Posted on Friday 15 July 2005
Most of the talk this offseason about the Cavaliers signing a point guard has revolved around Lithuanian star Sarunas Jasikevicius, but the Plain Dealer suggests that free agent Antonio Daniels may be the choice. Daniels isn’t the scorer that Jasikevicius is but he can hit a three, shooting 36% from long distance in 2003 and 40% in 2000 (though just 29% last year), and he’s a much better defender, which may be the reason the Cavs are looking at Daniels as a possibility. And according to Daniels, the interest is mutual:
“I’m interested in Cleveland because I’m from Columbus. Playing close to home would be a great opportunity. Plus LeBron [James] is there and Larry Hughes is there now and Z [Zydrunas Ilgauskas] is still there. That would be a very competitive team in the East.”
Daniels certainly makes sense on several levels, but he would’ve been a better fit had the Cavs signed Michael Redd or Ray Allen instead of Larry Hughes. Hughes’ questionable range, however, makes Jasikevicius more appealing than Daniels. Sure, his defensive liabilities are a concern (envisioning Z and Jasikevicius trying to defend the pick-and-roll scares the crap out of me) but the pressure would be on Mike Brown to mold Jasikevicius into a respectable defender. Plus, with Hughes, a superb defender, at the two, you can live with some shaky defense at the point as long as you’re also getting a three-point threat.