Category: Cleveland Cavaliers (Page 81 of 88)

The reviews are coming in and not surprisingly, they are very good. Terry Pluto loves the move. Hughes was his first choice OVER Redd and Allen because he’s the best all around player of the three, with his excellent defense, rebounding skills and ballhandling ability. Yes, he’s not a great three-point shooter, but Pluto correctly points out that the Cavs have many needs, and a complete player is much better for the long-term development of this team. He also notes Hughes’s attitude, noting:

“Some fans need to understand that Hughes is not fixated on being the star. Coming from Washington, he played with Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison — both used to shooting a lot.

Many times, Hughes was the third option in that offense, yet he still averaged 22 points. He still defended. He still rebounded. He still played the complete game.

Name a Cavalier who does all that?”

That pretty much sums it up. So far, so good for Danny Ferry and Dan Gilbert. They may have overpaid a little to get him as Bud Shaw points out, but they had the money and cap room and did what they had to do to land a very good player.

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.

Apparently the opportunity to play with LeBron James in his home state wasn’t enough to get free-agent guard Michael Redd to leave $20 million on the table. ESPN is reporting that Redd has agreed to re-sign with the Milwaukee Bucks for $90-$96 million over six years, which is one year and roughly $20 million more than the Cavaliers’ were able to offer under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Redd’s signing means the Cavaliers have failed to land either of their top-two choices to fill the starting two-guard slot, after Ray Allen verbally agreed to an extension with Seattle earlier this week.

The Cavaliers will likely turn their attention to Washington guard Larry Hughes, who’s a much better defender than either Allen or Redd but not nearly the shooter that the other two are, Joe Johnson, a restricted free agent who many feel is the best shooting guard on the market, and Clippers’ swingman Bobby Simmons, the NBA’s reigning Most Improved Player. Of the three, the Cavs probably have the best chance at signing Simmons since the Suns appear ready to match any offer Johnson receives and many feel Hughes would prefer to stay in Washington. That said, Danny Ferry may decide to save some of his cap room for next year if indeed he can’t land Hughes or Johnson.

The more I think about the possibility of re-signing Zydrunas Ilguaskas, the more I think it would be a bad move. The Cavs are faced with the unique opportunity to completely rebuild their team around their best player because they’ve got a boatload of money to spend in the free-agent market and a roster in need of serious overhaul. With the amount of cash Danny Ferry has burning a hole in his pocket, he can go out and pick up three new starters this summer to complement LeBron.

First, they need a shooter, with Michael Redd, Joe Johnson and Larry Hughes atop the list. They’re also looking for a point guard, with Antonio Daniels and Earl Watson, who play defense as well as they run an offense, representing two solid possibilities, along with Lithuanian point guard Sarunas Jasikevicius. And then, of course, they need a center. Before Danny Ferry was hired, Dan Gilbert apparently was ready to let Z walk. Since then, though, Ferry has reportedly convinced Gilbert that keeping Z is the right move. I’m not convinced.

Here’s the thing with Z: He’s a very good offensive center, second only to Shaq in the East. But he’s often a liability on the defensive end of the court, he’s asking for $10 or $12 million a year for five years and, as we know all too well, he’s got a brutal injury history. Granted, Z’s been remarkably healthy the past three years but that could very well mean he’s overdue.

Overlooking the injury issue, though, there’s one more significant reason re-signing Z doesn’t make sense for the Cavaliers: he just doesn’t fit. As I stated in an earlier post, LeBron has proven the past two years that he’s much more dangerous on the run than he is in the half-court set. The problem is, when Z is on the floor the Cavs are always in the half court. If Ferry ends up re-signing Z, then the offense will be built around Z, which doesn’t make any sense considering LeBron’s your best player and, quite possibly, the best young player in the game. If the Cavs bring Z back, they’ll be forced to be a half-court team, which limits LeBron’s productivity. How does that benefit the Cavs?

It’s easy to understand why Ferry thinks so highly of Z: He’s been watching Tim Duncan dominate in San Antonio the past few years. But the difference is, Duncan is the Spurs’ best player; Z is not the Cavaliers’ best player, nor is he nearly the player that Duncan is, offensively or defensively. Use that $12 million to plug several holes on the roster — go get an athletic big man who can block shots, rebound and run the floor, a guy like Tyson Chandler, Stromile Swift or Samuel Dalembert, and then beef up the bench with one or two other contributors. Z has proven to be a potent scorer and consistent rebounder with the Cavs but this isn’t his team; it’s LeBron’s. And Ferry needs to realize that, while Z is a good player, he just isn’t a good fit for this team.