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January 22, 2010Holmgren Report: Special Teams
January 22, 2010
There is reason to believe that Delonte West’s finger injury might be serious enough to keep him out of action for a while. The word on the street is “broken”. There are different kinds of broken- broken and still able to gut it out, and then there is needs surgery to repair broken. While the prognosis hasn’t been released, you have to think Danny Ferry is preparing for the worst.
With Mo Williams already out 4-6 weeks, Delonte’s injury really couldn’t have come at a worse time. Daniel Gibson, who played a whopping 19 minutes in the win over the Lakers, will most likely be elevated from splinter on Brown’s bench to starter for the game against Oklahoma City on Saturday. Bad news seems to be coming in two’s for the Cavs. In addition to playing the upstart Thunder on Saturday with their MVP (chuckle) candidate Kevin Durant, the Cavs face Dwyane Wade and the Heat on Monday. Without West, Wade will have a field day against the Cavs.
That is unless Danny Ferry can find a suitable replacement in the meantime. The smart money (as I hinted at yesterday) is on Coby Karl returning to the team on a ten day deal (or perhaps multiple 10 day deals.) Karl was here through training camp, and practiced extensively with the team. The Cavs weren’t disappointed with Coby when they let him go, they just needed a roster spot for trade flexibility. Now that Coby isn’t guaranteed a contract for the rest of the season they can bring him back on these 10 day contracts.
The ten day contract may be key here. Scott Schroeder of Ridiculous Upside wrote a fantastic piece on possible PG replacements for the Cavs. I won’t even try to top what he wrote about D-League guys ready to make a jump. Go read his breakdowns. They are great. In addition to D-Leaguers, Scott throws out a couple of veterans looking for work, namely Shaun Livingston, Mike Wilks and Antonio Daniels. Here’s the problem with those veterans- I doubt that any of them would be willing to come on a temporary basis. Unless the news on Delonte is really bad, like season ending bad, the Cavs will still want to maintain their trade flexibility. That’s why I have a hard time imagining them signing any of these guys to a contract they is guaranteed for the rest of the season.
Even if Delonte wouldn’t be able to come back before Mo Williams, the best move is probably the 10 day contract, unless the Cavaliers are ready to pull the trigger on a bigger deal. I mentioned a few weeks ago that I though Rip Hamilton might be a good investment because of our Guard depth. Perhaps it is time to kick the tires on that deal.
(AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
44 Comments
bad timing… sucks.. but the sweep of the lakers still allows me to live in blissful denial for the moment.
this could be terrible.
Or…
We could wing the AI2 trade and play LeBron at the 1.
/should probably be in all caps
It’ll be tough to replace Delonte’s defensive presence. He’s such a hard-nosed defender and plays so much bigger than he is. We’ll probably end up using Lebron to check Wade for most of that game. When is Moon coming back?
On the bright side, i’d rather them get all the injuries out of the way and be healthy in the playoffs. It’s all about stepping up and helping your teammates — no team is healthy 100% of the time.
Bring Starbury back from China!!!
Just kidding about Starbury. Seriously though, say Delonte’s going to be out 4 weeks. (I hope not) Would it make sense for him to cop a plea with the Maryland DA and knock out whatever possible jail time he is going to get for his gun case?
Moon was expected to miss 3 weeks, which would place his return around the middle of next week.
Wouldn’t mind seeing Jackson here if only for his defense – he would be a fine addition to just not make mistakes, get LeBron the ball and play D.
Livingston seems right up Brown’s alley since he’s 6’7″ and can dish. Will be interesting to see what they do…
Why don’t we see how well Boobs and Danny Green can hold down the fort before rushing to claim someone off the scrap heap? After a tough OKC team visits tomorrow night, the schedule really lightens up over the next couple weeks.
Richard Hamilton?? The soon to be 32 yr. old shooting guard who has been in steep decline for 3 years. The one who has 3 years left on his contract AFTER this season (till 2013) and is owed $12+ million per.
No.
I’m not sure what to make of Cavalier rotation that could feature both Jawad Williams *and* Cedric Jackson (though anyone who watched Jackson at CSU knows that he’s no true point guard).
While the Cavs have tapped the D-League before, I don’t know that they will this time. It doesn’t seem like the backup point guard position on a true contnder is the right place for a young guy trying to make his mark. Say what you will about West’s performance last night, he still only took 4 shots in his 42 minutes. Will a guy trying to make his mark be willing pass up on his Sundiata Gaines moment to actually run the point?
PROGNOSIS… NEGATIVE!!
/Costanza
Honestly, LeBron running the point is a legit answer here. He already does it for half of the game anyway. A healthy Jamario Moon would definitely make this possibility easier so that we could run Moon and Williams at the 3. Is Moon anywhere close to being back?
thoughts on jason richardson? phoenix might be willing to salary dump him in anticipation of re-signing amare, especially since they officially stink again. ferry and kerr obviously have a history. i would trust Kerr to do ferry a solid and buy-out Z so he could return to the cavs in 30 days “after exploring all his options”. richardson only has 1 more year left on his contract, so would be an expiring deal next year.
Sorry, just saw BrianRut4’s response earlier.
I heard Windy say on KNR that Moon will probably be ready for Monday night.
Shaun Livingston is an intriguing possibility for his defensive ability, size (6’7″ with a 6’11” wingspan), passing and he would be a cheap addition. If we have lost Delonte for a significant stretch and Ferry chooses to stand pat, I’m not opposed to seeing what Danny Green can do with added minutes.
Livingston highlight reel
Can we blame Andrew for this one too? Or better yet.. we blame Andrew and Jay Mariotti but Mariotti gets more of the blame because he is a .
Kidding of course.. well, not really kidding about the Mariotti part.
In all seriousness this does suck but I believe we can get through this just fine. Here’s hoping West’s finger injury isn’t serious!
The Cavaliers should have signed Antonio Daniels back in November when Delonte West had his multiple situations happening. Instead of carrying a Koby Carl or one of the other 15th player scrubs Daniels could have been here and learning. This would have paid an instant impact now with Mo out. Maybe Ferry can contact NY about KrytoNate Robinson or something although I would still prefer to see an All-Star caliber PF added. Get a scoring PF and it’ll take the pressure off the improvised backcourt while Mo is out. Also it’s time for AP to step up and make his presence known.
Btw I just read that Delonte injured a digit during the Lakers game. Not sure on severity.
@21, you’re kidding right? I have a hard time reading sarcasm on here, but if you’re serious, I am floored.
@boogeyman
There is NO WAY Nate is added to the Cavs. Mike Brown values size and defensive toughness and Nate brings neither. Also, I have to believe that we kept Coby, Jawad, and DJ because they had no leverage to get guaranteed contracts and Antonio Daniels would only sign for guaranteed money. Ferry in turn releases Carl which frees up a roster spot for a potential trade that allows us to
1) Take back Z in a trade and buyout
2) Sign a player to 10 day contracts if there are injuries (which are unfortunately happening)
3) Take back a bad contract in order to get a player we really want e.g. Z for AI and Brand or Dalembert
Breaking news: water is wet.
That is all.
When I’m hungry I look for something to eat, usually in the kitchen.
Well, Danny Green is definitely going to see some minutes now, and I for one am kinda excited to see how he does. With practically a month of all home games coming up (except for two I think), it’s a great opportunity to see not only what he can bring, but also the ten day route makes perfect sense. I guess I’d be okay with Karl, but a guy like Dontell Jefferson appeals to me a little more, with decent size and above average defense, and NBA experience, playing for Larry Brown last year in Charlotte.
@22 No I wasn’t kidding I read something mentioning Delonte injured a digit in the game. As for Coby Karl, UGH, if he’s a possibility I don’t like it.
boogeyman has to be joking…i’m not falling for it!
Does anyone know if WFNY will be making a post about Delonte’s injury and possible options for the Cavs?
#28 – Yeah, gotta be joking.
Anyone know what Kenny Lofton is up to these days? He was pretty good for Arizona back in the day, maybe he could come in for a 10-day contract.
Bix can play the point.
I agree with Eric D on having Delonte serve some jail time while he’s recovering (assuming that’s a foregone conclusion, and I’m no lawyer). Also, can Mark Price come out of retirement and shoot free throws for us?
just kidding. I think Daniel “Boobie” Gibson has earned an opportunity to prove his worth over the next couple of games.
btw – what’s the WFNY policy on using Daniel Gibson’s nickname gratuitously in a comment post? I don’t want to get banned but I do giggle at seeing that word in print. If one of the WFNY folks could answer this for me, I’d appreciate it.
PD now reporting that Delonte is out for OKC game tomorrow and is day-to-day after that: http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2010/01/cleveland_cavaliers_guard_delo_7.html
I’m pretty sure Boogeyman wasn’t kidding, and my reasoning is that in post 27 he follows up his possibly-kidding comment with a completely serious one. I think most people would have taken the chance to go a little further there if it was a joke. How he missed the fact that the article he’s commenting on was entirely about Delonte West being injured is beyond me. That’s a great laugh for a Friday afternoon!
@ Jason – it’s used by some of us in print, so it’s fair game to use (judiciously) in the comments.
@ Vengeful Pat – the only thing funnier than boogeyman completely missing the mark on things was you spelling it out for us.
HAPPY WEEKEND, KIDS!
The Cavs have apparently scrambled to their D-League affiliate in Erie and signed Cedric Jackson to a 10-day contract: http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2010/01/cleveland_cavaliers_will_sign.html
Cedric Jackson it is. I like it…good ball handler, can play the pick-and-roll game, solid defender (even if he is on the small side at 6-3) and can run an offense well. Haven’t watched him since last year in the NCAAs, but it sounds like D-league has been good for his development. Not quite a ‘pure’ PG, but I think he’ll do well just the same.
[…] Rick wrote a piece examining the options at PG to fill the void created by injuries to Mo Williams and Delonte West. The seriousness of Delonte’s finger injury is still unknown. […]
@Jason. It can’t be any more offensive than your avatar.
Can someone tell me whats wrong with his ear/jaw? Is lebrons ear infected.. Please find out. you can see it in the video interview in the locker room.
http://www.nba.com/cavaliers/video/originals/
@ 42 – he had a surgery in the offseason to remove a malignant tumor.
Always happy to help Denny! Loved your witty retort.