For all the Ferry-bashing in this and other threads, if we'd have somehow gotten Shaq, Antawn Jamison, and Mo Williams (one an 18 PER big man, the other two all-stars in the last two years) for the 30th pick and scraps, we'd be ecstatic. Some would say "he couldn't put anyone around LBJ" stuff...he's done the best job of anyone besides Ainge (including Mitch Kupchak/Chris Wallace and guys like Morey, Presti and Buford) of putting real, actual contributors around his star player in order to win. And he didn't mortgage the farm or make "consolidation trades" to do so. He's been active, done his homework, and picked up absolute steals. In the other threads we've been talking about what we have to sacrifice for Mo Williams. He got Mo Williams for Joe Smith, Damon Jones and Desmond Mason...which would've been like us trading Juwan, Webster and an old, decrepit Dante for an All-Star PG. I'm not saying I want Ferry as a GM here...I'm saying that intimating that Ferry hasn't done enough to help LeBron win is misinformed. BTW, if getting two all-stars, Shaq and Larry Hughes for almost literally nothing is the mark of an "amateur GM", sign me up for two or three of those guys. Keep your Petries and such
Man, I'm so glad I'm going out the country for all of July and won't have to hear more of this he-said, she-said bull shit from anonymous sources.
Shaq was not that good last year. His PER might have been decent, but he clearly disrupted the team chemistry. In fact, I thought he was a detriment to their success in the playoffs because his teammates (outside of LBJ) and coach felt obligated to pass him to ball because he was a FORMER all star. If Brown would have played Hickson instead, they would not have been eliminated. And calling Hughes an all star is a joke. He played 36, 70, and 40 games in three seasons and never shot even 41% from the field. He had one good year in Washington, and Ferry overpaid for him instead of going after Joe Johnson. That's not "nothing."
I didn't call Hughes an AllStar. I called Jamison and Mo Williams all-stars. And then appended after the comma to mean "additionally, Shaq and Larry Hughes". He got 4 players for the Hot Garbage Special.
Ah. My bad. I didn't mean to jump all over you. Jamison was decent. Mo was an all star in the same sense that Magloire was an "all star." And he had to essentially cry himself onto the team.
And all the crying in the world wouldn't have gotten Blake, Miller, Bayless, or any other PG we had onto the team. And Ferry got him for peanuts. Jamison's "decency" was as good (better in counting stats, .9 PER Less) than LMA. And he got him for the 30th pick. Would YOU trade LMA for the 30th pick? Or, would you trade the 30th pick to get LMA? http://www.basketball-reference.com...m=0&p1=jamisan01&y1=2010&p2=aldrila01&y2=2010
Obviously, they were great value deals for CLE at the time. But they didn't produce a championship. And with LBJ's future with the team uncertain, there remains a huge chance of the Cavs will be left with second and third tier players like Jamison and MO as their main guns, without any capspace. Europe and India.
And Mike Brown was fired. I think players and GM's have more influence in the regular season. I think coaches have a big influence in the playoffs. It's easy for a group of good players to do well over 82 games, but when a coach has time to prepare, he can be outcoached rather easily. Look at our beloved Nate. It's not just my opinion that he was outcoached by both Adelman and Gentry the last two years. Mike Brown was out coached in the playoffs
If LBJ leaves, they have more capspace than we do. All I'm saying is that people aren't saying that Ferry made "Great Value Deals". They're saying he didn't do enough to put people around LBJ. If KP had brought in Mo and Jamison for the 30th pick, Dante and Webster we'd be still having the IKPIT parade. But we didn't make those kind of trades (obviously they were out there, right?) and Ferry found a way to make it work. While dealing from a position of weakness (everyone knew he needed to put good players around LBJ, and he gets Jamison for a month of waived Z and the 30 pick?)
