Author: JEC (Page 16 of 46)

Looks like all the doom and gloom I was spouting yesterday following Michael Redd’s decision to re-sign with the Bucks was a little premature because the Cavaliers have pulled off what some would consider a minor upset by signing Washington guard Larry Hughes to a contract. ESPN’s Chad Ford reports the deal will be worth $65-$70 million over five years.

This is awesome news. As noted earlier, Hughes is not nearly as lethal from three-point land as Redd and Ray Allen are but he’s a much more complete player, topping Redd and Allen in rebounds (6.3) and assists (4.7) per game, he’s one of the best defensive guards in the league, leading the NBA in steals last year with 2.89 per contest, and he still managed to score 22 points a night. So while he doesn’t fill the need for a long-range bomber, Hughes may still prove to be a better fit for the Cavaliers than either Redd or Allen would’ve been. True, there are some durability issues here and some wonder if Hughes is as good as last year’s numbers suggest, but he’s 26 and while he’s never been the most consistent guy out there, this is the kind of explosive young player you want on your roster. Plus, he’s a fantastic ballhandler, which means he’ll likely log some substantial minutes as the back-up point guard.

Up next, apparently, is inking Z and also trying to land Lithuanian point guard Sarunas Jasikevicius, widely regarded as the best international player not playing in the NBA. Stay tuned.

You can bet Daniel Gilbert is sweating bullets right now. Everyone on the planet knows the Cavaliers need a shooter and, heading into this summer’s free agency period, Michael Redd and Ray Allen were the two best candidates to plug that hole. Now that Redd and Allen have both chosen to re-up with their current teams, the Cavs are left with Larry Hughes and Joe Johnson. The problem is, there’s a good chance neither of these guys is going anywhere either, with Hughes reportedly happy in Washington and the Suns having the ability to match any offer for Johnson, a restricted free agent.

Which leaves us with Bobby Simmons. ESPN’s Bill Simmons (no relation, of course) wrote up an interesting piece on the 6-6 Simmons, who took home Most Improved Player honors last season. The notoriously cheap Clippers aren’t going to pay Simmons what he’s worth, and considering the 25 year old hit 43% of his three-point attempts last year, you can bet the Cavs, assuming they can’t land Johnson or Hughes, would be happy to throw some cash at Simmons.

Unfortunately, while he’d certainly be a fine addition to the Cavaliers roster, Simmons just doesn’t stack up to Redd, Allen, Hughes or Johnson. He’s not the big-name player the Cavs were looking to add and he doesn’t have the proven track record that the other four guards have either. Even worse, he’s probably not the kind of player that could catapult the Cavaliers to the top of the East, which potentially spells doom for the franchise. LeBron made it clear that he wanted Redd or Allen in Cleveland next year, so settling for Simmons isn’t going to make him happy. Plus, LeBron hasn’t exactly been a huge Z fan, and this summer he’s let everyone know that he’d love to see the Cavs sign Chicago center Eddy Curry. Instead, it looks like Danny Ferry is intent on re-signing Ilgauskas.

Regardless of what happens over the next few weeks, with Simmons or any other free agents, this offseason will go down as a disappointment for the Cavaliers. And for a franchise whose main goal should be to keep LeBron James happy by building a championship contender around him, that’s not good news. Even though LeBron’s years away from free agency, the Cavs seem to be fighting an uphill battle to keep him in Cleveland. This summer, that hill may have gotten even steeper.