Last season was actually pretty successful for the Cavs, despite the fact that they failed to match the previous season's achievement of winning the Eastern Conference Championship. In some ways, I actually think that they came a lot closer to winning a Championship last season than the previous year. Against the Spurs in 2007, they were a mile behind the Champions during the Finals, but against the eventual Champions in 2008, the Celtics, the Cavs held their own and very nearly beat them in Game 7. Since their seventh game loss in Boston, several strides have been made towards making the Cavaliers a true title contender, which I believe they are now. The first transactions the Cavs made this offseason came at the 2008 NBA Draft in New York. Firstly, they selected JJ Hickson at number 19, and then traded for the rights to Darnell Jackson (for the lower of the Cavaliers’ 2009 Draft picks) and Sasha Kaun (for cash). More detail follows when I talk about the actual signings of the players. JJ Hickson was signed on the 10th of July, on a rookie contract. From what I’ve seen of Hickson, he seems like a solid Power Forward with gobs of potential, and from what I’ve heard about him, he seems to be a well-grounded person as well. Hopefully with a good work ethic he can become a good complement to LeBron James. I was originally expecting him to spend a long stretch in the D-League, but his stellar showing at the Summer League might just earn him a spot in Mike Brown’s rotation. Either way, I hope he gets good floortime, and if that means going to the D-League then so be it. Daniel “Boobie” Gibson was signed to a 5 year, $21m contract, with the first year being worth just $3.7m. This was a really good bit of business by Ferry as, not only does it keep one of the League’s best spot-up shooters in Cleveland, but it keeps one of LeBron’s best buddies around, until after 2010 when it is rumoured LeBron might consider his options. Boobie should maintain a similar role to last season and, provided he can stay healthy and on form, he could be an integral piece of the Cavaliers postseason run again this year. Tarance Kinsey was then signed by the Cavaliers on the 6th of August. He’s a 24 year old 6’6 guard, who shows good athleticism and should be a decent piece to the Cavaliers. If he gets floortime, I’m sure he will be moderately, though not greatly, productive. His job, I assume, will be to cover for injuries, but his acquisition might signal an intention to trade away one or more perimeter players. A week later, on the supposedly unlucky 13th of August, the Cavaliers acquired Point Guard Mo Williams from the Bucks in a three team trade. The Cavs gave up role player Joe Smith and perennial bench warmer Damon Jones for Williams. The acquisition of Williams will help LeBron a lot, as Mo can handle the ball, create his own shot and bring the ball up over half court without any problems. He can also play solid defence, when he buckles down, but it remains to be seen how much effort he will put in on that end of the floor in Cleveland. It was a shame to lose the veteran presence of Joe Smith, especially with JJ Hickson coming into the team and perhaps wanting guidance, but this deal was a really good one for the Cavs. On the 5th of September, the Cavs signed Center Lorenzen Wright. Wright is a veteran of the League, so has possibly been signed as a direct replacement for Joe Smith – a player to play limited, but often crucial minutes, to try to gel an otherwise young, inexperienced team together. It should be interesting to see how much he players, especially as Hickson begins to develop, but this could turn out to be a shrewd signing. It could, on the other hand, be disappointing if Wright plays poorly, as he sometimes has done. Darnell Jackson was signed to a multi-year deal on the 6th of September. Jackson is a rookie selected in the second round from the National Champion Jayhawks. He’s been described as “young, smart and hardworking” by Danny Ferry, which probably translates to “we’re sending him to the D-League this season”. He’s probably not an acquisition for this season, but hopefully we’ll see some of him as the season progresses. Delonte West was signed by the Cavs on the 12th of September. As the Cavs learned last year, when Pavlovic and Varejao both missed training camp, it is a big loss for a player to miss camp, and, in the cases of the two aforementioned players, can have devastating effects on their seasons. They have avoided such a problem with Delonte West, in their final acquisition of the offseason. West will probably be either the starting 2 guard, or the first guard off the bench along with Daniel Gibson. It will be interesting to see how they piece together the backcourt with the addition of Mo Williams, but it is great to see West back again. C Zydrunas Ilgauskas PF Ben Wallace SF LeBron James SG Wally Szczerbiak PG Mo Williams 6 Delonte West (G) 7 Daniel Gibson (G) 8 Anderson Varejao (PF/C) 9 Lorenzen Wright (C) 10 Sasha Pavlovic (G/F) 11 JJ Hickson (PF) 12 Tarence Kinsey (G/F) 13 Lance Allred (PF/C) 14 Darnell Jackson (F) The Cavs have a pretty strong roster going into this season, though they have lost some veteran leadership in Joe Smith (Mo Williams trade) and Eric Snow (retirement). Regardless, they look pretty strong. Frontcourt: The Cavs’ mainstream frontcourt will probably consist of Ilgauskas, Big Ben, Varejao, Wright and Hickson. The main worry with this group is whether or not they can stay healthy. Three of the five are aged 32 or more, and that leaves Varejao and Hickson who might have to pick up some slack when the older players get injured or tired. That should aid their development, so it’s not a terrible problem, but it might lead to a weaker frontcourt than desired. Backcourt: The Cavs seem pretty deep here, with Szczerbiak, Williams, Boobie, West, Pavlovic and Kinsey all vying for floortime. My guess is that Williams and Boobie will each get their 30 minutes per game, along with LeBron getting just over 40 per game at SF. He could slide to PF for some points in the game, to allow the Cavs to play small and give their bigs some rest. That could be an interesting strategy for Brown to use and, if LeBron’s post game improves as a result, it could be devastating. This would leave maybe 50 minutes per game between Szczerbiak, West, Pavlovic and Kinsey, so I guess a lot will depend on how they perform. West ought to get around 20 minutes per game, and then either Pavlovic (who I think could return to his form from the Finals run in 2007) or Szczerbiak might get another 20, followed by the other and Kinsey sharing out the remaining 10 minutes. It will no doubt be a tough job for Mike Brown, and he will be criticised a lot when they lose, as journalists and fans alike will have their own opinions about who should be playing and who shouldn’t. If Brown can get the balance right, this team should be pretty good. A real question mark for the team is their offense. Mike Brown has turned them into a good defensive team, who conceded just 96 points per game. Therefore, their defence is not a major issue, and they should be able to simply carry on where they left off in that respect. The bigger problem on Brown’s hand is their offensive system, or rather their lack of a cohesive offensive system. For years, the Cavs’ problem has been their offense and, with the addition of a second scorer to the team, this could be the year they finally rectify that. The first thing I would like to see Coach Brown do is to play a pick and roll using Mo Williams and LeBron James setting the pick. The defence would be torn between guarding Mo Williams’ jumpshot and LeBron James tearing towards the hoop. In many instances, the defending team would have to send three players at the pick to try to ensure they covered both Williams and LeBron. If the Cavs’ lineup consisted of LeBron, Mo, Ilgauskas, Gibson and West/Wally/Pavlovic, this would have to leave one of the other players open for a jumpshot. This is only a slight variation on what the Cavaliers do a lot, however, since the pick and roll seems to formulate a large portion of their offense. It seems, however, that Brown has been somewhat hesitant to ask LeBron to set picks, which could be the same this year. If not, expect to see Ilgauskas setting the pick, but I’d love to see Brown try using LeBron as, if it works, it could be a hugely valuable play for the Cavs. Secondly, I’d love for Mike Brown to play small ball for decent portions of the game. I don’t think he has much of a choice, given the aging nature of the frontcourt, but a system putting LeBron at the 4 along with Boobie, Williams, West/Pavs/Wally and maybe Varejao at Center could provide a great turn of pace for the Cavaliers, who currently rely too much upon a long, drawn-out game. Hopefully, playing LeBron at PF will force him to further develop his post game, which could make him yet more untouchable in the League. Who knows, with the right development, a few years from now LeBron could be the next stage in the development of the PF position. We’ve had quick PFs, we’ve got PFs with range on their jumpshots, but LeBron has the potential to be a traditional, powerful PF who can rebound hard, set screens, make plays in the post as well as being quick and with a great jumpshot. LeBron James – this one is actually pretty obvious. LeBron James needs to, and probably will, deliver this season. The question is, can he top last season? For football enthusiasts, we asked the same question just over a year ago with regard to Cristiano Ronaldo. How could he possibly top the previous season? He did. Hopefully so can LeBron. Sasha Pavlovic – Sasha was a vital part of the Cavaliers Finals run in 2007. He, however, suffered greatly from missing training camp last season and then missed large portions of the season with injuries and never really worked his way into the rotation after that. If he can stay healthy and have a good training camp, he might be able to find the same sort of form as he did in 2007, and work his way to start for the Cavs. A lot of fans were annoyed with his performances last year and wanted him out, but he showed in 2007 what he can do, so he deserves a chance this season to prove it again. Danny Ferry – Ferry has had a good offseason so far, and he has managed to retain his most prized trading piece (LeBron not included); Wally Szczerbiak (‘s expiring contract, to give him his full name). This is $13m in value and, perhaps packaged with another player such as Delonte West, Sasha Pavlovic or Anderson Varejao, could get a star player for the Cavaliers, as was proven by the Lakers last season. It’s not currently clear who might be available nearer the trade deadline, as a lot will depend on the way the teams perform, but a quick look through the salaries of those on around $15-17m to give very few viable options for Ferry. It could take a stroke of genius to acquire a truly great player to be alongside LeBron and co., but all eyes will be on Ferry come February, and Cleveland hopes he can deliver. Mike Brown – as stated before, Brown needs to develop a cohesive offensive system this year. He must be satisfied with their general defensive abilities, so it is now that he must develop a good offensive system if the Cavs are to make the next step up. If he and his coaching team do so, they could be very difficult to beat. A lot depends on the four factors mentioned above, but I am struggling with a prediction. My heart says that this is the Cavs’ year, given their performance against the Celtics last year, but my head says that they will probably just make the Eastern Conference Finals again. Should I go with my head, or my heart?
Great preview man, props. I think the Cavs have some pretty skilled players, but I think they have this thought in their mind that it's all LeBron James. We all know he's amazing, but for the Cavs to really make it far, they need to step up and know that James can trust them. However, I still think they are a top 4 team in the East.
I love the insight and analysis. You may want to proof read it one more time, as there is at least one sentence that is hard to parse
Proof read... what's that? lol I didn't have time. Feel free to tell me which sentence, lol. Then I'll fix it up I think LeBron does trust his team mates a lot, sometimes too much. Down the stretch he makes a lot of key passes to players like Boobie and West for key jumpshots. It will be interesting to see how they adapt to using Mo Williams with that system, but I don't see LeBron's trust in his team mates as a problem. Sometimes I think he should take the game by the scruff of the neck a la Detroit Game 5.
The Cavs gave up role player Joe Smith and perennial bench warmer Damon Jones for Williams, who should help LeBron a lot of offense
Well done Chingy. You might want to touch on Eric Snow's situation. Technically he's still on the roster until the Cavs disability claim involving him is resolved. The Cavs would acquire a salary cap exception and 80% of his salary would be covered if the claim goes in favor of the Cavs. If the claim is denied, than the Cavs would have his $7.3M expiring contract available to trade. The Cavs improved their backcourt and they'll have Wally & Big Ben (assuming they stay healthy) for the entire season and of course Varejao, who was a late season hold out last year. These additions will improve the Cavs especially in their FG%. According to the Web site 82games.com, the Cavs were the worst two-point shooting team in the league at 35.5% At some point you have to expect the Cavs to make a major trade with Wally's expiring contract ($13M) and possibly unload one of their big men to upgrade their front court. It would be interesting if the Cavs traded back for Carlos Boozer, who seems to be working his way out of Utah.
I did think of Boozer when it came to the contracts. He and LeBron gelled pretty well in 2003/04, so I'd like to see them together. If it's possible, and LeBron gives it the go ahead, I'm pretty sure it would happen, despite what the fans might think of Boozer. It could also be interesting if the disability claim on Snow fails, as it gives the Cavs even more expirings at the deadline. I can't see Ferry failing to trade them away, but it's just a waiting game.
Awesome preview dude! Would Cavs fans really want Boozer back on the team, though, after his back stab a few years ago? Would bringing him back cause a rift between the fans and the management?
I'm not too sure what most fans would think, but if LeBron's happy then the management are happy. And if it leads Cleveland (the most major sport Championship-deprived city in America) to a Championship, then I don't think a rift will exist. If they do acquire Boozer, though, the pressure will be on to get a Championship, since if they don't manage it there could be such a rift.
