Category: Cleveland Cavaliers (Page 82 of 88)

ESPN is reporting that free-agent guard Ray Allen has chosen to stay in Seattle, agreeing to a five-year, $80 million deal with the Sonics Tuesday morning. The Cavs, Clippers and Hawks were all interested in Allen, considered by many to be the top player available on the free-agent market. What does his decision mean to the Cavaliers? Well, it certainly places a higher premium on luring Michael Redd to Cleveland. Redd reportedly has been the Cavs’ first choice all along, with Allen representing plan B, but now that plan B is no longer an option, plan A becomes all that much more important. If Redd decides to stay with Milwaukee, expect Danny Ferry to go heavily after Joe Johnson and Larry Hughes, the best of the remaining free-agent two-guards, though because Johnson’s a restricted free agent, he’s likely not going anywhere. Hughes would be a nice consolation prize, but let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.

Z wants to stay in Cleveland, and new GM Danny Ferry wants to keep him, so now it’s just a matter of money. Hal Lebowitz reported over the weekend that a deal will be wrapped up quickly, and things seem to be progressing after a meeting between Ferry and Z’s agent.

This is a tough call. Z certainly helps the Cavs, but is he the right center for this team over the long run? Would it be better for LeBron to develop with an athletic center that can run the court? As long as Ferry doesn’t break the bank, it probably makes sense to keep him. We’ll see.

ESPN is reporting that the Cavs have made a max offer to Michael Redd. They delivered a video from LeBron James to Redd with the offer immediately after the clock began ticking on the new free agent period. They apparently sent a similar video to Ray Allen.

The Bucks also made a max offer to Redd, meaning their offer will be at least $20 million more than the Cavs are permitted to offer. Many expect Redd to stay with the Bucks, but he did not immediately accept their offer, hopefully leaving the door open for the Cavs.

Update – The Beacon-Journal is reporting that Michael Redd will come in soon for a visit with the Cavs. It looks like Redd is not in a hurry to make a decision, improving the chances that he will select the Cavs. The Cavs just need to make sure that he doesn’t take too long. If he doesn’t commit they should quickly turn thei attention to Ray Allen.

This could be fun. As the NBA heads into its free-agency period, the Cavaliers have more money than any other team in the league to play with, roughly $27 to $30 million. ESPN’s Marc Stein says Danny Ferry has two priorities: sign Michael Redd and re-sign Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Beyond that, the Cavs may still have enough money to ink a guy like Antonio Daniels or Earl Watson to play the point.

Obviously, the Redd signing would be huge. An OSU alum and Columbus native, the 6-6 shooting guard is one of the most lethal outside shooters in the game and, at only 25, he’s coming off a career-year, scoring 23 points per game last season with Milwaukee. This is the kind of scorer the Cavaliers so desperately need, a guy who can stretch opposing defenses and open up the lane for LeBron to create. Of course, if they miss out on Redd — a distinct possibility considering the Bucks can offer him significantly more money than the Cavs — the fallback option is Ray Allen, who ironically was shipped out of Milwaukee a couple years ago to make room for the up-and-coming Redd. No doubt Ferry would rather have the younger Redd but Allen, not exactly a geezer at 29, is even more dangerous from beyond the arch and may actually prove to be a smarter investment. I don’t care who it is, as long as the Cavs figure out a way to get either Redd or Allen. In fact, I’d be thrilled with Joe Johnson or Larry Hughes as well.

I’m not as sold on Z, though. I know that he’s one of the best centers in the East and I know that he seems to have moved beyond all those foot problems, but I just don’t think he meshes well with LeBron on the court. With LBJ on the floor, this team has the potential to be one of the most exciting teams in basketball, a la the Phoenix Suns, who ran just about every one of their regular-season opponents out of the arena. The 7-3 Ilgauskas obviously doesn’t fit into that kind of up-tempo gameplan. With Z on the floor, the offense screeches to a halt as the Cavs play half-court basketball, and LeBron’s proven over the years that he’s much more dangerous on the fly than he is in half-court mode. Considering it would take $10 to $12 million annually to lock Z up, I think that money would be better spent elsewhere on two or even three additions.

Who’s out there that could make a difference in the middle for the Cavs? It depends on what exactly you’re looking for. In his own ESPN column, Chad Ford details all the best free agents in this year’s class, and guys like Tyson Chandler, Stromile Swift and even Kwame Brown caught my eye. These are all athletic guys who can run, rebound and block shots. Ford even went so far as to compare Chicago’s Chandler to Ben Wallace. Who wouldn’t want Ben Wallace in the paint? Admittedly, Chandler, Swift and Brown have their problems offensively but if you combine LeBron with Redd, Allen or Johnson, you don’t need to get 18 a game from your center. I’ll take 10 points, 10 boards and 2.5 blocks from my center if you’re getting 20-plus from LeBron and Redd.

All of that said, I won’t be disappointed if they re-sign Z, because the Cavaliers proved last season that they can be competitive with Z on the floor, even if he can’t defend the pick-and-roll. I just hope Ferry makes some intelligent decisions this summer because the Cavaliers are in a prime spot right now. Choose the right guys and they’ll be playing for a title within the next three years. Choose wrong, though, and we’ll see LeBron playing for another team in three years.

Danny Ferry is off to a fast start. He was able to swing two trades to pick up a yound center with huge upside. Before the draft, Ferry traded Jiri Welsch and cash to the Milwaukee Bucks for a second-round pick in 2006. After the draft he traded the newly acquired pick to the Orlando Magic for 7-foot-2 center Martynas Andriuskevicius, who was drafted with the 44th pick overall in the second round of last night’s draft.

Martynas Andriuskevicius has huge upside according to ESPN. He’s 19 years old and last year he withdrew from the draft when he couldn’t get a top-5 guarantee. Phoenix was poised to take him with the 7th pick. The fact that he dropped all the way to #44 this year was a big surprise since they projected him to go between 12 and 22. ESPN projects him to be more of a power forward. He’s definitely a project, but this could be a real steal at this spot. The scouting report says he has great hands and great passing skills. He can play inside and outside and has great basketball instincts. He runs the floor well and showed impressive athleticism. It sounds like he would fit in great with LeBron. The downside is that he doesn’t have the bulk or strength to battle in the paint. Hopefully that will improve with time as he matures. Bottom line – getting him for Welsch seems like a great start for Ferry.