Or you could praise a GM who drafted Darko Milicic, senselessly attack Daniel Gibson’s game, and call the Atlanta Hawks every homo-suspect term in your little pink book.

You’re a hypcrite and a fool…

And I wasn’t comparing myself to Nostradamus, kid. I was merely mocking your ridiculous definition of “conspiracy theorist.” Frankly, my dogs could have predicted what’s happened to the the Cavs since Ferry rolled all $30 million of cap space into a big fat wad and threw it at four Amazonian strippers within a span of weeks. And trust me, my dogs ain’t anything like Nostradamus. Unless Nostradamus sniffed 16th century asses and licked his own private parts. Then indeed maybe they are like Nostradamus.

Posey is an Ohio kid, and would fill that 2-guard hole nicely. I’m sure he’d love to be a starter, and the Cavs have hefty mid-level exception.

However, if the Cavs can really get Redd and Charlie V for Andy and expiring deals, I dont know why they wouldnt jump at it. I’d rather not blow our cap out of the water, but what choice does Ferry have at this point? I wish they’d go for Mo Williams in that deal, but he’s probably not available.

I really dont think it’s too much to ask to get SOME sort of a hindsight outline of what the Cavs could have done rather than sign the three stooges. I mean, you guys dont think they did their homework and did the best they could? There was really a magical trade out there that would have gotten us a couple of all-stars? I mean, let’s have it. Larry? Alan? You’re all so quick to point out what a horrible job Ferry has done. Give us your best hypothetical, or just keep bashing the front office with baseless criticism, whichever…

I guess the only thing that we can take comfort in is the fact that the Cavs have a chance to be the best team in the East next year. When push came to shove and it really mattered, they were almost there again this year and that’s with an awful lot going wrong during the season.

As I see it, the Cavs need to do both of the following to win the East next year:

1. Make 1 big move by next year’s trade deadline and bring in a guy that plays well with Lebron. I don’t know who it will be but they will need him.

2. Win at least enough games to have home court all the way to the Eastern finals. It’s just too hard to win 2 consecutive series against good teams without the home court. One additional thing that an offseason trade might do for this team is make them play with a little more energy.

- Biff is right in saying that the Boston trades changed the landscape of the Eastern Conference. LeBron by himself might have been enough to get the Cavs back to the Finals if it wasn’t for Boston (and all indications are that he would have). But I would argue that if Hughes, Gibson, Varejao and Pavlovic had been effective this year, the Cavs would have been able to beat the Celtics. Instead, they all missed big chunks of time with holdouts and injuries.

- Still, unless David Stern ochestrates a move that sends Steve Nash and T-Mac to the Knicks, I think we can already see which teams will be contenders in the East next year.

- Boston will be there, but I expect them to have a drop-off. They won on hustle and defense, and I don’t expect that they will be able to duplicate that effort next year. The Big 3 are also getting up there, and if one of them in injured for the playoffs, they don’t have a chance. I also expect them to lose James Posey this offseason, and his production will be hard to replace.

- Orlando will make some noise, but they desperately need an injection of experience and toughness, and I don’t think they are going to get it. Dwight Howard is a beast, and he may continue to get more dominant (if that is possible). But this team relies on Howard to do too much on the inside, and unless they strengthen their front line around Howard, I don’t think they’re a real contender. Just because a guy is 6′10” (Rashard Lewis, Hedo Turkoglu, Lamar Odom, Charlie Villanueva) does not mean he’s a power forward.

- (A side note on Villanueva: He shot 43% from the field last year. That’s completely unacceptable for a guy who is 6′10”, and should be a big red flag when it comes to trading for him.)

- Detroit is interesting. They may make a move for a big-name player to make one final run with this team, or Joe Dumars may blow it up and make some holes for guys like Stuckey and Maxiell to develop into the next generation of Pistons. Detroit will still be a force to be reckoned with, but they will be less of a threat next year than they were in 07-08.

- Miami is the team that I think will make a huge leap. They tanked their way to 15 wins last year, and I wouldn’t be too shocked if they made a turnaround similar to what the Celtics did this year. If Dwyane Wade and Shawn Marion are healthy, then 57 wins isn’t impossible, which would be the same increase that the Celtics saw this year. They are going to add a very good player in Rose or Beasley, and the appeal of South Beach should be enough to help them bring in a quality veteran or two on the cheap.

- As for Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington or Atlanta, I think they are all a few players and a few years away from making any real noise.

- Of course, all of this could change depending on moves made this offseason. But if I’m Danny Ferry and the Cavaliers, I feel good about where I am right now, knowing that just a few good moves should be enough to get me over the top.

- Though I’m also praying every night that LeBron doesn’t tear his ACL in the Olympics.

Go Cavs.

Mike C.

Speaking of trades, the scenario McManaman outlined in his article today sure opens some interesting possibilities as far as the Cavs putting an even wierder looking combination of players on the court next year. It would be awesome to see Villanueva out there with Devin Brown, Pavlovic, Delonte and Big Ben with his hair out.

Here’s the only problem with your analysis: You can’t look at the NBA radar and figure out where the next storms are coming from. In June of 07, would you have ever predicted that Boston, a 27 win team, would become a factor in the near future?

The problem is that the landscape is fluid and unpredictable (cough…except that I would go out on a limb and predict that good players on bad teams will find their way to big markets and better teams).

The Cavs will have a chance but don’t fool yourself into thinking that some unforseen challengers won’t emerge.

As great as James is, it’s going to take more than just one reliable scorer. And while knocking Varejao seems to be the hip thing to do, and there’s no doubt he’s gone by the trade deadline, with as many gaping holes as the Cavs have, it’s going to be tough to replace him with those forks in the backs of Ilgauskas and Wallace poking everybody in the eye.

And no championship team should ever have a guy like Delonte West starting at point. Might as well sign Allen Leavell.

By the way, what’s the deal with Snow’s contract. Are they going to get a career-ending injury exemption against the cap and waive him, like the Blazers did with Darius Miles?