Who Says No? Exploring Andrew Bynum Trade Possiblities

Someone should have told Andrew no.

Apparently, the Cavs are mulling a number of offers for Andrew Bynum (or, more accurately, the $6 million in savings he represents for the remainder of the season).  They are expected to decide which offer to accept on Monday, and while I'm sure the deal is going to be much worse than anything I can dream up, I figured I'd try anyway.  Welcome to the first edition of Who Says No? where I go around the league peddling deals to every other franchise and gauge who would reject each respective offer.  And, yes, you're right, I really do need to go back to work.

2013 Cavs Off-Season Preview Part 2: Current Roster

My Cavs Off-Season preview continues today with a look at what the Cavs should do with players on their current roster.  Here's Part 1 if you missed it.

2013 NBA Draft Quick (haha, yeah right!) Thoughts

Cavs Draft Thoughts

Anthony Bennett

I was just as shocked as everyone else when the Cavs took Anthony Bennett*.  The problem isn't that there was a more overwhelmingly-obvious choice (there wasn't) or that Bennett doesn't have the talent to live up to #1 pick hype (he does).  The issue I have with the selection is where does Bennett play?  Tristan Thompson developed into the Cavs' 2nd-best player last season (he led the team with 8.48 WP, 9th among all NBA power forwards), and I'm not sure how Bennett fits alongside him in the front court.  Neither player is big enough to man center for any significant amount of time, and if the plan is to stick 6-8, 240 lbs. Bennett at the 3, Cleveland's defensive woes from last season will be exacerbated.

*Except Terry Pluto, who seemed adamant the choice would not be Nerlens Noel.  While Pluto leaned heavily towards Alex Len as the top pick, Bennett was also a prospect he consistently mentioned as a very real possibility.

2013 Cavs Off-Season Preview Part 1: The Draft

The 2013 NBA season is in the books, and I didn't write a single word about it.  This likely disappoints no one but me, but, just in case you actually did miss my thoughts on the season, I'd like to make it up to you with a mega-post previewing the Cavs' upcoming off-season.  I'm going to start with an overview of their options, then conclude with my thoughts on what they should do.  It's a long one, but since I probably won't post anything until next fall, you should have ample time to get through it.  Enjoy.

2012-13 NBA Preview: Central Division Wrap-Up

Wins Produced Projected Order of Finish
1. Indiana 48-34
2. Milwaukee 47-35
3. Chicago 45-37
4. Cleveland 26-56
5. Detroit 19-63

Wins Produced All-Central Team

PG George Hill, Indiana

SG Paul George, Indiana

SF Luol Deng, Chicago

PF Ersan Ilyasova, Milwaukee

C Joakim Noah, Chicago

Eye-Ball Test All-Central Team
PG Kyrie Irving, Cleveland
SG George, Indiana
SF Deng, Chicago
PF Greg Monroe, Detroit
C Noah, Chicago

Wins Produced and the Eye-Ball Test match up pretty well in the Central, with the obvious exception of George Hill over Kyrie Irving.  (Of course, Derrick Rose would make the team over both of them if he were healthy.)  I personally think Monroe is in for a monster year, but I don't think Ilyasova is necessarily a slouch.  Carlos Boozer is hated by even Bulls fans, but he is still a productive player who could find himself in the running for this team with a heavier scoring load this year.  Deng beats out a weak crop of small forwards (Danny Granger is his only legitimate competition), while Joakim Noah edges out Anderson Varejao and Roy Hibbert.  As I touched on in my Pacers preview, Paul George has the potential to be a major star, and he shouldn't have much competition at his position from his division-mates.

Cavs 94 Washington 84: Quick Thoughts

• Holy mother, Anderson Varerjao.  For proof of how scoring is an overrated component of winning basketball, Varejao dominated this game despite only 9 points.  Two blocks is good, 22 rebounds is amazing, but not surprising (although it is a new career-high for Andy), but 9 assists is unreal.  I don't know if running the offense through Andy in the high post is a new, permanent wrinkle of Byron Scott's offense or if Andy was just taking advantage of poor weakside help by the Wizards, but it was a joy to watch.
• Kyrie Irving had the kind of quietly dominant games superstars tend to have throughout a season.  I felt like Irving was saving himself for the 4th quarter a little until Fox Sports Ohio flashed the 24 points he had near the end of the 3rd quarter.  A final line of 29 points and 6 rebounds on 55 percent shooting would be welcome nightly, although you'd have to hope he finishes with more assists than turnovers from here on out (3 assist to 4 turnovers tonight).  Another sign Irving is quickly ascending to Superstar status is the call he got in the 4th when he obviously tripped over himself.  The Cavs were trailing at that point, and a turnover there may have swung the game.
• In the battle of #3 pick against #4 pick, Dion Waiters came out well-ahead, putting up a solid 17 points and 3 steals versus Bradley Beal's 8 points on 2-8 shooting.  Waiters was active, and attacked the hole throughout the evening.  He hit the three of the game in the 4th, and was much better than I gave him credit for in my Cavs preview, as well as exponentially more impressive than he his performances in Summer League and preseason suggested he could be.  Hopefully, he keeps it up.
• Alonzo Gee had a rough game.  Four points on 2-9 shooting, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, and three turnovers aren't good numbers, and it felt like he fouled out of this game 3 times (even though he finished with only 5 fouls).  Fortunately for Gee (but unfortunately for the Cavs), C.J. Miles was even worse, shooting 1-5 with 3 turnovers and a bad decision nearly every time he touched the ball.  Omri Casspi must be horrible to not see a second of action behind these two.
• The bench bunch as a whole is a reason for real concern, as the combination of Miles, Donald Sloan, Boobie Gibson, Tyler Zeller, and Luke Walton surrendered most of a 12-point Cleveland lead entering the 4th in seemingly 2 minutes.  If Gibson's shot isn't falling like it was in the 1st half (10 points, 7 in the 2nd quarter), this unit simply cannot score (Cleveland didn't score until there were 7 minutes left in the game).  Zeller looked like a rookie big man, Sloan had one nice move negated by one of the worst calls I've ever seen (have you ever heard of a player pushing off with his knee?) but not much else to contribute, and when Walton checked in I seriously thought an assistant coach had suited up as a goof.  I find it hard to believe Samardo Samuels or Jon Leuer couldn't provide more than Walton's bloated corpse did (2 points, 1 rebound, 2 turnovers), and I hope we see 100% more of the two young bigs in the (very) near future.
• A win is nice, but it comes with a grain of salt.  The Wizards are missing John Wall and Nene, and they were leaning heavily on Jordan Crawford and Earl Barron to carry them down the stretch.  You can justifiably wonder why Crawford and Barron were in the game over A.J. Price and Emeka Okafor to begin with (if Okafor were in, for instance, i find it hard to believe Tristan Thompson would  have gotten three straight wide open dunks from the exact same spot on the right block), but it also shows how thin the Wizards are. \The Cavs will have a better gauge of where the stand early on after Friday's game vs. Chicago.
• Here's hoping Wizards' assistant coach Sam Cassell takes over for Randy Wittman before the end of the season, if for no other reason than to see him do his Big Balls dance as Washington jogs towards the huddle after a timeout.  Of course,  I suppose he could do that as an assistant, too.      

2012 NBA Season Preview: Cleveland Cavaliers

With the NBA season fast approaching, I figured I'd throw my two cents in on how I see things playing out.  These projections were created using Wins Produced (WP) from the Wages of Wins Journal and The NBA Geek.  To gauge how rookies and incoming international players perform, I used the amazing projections of Arturo Galletti.  If you haven't read any of that stuff, you should.  I march on with the still-a-year-away Cleveland Cavaliers.  Enjoy.

2012 NBA Draft: Cavs Dream/Nightmare Picks

Before I unleash my Mock Draft Version Beta (you can read Version Alpha here), I thought I should run down the prospects I would love to see in the Wine & Gold, and those that I feel would be wasted picks.  Since things will be a bit of a crapshoot by the time the Cavs pick at #24 (let alone in the second round), I've concentrated my efforts on best case/worst case picks at #4.  I'm also operating under the belief that the Cavs need to come out of this draft with another big, a wing, a shooting guard, and another solid rotation player (regardless of position).  Enjoy.

2012 NBA Mock Draft Version Alpha: Just The Tip

The NBA lottery has come and gone, and the Cavs were robbed of the second piece of a future championship club by winning a coin toss.  Even without Anthony Davis, though, Cleveland should be in a great position to improve, with four picks in the top 34 of a deep draft.  I compiled this mock using information from Draft Express, NBADraft.net, ESPN's Chad Ford, and ProBasketballDraft.com.  The player comparisons come from Hickory-High's awesome Similarity Scores project.  I've listed the top five comps for each player in the lottery.  Since this is only Version Alpha, I've only included analysis of the lottery picks.  As draft night gets closer, I will dive in deeper.  Enjoy.

Ranking The Amnesty Moves (so far)

One of the big pieces of the NBA's new collective bargaining agreement was the return of the Amnesty Clause.  Called the Allan Houston Rule the first time it was implemented in 2005, the Amnesty Clause allows teams to use a one-time waiver that removes a player from their roster while also removing the player's salary from the hit against a team's salary cap space (ironically, the Knicks chose not to use the clause on Houston).  While the teams are still responsible for paying the remainder of a waived player's contract, albatross contracts that stymied payroll flexibility could be eliminated in a flash, granting owners and front offices that made crippling mistakes a reprieve.

Why Cavs fans should cheer for an NBA lockout

On Monday's BS Report, NBA commissioner David Stern discussed the very real possiblity of the owners deciding to contract the New Orleans Hornets in the event of a lockout.  While I am almost positive this is just posturing by Stern to gain a little negotiating leverage on the owners' behalf, and while I most certainly don't wish any city to lose a sports franchise after what Cleveland went through with the Browns, if contraction is something that could happen, I definitely want it to happen this year.

 Why?  Dispersal draft, baby.  And, if things hold as they have, the Cavs would almost definitely be holding the first pick, which means hello Chris Paul (although that could then mean goodbye Chris Paul in 2012, but let's dream a little for now).  Going by the standings as of February 15, here's how I see a dispersal draft shaking out.

One and Counting: That was fun while it lasted

Yikes.  If there has been a play that serves as a microcosm of the nightmare that is the 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers' season, it has to be John Wall's coast-to-coast layup with 4 seconds left at the end of the first half of the Cavs' 115-100 loss to the Washington Wizards Sunday night.  Wall's score came after a monstrous Christian Eyenga jam (whom some pals and I watched a minor league hockey game "with" one luxury suite over at the Q on Saturday night, and who by all indications does not understand the sport of hockey) that seemed to build some momentum for the hometown Cavs heading into the locker room.  And then Wall waltzed down the court to the opposite hoop, and the game was over, Eyenga's slam all but forgotten.  It was like Friday's exhilarating win over the Clippers (Eyenga's dunk) followed by Sunday's pathetic showing against the Wizards (Wall's layup) compressed into a 5-second sequence.  What a turd sandwich.

UPDATE: The Cavs Win...because of witchcraft?

Via Ball Don't Lie:

19 Action News Meteorologist Jason Handman will be attempting to lift whatever curse has befallen Cleveland's beloved home town hoops team with the assistance of Kathy Curran, a local Witch and High Priestess. Curran is a self proclaimed expert in all aspects of the metaphysical realms, including Wiccan culture, astrology, fairies, magic, and an extensive knowledge of herbs and spell casting.
Jason and Witch Kathy will attempt to break the losing spell of the Cavaliers live today in today's 19 Action News at Four, Five, and Six. Fans from around the country can watch these newscasts as they are streamed live, online, at 19 Action News.com
"Kathy has assured me that she has the perfect spell to lift this curse already prepared. If she proves to be successful, she will be forecasting the weather for us as well." Jason Handman says.

Oh, snood, is that Fred McLeod in the corner? (video)


At least that explains him speaking in tongues.

Cavs Win!

What the hell is Fred McLeod saying? (video)

26 And Counting: Shuffling Furniture On The Deck of the Titantic

Well, the Cavs lost again, this time in humiliating fashion to the Detroit Pistons.  So why not celebrate with a trade with those very Pistons?


Trade #1

Cavs get:
Richard Hamilton
Charlie Villanueva
Ben Gordon
Jason Maxiell
Detroit's 2011 2nd Round Pick

Pistons get:
Antawn Jamison
Mo Williams
Anthony Parker

Playing The Lotto #1

As the Cavs continue their march towards infamy, it is increasingly likely (if not assured) that the Wine & Gold will have the worst record in the NBA.* 


*At 8-44, Cleveland has a 4.5 game "lead" on Minnesota, who are next worst at 12-39.  The Cavs are also the only team with a double-digit point differential; unfortunately, it's a negative double-digit point differential (-11.9 points per game; the next worst is Washington, at -6.5).  The NBA record is -15.2 points per game, held by the 1992 Dallas Mavericks, so at least the Cavs should avoid that infamy.  This terrible deficit in points has of course led the Cavaliers to not only be at the bottom of the major statistic-based ranking systems (30th in John Hollinger's Power Rankings; 30th in Basketball Reference's BBR Rankings), but be at the bottom of those rankings by a healthy margin (3.489 points behind #29 Toronto in Hollinger's, with the next biggest gap between consecutive teams being #25 Sacramento's 2.072 lead on #26 Minnesota, with their -11.06 rating at BBR coming in a whopping 4.85 behind #29 New Jersey, which is overwhelmingly the largest gap between consecutive teams).  So, yeah, the Cavs are bad.

25 And Counting

I wouldn't mind seeing Bill Walker do this in the Q.

As the Cavs firmly plant themselves in the record book for all of the wrong reasons, let's celebrate with another trade idea to save them from themselves.


Trade #1

Cavs get:
Eddy Curry
Bill Walker
Anthony Randolph
Jamal Crawford

Knicks get:
Carmelo Anthony
Al Harrington
Mo Williams

Nuggets get:
Wilson Chandler
Toney Douglas
Kelenna Azubuike
Jeff Teague
Danilo Gallinari
Miami's 2013 #1 pick ( via Cleveland)
Atlanta's 2012 #1 pick

Hawks get:
Chauncey Billups
Timofey Mozgov

Three Trades To Change The Cavs

(Who the hell is Alonzo Gee?)


When my girlfriend and I decided to forgo getting cable, I was concerned I would miss watching the Cavs.  As the losses pile up in ever-more humiliating fashion, however, I feel more and more like not getting cable was the the best decision I've made in years.  It has become exceedingly apparent that even though there may be some talent on the roster, the Cavs need to turn that roster over, and soon.  There is just too much of a funk hanging over these guys, and it would probably be best if they all tried to reclaim their careers elsewhere.  Hence, my three trade ideas to change the Cavs.  Notice I'm not promising to make the Cavs any better; in order for them to win at the the level Clevelanders have become accustomed to the past 5 or so years, the Cavs are going to need some serious lottery luck (in very likely more than one lottery).  No, these trades will only clear out the bad vibes of the post-LeBron era, while hopefully leaving the roster flexible for future building.  There is no building happening this year; instead, the goal for the remainder of the season should be exorcising every last vestige of this horrible, horrible team.  (Please note: I don't really understand how the trade exception works, so it is entirely possible all three of these trades cannot happen congruently.  Please forgive me if this is the case.)

Brian Windhorst > Adrian Wojnarowski

If you haven't read Adrian Wojnarowski's piece on LeBron's departure from Cleveland, I recommend that you do so.  Most of the information in it is stuff you probably already know if you've been paying attention, and it isn't especially well-written (it almost seems as if each paragraph was copied and pasted directly from the author's notebook with little regard for how each little tidbit fits into the larger frame of the article), but it perfectly illustrates two things:  Wojnarowski hates LeBron, and Cleveland should be eternally grateful for Brian Windhorst.

Goodbye LeBron?

Apparently, LeBron James is going to use his one hour prime-time special tonight to announce he is joining Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami (which I kind of doubt, but I will get to that at the end of this little excercise).  While this is extremely disappointing for Cavs fans, I am too tired right now to properly gauge the emotional weight of this decision.  Instead, I am just going to do a grab bag list of random topics related to this stunning news.