Not sure about you, but I am not ready to accept that our season is over just yet..
4 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Great Season Wrap up on Coach Mike Brown done by Terry Pluto on Ohio.com. It basically says what we all know- good defensive coach, great at relating to the players, needs to work on the offense.
It was a good season... not great. We accomplished what we set out to do and we were able to get over many obstacles/hurrdels in the process. The team and organization took a giant step forward in the process to become an elite franchise.
This summer will be very interesting. Last year, Gilbert/Ferry knew what changes needed to be made and brought in a solid group of talented players. Some people will debate that statement, but you can't deny the positive effect these new additions made both on and off the court. We are growing and our team in developing. This off-season will bring many questions about what to do next to acheive next years goal (according to LBJ) of reaching the NBA Finals and winning a championship.
First, LBJ should have his contract in hand by July 1st and a live press conference should be held at The Q right at 12:01 a.m. EST on July 10th (the first day he can sign) annoucing LBJ has "officially" sign his name to the contract. Much celebration should ensue.
Second, Ferry is going to have to make some small adjustments with our roster. There are a few obvious needs to be addressed (PG, PF & maybe C). Paxson really screwed us with the Ira Newble contract (Kevin Ollie too). What are we going to do with Newble, Henderson, Murray, Pavalovic, Snow, Jones, Gooden, Z, Varejao and Hughes. There is much speculation about what to do. I would say the untouchables for this team are LBJ, Varejao, Marshall, Z and Hughes (could be next years startign 5). To dismiss a few of these... I do NOT see anybody taking on Newble, Snow, Jones, Jackson, Marty, Z or Hughes because their contracts are so large or unproven talent. That doesn't mean we couldn't pull a big trade involving any of these guys for a big name superstar ( i.e. "the Big Ticket!").
Finally, PF... big questions here. Drew is a good player, but lacks the confidence and motivation to bring it every play/game. He disappears to easily. Drew is going to command $7-$9 MM/yr and I do not think he is worth more than $6MM. We can match any offer sheet he gets, so I think we'll be playing "wait and see" most of the summer and then make a decision. What will be interesting is the available free agent class of PF and where they go and for how much. I do not want Reggie Evans or Wilcox (top 2 in my estimation). I think we need Drew and if we do re-sign him, then we should put some incentives in his contract to drive him and make the contract more attractive.
All this being said, we do NOT need to make any wild changes. This team looks good for the future. Ferry's work is cut out for him to now manipulate/disect/build the best team. Last year was easy... this off-season will determine his legacy with the Cavalier organization as a GM. We already know his legacy as a player... let's hope the second time around he does much better.
Third, the C position is key for us, but Z must get tougher. He is getting old by NBA standards, but still has gas left. His game can work in our system, but Mike Brown needs to figure out how. After all, MJ had Bill Cartright, Luc Longley and Will Purdue... I'd take Z any day over them. I do not see Z leaving and he will retire a Cavalier.
Fourth, the PG position is crucial to our future successes. Nobody can debate this. The problem we have is Snow and Jones have large contracts. I think we can move Jones, but only for the right price and we may lose out to that end. NOBODY wants SNOW. He is such a liability on O. I would love to have Snow come off our bench. I put Murray here because he I have noweher else to put him. He could backup Hughes at the SG, but he wants to start. Hughes and Murray are identical players/abilities. Murray is a slasher and poor shooter like Hughes, but he lacks the D we need. I see no reason to re-sign Murray. There are a few PGs out there (none really catch my eye) and a couple restricted PG like Jason Terry. I want Jason Terry badly. He is quick, runs the floor well, can shoot and his D is OK. He would compliment our core guys well. The difficulty will be if Mark Cuban wants to keep him and the money he throws at him. The Mavs already have their PG of the future in Devin Harris.
4 comments:
Great Season Wrap up on Coach Mike Brown done by Terry Pluto on Ohio.com. It basically says what we all know- good defensive coach, great at relating to the players, needs to work on the offense.
It was a good season... not great. We accomplished what we set out to do and we were able to get over many obstacles/hurrdels in the process. The team and organization took a giant step forward in the process to become an elite franchise.
This summer will be very interesting. Last year, Gilbert/Ferry knew what changes needed to be made and brought in a solid group of talented players. Some people will debate that statement, but you can't deny the positive effect these new additions made both on and off the court. We are growing and our team in developing. This off-season will bring many questions about what to do next to acheive next years goal (according to LBJ) of reaching the NBA Finals and winning a championship.
First, LBJ should have his contract in hand by July 1st and a live press conference should be held at The Q right at 12:01 a.m. EST on July 10th (the first day he can sign) annoucing LBJ has "officially" sign his name to the contract. Much celebration should ensue.
Second, Ferry is going to have to make some small adjustments with our roster. There are a few obvious needs to be addressed (PG, PF & maybe C). Paxson really screwed us with the Ira Newble contract (Kevin Ollie too). What are we going to do with Newble, Henderson, Murray, Pavalovic, Snow, Jones, Gooden, Z, Varejao and Hughes. There is much speculation about what to do. I would say the untouchables for this team are LBJ, Varejao, Marshall, Z and Hughes (could be next years startign 5). To dismiss a few of these... I do NOT see anybody taking on Newble, Snow, Jones, Jackson, Marty, Z or Hughes because their contracts are so large or unproven talent. That doesn't mean we couldn't pull a big trade involving any of these guys for a big name superstar ( i.e. "the Big Ticket!").
(#3 - 4 in next post)
Finally, PF... big questions here. Drew is a good player, but lacks the confidence and motivation to bring it every play/game. He disappears to easily. Drew is going to command $7-$9 MM/yr and I do not think he is worth more than $6MM. We can match any offer sheet he gets, so I think we'll be playing "wait and see" most of the summer and then make a decision. What will be interesting is the available free agent class of PF and where they go and for how much. I do not want Reggie Evans or Wilcox (top 2 in my estimation). I think we need Drew and if we do re-sign him, then we should put some incentives in his contract to drive him and make the contract more attractive.
All this being said, we do NOT need to make any wild changes. This team looks good for the future. Ferry's work is cut out for him to now manipulate/disect/build the best team. Last year was easy... this off-season will determine his legacy with the Cavalier organization as a GM. We already know his legacy as a player... let's hope the second time around he does much better.
Third, the C position is key for us, but Z must get tougher. He is getting old by NBA standards, but still has gas left. His game can work in our system, but Mike Brown needs to figure out how. After all, MJ had Bill Cartright, Luc Longley and Will Purdue... I'd take Z any day over them. I do not see Z leaving and he will retire a Cavalier.
Fourth, the PG position is crucial to our future successes. Nobody can debate this. The problem we have is Snow and Jones have large contracts. I think we can move Jones, but only for the right price and we may lose out to that end. NOBODY wants SNOW. He is such a liability on O. I would love to have Snow come off our bench. I put Murray here because he I have noweher else to put him. He could backup Hughes at the SG, but he wants to start. Hughes and Murray are identical players/abilities. Murray is a slasher and poor shooter like Hughes, but he lacks the D we need. I see no reason to re-sign Murray. There are a few PGs out there (none really catch my eye) and a couple restricted PG like Jason Terry. I want Jason Terry badly. He is quick, runs the floor well, can shoot and his D is OK. He would compliment our core guys well. The difficulty will be if Mark Cuban wants to keep him and the money he throws at him. The Mavs already have their PG of the future in Devin Harris.
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