NBA Free Agency: What About Bringing Back Gooden?
Written By: Rick | Category: Cleveland Cavaliers | Comments: 26As we are prone to do, the staff at WFNY got to thinking about some of the free agents that we would rather see brought here than Rob Kurz. Now we’re talking about guys that wouldn’t cost us the rest of the MLE, so that eliminates a lot of the names. One interesting option came up- Drew Gooden.
Keep in mind that we have no inside information that the Cavs are even interested in kicking the tires on Drew, but someone (cough TD) thought he would be an interesting fit for the Cavs.
TD- Here is some solid video of Drew Gooden, scoring and rebounding machine in college…Can we sign him for one year and $1 million???? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIQElGZx-Kw
Scott- Needs less Jayhawk bias.
TD- hahahahaha…you don’t see me asking for him to be signed for real money or more than a year do you? Wouldn’t he be nice coming off the bench like he did with San Antonio?
Scott- Would he play for low ball money? You have to assume he thinks he is better than Andy. Would he play here for a fraction of his salary?
TD- I think he has been humbled. Think about it, there is no money for him this year. Why not sign a one year deal with a contender, try to improve your rep and make a new role for yourself, and hit free agency next year….
Scott- Agreed in principle. Not sure its easy to convince him of that. Especially if he was humbled by the Iron Sheik.
TD- I certainly would like Drew more than Rob Kurz….
Rock- Amen to that. I’d have no qualms giving Drew the $3.2 million or so that we have left over in the MLE. I always liked Drew, even though he was sometimes frustrating. He played better for the Cavaliers than he ever has for anyone else.
DP Diesel- I’m on board only if Drew promises to talk to/yell at his hands on a much more regular basis. There also needs to be a “weird hair” clause in his contract.
Rick- Perhaps I’m not remembering the Drew Gooden era correctly. What holes on the Cavs team does Drew fill? I don’t remember him playing sound defense on the wing. I remember rebounds and put backs. I remember bad turnovers.
TD- difference is this is an extra body Drew Gooden I’m speaking of, not the starting PF Drew Gooden. He would be a solid pick and pop option….
Rock- Gooden had a decent mid range game. In fact, he and Z were pretty much the only games who could somewhat consistently hit mid range jumpers on the Cavs back in those days. To this day Gooden has only had one sub-15 PER season, and that was the year the Cavs traded him to Chicago. Nobody is saying Gooden fills every hole the Cavs have, but he’s certainly a more productive player than Rob Kurz, that’s for sure.
Denny-Needs more duck tail! Duck tails – ooOooOoo!
So there you have it. What do you think?
Author: Rick
Rick is a co-founder and editor of WFNY. His love of Cleveland sports is surpassed only by his faith and love of his family. Follow him on Twitter- @rickwfny.Rick has written 743 articles for Waiting for Next Year.
All good ideas in theory except Lebron hates him not only for snitching on him about DeShawn Stevenson but generally being a dumb ass. Gooden’s basketball IQ is nonexistent.
drew gooden + lbj = bad chemistry
c’mon guys…i think we’re reaching here…I would rather have Klieza than either Gooden or Kurz.
You say you’d like to have him back, but that’s until you see a LeBron pass deflect off his hands for the 5th time that night.
I just want a decent player…I don’t care what his name is at this point…Boo apathy. Hooray beer!
no way. do not want. i’m still hoping for matt barnes or kleiza… preferably barnes though. also, why not re-sign joe smith? he’d be solid coming off the bench again.
Gooden is serviceable. Was the PF on a Finals team once. Just me, or does that seem like a long time ago?
What I remember from the Gooden era is LeBron staring down either Gooden (I want to strangle you) or Brown/Ferr, Silas/Paxson (get me someone else or I’ll strangle you)
@AJ – pretty much my thoughts as well.
I believe someone brought it up in a different post, but why haven’t the Cavs been linked with any backup PGs? That seems like a real need to me, unless the plan is to have Parker start and Delonte come off the bench as the backup PG playing starter’s minutes…
@Swig – That’s what I remember too! LBJ would veto this move in a heartbeat and I’m fairly certain he’s the reason Gooden was shipped in the first place.
It’s an interesting discussion though, even if it was originated by a biased Jayhawk homer (sorry TD). It’s a similar question to “What about brining Boozer back?” only with the opposite problem. Bringing Boozer back would be a problem for many fans, but LBJ would love it. They played well together when Bron was a rookie. On the other hand, bringing Gooden back might be OK by many fans, but LBJ wouldn’t let it happen because he hates Gooden.
And I agree with other comments that I don’t want to watch LBJ passes deflecting off of Gooden’s stone hands all over again. #HandsFail
I rather have Gooden than Joe Smith
Any time you can completely antagonize the most valuable basketball player on the planet for the sake of bringing in a guy to play 10 servicable minutes a night, you have to do it. It’s a no-brainer.
Neither, let DBlock play and hope JJ comes back healthy
I’ve also read somewhere that the Pistons are interested in him.
@TampaBrett – Is there a PF that the Pistons AREN’T interested in?
yes it’d be ok…he has a decent mid range game and as it has been pointed out, he wouldnt be the second scoring option but he could score off the bench whil bron is resting.
The chemistry is a big issue though. But what do we know about the LBJ-Gooden relationship??
#16 He hated him. You could tell just by the way he would ice-grill Gooden whenever he would blow an easy basket Lebron set up for him.
I agree with Kevin, why can’t we pull a sign and trade for Boozer. Can anyone think of a reason the Cavs couldn’t do it?
Good chemistry got us all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals this season!
on a completely unrelated note, anyone see the reds donuts shirts get love on rome is burning today?
I brought this up in some comments earlier but it was quickly shot down saying it would not fly with LBJ.
So why not Hakim Warrik?
hakim warrik, when confident, is kinda beastly. i got really good stats from him on my fantasy team this past year…
I hate that you even had this conversation.
By the way, whats with Jayhawks only playing well when they feel like it? (see also Pierce, Paul)
Hakim would be a real nice piece on this team. Windy said today that the Cavs are high on JJ and Darnell and want to see them develop.
@#18 Jim: A Boozer trade for us would require: A). Trading Z then the Jazz buying him out. File this under NOT happening. B). Trading Boobie, Delonte, Hickson and Kinsey for Carlos Boozer. File this under NOT happening. especially with the Jazz’s luxury tax and cap status.
I’d have absolutely no issue if the Cavs brought back Gooden on a make-good one year deal. He can rebound and can score in the post-both things the Cavs need. He’s also 6′10″.
As for those talking up “DBlock”….cmon, dude is a project. Big body, yes-limited in scope and talent. If he develops eventually into a defensive body fine…….he’s more than limited offensively. Don’t even suggest here that he could contribute more than someboldy like Drew Gooden.
[...] Late last night, there were rumblings on Twitter that Drew Gooden would decide on a team today. It was stated by Chris Mannix of SI that his decision was coming down to Cleveland, Charlotte, and Dallas. It appears he has chosen Dallas and not the Cavaliers. Mark Cuban also confirmed it via twitter and Marc Stein reported that the deal was for one year at five million which makes you wonder if Cleveland was ever really a serious consideration. Choosing Dallas over Cle might be good news or bad news for some Cavs fans depending on your point of view. [...]