhyped a bit.
Gooden Career Numbers:
PPG: 12.0
RPG: 7.9
ORPG: 2.6
FG%: 47%
Villanueva Career Numbers:
PPG: 13.4
RPG: 6.7
ORPG: 2.7
FG%: 45%
I’d just like to say:
Rock, you’re the best writer on this site.
don’t be surprised to see CharlieV sign with a 1year opt-out clause so that he can use his exposure with LeBron and Shaq making a championship run to make major $$$ next offseason with so many more teams having cash.
it’d be smart and work out for both the Cavs and Charlie.
One thing the marketing department has to look at is the cost of wool versus the cost of rubber.
I’m talking about CV Wig Night of course. Those skull caps need to start at customer’s eyebrows.
CV is a huge improvement over Ben Wallace at pf (if we can keep andy)
I’d offer the full midlevel to Ariza, and if someone else will give him more, fine. But I think he’s worth it. CV would be my backup plan.
@16 – Gooden also averaged 3 minutes more a game. Also, Gooden’s lack of basketball IQ and caring in general frustrated everyone (especially Lebron) beyond belief.
@BrianRut – i think the difference between Gooden and CV is age. Gooden’s career numbers are what they are… they aren’t changing.
CV’s numbers have improved, and last year his numbers jumped from 11.7/6.1/1 to 16.2/6.7/1.8.with the most improvement being in his offensive game.
He’s only 25 and not yet reached his full potential. With Gooden, what you see is what you get.
@Josh – yeah that’s about right.
Gooden slowly got worse every year.
CV seems to be slowly getting better.
I don’t think you can argue about his offense slowly increasing over the years. If he signs to come play with LeBron he won’t average anymore than 15, and I’d be shocked if he got that close. With all the shots going to LeBron, Mo and now Shaq inside, we need him to be a rebounder and play strong D.
Oh, and great article Rock.
Who cares if he is a stretch forward if he cant play defense? Id rather have Barnes & play LBJ more at the 4
Just a quick question to all the NBA cap guru’s…
We at this point will hold the BIRD rights to Lebron, Z, and Shaq next year..the bird rights mean you can go over the cap to sign your own players right?
So why not sign a guy like a bosh, or a wade THEN resign Lebron (and z or shaq is you wish) and it wouldn’t matter if you go over the cap right? as long as those NOT on your team were signed before you resigned your own guys.
Am I right in this thinking?
@27: there is a cap hold for LBJ that would take away that possibility (because of the Miami Heat and Mourning)
@27: “What is a cap hold? A cap hold is the amount of space free agent counts towards a team’s cap. These “cap holds” factor in when a team signs free agents. If they didn’t exist, a team could use their cap space to sign other free agents until the space was gone, and then re-sign their own free agents using the Bird exception. A cap hold cannot exceed the maximum contract offer that player can receive on the open market (as defined by years of experience – indicated in the table above by MAX followed by the years of experience). The cap hold disappears if the team renounces their own free agent, that free agent signs with a new team, or re-signs with the same team.”
http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=9195
i dont think it works that way lebrons since lebron’s cap hold would still be there and added as part of the equation. they would have be able to sign a guy like bosh taking into account lebron’s cap hold number.
Another point on this whole salary point – to those that worry about how signing CV and AV would hurt the Cavs chances to sign someone big in 2010 – I fail to see the argument.
If the Cavs don’t sign CV with their mid-level this year, they’ve already committed to signing someone else with the mid-level. So isn’t the real potential salary problem re-signing AV and not using the mid-level on CV or someone else?
That’s actually a superb point, AMC, and one that I will admit I did not consider. If you’re going to spend your MLE, you might as well spend it on the best player you can get for it.
Good read Rock.
Hey Rock, excellent analysis!
I agree with #31’s point. Is Varejao really worth $7-8 million/year? His current deal has him making $5.6 mil annually. How does that match up with other guys in his position?
I have heard the argument that there is no one available that can take AV’s place for this all important coming season. AV is a bench guy. Could Joe Smith give you similar production as Varejao but for a lot cheaper on a 1 year deal? Can Darnell Jackson develop enough to see more minutes?
AV concerns me. Not only because of the potential salary problems that AMC brought up but also, how good is he really? I don’t know, I just hope we don’t get screwed.
@27:
The NBA have closed that Bird Rights loophole a few years ago. Teams must do the opposite if they want to use their Bird Rights.
What Ferry has to realize is the difference between “pieces” and “role players”. A championship team needs three or so players who are stars anywhere. Then suddenly their role players start to look like players.
Ariza, Big Baby Davis, Kendrick Perkins, Gooden, Raja Bell, Bruce Bowen, etc. were players who are well known despite being role players, because they were on prominent teams. Varejao is a role player. He is easily replaceable. Right now, with the possible exception of Mo, the Cavs are Lebron and role players.
Villanueva has the chance to be a piece. That could possibly give the Cavs three. It’s risky, because they still might only have one. But that’s the only way they can get better now.
Great article Rock, I only have a couple issues with it
Im not sure how AV’s offense is improving. He averaged 8 points a game this year, only two more than last with significantly more minutes.
Also, is 35% bad from the arch? that seems about average to me; especially from a Power Forward.
I would hope his shot selection gets better because he will have so many scoring options on the floor that he wont have to jack up an ill advised trey-deezy. I like to call this the Mo Williams effect.
35% is not bad for a PF, no….the issue is the volume of 3s attempted by a guy who is a 35% shooter. I’d prefer he let the 40%+ shooters take the attempts.
As for AV, I guess I wasn’t referring to his PPG output. I think adding scorers like Mo and the development of Delonte’s game made it less important for him to score a vastly greater number of points per game. I just feel that AV was much better this year at understanding his role in the offense and being more efficient on that side of the ball. Qualitatively better, rather than quantitatively better, if you will.
we COULD add to the core of CV and Andy at the trade deadline in Feb w Z’s expiring contract (id guess he’d get bought out and brought back to cavs) plus our first round pick (which is why ferry didnt want to trade this years) and someone, or ones, of talent. If it takes Z, 2 picks, jj and gibson (or gulp, i MIGHT be able to talk myself into west instead of Gibson – they might like only 500k guaranteed – but not sold yet on that), i MIGHT do it for Bosh – or whatever other high priced, superstar about to bolt their team, a struggling going nowhere team would offer.
how much does LBJ like AV? You could also let him walk and sign CV and Bird Man – Bird Man about the same player, but is going to get a whole heck of a lot less then 6-8mm.
I’m not sure if anyone is going to be in the business of overpaying Varejao.
In my opinion, he’s not worth more than 6 mil a year. They might give him 7 or 8, but he’s definitely not worth 10.
I really think the Cavs should go after someone like Lamar Odom first with the mid-level and if he wont take it, offer it to Ariza, and then, finally, offer it to CV31.
Could the Cavs sign Bird Man with the bi-annual? Also, What are the chances that the Cavs just look to add CV and another wing or guard player? If getting AV back means having to pay 7-8 mil, is he really worth it? I’d say go for a guy who can start at PF, and have JJ and Jackson to back him up. the thing with AV is he shouldnt be starting, so with a starter, isnt AV expendable?
Also, I agree with Tsunami, Odom should be the 1st priority, though I would make CV the second. If the Cavs could somehow lure Odom away (I doubt that can though) it would be twice as beneficial (getting a stretch forward, and taking him away from LAL)
Boozer took his player option with the Jazz. This means? Market for CV and Andy just got a little tougher.
http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=4489
Let’s assume the Cavs were able to get Chris Bosh next year AND resign LeBron. In my eyes, it would be unrealistic to expect Bosh to become your starting center. He’s realistically a stretch PF. With that the case, CV or AV would be losing their job. So, if that is your startegy, who would you rather have coming off the bench?
CV is the clear choice. In fact, I would say that even if the Cavs don’t get Bosh next year, they should still seriously consider another PF choice than resigning AV. AV is abou to get a reality check in free agency this year about his true value in the league.
[…] Villanueva. I won’t rehash what he can do for the Cavs if he were to come to Cleveland (if you so please, read Rock’s novel on the subject from yesterday), but I can spin it […]
[…] the Detroit Pistons have come to an agreement with Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva. This ends any plans that the Cavs may have had on signing CV-31 to a mid-level deal. To Villanueva I say, good luck. […]