While the Cavaliers use the All-Star break to rest up (well most of them anyways) we thought it would be a good time to reflect on the season so far, and issue some grades. In addition, we will detail what the Cavaliers will need from each player in order to hoist some team hardware this summer. We start today with Zydrunas Ilgauskas.
Relevant Stats-
Season Averages: 20.6 min / 7.5 pts / 5.3 reb / .451 fg% / .77 bk
With the addition of Shaq we all knew that Z’s numbers were bound to go down. The question coming into the season concerning Ilgauskas was how well he would adapt to coming off the bench, both mentally and physically. Let’s start with the physical. If you talk to Zydrunas, he will tell you that he feels great this season. His minutes are down to 20.6 per game, or roughly 8 full minutes off his career average. Add those minutes up for 53 games and it is easy to see why he feels fresh. There is more to it than that though. Zydrunas has always been a player that needs shots to get warmed up. He doesn’t usually start a game off lighting up the scoreboard. That has led to a few games this season in which he struggles to make shots, and just never gets going. [Read more...]
The trade deadline is just days away (nine days actually) and we’ve been monitoring all the options we can find for the Cavaliers. One option that hasn’t gotten much attention these days is adding a player after the deadline passes. This obviously is only accomplished by signing players to free agent deals. After the trade deadline passes there are occasionally players that hit the market because they have had their contracts bought out by the current team. It is something that the Cavs are quite familiar with.
With all the trade rumors swirling around, I realized it’s been a little while since we’ve done some math around here to illustrate the financial implications of what the Cavaliers can and cannot do in the future, as well as how LeBron’s contract will shape the future. Of course I realize that right now the team is solely focus on winning a championship this year, but I promise you that Danny Ferry isn’t making any moves without considering how it will impact the future of this franchise.
With the trade deadline less than three weeks away, there will certainly be a slew of rumors hitting the mill every single day the rest of the way out. For your Sunday morning enjoyment, beat writer extraordinaire Brian Windhorst is 
The NBA trade rumors are only going to heat up from here, and the Cleveland Cavaliers are sure to be included in many/most of the rumors out there. We’ve seen beat writers across the country report time and again that the Cavaliers are being the most active team in seeking out a trade to improve this team before the playoffs. The Cavaliers have the assets (expiring contracts) and the desire to get something done, and now they just need to find a willing trade partner. And that’s where Danny Ferry may once again look no further than his good friend Steve Kerr.
You have to admit that, for being a Cleveland sports site and being “rivals” of the Washington Wizards, we really haven’t taken too many cheap shots at the Wizards over this whole Gilbert Arenas fiasco. Perhaps because in truth, I’ve quietly been watching from afar, just waiting for this thing to spiral out of control to the point that Washington will get serious about moving their pieces.
So here we are. It’s not even November yet and the Cavaliers find themselves at 0-2. This normally wouldn’t be so bad, but there are two problems. First, if we can be honest for a minute, Cleveland fans don’t handle adversity well at all. Whenever the slightest thing goes awry, we can’t help ourselves but to expect the absolute worst. Second, it’s not just the fact the Cavaliers are 0-2, but it’s the manner in which they have been defeated. Both games have seen the Cavaliers play extended stretches of horrific basketball which exposed some major flaws.
In the past couple days we’ve talked about how Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas could be 
