The Starting Five

According to Bob Finnan from Morning Journal.Com, “some observers think Snow is the ideal man to be the starting point guard. Like he displayed in the intra-squad scrimmage in Akron on Thursday, he delivers the ball where it needs to go. But if he wins the job, then Marshall might make the most sense at power forward.”
“Also, swingmen Ira Newble, Sasha Pavlovic and Luke Jackson are in no danger of not making the team. Knowing Brown’s penchant for defense, however, Newble is going to get minutes once he recovers from a strained right foot. That doesn’t leave much time for the odd man out between Pavlovic and Jackson.”

Wagner Out Again?

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, “Dajuan Wagner, a former Camden High superstar and current NBA free agent, had hoped to be in an NBA training camp this week. Instead, he remains slowed by colitis.

Wagner, 22, has seen his first three NBA seasons virtually ruined by a variety of injuries and ailments. The Cleveland Cavaliers, who made him the sixth selection in the 2002 draft, opted not to pick up the fourth year of his contract after last season.

“Dajuan is still dealing with colitis and is under the care of Dr. John Kolnik of South Jersey,” his agent, Leon Rose, said Friday. “Dajuan’s goal is to get it under control before returning to the court.”

Rose said there was no timetable for Wagner’s return.”

Ira Newble Sprained His Right Foot

Ira Newble sprained his right foot during the practice Wednesday night. The Cavs’ medical staff reports that he will miss one to two weeks. He was not in uniform the intrasquad scrimmage Thursday night.

The Cavaliers also practiced and scrimmaged without Jahidi White on Thursday. He left practice with tendinitis in his left quadriceps muscle. The Cavs have him listed as day-to-day.

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Cleveland Cavaliers Salaries

Here is a list I wanted to share with you. Larry Hughes currently is the highest paid player followed by Zydrunas. LeBron is 5th on the list and Anderson (The Wild Thing) is last before Martynas Andriuskevicius making almost $867,000. Interesting!

Player
Salary
Larry Hughes
$10,300,000
Zydrunas Ilgauskas
$9,200,000
Eric Snow
$5,480,000
Donyell Marshall
$5,000,000
LeBron James
$4,621,800
Drew Gooden
$4,065,811
Damon Jones
$3,500,000
Ira Newble
$2,950,200
Luke Jackson
$1,955,160
Aleksandar Pavlovic
$1,274,160
Alan Henderson
$1,138,500
Anderson Varejao
$866,800
Martynas Andriuskevicius
N/A
TOTALS:
$50,352,431

Gooden Is A Lean Mean Fighting Machine

Drew Gooden is determined to be a beast on the boards this season.
Drew Gooden

“Forget what I did with a career-high in scoring last year,” said Gooden. “I want to grab a career high in rebounds this year. That’s my focus.”
Drew also added few more pounds of muscle and a nastier attitude to help his game.
“I didn’t want to get too big,” said Gooden. “One year I came in huge – around 260. That was after my sophomore year and I felt like I couldn’t touch the rim. I want to stay mobile and lean. I had a good diet this year. I think this is the first year that I watched what I ate in the off-season.”

Last season, Drew averaged a career high 14.4 points and 9.2 rebounds and 37 double doubles. He was also the only player to play all 82 games last season.

I think we will see a better Drew this season. Watch for the double doubles !

For The Record, LeBron James Is a Cavaliers For a Long Time

Since LeBron joined the Cavaliers, we keep hearing rumors about him demanding to leave Cleveland. The latest I’ve heard was reported by Hoopsworld.com, LeBron James“Though the Lakers have a number of players in mind, sources have indicated for a number of months that LeBron James is indeed their primary goal in 2007.” I have no idea where do they get this stuff!

Anyway, today while being bombarded with questions at the Cavaliers’ media day, LeBron addressed his future before it was even brought up.

“For the record,” James said, slamming his hand on the table. “For the record, I am not going anywhere. I keep hearing these stories about LeBron James is not happy in Cleveland. I don’t understand where these keep coming from.”

“I’m very happy in the Cavaliers uniform and I’m going to be wearing this uniform for a long time, OK?”

LeBron is very happy with what the front office has done so far with signing free agent guard Larry Hughes and Damon Jones, forward Donyell Marshall and re-signed center Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

“It’s going to be unbelievable what this team can do,” James said, cracking a smile. “It’s like high school for me again. Now that I got a guy like Larry Hughes, who can break down a defense as well as I can, and a guy like Damon Jones who can shoot it from halfcourt, and a guy like Donyell Marshall, who can play the three, four or five and rebound the ball. It’s unbelievable what our potential can be.

“There should be no excuses for us not to get to the playoffs with the guys that we’ve added.”

Source: USA Today