Wait Until Next Year Cavs Fans
I know that in Cleveland people hate to hear the words “wait until next year,” but I need to say them right now. That doesn’t mean wait until next year to compete for a championship. It means wait until next year to see any new faces on this Cavaliers roster. In a short period of time we have seen the Suns move Shawn Marion to bring in Shaq, and we have seen the Lakers move expiring contracts* for Pau Gasol. Where were the Cavs when all this stuff was happening? Sitting at home holding their overused junk. And they might as well get used to the feeling because they are going to have to compete for the rest of the year with exactly what they have right now.
They just don’t have the maneuverability this season. Larry Hughes makes a lot of money and is generally undesirable with two years (and over $25 million) left on his deal after this season. Damon Jones is undesirable and has another year making more than $4 million after this season. Donyell Marshall is undesirable and will make almost $6 million next year. Eric Snow makes almost $7 million this season and has one more year at the same value next year. Oh yeah, and he is undesirable. Notice a trend here? Lots of dollars after this season and more undesirability than the inventory at a second-hand underwear store. And to be honest, that store probably smells better. But I digress. The only guy who has expiring money this season is Ira Newble and he makes about $3.5 million and is undesirable as well. None of these guys are going anywhere. Why? Because nobody would want any of them for an extra year after this one, and two extra years in Larry Hughes’ case.
Even with my trade idea for Ron Artest, which included Drew Gooden, Shannon Brown and possibly a draft pick if the Cavs needed to put it over the top probably won’t work. Why? Well, first of all, ask yourself why Sacramento would want Drew Gooden. He is a decent player, but is he truly truly desirable? I mean, he is ok, but they did sign Mikki Moore this off-season. They do have Brad Miller, Kenny Thomas and Shareef Abdur-Rahim, who is on a reasonable contract of $5.8 million per season. Why, exactly, would Sacramento be jumping at the opportunity to have another big man making over $6 million per year on their roster? Does that make them better? Unfortunately for me and all other Cavs fans, the answer is no. On top of that, just the fact that I mentioned Mikki Moore and Drew Gooden in the same sentence should answer any questions as to why someone wouldn’t care about having Drew Gooden.
Now this doesn’t mean that the Cavs couldn’t do something smaller. I have heard names like Jarett Jack and Luke Ridenour. Those aren’t total impossibilities, but then again the Cavs would be wise to remember the past. I remember a trade a few years back that the Cavs made out of desperation to try to make the playoffs. They traded a first round draft pick to the Boston Celtics for Jiri Welsch. That turned out to be the 2007 draft pick #24 and Jiri Welsch is out of the league for all I can tell. Then again, Danny Ferry did bring in Flip Murray two years ago and he did a nice job of contributing when Larry Hughes was out injured. (Imagine that!) The Cavs need to be careful, though. They don’t want to overpay for someone who isn’t a part of the long-term solution. They don’t want to give up something that would make their current starting five any worse than it already is.By this, I guess I mean they shouldn’t trade three players; Lebron, Z, or Daniel Gibson.
Wow. That is sad. I can only think of three untradeable players on a roster that is 15 players deep.
So, Cavs fans, just start rooting for health. The Cavs will need all the players they had last year to be totally healthy come playoff time. At this point given the lack of tradeable pieces on the roster, I wouldn’t expect reinforcements anytime soon. And quite honestly, when you look at it from a totally unbiased perspective, would you trade for any of the pieces that the Cavs have sitting on their roster?
The honest answer should be no.
*Yes. I just called Kwame Brown an expiring contract.
What About Dwyane Wade?
I don’t know if any of you know this by now, but Shaquille O’Neal has been traded to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. You would have had to dig pretty deeply into the sports websites to find any mention of it. But seriously folks, I know it is big news in Phoenix, but why isn’t there anything being said in Miami?
I know the Heat are really bad this year with a record of 9 wins and 38 losses, but let’s keep in mind that this team isn’t that far removed from a championship win over Dallas a couple of years ago. The question I have is whether the Heat are risking alienation of their star player, Wade, by trading Shaq? Or is it the other way around? Were they risking alienation if they didn’t make a big move to change the downward slide?
I would guess it is the latter more than the former. And the Heat are still a bit of a mish mash of mixed up talent on the floor, but they should start to get a more cohesive game plan together now that Shaq is gone. Heat fans shouldn’t expect to get very far this season, but they can hold out hope that this is all just a part of the turnaround.
For the immediate future, the Heat should at least expect to be more competitive. They should play a more up-tempo style now that Shaq is gone. They have Ricky Davis, Jason Williams, Udonis Haslem and now Shawn Marion to run the floor with Dwyane Wade. And who knows for sure if they have enough guns to make this new up-tempo style effective, but I would think that Marion and Wade are a good start to any team.
Then again, I also believe that any team that features Ricky Davis is due for some addition by subtraction.
