Since this has been a quiet summer for Cavs news, I figured it might be a good time to have a little forum here. If you have a question about the Cavs or the NBA, send it to me and I’ll try to answer it. Want to know about how the salary cap works, how trade exceptions are used, what exactly qualifying offers are, how do you match salaries in a trade, what BRI is, what rumors are true or false, what sort of gum the Cavs have in the locker room, whatever. If I don’t know the answer, I’ll try my best to find it out.
Send questions to bwindhorst@thebeaconjournal.com or leave them cleanly and respectfully in the comments section. I’ll try to post some replies early next week.
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LeBron made some pointed comments after the Team USA scrimmage about his love of up tempo basketball. Have you heard anything from the Cavs that indicates an upcoming change in their offensive philosophy? Seems to me that appeasing James might not be a bad idea.
Brian-
1.) Who do you think would be/should be on the CAVS short list in terms of assistant coach addition(s)?
2.) Who do you think should be/is on the CAVS short list in terms of a quality starting point guard? (Kidd/Jack……et al…..what’s realistic?).
3.) What’s the likelihood of moving Larry Hughes? Is he a chemistry and attitude issue? Can we move his salary for another salary perhaps at the point guard position?
What is the best way to handle the roster players on the end of the Cavs’ bench? Guys like Scott Pollard, David Wesley and Ira Newble. Trade, cut or find a way to use their talents? Is the only answer to leave them sit at the end of the bench and let time take its course. Do you feel that any of the last 5 players on the 15 man roster have anything to offer? Would any non-contract Summer League Players be any better? Could you evaluate by player? I think this is a good question for the dead time of the year, while many of us still want to read about the Cavs.
Brian,
Whats the latest on the Bibby trade?
Brian — with Countryside and other mortgage lending companies reporting losses and concerns about future earnings, should we have any concerns about Quicklen Loans and Dan Gilbert’s willingness to go outside the cap?
Hey Brian,
Good idea on the questions… I wouldn’t exactly call this entire scenario a rumor but it has recently been reported that the Cavs were exploring sending Gooden back home to the Warriors, who have a $9M trade exception at their disposal. Could you see something like a three-way deal sending Drew to GS, Ira and Damon and the GS trade exception to Phoenix, and Shawn Marion to the Cavs? It seems like it makes too much sense to actually happen, assuming that Phoenix really wants to dump some salary.
Hey, Brian, I saw that Henry (TrueHoop) mentioned a book that you’re working on. Is it true? When will it be available?
Brian, Cavs fans tend to view the Cavs’ offense as well… well, you know: bad. What’s the league wide view of Mike Brown and Danny Ferry in that regard?
How does your blogging influence your job as a reporter? I remember McInnis stopped talking to you. For example, does Damon Jones laugh when you tease his fashion sense, or does he hold it against you? Does your relationships with individual players even matter any more given how little exclusive access you have?
I think the best question of all directly relates to the first 10 words of this blog entry: Why has this been a quiet summer for Cavs news? This baffles me. This should baffle you. This should baffle everybody.
I’m concerned that the Cavs are strapped down by contracts and will remain the same team if/until Lebron has the ability to bolt via free agency. Do you feel the same?
alan t is actually right. If you’re not baffled by this fact, then you probably didn’t watch very many games last season.
What about those Goldenstate rumors? Any chance that the Cavs try to make some major changes in their front court rotation?
Brian,
How can we get that “soul patch” shaved off the back of Drew Gooden’s head?
What about Navarro?
Wayne, for God’s sakes, look at the picture. Do you really want this guy on your basketball team?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Navarro
Hey Brian,
Maybe an odd question but I know the Cleveland Indians are a very tight group with great team chemistry. They play a lot of pranks on each other, they also always have video game tournaments as well. Do the Cavs players pull off any good pranks towards each other or have any weird bonding traditions to maybe better the chemisty?
Whats goin’ on with the Sasha talks?
What is going on with the Anderson talks? I suspect the Cavs are offering somewhere in the range of 3 years, $18 million. I suspect that Anderson is weighing taking this guarenteed money vs. taking the minimum tender of 1 year, $1.8 million. If he takes the low-ball offer, he is expecting to hit a bigger contract. He is debating whether the guarenteed offer is better than the risk of injury/competing with some of the top NBA players who will be free agents next year.
Thoughts?
Nick, there were games when the Cavs were getting blown out, and yet James, Jones and Wesley were on the bench giggling with each other. “Weird bonding traditions” aren’t necessary, that’s already weird enough.
Alan: I want this guy in my team
http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=cPhTs1H-faY&mode=related&search=
What do you think the Cavs’ biggest need is in order to get a championship? They have some glaring shortcomings in the makeup of their team and I know what I consider to be the biggest one of them all. What I want to know is what you think it is.
Brian,
Do the Cavs have any interest in Brendon Haywood? Since watching him shut down Z in the playoffs in ‘06, I’ve thought he would be a good fit here because he would bring some shot-blocking and some attitude, plus he can run the floor a little. His contract seems somewhat reasonable and I know he’s in the coach’s doghouse in Washington. If we could get him for the spare parts you talked about earlier that could decrease a team’s cap number (i.e., Wesley, Jones, Newble, ect.) and maybe a draft pick I’d do it in a minute. Or maybe they could get haywood and Navarro in a trade for Andy?
Alan T,
That is not what I am talking about, I am talking about behind the scenes, it seems like the Indians have very good chemstry because they do things off of the field together. Obviously laughing on the bench when being blown out is a problem. So I was wondering if the Cavs, like the Tribe, do anything like video game tournaments or any other type of bonding to build good chemistry.
I’ve always wondered if there is a resource for NBA player salaries. I’m always currious about the plausability of trade scenarios, but never know where to find out about player salaries that match.
Thanks,
Chris
Brian,
Is LeBron working on his mid-range jumper with team USA? He looked very bad at the end of the Blue vs. White game where Kobe hit the jumper with 1.6 seconds left.
Bob B in Solon
Why isn’t Danny Ferry burning up Seattle’s phone lines trying to pry one of their three talented young point guards away? This seems like a no brainer to me. Both Earl Watson and Delonte West play good defense and can make threes when left open. I’m very perplexed.
chris b: try http://www.hoopshype.com/salaries.htm
nick: i too value chemistry, but i suspect that appeasing lebron is the key.
alan t. if you actually read the blog, you’d have the answer as to why it’s been a quiet summer.
brian: as versatile as our combination of big men are, my impression is that they’re “soft”. i submit that we need a defensive “MF” type who will cold cock a guy driving the lane. of course, as long we’re good, we’ll never draft high enough to get that kind of player in the draft.
furthermore, is gooden really as much a space cowboy as some accounts hint? for example, in the pistons game where we have a 4 point lead, during the timeout, you can read lebron’s lips “don’t leave the f-ing floor” – and sure enough rasheed jacks up a 3 point attempt, and gooden LEAVES THE FLOOR in a block attempt – a foul on a 3 point shot being the only way the pistons could tie the game. that and his “YEEE!” gives me the impression he’s just a big 6 year old with an attention span to match. as skilled as he is, 4-5 of those types of brain farts a game is what could keep any team from being champions.
Chris Brummel – check out:
http://www.hoopshype.com/salaries.htm for team salaries and
http://www.realgm.com/src_tradechecker/1/ for seeing if trades will work and
http://www.realgm.com/src_gm_resources.php for more info on player contracts
Is there any indication on who Lebron wants to bring to Cleveland? It seems that he has the first and final say.
Brian: Does Danny Ferry think the Cavs can take the next step and win the NBA championship with the same personnel they ended the season with? Also, how possible would it be somehow get Jason Kidd? There seems to be an mutual respect there between he and LeBron which I would think would make the team probable to repeat in the East and an excellent contender for it all. It would also give boobie a couple years to mature into kidd’s role.
Two questions:
1) Why am i so damned smart?
2) Why do Cavs fans bitch and moan so much?
Merci!
The Genius has…spoken!
Have the cavs made any efforts to go after Mike Connelly? Do you think he will be a good pro?
Nick, the only genuine chemistry they have together behind the scenes is the chemistry nobody is allowed to talk about. As in five Cavs taking on one skank. At long last, a real team offense with lots of dribble penetration.
Brian-
Why don’t the Cavs trade S. Brown to Bucks for rights to PF L. Ji from China? I hear LeBron is big in China, so maybe they won’t object playing with LeBron. We could use more scoring from the big guys.
Is there a chance?
Jesus, alan t., take that kind of gutter, and vaguely racist, speak elsewhere, would you? You ceased to be even *mildly* amusing some time ago…
For those that care about *basketball*, I see my fellow geniuses at 82games.com( http://www.82games.com/nichols1.htm ) have come up with a new stat to track individual defensive prowess. Not surprising to anyone who knows anything, which sadly precludes a few in this comment section, that San Antonio and the Cavs have the best scores as a team. How did those two teams do this year anyway? I wonder…
Furthermore, it might surprise some that Mr. James scores near the top in the individual numbers ( It will surprise few that Mr. D. Jones is near the bottom ). I think this is long overdue statistical evidence that he has truly become a very good all-around defensive player. Considering the load he carries offensively, it’s truly to the shame of every NBA beat writer that they left Mr. James off the First Team of the All-NBA squad. Future generations will rightly mock us for such transgressions.
And yes, I understand this in not by *any* stretch a perfect statistical model to measure individual defensive prowess but I think it’s the best so far.
The Genius has…spoken!
Z is getting older, but he’ll still be a valuable player for a couple years to come. We’ve noticed he can hit the open jumper from a step inside the 3-line somewhat consistently. Wouldn’t it be great if he could work on that shot and maybe extend it back behind the line, since he’s becoming less and less effective inside?
Hey there. Not a Cavs fan, I’m from MPLS (Go Wolves!) but I got your link from Henry Abbott’s True Hoop. Anyways, I was wondering about a 4-day NBA camp in Vegas that Craig Smith and Rashad McCants are attending. I was wondering what type of stuff they do there, how common they are and, to throw a little local flavor in, are there any Cavs attending these camps this summer?
From this point on when is the best time to pickup a player. Dog Days of August? (As contracts are being finaliized) Just prior to Training Camp in September? End of Training Camp when rosters are cut? Early in the Season? Anytime? (All are about the same.)
As a fan when can we expect the bulk of the player movement?
****Brian’s answers only*****
The rest of you don’t know anymore than I do.
Hello, Brian!
I would like to start off by saying I don’t get to see many games due to the fact that I am stationed outside of OH, so I am not the best judge of the Cavaliers situation. It seems from what I have read and watched that most of the starters are being underutilized being that they are told to fit the system rather than play to their strengths. If this is an accurate assessment, do you believe that Coach Brown should change his approach or should there be new players brought in to fit his system? With that being said, with the current list of players, who would you say would be realistic and helpful for this team? I really appreciate reading your column and hope you keep up the good work, thank you!
Hi brian,
what could the cavs get for larry hughes????
If u were the GM what would u do???
how come Sarunas Jasikevicius can’t get any playing time? it seems like he can run an offense and he can shoot, but he’s been on two teams and can’t get more than 10 minutes a night. he seems like a good fit for the cavs, but is there something i’m missing? is his defense that bad?
Ferry is known for playing his cards close to his chest in his dealing and targeted acquistions.
how do you think that is viewed by
1) the press – does it make your job harder?
2) the Cavs organization – does Gilbert look at that as plus?
3) the players – unlike NY, is it benficial not see player names daily in proposed trades
4) the fans – does it give fans the perception that nothing is going on behind the scenes
Uhh…Genius…”vaguely racist?” Your genius escapes me. I presume in those hotel rooms on the road, whether it’s the color of the Cavs or the color of the skanks, there is active team participation from every human color under the sky. If BW really wants to write a book that somebody will read and truly gives a glimpse of an NBA team off the court, then he’d make it something like “Ball Four.” But he won’t do that, because then he’d be breaking the code.
foto_mark, Ferry is known for playing his cards close to the chest? If it’s not an agent leaking stuff, bogus or otherwise, to the beat writers, it likely originated from the guy who supposedly is playing his cards close to the chest. There’s so many leaks coming from that dude’s office, that the Cavs have the entire Plumbers Union membership on retainer.
yes alan t
ferry IS known for playing his cards close to his chest.
I’ll let Brian answer the question rather than you . .. . since that what he asked for.
Unless you’re speaking literally regarding Ferry’s cards, as in the game of fish he’s playing with his scouts at this very moment, I don’t think Ferry has played anything close to his chest since the day Marcus Camby tried to put his fist through it. I’m assuming on the same day Ferry took the GM job, he installed his own Batphone in each of the beat writers’ condos. Whenever he leaks the Rumor Du Jour, their Ferry Batphone goes bonkers.
Personally, I demand that BW write a shocking unauthorized behind-the-scenes book about “Cold Pizza.”
I have an additional question besides the already asked Biggest Question of the Summer, which is, “Why is this a quiet summer for Cavs news?” Specifically, rather than Ferry and his minions leaking silly rumors about Bibby, why didn’t Ferry make a legitimate all-out assault for his teammate Artest? There’s an available guy out there (a tad wacky, but so what) with terrific offensive skills, is so good at defense that he was a Defensive Player of the Year, and on top of all that, has a very attractive contract for somebody with that level of talent. Despite these facts, Ferry is crying in his Corn Flakes because he just can’t seem to find the perfect Caucasian stiff from Peru, Portugal or Slovenia. Seriously, I don’t get this guy.
Are there any trades/players that the Cavs are currently targeting? With all the talk it seems like the Cavs will pass on the MLE unless something catastrophic happens and improve through trade…
What is the news on a true PG? What is your prediction of who and when? I am guessing at the all-star break- what’s your thoughts?