Cleveland Cavaliers News

From the Draft:

Chad Ford of ESPN.com gave the Cavs an A minus.

Wrote Ford: “Hickson has been one of my sleepers in the draft. He has an NBA body and great athleticism, and he can play inside and out. His game needs to develop, but the raw tools are impressive. He could be a nice long-term replacement for Joe Smith. At No. 19, he was one of the few players left on the board with a chance of being a great player.”

“And according to (ESPN’s) John Hollinger’s statistical formula, Jackson is one the biggest sleepers in the draft.”

Cavs Summer League Team

The Cavaliers have now officially listed their summer league team.  The team is headlined by former first round picks Robert Traylor (Michigan), Wayne Simien (Kansas), and the Cavaliers’ 2008 1^st round selection JJ Hickson.  Also signed as undrafted free agents are Mike Green (Butler), and 2 local players in Dru Joyce (SVSM, Akron) and Romeo Travis (SVSM, Akron). 

The summer league team plays 5 games from July 11-20 in Las Vegas and will open against the New York Knicks on Monday July 14^th. 

The Cavaliers are supposed to be interested in James Posey who went to Twinsburg High School and to Xavier.  However, he is looking for the mid level exception and has been approached by several other NBA teams including the LA Lakers.  Danny Ferry likes his team and is looking to signing the duo of Daniel Gibson and Delonte West who are both restricted free agents. 

Free agency is heating up:  Magette has offer, Arenas is locked in, Davis is going home, Paul will stay awhile longer…

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/8301240

Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas agreed a six-year extension worth $111 million Thursday, ending his free agency.

http://ca.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idCAB69623820080704

With little-to-no news reports coming out of the Cleveland media about the free agency period and what the Cavaliers are trying to do these days, we do our best to scrape together what information we can to pass along.
http://www.yardbarker.com/nba/articles/Free_Agency_Day_Two_A_New_Hope/285093

Every now and then a hint of the coiled spring deep within the man once labeled soft and passive pops up.

A swing at Detroit Piston Bill Lambier in January of 1989, after being elbowed in the throat.

A somewhat alarming pronouncement regarding NASCAR:

Brad Daugherty admitted that he “likes to see the violence”, to which Suzy [Kolber] added, “everyone wants to see it!”

More than once.

“I just love the sport,” Daugherty says of racing. “I love the smell, I love the color, I love the violence, I love everything involved.”

Early on, no one guessed Brad would someday be hailed by the Boston Globe as:

[e]nter[ing] the realm of Hakeem Olajuwon, Pat Ewing, David Robinson, Robert Parish and other elite big men. (Source: The Boston Globe, May 2, 1992)

Growing up in Black Mountain, North Carolina, with brothers 5 and 10 years older who played on the high school basketball team while Brad was still in grade school, Brad was determined to catch up. He and his brothers:

[...] played on a dirt court in back of their house. The basket, only 81/2 feet high, was nailed to an old oak tree. When his brothers weren’t around, Brad played there alone and worked on his dribbling, shooting, and rebounding.

“It really wasn’t much of a court, “ said Brad. “The yard had been beaten down so much by our playing on it that it was just dirt. There were a lot of bushes, shrubs, and small trees in the yard, so I pretended they were other players. I practiced dribbling around the tress, shooting over the shrubs, and going one-on –one with the bushes.”

[…]  Sometimes he pretended the bushes were his older brothers, Steve and Greg. … Other times, he imagined he was leading the University of North Carolina Tar Heels to victory in the Final Four against the arch-rival Duke Blue Devils.  (Source: Little Basketball Big Leaguers by Bruce Nash and Allan Zullo, 1991, Nash and Zullo Productions, Inc; Simon & Schuster)

During his sixth grade year, Brad’s brothers relented, letting Brad play in real games unwittingly helping to form Brad’s passing game, for which he would later become famous:

[…] Brad stood 5 feet, 9 inches tall. Steve and Greg decided he was now big enough to play in the neighborhood games-as long as he played by their rules.

“They said they wouldn’t rough me up anymore if I passed them the ball while they shot,” laughed Brad. “So I spend most of my time passing trying to hit them when they were open so they could score. That was really the only way they’d let me play. If I started shooting too much, or tried dribbling around, they’d make me quit. The way they made me play helped me develop good court awareness at a young age. I was right there in the middle of the action against bigger and older guys, but I still had to find the open man.”  (Source: Little Basketball Big Leaguers by Bruce Nash and Allan Zullo, 1991, Nash and Zullo Productions, Inc; Simon & Schuster)

Read the rest

Again and again, we hear Lebron James’s name mentioned every time the Knicks or the Nets make a any moves. Last week during the draft, the Nets traded Richard Jefferson and his high salary, a move many analyst interpreted as part of an attempt to free up cap space in 2010 when Lebron become a free agent.

In an interview today, Lebron was asked about these rumors and he said as long as they (the Cavs) remain committed to winning an NBA championship he will stay with them.

“I just want to win,” James said. “I want to get better every year. That’s all I ask. I know me. I know I will go to the gym and work out and make sure I’m better the next year. I just need for the organization to make that same commitment, which I think the Cavs have.”

Still, James admitted he couldn’t help but smile when he heard his name mentioned during last week’s NBA draft as the Nets traded Richard Jefferson and his high salary, a move many interpreted as part of an attempt to free up cap space before making a run at James.

“It’s kind of funny, honestly,” said James, at a Manhattan hotel Monday with his U.S. Olympic basketball teammates for a media appearance. “I just kind of laughed at it.”

The Cleveland Cavaliers selected North Carolina State forward J.J. Hickson with the 19th pick of the 2008 NBA Draft.”We’re really excited that J.J. was available for us. It was important for us to get a young big,” Cavaliers General Manager Danny Ferry said. “J.J. was a guy we had ranked highly all year. He’s athletic and can create in the post and the wing. He can play with his back to the basket, and he’s a very dedicated player that will be a hard worker for us.”

Hickson, 19, earned ACC All-Freshman Team honors and was named Honorable Mention All-Conference after averaging 14.8 points on a conference-best .591 shooting and 8.5 rebounds per game.  He led all ACC freshmen in scoring, rebounding and double-doubles (10) and also earned ACC Rookie of the Week honors on three occasions.  The 6-foot-9, 242-pound forward set an ACC single-game freshman record with 23 rebounds versus Clemson on Feb. 16.  He scored in double figures in 25 of 31 career games, including seven games with 20 or more points.

Here is a list of the potential players that the Cavaliers are targeting according to various news sources. 

• Kosta Koufos C Ohio State
• Roy Hibbert C Georgetown
• Chris Douglas-Roberts SG Memphis
• JaVale McGee C Nevada
• Courney Lee SG Western Kentucky
• J.J. Hickson PF NC State
• Brandon Rush SG Kansas

 In the end, the Cavaliers need to trade up in order to get a productive player that can contribute right away.  If they are able to trade, I would look to grab the best big man who is available.  The Cavs should be looking to trade with Golden State at 14 or with Phoenix at 15 in order to get their guy who should be Kosta Koufos.  Unfortunately I don’t think that is the right pick but everyone around the league has been enamored with his wingspan and his agility.  Unfortunately, only 1 year in college doesn’t mean that you will be a good pro and all because he can test well doesn’t mean that he will do well.  He has to get stronger and be more of an inside presence and not a Shawn Marion type who will shoot the 3. 

The Cavaliers have been shopping Anderson Varejao during the offseason.  Unfortunately due to his contract, he has to agree to any trade that occurs prior to December 5^th.  After that time, the Cavaliers can trade him at will.  Damon Jones and Wally Szczerbiak have expiring contracts which a team may look to take on in order to have cap space for the 2008-2009 offseason. 

If they are unable to trade the pick, look for the Cavaliers to target Roy Hibbert and a dark horse in Donte Greene from Syracuse.  Donte Green needs to get tougher outside, but he is a stretch at the power forward position because of his 6′11” height.  He can shoot the 3 and he can pound it inside and because of this, I wouldn’t mind seeing this. 

Also, the Cavaliers love the depth of the draft and are looking to get into the second round this year since they currently do not have a draft pick.  Next year they have 2 second round picks and they will look to unloading one or both in order to get back in and to get another steal like they did with Daniel Gibson. 

Mike’s Draft Pick for Cavaliers

            1^st Round:         at         #19  Roy Hibbert
            2^nd Round:        (if the Cavs obtain a 2^nd rd pick)    

SG J.R. Giddens New Mexico or Malik Hairston PG/SG Oregon

Danny Ferry and Joe Smith made Sports Illustrated top 15 NBA Draft Busts.

http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/gallery/featured/GAL1141055/1/15/index.htm

Imagine if every player in the league were available and each team had a crack at drafting one, at his current age, in the order of the 2008 NBA draft (first-round picks that were traded have been returned to their original owner). Who would you take to start your team? Here is our first round.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/chris_mannix/06/24/fantasy.draft/index.html

Mary Schmitt Boyer from the Plain Dealer brings us up to date.

The Cavaliers have made qualifying offers to Daniel Gibson for $972,581 and Delonte West for $2.76 million, meaning they will become restricted free agents on July 1, and the Cavs will have the right to match any offers they receive from other teams. The team has until June 30 to make a qualifying offer to Dwayne Jones.

The Cavs are exploring ways to move up in the draft and/or obtain a second-round pick, and they’re not alone in looking for a deal. Several teams have made it known they’d be willing to trade their picks, including Charlotte at No. 9, New Jersey at Nos. 10 and 21 and Portland at No. 13.

The Chagrin Valley Times reports Eric Snow sold his home in Moreland Hills for $1.35 million.