Thoughts on the draft
Posted June 29th, 2006 by bwindhorst
==The Cavs accomplished their greatest quest on Wednesday, getting a player they feel can be inserted into the rotation. As of this moment, it appears Shannon Brown will be the replacement for Flip Murray, though there’s a long way to go until next year’s roster is complete. Nothing is a sure thing at No. 25 in the draft, but the chances he’ll be viable are high.
==The Cavs deny any promises were made to Daniel Gibson. Obviously they didn’t promise him the 25th pick, but I’ll bet they told him they’d draft him at No. 42 and assured him they’d give him some guaranteed money. That must of sounded pretty good considering he really didn’t want to schlep around the country and didn’t want to go back to school. Plus he knew the Cavs needed a PG. Otherwise, why would he refuse to work out for other teams?
==Danny Ferry said he feels Brown is a shooting guard and Gibson is combo guard. The general feeling is that Gibson isn’t really a ball-handler. So, riddle me this, who will be Eric Snow’s backup? I mean true backup. Right now the Cavs have eight players you could consider guards on the roster: Snow, Brown, Gibson, Damon Jones, Ira Newble, Luke Jackson, Sasha Pavlovic, and Larry Hughes. I can’t see them signing another guard with all that. Perhaps it will be Hughes, but that all depends on the offense. Yet, it must be thinned somewhat.
==I am just as anxious as any fan to get this LeBron James extension done ASAP. But how many days do you think LeBron will enjoy making all of NE Ohio sweat it out…3, 10, 45, only one man knows.
June 29th, 2006 at 7:31 pm
Ferry has got to have something else up his sleeve. I don’t see the Cavs going into the season with Gibson as the only addition at point guard. He could have most likely traded up with PHX to get M. Williams or the PG of his choice (other than Douby) if he wanted a point guard. From the little I know about these guys, I am excited about the two draft picks, however I feel this is only the start of the moves. I think Ferry will suprise us with his creativity and get a solid point guard to rotate with Snow (and hopefully start).
Brian, any word on the Phil/Bos/Cleve or Utah trade Katz talked about at the draft? Is it going down after July 1st because of Gooden being involved? Any rumblings you have heard? I don’t think I would want Telfair.
June 30th, 2006 at 7:00 am
I think after the first few weeks of the season, Hughes will move to the point and we’ll see Shannon Brown starting at the 2. That way we’ve got both Eric Snow and Daniel Gibson as backup point guards. You know you can always rely on Snow, and when the Cavs are winning games pretty handily, Gibson will get some time to get comfortable on the court and improve his ball handling and passing skills.
Hughes, Brown, and LeBron will be a nightmare on defense and for the defense of the opposing teams. Brown is a player that will finally run around and cut to the basket and try to get open as opposed to standing around watching LeBron with the ball. Hughes will be moving around too, and the three of them will finish at the rim many times a night.
On defense, Brown will guard his man tight into making a mistake. The long arms of Hughes or LeBron will make the most of any such mistake and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Cavs lead the league in steals, with LeBron and Hughes both in the top 3.
I wrote up some other analysis at LBJ4MVP.com
Love your blog, Brian!
July 2nd, 2006 at 9:16 am
Why would Ferry wait to see if LeBron signs before proceeding with other business this summer, as reported in B. Windhorst’s story today? And why doesn’t LeBron go ahead and say he’ll sign, unless he’s waiting to see what Ferry can do this summer?
July 2nd, 2006 at 9:48 am
Rhetorical questions, Larry?
July 2nd, 2006 at 3:29 pm
It just doesn’t make sense to me, unless Ferry’s statements about standing pat are a smokescreen (I hope) or he’s simply out of touch with LeBron’s thinking.