<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- LeBron James was in Shaq shock. Like nearly everyone else, Cleveland's megastar was floored by Shaquille O'Neal's trade to Phoenix. "Unbelievable," James said after practice Wednesday. "That's all I got. It's unbelievable." O'Neal, one of the league's top centers for more than a decade, was traded by Miami to the Suns for forward Shawn Marion and guard Marcus Banks, a blockbuster deal that rocked the league like one of Shaq's backboard-bending dunks. It was the second jaw-dropping swap involving All-Star players in days. Last week, the Los Angeles Lakers acquired 7-foot center Pau Gasol from Memphis, a trade that may have forced the Suns into retooling their team in order to stay ahead of their nearest competitor in the Pacific Division. For James and the Cavaliers, Shaq's departure from the Eastern Conference is a plus. They'll only have to face him twice in the regular season, and won't have to worry about him until the finals, assuming, that is, they ever get back there. "It's always good to see guys like that leave the East," Cavs coach Mike Brown said. "But the reality of it is if you expect to win it, you're going to have to play somebody like him or Gasol or [Tim] Duncan eventually." But the Shaq-to-the-Suns trade also raised another issue in Cleveland: When will the Cavaliers make their own super swap? James recently said he would love for general manager Danny Ferry to make a run at New Jersey point guard Jason Kidd, who has made it no secret that he wants the Nets to dish him off before the Feb. 21 trading deadline. When James was asked if being paired with Kidd, his teammate last summer on the U.S. national team, could win the Cavs their first championship, Cleveland's superstar delivered an answer as resounding as any of his powerful slam dunks. "Yeah," James said. "It's that easy." If that was only the case. The Cavaliers have been active in talks on several major trades in the past two years, but Ferry has been unable to pull one off since taking over the club in 2005. He made a strong push for Sacramento's Mike Bibby last year and may still be interested in adding him to Cleveland's roster. Ferry, though, has been hampered by a roster filled with unappealing contracts and few tradable assets. But getting a major deal done involving All-Stars isn't an impossibility as the Gasol and O'Neal deals have shown. Whether they work out, well, that remains to be seen. The Cavaliers would like to add another star player to complement James, who's having an MVP-caliber season. Larry Hughes hasn't been what Cleveland had hoped since Ferry signed the oft-injured shooting guard to a five-year, $60 million contract before the '05 season. James was asked if it's necessary for a team to have multiple stars to win an NBA title. "It helps," he said with a laugh. "It does help when you have guys on the team that are perennial All-Stars or can go out there and produce every night and you know what you're going to get." Reminded that Kidd was still available, James grinned. "I know that," he said. James, too, knows that adding another big player can lead to problems. "It can mess up the chemistry a little bit and it could take a little longer for them to fit in, maybe not," he said. "The reward is you get a good player. Like the Lakers, they got a guy [Gasol] who has averaged 20 [points] and 12 [rebounds] for his whole career. Last night, Kobe Bryant gets six points and the Lakers win by 15, that's the reward. "It all depends on what caliber of player you are getting and how fast he can adjust to the new system." If the Cavaliers stand pat and don't make a trade, James is confident the defending Eastern Conference champs are still good enough to win it all. "As long as I'm healthy, we're going to give ourselves a chance to win," he said. "No matter who is out on the court with me."</div> Source: ESPN
James and the Cavs are delusional if they think they have a legit shot at Kidd. As the article states, they don't have much for tradeable assets. They don't really have large expiring contracts, and the player they'd want to get rid of, Hughes, would be tough to ditch. On top of that, NJ won't take him if they have rebuilding intentions. So, unless something drastic happens, I don't see the Cavs nabbing Kidd.
They're delusional if they think they can come out of the East again. Last year was a fluke, they had two extremely easy series which gave them enough rest to beat the Pistons who somehow fell into a big slump and let LeBron take over even though they apparently set up a "LeBron Rules" defensive scheme.
I don't think you can say that the Cavs have no shot of coming out of the East again. They are 2-1 v Boston and have beated the Mavs, Spurs, Lakers, Blazers and Raptors on the road. Any team who can do that at least has a shot at coming through the East, especially bearing in mind the state the the Conference is in at the moment.
The only way the Cavs make it out of the East is if someone emerges on this team as a consistent secondary option. They don't have one right now. Z is good, but he's not going to be a secondary option. Hughes is inconsistent, Gibson is just a shooter. Up and down this roster, they don't have a single player who can be a legit secondary option. Basically, the Cavs are the Lakers of the East, pre '07-'08 season. They're a one man show that can get a W unless LeBron plays out of his mind. And while it worked last year, I don't see it working this year. Last year, they had a cakewalk to the Finals until Detroit. When they got to the Finals, all their biggest flaw showed up against the Spurs (no player to take pressure of LeBron), and last I knew, this was the same roster as they had last year. They'll make the playoffs, but depending on their first round matchup, I don't know if they'll get much further.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Moo2K4 @ Feb 7 2008, 06:49 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>James and the Cavs are delusional if they think they have a legit shot at Kidd. As the article states, they don't have much for tradeable assets. They don't really have large expiring contracts, and the player they'd want to get rid of, Hughes, would be tough to ditch. On top of that, NJ won't take him if they have rebuilding intentions. So, unless something drastic happens, I don't see the Cavs nabbing Kidd.</div> IMO it's possible. Of course, it'd definitely take a 3rd team, and possibly a dumb GM, but it could happen.
I'm not trying the say the Cavs don't need more scoring options if they are to win the Championship, but with the East in the state it's in, you simply cannot discount them from discussions. If they acquire Bibby, Mike Miller or any of the big names talked about, they automatically become serious contenders, because they will hep to spread the floor even more for the Cavs. Currently they only have Gibson to spread the floor, and that's not quite enough. But they could go on another streaky run in the Playoffs and end up in the Finals. They're not the favourites, but by no means should they be ignored from the equation.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (pegs @ Feb 8 2008, 01:17 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Moo2K4 @ Feb 7 2008, 06:49 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>James and the Cavs are delusional if they think they have a legit shot at Kidd. As the article states, they don't have much for tradeable assets. They don't really have large expiring contracts, and the player they'd want to get rid of, Hughes, would be tough to ditch. On top of that, NJ won't take him if they have rebuilding intentions. So, unless something drastic happens, I don't see the Cavs nabbing Kidd.</div> IMO it's possible. Of course, it'd definitely take a 3rd team, and possibly a dumb GM, but it could happen. </div>See, that's the thing. While it's possible, it's highly unlikely. At this point, it really looks like Kidd is going to stay put or go to Dallas. As far as I know, the Cavs haven't even put their name out there. Plus, you also have to look at what they'd have to give up. And quite frankly, if I'm a GM, there's really no appealing parts of their roster that I'd want to get back. I think, realistically, they could find a way to nab Miller or Bibby Each team would give them exactly what they lack: a reliable 2nd option and person who can spread the floor. But with Bibby, I don't know if the Maloofs and co. are going to want to trade him with how well he's played and how well the Kings have played since he made his return. They've won 7 of their last 10 and are currently 6 games out of the playoffs, and while that may seem like a lot, when you have 35 games to play, it really isn't.
I think it's possible for the Cavs to acquire Mike Miller if they are willing to include a two draft picks and also take Brian Cardinal's contract off of Memphis books. Snow, Donyell, Damon Jones, Gooden have contracts that expire a year earlier than Miller or Cardinal. Grizzlies can probably work a buyout with Eric Snow because he's been leaning towards retiring. However, any team with contracts expiring this year could probably out bid anything Cleveland puts together.
I want to keep Snow so he can become an Assistant, to be honest. Yes, he's overpaid, but he will definitely be a great coach
