Well, the Vegas Summer League is over. NBA TV graced us with two games - I don’t really understand why they didn’t do all of them, they shot them all. Hell, I’ll go do play by play next year, if that’s the issue, for free… the rest of the games can be watched streaming, but that’s a tough viewing experience….

jj hickson did very well in the Summer League. He was about 20 & 8, and showed a variety of ways to score, inside and out, occasionally with some flair and creativity. I can’t wait to see him against real opponents, but the two games I saw he looked impressive. Most of the time, he was clearly the best player on the court. He may be able to give us a Maxiell type presence off the bench. For some reason, he reminded me of a young Antonio McDyess. He can really get up there, and might be a decent shot blocker. He was even double teamed a few times, and fought through them well. One problem - I don’t think I saw him get a single assist. nonetheless, he was right there with Mayo, Bayless, Love, & Randolph as rookies go.

I think Darnell Jackson will play most of the time in the D League, but he’s already at least as good as Dwayne Jones. He’s solid defensively, and strong, but didn’t put much together offensively. he showed a little jump hook off the glass in the middle of the paint, and can hit little stand still jumpers, but doesn’t really seem to have much in terms of post presence.

Both players looked bigger than I thought they were.

Clay Tucker will be one of the last cuts this year, I’m guessing. He should he could score and move the ball around a little. Mike Greene looked like he’ll be invited to training camp, too. He’s aggressive to the basket and does a good job setting up teammates.

Traylor faded after a strong start. i think he’ll make it back to the NBA, but I doubt with the Cavs this year.

Anyone else see the rumour that Golden State is interested in Delonte West?

you also love to talk about how ferry was stupid for “blowing” all that cap space in 2005. was ferry supposed to not spend it and sign bottom of the barrel players that year? should he have waited to spend it in 2006? 2007? at what point was he supposed to spend it? at some point that cap space has to get spent. which free agents have been out there to sign? should he have waited until 2008 to go after maggette? had he done that, lbj would probably already be gone. nearly all free agent signings are inevitably overpaid. thats how free agency works in sports. there is no perfect answer, but i am willing to bet that there would be a better chance for LBJ to leave had the cavs NOT spent that cap space than spending it poorly (which they didnt, although i agree it could have been spent better).

I think that the reasons the Hughes signing failed were three fold.

1. He missed major time with injuries.

2. The failure of Donyell Marshall and Damon Jones to provide the outside shooting for which they were signed. Larry Hughes can’t shoot - but that was known when we signed him. When Marshall and Jones failed to produce as they had in the past, it both added shot opportunities for Hughes and put pressure on the rest of the team to take more outside shots. Not good.

3. Hughes reluctance to play the point. The CAvs actually had a pretty good run with Larry at the point. It was a good fit, giving the Cavs a big defensive point guard, taking pressure off Lebron to bring the ball up, and allowed Hughes take shots when he got them within his comfort zone, in the confines of the offense, without having to create them for himself. His unwillingness to continue at point is certainly what led to him being traded, more than anything else.

Z’s a valuable player but he’s just not the right building block for the kind of team that would have best suited LeBron’s unprecedented abilities. The Cavs had the cap space to realitstically obtain two players with 10M+ salaries in the 2 years following Ferry’s arrival, and he chose Z and Hughes, two almost all-stars whose games are predicated on completely opposite styles of play.

The Hughes signing may have worked out much better if the Cavs signed mobile young defenders instead of Z. That probably would have suited LeBron better, as well.

But Ferry, like Shapiro, seems to think his system is the most important aspect of the team when in reality of course LeBron is and hopefully will be for the next 12 years or so.

Does anyone ever trade for a player in the first year of a five year deal? Off the top of my head, I can think of exactly one time. Does it even happen in the first year of a four year deal? Isn’t even pretty rare in the second year of five? Your point is kind of useless.

Your grand idea, with your best 20/20 hindsight, would have been a center by committee, and save the cap space, and go for a player like Iverson. Most teams that save cap space are headed directly to the lottery - would that have helped us re-sign Lebron after the season?