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July 21, 2009
As you’ve by no doubt heard by now, the Cleveland Cavaliers have signed former Raptors and Heat forward Jamario Moon to an offer sheet. The offer sheet is for at least 2 years and is believed to be for around $2 million per year. The Cavaliers used their Mid-Level Exception to sign Moon to the offer sheet, and thus will still have the Bi-Annual Exception at their disposal should they choose to still use it. The only question now is whether Moon, a restricted free agent, is still a desired commodity in the eyes of the Heat.
As a restricted free agent, the Heat have until Friday afternoon to match the Cavaliers’ offer to Moon. However, the Heat are currently trying to sign Lamar Odom and are patiently watching and waiting on Odom to see what he does in his negotiations with the Lakers. What this means for the Cavaliers is that the Heat are perhaps reluctant to spend any money right now. Furthermore, as Scott pointed out yesterday, even the Sun Sentinel’s Ira Winderman (the Heat fans’ version of Brian Windhorst) wrote that he doesn’t believe the Heat will match the offer.
It may be premature to look in depth into what kind of player the Cavaliers might be getting in Moon, seeing as how the Heat still have 3.5 days to match the Cavaliers’ offer, but operating under the good faith of Winderman’s article, we’ll have some fun and assume the Heat don’t match the offer. If that holds up, the Cavaliers may have found another very solid player to fit into their growing rotation of athletic players with solid skill sets.
Jamario Moon is a player that seems to command more criticism than he necessarily deserves. Perhaps it’s because he has been a starter for pretty much his whole career when he should be coming off the bench. Perhaps its because he can get a little shot happy. Whatever the reason, the talk of his deficiencies have been greatly overstate as far as I’m concerned.
The first two things I heard said about Moon was that he can’t shoot, but he was a really good defender. The first one doesn’t really match up with the stats, while the jury is still out on the second claim.
Regarding Moon’s shooting, he can be streaky at times for sure, but then again, it’s hard to find a role player who isn’t. But to say he’s a poor shooter from outside is actually a mistake. Last season Moon’s True Shooting Percent was .567 for the season and his Effective Field Goal Percentage was .537. Comparatively, Mo Williams’ TS% was .588 and and his eFG% was .548 while Delonte West’s TS% was .559 and his eFG% was .530. While Moon’s eFG% on his jumper is .465, a good amount lower than Mo’s .545 or Delonte’s .503, the overall numbers illustrate Jamario’s ability to efficiently score. Moon shot a modest 35.5% from beyond the arc last season, and while those numbers won’t wow anyone, they’re also not so poor as to be a liability as long as the Cavaliers can make sure they use him properly in the offense.
That part will be the key with Jamario. Last season a third of Jamario’s shots came in the first 10 seconds of the shot clock. A number that high is fine for your first or second option, but it’s entirely too high for a role player. And therein lies much of the frustration with Moon. It’s not that he can’t shoot, it’s that his shot selection isn’t always the most disciplined. Again, part of this could be because he has started in 135 games the last two seasons when he really shouldn’t be a primary focus of the offense. Ideally in Cleveland, he will be coming off the bench and much less will be asked and expected of him. If the Cavaliers can find ways to utilize Moon on the left wing, and put him positions to make smart basketball plays from the left side, he has a chance to do a lot of good as illustrated by his Hot Spots chart below:
While his offensive game in terms of pure scoring may be somewhat hit and miss at times, there are some things Moon does very well. He does a great job taking care of the ball and rarely turns it over. At 6’8” he’s also a pretty good rebounder. He’s particularly adept at defensive rebounding, and he’s pretty good at running in the open court on the break, which is a key attribute to have with the quantity of defensive rebounders the Cavaliers now have. Should they choose to try to run more again this season, the Cavaliers now have the kind of flexible and athletic roster to be pretty effective at it.
Furthermore, Moon is also a really good free shooter as well. After shooting 74.1% from the line his first season, he bumped that number up to 85.0% last year. While he doesn’t really get fouled very much, on a team that ranked 21st in the NBA in FT% last year, having yet another guy who can knock down some FTs and thus be used in late game scenarios is always a nice addition.
Defensively, Moon can be somewhat tough to figure out. He’s very active, very athletic, and good at creating steals with his quick and active hands. However, his defense really slid downhill when he joined Miami last season. After posting a –6.5 defensive rating with Toronto (meaning teams score 6.5 more points per 100 possessions with Moon on the bench rather than on the court), he actually posted +4.1 defensive rating in Miami. Taking note that Miami was a better defensive team in terms of both FG% against and points against last season, it’s interesting that Moon’s defensive rating slid so far upon his arrival in Miami. Admittedly, I did not see enough of Moon in Miami to make an educated opinion on the reason for this dramatic shift, but you can’t help but wonder if perhaps Moon’s defensive ability was slightly exaggerated on a bad defensive team like Toronto and if he was perhaps exposed a bit in Miami. Or else it could be that Miami used Moon to defend the 4 more than he did in Toronto. Whatever the case, it will be interesting to see how Moon’s defense translates to Cleveland.
Nonetheless, if Miami declines to match Moon’s offer and he really does come to Cleveland, then Danny Ferry has made another very wise and shrewd move. Ferry struck when he found the perfect timing to sign a restricted free agent, and he has potentially added another versatile and interchangeable piece to the roster. Similar to with Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon will now be in a situation where less will be asked of him and as is so often the case with key role players, less is almost always more in terms of production. Last season the Cavaliers’ bench looked mighty thin in the postseason, but now instead of having to call on Wally Szczerbiak or Sasha Pavlovic, the Cavaliers can now bring Anthony Parker/Delonte West and Jamario Moon off the bench. These are guys who have proven they can produce and be effective. Don’t be discouraged by the flaws in Moon’s game that people will point out. It’s hard to find any role players in the NBA who don’t have flaws. The essential aspect is not asking a player like Moon to do too much and finding ways to put him in position on the court where he can best showcase his strengths and minimize his flaws.
So far this offseason Danny Ferry has rid the Cavaliers of some deadweight in the likes of Ben Wallace, Szczerbiak, and Pavlovic and replaced them with players who still have a pulse and who can be key parts of this team in Shaquille O’Neal, Anthony Parker, and possibly Jamario Moon. The onus now falls on Mike Brown to properly implement said additions.
38 Comments
Rock-excellent read, thanks.
Parker + Moon > Ariza
I love posts like this because they give weight to the stats…an excellent post yet again…
I like our moves so far this offseason, but I’d be a lot more comfortable with all of our new pieces learning the system with Kuester. I’m hoping his loss isn’t as bad as it could be for the offense.
Good article here yet again Rock. Ben Wallace, Joe Smith, Sasha Pavlovic, and Wally Szcerbiak off the bench are now Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Jamario Moon, and Anthony Parker. Along with those three we will still need some improved play from Jackson/Hickson/Kinsey/Boobie, but overall this acquisition certainly makes our bench stack up better with other teams. None of the guys we had last year would have been starter’s on a playoff team while Z/Moon/Parker were all starters on playoff teams recently.
So Parker and Moon should just never leave the corners, right?
did i totally miss what happend to wally? was he a free agent?
@ doogy – he’s a free agent. Hasn’t signed anywhere yet (surprise!!!).
this is good sh!t.
Good analysis.
Seems like he should sit in that left corner, and either be ready for a shot, a drive, or a follow-up dunk.
Sounds good to me.
All seriousness – watching the *other teams’* fastbreaks will be among the most entertaining part of this season, between LeBron and Moon.
RockKing, if you get a minute and want to lay out some more stats and graphics, I’d love to see a Jamario Moon v. Matt Barnes comparison article. Did we get (if this holds) the right guy?
@Charlie: Perhaps I will, but without digging too deep into it, I can say that I personally MUCH prefer Moon over Barnes. Barnes has been in the league for 6 years now and has only shot above 35% from three once, has a career PER of 12.4. I’ve never considered Barnes a good defender, and I realize he’s never played on a team that cared about defense, but even compared to other guys on those poor defensive team his defense has looked pretty suspect.
Not that I don’t think Barnes is a good player, but I feel like Moon has a chance to be a more consistent contributor to this team. I have not been one who has been dying for Cleveland to sign Barnes.
I think it’s obvious that these signings are a gut-check response to Delonte missing that open three from the left corner against Orlando.
Another great article. Well done
Everyone popped a chubby over the possibility of Ariza… but if you look at the stats, they are very similar between Ariza and Moon and Jamario demands a FRACTION of the price! Plus, Moon is an inch taller than Ariza and has better FT%, FG%, and 3PT%!
On a lighter note… think of the nickname possibilities for Carr to make up when Moon dunks. I was watching a highlight video of moon and the announcer said “Apollo 33 ready for takeoff” when he had a huge dunk. It was awesome
@RockKing: Thanks. You’re one man but your opinion is reassuring.
@15. Don’t include me on that. I never thought he was all that.
Parker and Moon makes much more sense, and is coming at about a third of the cost.
@ Nicko – Parker and Moon are actually coming at the same yearly price as Ariza – their two contracts added together equal the MLE, which was what Houston paid Ariza. But the Cavs only had to commit to 2 years for each player instead of the 5 given to Ariza.
With Barnes now heading to Orlando, it’s essential for the Cavs that the Heat not match.
Yeah I know. Im just saying I would rather give that commitment to them, than a five year commencement to a guy who has 50 career starts.
Commencement? Haha. I meant commitment on the second part as well.
So, whats the breakdown with the Cavs roster now? If this goes through, who could be potentially traded if this mystery blockbuster trade happens in August?
Excellent article. I had only ever seen Moon’s highlights and a few mentionings of his prolific dunking, so its good to hear some actual analysis of who he is as a player and what his role might be on this team. Personally, I like the idea of Parker starting at the 2 and bringing Delonte off the bench at the point. I think Delonte’s leadership qualities are somewhat wasted when he’s on the floor with Lebron and Shaq. Instead, he can be the undisputed leader of the second unit. Imagine having Delonte, Danny Green, Jamario Moon, a healthy JJ hickson, and Z all coming off the bench. Sure, as a starting lineup, that would at best make you a .500 team, but I can think of few other teams whose second unit can boast 3 (recently) former starters and 2 solid young prospects. With Z spreading the floor, Delonte and Danny threatening from 3, and the explosive finishing ability of JJ and Moon, that bench poses some serious matchup problems. Especially when its matching up with someone else’s bench unit.
Assuming (which is always dangerous) that Moon comes to Cleveland, this is probably one of Ferry’s shrewdest moves, definitely the best of the summer. Not quite Mo Williams for Damon Jones, but it’s up there.
By guaranteeing for two years, he knows Miami will really have to compromise its comfort zone (ie: financial flexibility for next summer) to match the offer sheet. Furthermore, with Odom and Boozer still available, it provides a clear disincentive to throw money at Moon. Even better, with the Cavs extending the offer sheet, Miami can’t involve Moon in any sign and trade deals, further tying Riley’s hands.
Moves like this are why Ferry gets paid the big bucks.
No doubt this move would potentially give the Cavs a lot of options, especially if JJ, Jackson, and Green all mature into quality role players. I keep thinking though that they have some expendable parts, and maybe a trade can still happen. Boobie looks to me like he might be on a bus if a trade goes down. I just have a feeling that theres a huge shake up still in the mix.
Now, I do think the Cavs have greatly improved since last year, but did they do more then ORL, SA, or LAL (Boston really is just getting healthy, I’m not too worried about ‘sheed).
Moon’s biographer won’t have this much to write about his irrelevant career. I like the signing, and it gives the Cavaliers added flexibility. But one could argue there’s too much duplicity here with Moon and Parker – and that Brown will have tough job determining playing time b/c of their similar skill sets. Meaning, Brown has to hope the guy he puts in, is hot. That’s a problem he had last season with Gibson/Wally/Sasha.
Had they just have signed Ariza, there’s much less “hoping” when trotting out the lineups. Plus, most NBA guys are better suited when they’re in a rhythm. Just using guys in spot situation is sometimes a recipe for disaster.
I guess I’m just not as optimistic about the Cavs right now. I have them behind the Lakers/Spurs/Magic – and if the C’s are healthy, they might be behind them as well. I’m not a big believer in the Shaq move, which I think has a huge potential in actually making them worse and EASIER to guard. Sorry about being a Debby Downer.
Now that the cavs have gotten rid of their “What the eff are you doing?” players, I wonder if the games will be as exciting to watch?
I figured 4000 words on Moon would be plenty to capture what this guy potentially means to the Cavs, but your extra 1000 didn’t feel extraneous at all.
Amazing work.
Is there a requirement on this site that every story must be followed up with “great article” immediately afterwards? I’m noticing a trend here. It’s not to say that you guys don’t do a good job, but articles like this are flat out redundant and way too lengthy. I mean seriously, think about how disproportionate the coverage is here. 5,000 words for this irrelevant bench player in the league. If he gets this much space, what would someone like Chris Bosh get.
I like the site, but stuff like this is overkill.
And by the way, all of that was written by someone who admittedly “didn’t see him much.”
WHAT? Nobody else called him out on that yet?
@ Adam- Thanks for dropping by. If you stick around long enough you will see that Rock never writes anything under 5000 words. It’s his gift. Lot’s of sites write two short posts a week. We’re try to be a little different. If you don’t like one story another will be along shortly. By the way, tell Drew I said hello.
Rick, I do genuinely like the site. I’m sure you don’t mind a little constructive criticism. I’m sure you’re ignoring it anyway haha.
@#15 I was thinking between Apollo 33, Super Jamario, Bad Moon Rising, and calling him Moondog after the Cavaliers mascot. Austin Carr’s head might explode with too many possibilities.
@Adam: You’re entitled to your opinion and I’m sorry if you don’t care for my work, but if you’re going to quote me, quote me properly. I said “Admittedly, I did not see enough of Moon in Miami to make an educated opinion on the reason for this dramatic shift.” I’ve seen Moon play a lot, I just didn’t see him play a lot with Miami to be able to speak qualitatively about why his defense suffered there.
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