This blog is designed for fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Cleveland Browns. As a native Clevelander, the Indians are of course my favorite baseball team, but I'm just not a huge baseball fan and therefore, will not be discussing them.

I've thought of three possible players that the Cavs could acquire via a trade that could finally be the robin to Lebron's batman: Michael Redd, Richard Jefferson, or Danny Granger.  Of the three, I think Granger is the most realistic option.  His per year salary is much lower than either Redd or Jefferson and he's also the youngest of the bunch at 25.  He also has the most upside of the three.  He is coming off a break-out year for the Pacers in which he averaged 19.1 PPG, 6.1 RPG.  He has a nice outside game that extends to the three-point line, and is long and athletic around the hoop. 

The only issue could be his size - 6'9".  I can't imagine Lebron switching to SG, so Granger would most likely have to change positions.  If he was willing to make the change, he could cause a lot of match-up problems for other teams and give us a very big lineup. 

Just my two cents, let me know what you think!

This blog is designed for fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Cleveland Browns. As a native Clevelander, the Indians are of course my favorite baseball team, but I'm just not a huge baseball fan and therefore, will not be discussing them.

It seems that there is some confusion over what the Cavs will be able to do this offseason.  We have the 4th highest payroll in the league at $81 million and are over the salary cap.  Therefore, we cannot sign any free agents.  However, we have $30 million in expiring contracts, which is attractive to teams looking to lower their payroll (once these contracts expire, it will come off their books).  Two players I know for sure who have expiring contracts are Damon Jones and Wally.  Delonte West and Boobie Gibson are restricted free agents (we can match any offer made to them in the free agent market).  I think we'll end up losing Gibson.  I can see teams wanting to overpay for him because of his ability to knock down the outside shot.  We also have the 19th pick in the draft which could be big because this is a very deep draft this year.  I've seen mock drafts with us taking Chris Douglas Roberts from Memphis, an athletic tough wing player who would be a nice compliment to Lebron.  In regards to Boozer and Gooden, we lost Boozer in free agency under the Paxson regime.  Paxson failed to get Boozer to sign on the dotted line and was hoping their "hand shake" agreement would be ironclad.  Gooden was involved in the trade made earlier this season, I think due to his inconsistent play and unwillingness to play defense.  I think Mike Brown has taken us as far as he can.  He seems like a nice guy, but I wonder if he has the personality to get it done.  I'd love for Dan Gilbert to try and bring in a coach like Pat Riley - a no-nonsense coach whose track record speaks for itself.  I think he would be tempted at the thought of coaching Lebron. 

This blog is designed for fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Cleveland Browns. As a native Clevelander, the Indians are of course my favorite baseball team, but I'm just not a huge baseball fan and therefore, will not be discussing them.

If you read my last post, you'll remember that I was worried about how the Cavs would play in game 7 against Boston.  It seems that I had much reason to worry.  Just as I feared, the bench did not play particularly well and once again Lebron was asked to do everything!  I did not agree with Mike Brown's decision to play Wallace over Varejao in crucial moments late in the game.  Wallace is not the defender he used to be and is a liability on offense.  I think we really could've used Varejao's energy, hustle, and his limited but better than Ben's, offensive game.  I also still remain perplexed by Coach Brown's decision to keep Devin Brown out of the rotation.  Watching him play throughout the regular season, I know that he would've been a difference maker in this series. 

 

Ok, enough crying over spilled milk.  Looking toward the draft and the offseason, there is no doubt in my mind that this is the most critical offseason in Cavs history and here's why.  Chances are, we will never have a player of Lebron's stature again, and the window for Lebron to win a championship with the Cavs is quickly closing.  I have a strong feeling that he will bolt for the Big Apple in 2010 if we don't win a tile by then. 

 

The big mid-season trade that was supposed to get us over the hump in the playoffs didn't work.  So the big question is, "What pieces does Ferry need to put around Lebron for us to have a legitimate shot at the title?"  "Is Mike Brown the right coach to get us there?" 

 

I've never seen a player win with less than Lebron.  Magic had Kareem and Worthy, Bird had Parish and McHale, and Jordan had Pippen and Phil Jackson (I don't think Jackson is given enough credit for putting Jordan in a position to win his first title).  Who is the second best player to Lebron on our team, Z, West? 

If we don't find at least a second banana (could've been Boozer) for Lebron soon, the Cavs could be in dire straits.

 

 

 

 

This blog is designed for fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Cleveland Browns. As a native Clevelander, the Indians are of course my favorite baseball team, but I'm just not a huge baseball fan and therefore, will not be discussing them.

I will only be posting items about the Cavs until they are no longer in the playoffs - which I hope will not be until we win the championship! Obviously, I'm a fairly optimistic fan, which runs counter to the attitude of the typical Cleveland sports fan. While I don't feel like the Cavs are the best team left in the playoffs, I do think that they have the best player, which gives me reason to hope.

I'm nervous about tomorrow's game for several reasons:

1) Boston is a phenomenal home team and we have yet to figure how to win there.

2) Mike Brown - I sometimes think that we win games despite him. For example, why has Devin Brown - a major contributor during the season - not been part of his rotation in the playoffs? He is a smart player who can slash to the hole, has a decent outside game, and may be our best perimeter defender. I just don't get that, am I missing something? I also feel that Mike Brown is more of a buddy and fan of Lebron then his coach. Comments such as: "It's hard not to get caught up in the excitement when Lebron does something amazing" or "Our strategy on offense at the end of the game is to give Lebron the ball and let him make the right basketball play". For some reason, I don't think that Phil Jackson, Pat Riley, or Greg Popovich would've made those same comments if they were his coach.

3) Can the bench step-up big on the road?


I'd like to hear your (Die-hard Cavs fan) feedback on these issues.