<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Chicago Tribune)</div><div class='quotemain'></p> <h2 class="subhead">King James' court</h2> The Cavs, in need of a point guard, apparently bowed out of potential interest in Stephon Marbury when executive/forward LeBron James said: "I don't know him that well. But I couldn't have a guy like that on my team." It was Marbury, who got credit for his $15 sneakers, who said apparently of James and Nike: "It's best to own than to be owned." The Cavs are still expected to pursue Mike Bibby, though the Knicks supposedly struck out on an even Marbury-Bibby swap among several others with Marbury owed about $40 million through the end of next season. Like Mel Brooks says, "It's good to be the king." The Cavs last week had shootaround inside the home of L.A. Gear chairman Steven Jackson, whose house in Bel Air has a regulation-size NBA court that is a replica of the Staples Center. The Cavs worked out in Jackson's home because they did not want to deal with Los Angeles traffic and James worked out there prior to joining Team USA this past summer.</p> </div></p> Source</p> This is an ongoing saga that, to be honest, I would like over and done with. Personally, though Bibby would be a nice player for the Cavs, he is possibly just at the wrong age to be taken on right now. He is not so old that he will be a tutor for Boobie for perhaps 3 years to improve his game, whilst still being relatively productive - he'll last longer than that. However, he is not young enough that he'll be able to be productive for 10-12 years as a sidekick for LeBron. What the Cavs really need is either an aging vet who can be a good tutor for Boobie (in the Sam Cassell mould) or a young PG with huge potential, who could perhaps allow Boobie to play as an undersized 2 rather than a non-playmaking 1.</p>
He is old but he's much better than what you guys have right now, plus he has a lot of playoff experience and has proven that he can be clutch, so that would take off some pressure from James.</p> Cavs need to pull this through.</p>
I think Bibby is the perfect backcourt player to pair with LeBron James. With Bibby you get a PG who can spot up and shoot or create for himself or others. He's deadly in the pick and roll, makes clutch baskets, and has the post season experience the Cavs are looking for.</p> The tough part is figuring out what to give up for him. Bibby has two years left (including this one), so do you acquire him with the mindset of just renting him for two seasons or do you envision him here for the long term and offer him a 5 year extension?</p> Something else to consider is this. Do you acquire for the sake of preventing another team in the East from trading for him? Miami for example has been after him and has a lot of expiring contracts to offer in return.</p>
I wouldn't want to give him another 5 year deal at the end of the current one, because that would lead to him being contracted, probably to the tune of $12 million+, until he's 36. However, as it stands (with Larry Hughes) the Cavs will have at least $24 million in expiring contracts at the end of the 2009-10 season, as well as a further $24 million in the preceding season. If Bibby was acquired, some of the earlier-expiring contracts would be included, so less money would probably be available overall.</p> Basically, I see the Cavs' future, regarding current players as this:</p> End of 2007-08 season: Newble and Gibson's contracts up. Gibson re-signed for probably $20 million over 4 years, maybe $30 million over 5. Newble either not re-signed or re-sgned for a small amount. Cap situation won't change, as essnetially these two salaries are swapped.</p> End of 08/09 season: Snow, Gooden, Marshall, Damon Jones up. Assuming all these guys are still in Cleveland, Snow will be let go, as will Jones. Marshall probably deserves to be let go, but Ferry will probably re-sign him for between $4 and 5 million. Gooden re-signed probably for about $10 million per year, given that Ferry overspends. Cap situation improves by ~$10 million.</p> End of 09/10 season: Hughes should be let go, Ilgauskas will be 35, and will probably get around $5 million per year, but could get up to $7 million. Cap situation improves by ~$18 million. Cavs should be major players in Free Agency. If they make a good move to be contenders the following season. If not, LeBron could leave.</p> Essentially, whilst the short-term pressure is on Ferry to get a true PG like Bibby, the long-term pressure will be to ensure that the Cavs are major players in the 2010 offseason, the year before LeBron leaves. If they can ensure that they get a great player to back-up LeBron either down low or as an outside shooter, then they can probably challenge for a title and LeBron will probably stay. Therefore, that is Ferry's #1 goal. No matter what anyone says, it is to make sure that LeBron is happy come the 2011 offseason, when his contract expires. Whilst they do want to keep him happy now, they need to make sure that any key acquisition they make will still be contributing in 2016, alongside LeBron. Bibby is probably not that guy, so he might not be the best option. He is definitely an option, and they might well get him, but I just hope they have worked everything else out to ensure there will be a good player around the same age as LeBron to help contribute right through the next decade.</p>
