Timberwolves still want to deal for Davis, possibly in exchange for Szczerbiak By Brian Windhorst Beacon Journal staff writer ORLANDO, FLA - The Cavaliers have had discussions with the Minnesota Timberwolves about a trade involving Ricky Davis and Wally Szczerbiak, a source close to the situation said. Minnesota has been interested in Davis since last summer, when it signed him to a six-year, $34 million offer sheet that the Cavaliers later matched. Cavaliers General Manager Jim Paxson said recently he was not actively looking to trade Davis, partially based on the prior relationship Coach Paul Silas had with Davis when both were with the Hornets. But Davis did not make an extraordinary effort to connect with Silas after he got the job, not meeting with the new coach in the weeks after he was hired. ``We haven't been that active (with trade talks) because Paul wanted to get a look at our players,'' Paxson said. ``There have been a lot of phone calls with interest; we might be a little more aggressive coming out of summer league.'' On the surface, the deal seems to satisfy both teams. Paxson wants a solid outside-shooting swingman, one of the reasons he drafted Jason Kapono in the second round. Szczerbiak, who averaged 17.6 points last year, is one of the league's best shooting swingmen and a former All-Star about to enter his prime. Davis was a main cog in the Cavaliers' offense last year, averaging 20.6 points. But there are lingering concerns that there won't be enough shots to go around with Davis and LeBron James in the same lineup, even though Silas said he's determined to make it work. A deal involving Szczerbiak, though, will be difficult to pull off. He is a base-year compensation player, a salary-cap designation that makes him difficult to trade under league rules. Despite that, the Timberwolves have been talking to several teams about Szczerbiak, the source said, even though they've publicly denied their desire to trade him. Minnesota is mired in salary-cap and luxury-tax problems, and Szczerbiak is about to begin a six-year, $63 million extension he signed last year. The Timberwolves' whale is Kevin Garnett, who is in the last year of his $126 million deal and is slated to make $22.1 million this season. Also on the books is Terrell Brandon, who might never play again with a knee injury but most of his $11.2 million salary will count against this year's cap. Minnesota is also in the running to sign free agents Juwan Howard and Rasho Nesterovic and just traded for point guard Sam Cassell, who is in the middle of a three-year, $17 million contract. The final salary-cap number for 2003-04 won't be known until next week, just before teams can start to sign free agents, but the Cavaliers could possibility be as much as $3 million under the ceiling. That would theoretically make room for Szczerbiak, who is slated to make $8 million to Davis' $5 million this season, and still have a $4.6-4.9 million mid-level exception to sign a veteran point guard or two. However, the cap rules might force the Cavaliers to take on another player from Minnesota's roster to satisfy the base-player compensation trade rules -- which, in turn, might force the Cavaliers to make another move to free up salary or possibly conduct a three-team trade. The Cavaliers are also rumored to be interested in dealing for Philadelphia 76ers guard and Canton native Eric Snow.
that'd be good for minnesota, i don't think cleveland would do that deal though ,because ricky is better than wally and isnt' as injury prone.
During the beginning of the season, now hes practically fully healed. I would love Ricky in Minny, this lineup could keep pace with the Mavs and Spurs, even the Lakers.
naw, still don't have a center to keep up with the lakers and spurs, but they will be better than the mavs, IMO. and will get out of the 1st round.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting "sportsrock37":</div><div class="quote_post">i thought he was injured a lot last year.</div> players get injuried.... but it doesnt mean they are injury prone... if it keeps happening repeatily... then its injury prone...
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting "sportsrock37":</div><div class="quote_post">i mean, i thought he had like 3 or 4 visits to the injury list.</div> More like 2.
alright, my bad, i still wouldn't do it if i was cleveland, but would do it in a heartbeat for the twolves, would u do it if u were the cavs?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting "sportsrock37":</div><div class="quote_post">alright, my bad, i still wouldn't do it if i was cleveland, but would do it in a heartbeat for the twolves, would u do it if u were the cavs?</div> I think they want Lebron to get showcased more, so it's a big maybe. They probably wouldn't do it though.
although the cavs get gipped they get a pure shooter in wally which they been looking for for a while
it would be a good deal for the twolves but not for cleavland..they should just keep ricky unless they get a better offer
I personally like this deal for Cleveland better than for Minnesota. Even without Ricky Davis the Cavs would have Dajuan Wagner and Lebron James as slashers, with Ricky they have too many players with similar skill sets on 'O'. They could really use a shooter in their mix, like Wally. Minnesota, on the other hand has an offense that revolves around Garnett, the ball is in the hands of the point-guard or in Garnett's big mitts 95% of the time. Since Troy Hudson and Sam Cassel will be getting all the minutes at point in Minnesota, Ricky will have to learn to move better without the ball. When he was scoring big for the Cavs it was because he was allowed to dominate the basketball. Remember, he averaged over 5 assists per game and is a very average passer, so its obvious he had the rock in his hands early and often. Also, Ricky is a locker room problem. Remember the triple-double incident? Anyone who is so concerned with themselves that they comprise their own integerity, and the integerity of the sport as well is not anyone you want on your team. I saw too many Cavs games last year where Wagner or Ilgauskaus would make a couple of baskets in a row and Ricky would start taking plays off, jogging back on defense and forcing up bad shots instead of passing. You simply don't win many basketball games with a guy like that on your team. Dont' get me wrong, Ricky Davis has the talent to be on several All-Star teams, but until he grows up, he'll cause trouble for whatever team he plays for. Wally's ability to score consistently within the context of an offense makes him very valuable to the T-wolves, who need that consistent presence on offense to match up with the Offensive beasts in the West. Ricky Davis, I don't feel would be nearly as effective trying to play in Flip Saunders' offense. We'd see too many 1-7 and 2-9 boxscores from him. If you're a Minnesota fan, pray this trade doesn't happen because it will cost you in the W column. If you're a Cleveland fan get excited if it goes down because Wally will make life a lot easier on Lebron James by providing a consistent 17-20 points a night and a dependable guy to kick it to on those nights where defenses are swarming Lebron.
The TWolves with the recent addition of Cassell, combined with Hudson, Garnett, and the expected signing of Howard have really turned this team into a team that has plenty of talent surrounding Minnesota. The question is why would Minnesota do this trade? Wally was an all star. Davis isn't. Minnesota could still use Wally's shooting. It has to be $$$. Wally is slated to make more money than the reasonably signed Davis. This could be the first attempt at reducing costs to keep KG when he becomes a FA. Don't get me wrong........I think Wally is a bit overrated, but I think Ricky is as well. Neither impress the hell out of me. Ricky's antics are less than appealing, and for that, Id rather have Wally. Cleveland desperately needs to add shooting. They would be well advised to take the deal.
