<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">*Insiders say the Cavaliers will take a gamble and not protect injury-prone center Zydrunas Ilgauskas in this summer's expansion draft, believing the Charlotte Bobcats will not want to take on his contract, which pays him $14.5 million next season in its last year before he becomes a free agent. But the chance of the Bobcats drafting him, then trading him should give the Cavs second thoughts.</div> http://www.suntimes.com/output/banks/cst-spt-banx28.html" target="_blank"> http://www.suntimes.com/output/banks/cst-spt-banx28.html</a>
This franchise deserves 1000 more years of doom if it doesn't protect Ilgauskas. The guy gets no respect.
z is without a doubt underappreciated, he is one of the top centers in the nba and few clevelanders seem to realize that
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting insshc:</div><div class="quote_post">z is without a doubt underappreciated, he is one of the top centers in the nba and few clevelanders seem to realize that</div> The funny thing is that it takes an Australian to realise this Lithuanian should be a Clevelandian. :bigthumbu
I backed z the whole way, I even called in to the radio show a few times defending z when all anybody was talking about was trading him I'm glad for z and the cavaliers' sake that we were right =]
As long as Z is protected by Cleveland, he will continue to prove all the knockers completely wrong , with more of his game dominating performances. He along with James are our only players capable of taking over a game. Why would you want to lose something like that.
Paxon is got to be real dumb for even considering this move. Or is he? Do you think Charlotte will take his 14mil contract? It gives us a chance to protect another player for our future's sake.
The thing is it is 14mill over 1 year. Gives the Bobcats some leverage to trade for other players. Please Pax, dont be sooooooo stupid.
The Cavs can't afford to take the risk of not protecting Z. Charlotte has said they won't take on any big contracts and it would be tough for them to find a team able to take on Z's $14.5 million in a trade, but it would kill the Cavs to lose Z for nothing. They can't take the chance. Battie is one player with a good sized contract with 2 years left after this year who the Cavs can take a chance on and leave unprotected. I can't see Charlotte taking a sore kneed center making $6 million a year. My protected list would be: Lebron Boozer Z Diop Wagner McInnis Brown Battie The last spot would come down to between Battie and Kapono. I'd be willing to lose Kapono. He's a limited player with little upside. The Cavs can add shooters in the offseason who have more versatile games. Stephen Jackson for example.
^ I cant believe that list doesn't include Newble and Ollie! Everybodies favourite Cavs. LOL. In all seriousness if we leave Battie unprotected and he is taken, and Williams is allowed to walk, we have around 10 mill in cap space roughly. We can be a player in the free agent market, although it would mean finding someone who can keep Diop off the floor. Mark Pope for example. LOL. Jackson still is my pick to Narl as a FA pickup.
this expansion draft is a pretty major source of headaches! even if we don't lose the players we leave unprotected, you KNOW they won't be all that happy about being left out to dry and not really being valued by the organization... especially when we can only protect 8 and we've got 13 on the roster (though a couple will be free agents and wont count)
Is the player list for protection made public, or is it all behind closed doors. You'd think the NBA would like it kept quiet, otherwise there will be many unhappy ballers around the league.
Charlotte will receive lists from each of the 27 teams not competing in the NBA Finals 10 days prior to the scheduled Expansion Draft (June 12) and those from the competing teams in the Finals within two days of the conclusion of the Finals. To the best of my knowledge, they don't make them public but I'm sure they share the info with the players involved. Like you say, they'd create a situation for sure if the players in question felt they got blindsided............Tank
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Thanks for the info. Its kinda interesting sideshow in the offseason. We will all say our take Ollie and Newble prayers. And Paxson better say his prayers if Z is put on that list, because I will personally fly over there from Australia, headbutt him, and then think of my next action.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Mr_Infante:</div><div class="quote_post">OT: Yo Karm, wheres that new avatar homie?</div> Mate, having the same dramas as ever. http://www.angelfire.com/extreme3/ddfreestyle/zydrunas02.gif I've got that info, but I just get stuck. Gives me this instruction "The uploaded file is not a valid GIF, JPG, or PNG file. Please ensure that it is and try again" I'm hopeless!
Z is too risky to dangle out there. If I was the Bobcats, I would snatch him and then trade him before the season starts or just keep him around until the trade deadline during which playoff contenders will be drooling over adding a big man with a top notch low post offensive game and a guy that can block 3 shots a game and grab 10-12 boards. Ollie or Newble need to go, but I don't see the Bobcats wanting either one unless the Cavs put out some incentives.
