State of the Cavs w/o Boozer Hey all. I've never posted here before, although I've been lurking on the boards for a very long time now. First off, what happened here is pretty pathetic - Boozer and/or his agent knew exactly what they were doing. They were the ones who initiated a verbal agreement with Paxson, KNOWING we could only offer him the MLE. Boozer went on and on about how he loved it here, how he was definitely staying, how we were the only ones who thought anything of him. And then he immediately took Utah's offer. Based on that, you have to think this was likely all a big scheme. If Boozer wanted the money, he shouldn't have lied about it and made verbal agreements to resign. He should've just said nothing, took his $700K this year, and then next year gotten his big payday by us or someone else. Regardless, let's not forget we still have one great player LeBron (who is only going to get better and better), and some very good players like Z & McGinnis (& Battie gets the job done when he's healthy). We also have some interesting young talent: Wags, Pavlovic, LJax, Diop, and let's not forget Kedrick Brown. It remains to be seen which of those will pan out, but there's a lot of potential there. The contracts of Ollie/Newble are obviously hurting us. Paxson may be fired for what happened with Boozer (although Boozer & agent share the blame). But one could argue Paxson made a bigger mistake signing Ollie and Newble to such long deals. If he had signed those two for, say, 2-year deals instead, we'd have a big chunk of change coming off the books next year with them and Z. That would have allowed us to be extremely creative in free agent signings. We'd still be set back this year without Boozer, but next year we could've landed a big name or two. So, now may be the time to take action. I would like to see us attempt to sign Stromile Swift. Memphis claims they will match any offer at $5m per year or less, so that may not be realistic. But then again, as we have learned with Boozer, just because someone says something doesn't mean they will really do it. So I say take a shot at Swift - there's nothing to lose. Additionally, I would like to see us trade Z now if they do not plan on resigning him after this year. Z and Wags would surely attract a nice package in return. Z's trade value has probably never been higher, while Wags is still highly regarded by a number of teams. If they do plan on resigning him then fine, we'll wait and see how Z performs this season. But I would still be shopping Wags. It would also be interesting to see what kind of trades could be made involving Z that would bring us not only a good player in return, but allow us to get under the cap enough to match Utah's offer to Boozer. That said, I'm still not sure Boozer is worth $11m per year, nor that the fans would welcome him back with open arms. I'd also like to throw Shaq's name out there again. Shaq would be a unique opportunity because it could allow us to get either Newble or Ollie off the books. Perhaps if we traded Z, Wags, EWill (sign and trade), and either Newble or Ollie, for Shaq (note: this trade works on RealGM.com). The Lakers would love to get a decent center to replace Shaq. It's low risk for us too, as Shaq is only under contract for the next 2 seasons.
First off, welcome too justbball.. Anyways it sucks for what boozer did too us but Paxon cant trust a players word. Also that shaq real I would do in a heart beat... But it wont happen at all.
I'm not so sure LA wouldn't make the deal. They would LOVE to be able to get a good center back to replace Shaq. Remember they are the ones forced to make the move. No matter what they aren't going to get equal value back. But to get a good center like Z, I think they'd have to seriously consider it. We'd probably have to include a draft pick too.
We would have to give up alot more than that to get him, what I'm thinking is that the Cavs do a 3 way trade with The Mavs and The Lakers and Cavs get someone like Fisher, Mavs get Shaq, and the Lakers get Z, Povel, ect... then the Cavs sign Boozer.
A trade to get under the cap and retain Boozer is a possibility. But, I'm pretty much assuming Boozer is gone at this point. Also, the trade would have to involve Z. One could argue it's worth giving up Z to keep Boozer, but... is it? Maybe, maybe not. A lot of teams want Z. In other words, could we get someone better than Boozer for Z? I loved Boozer, I really did. But is he worth $11m per year?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Deadlock:</div><div class="quote_post">That would suck for us.. we got a fisher for losing Z?</div> Think of it more as Z for Fisher *a backup point guard* and Boozer *we sign him* I don't know I think it is worth trading Z for Boozer. I would do it, Boozer isn't even close to his prime, and Z is almost out of his prime. We need Boozer, we don't "need" Z as much as we need Boozer.
I rather have Z then boozer.. boozer is obviously not loyal too us or we wouldnt be discussing this right now. The big fella been with us even when we dissed him... now his at the top of his game and we trade him? Hell no, keep Z over booz.
You know what, I'm sick of this. The reason we don't have enough money is because Ollie and Newble's contracts. PAXSON OVERPAID FOR THEM AND NOW WE CAN'T GET THE CORE PLAYERS BACK! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHH
If I had to choose, I'd rather have Boozer than Z. However, that is a tough decision since good centers are tougher to find than good PFs. But Z is probably at his peak, while Booz is still improving. I have lost a lot of respect for Boozer after this though. Assuming no trades happen and Boozer is gone, I hope they will at least look at Stromile Swift.
When it comes to signing free agents, I assume we are basically screwed because we are only $4m under the cap. With our MLE, we could offer someone up to $5m with that I believe. I think that's the most we could offer anyone (with the exception of matching Utah's offer to Boozer). So someone like Kenyon Martin = no, someone like Stromile Swift = maybe. But let's hope the article I posted in the other thread comes true and we are able to keep Boozer.
