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Cavs Working On Roster, Albeit Quietly

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Bob Finnan said:
Contrary to popular opinion, Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry is not sitting around sipping Mai Tais this summer.
He's working the phones, trying to find the right deal for the Cavs.
He did notice the phones aren't ringing as much after his team advanced to the NBA Finals. Teams must think the Cavs are going to stand pat on last year's squad. That's anything but the truth.

"We are exploring all of our options out there," Ferry said. "Whether it's a trade or free agency, we're very active on the phones every day."
Sure, Ferry would have liked to tweak the roster, but it might not happen. He learned a long time ago that you can't coerce a team to do anything in the NBA.

"With the salary-cap rules, free-agent rules and the trade rules, you can't force anything," Ferry said.
Even though nothing has been accomplished this summer, it's not for a lack of trying.

"You try 100 things and hope to find one thing that makes us better," he said.
Sources said the Cavs made a pitch for ex-Timberwolves forward/center Kevin Garnett, who was traded to Boston for five players, two first-round picks and cash considerations earlier in the week. The Cavs didn't have a piece like emerging star power forward Al Jefferson to dangle in trade talks, and they didn't have a bloated expiring contract like the Celtics had to offer in Theo Ratliff.

Dallas, Chicago and the Los Angeles Lakers were also involved in talks, even though a source said there wasn't a close second in the deal.
There was no truth to a story that circulated last week that had the Cavs sending power forward Drew Gooden to Golden State for the Warriors' trade exception.

There's a possibility the only things the Cavs do this summer is re-sign free agents Anderson Varejao and Sasha Pavlovic. Even though they want both players to return, there are no guarantees they'll be back in the fold.
As previously written, the Cavs might not use their mid-level exception because they are already at the luxury-tax threshold. Varejao and Pavlovic could accept the Cavs' qualifying offers and become unrestricted free agents next summer. But because they are currently restricted, the Cavs can match any offer sheet they sign. However, neither has gotten an offer from another team.

Varejao's case could drag on into the fall. Nothing could be done until September, if agent Dan Fegan's track record follows its normal course. Varejao wanted to play for Team Brazil in the FIBA Americas Championship in Las Vegas this summer, but as of right now, he's not going to play.

Full Story

If your phones aren't ringing shouldn't you start making phone calls?
 
Ben said:
If your phones aren't ringing shouldn't you start making phone calls?

And what about that line "you can't coerce a team to do anything in the NBA." Last time I checked that was true in most businesses (with the possible exception of the energy business in Russia). It is true that there is no free market in the NBA because of the various restraints on salaries, but that isn't stopping other GM's from improving their rosters.
 
This is GM Talk..luckily I took 2 years of it in high school..

Ferry said:
"We are exploring all of our options out there," Ferry said. "Whether it's a trade or free agency, we're very active on the phones every day."

We know what needs accomplished. But we live in a city with a vast variety of different foods. There are many different ethnic backgrounds that come with such unique food. Sometimes I'm on the phone 20-30 minutes before we find somewhere to eat.
 
Varejao wanted to play for Team Brazil in the FIBA Americas Championship in Las Vegas this summer, but as of right now, he's not going to play.

Now Fegan is getting involved in international affairs. Now I really hope Danny remains firm - or at least nothing over a 6.5 mil per year average. If AV wants to play next year for a mil, let him do it, then test the market next year where he won't sniff what Fegan is asking.
 
Ben said:
If your phones aren't ringing shouldn't you start making phone calls?


"We are exploring all of our options out there," Ferry said. "Whether it's a trade or free agency, we're very active on the phones every day."
 
It's weird that Finnan and/or Ferry thinks he needs to justify that Ferry is in fact doing his job (trying to improve the team). The problem is that Ferry is not finding a way to do it (so far).

Didn't he know before that he couldn't force other GM's to accept his deals? Didn't he realize that other GMs would be more cautious about helping a team that made the finals?

Assuming so, why didn't he spend the MLE to fill holes on the team?

Why is it more important to get value for the money and stay under the luxury cap then fill a hole?

Has he lost all faith that a free-agent he signs might actually play better than he expected rather than worse?

Assuming Ferry doesn't want to talk about trades, I wonder who brought up the Cav's involvement with Garnett? How could we pull off such a deal without trading away some major pieces from the team? Drew? Larry? Z? Snow? How many of those guys would have to go just to make up for KG's salary? Ferry has said in the past that everyone other than LBJ is in play, but it would be odd for him to shove it in the player's noses. Sure it'd be worse if he mentioned names, but essentially he has.
 
Sure Ferry says he's working the phones, but what GM would willingly say, "No I'm just sipping alcohol drinks, I'm sitting on my hands, or I'm hiding under my desk". Think about it, no GM in their right mind would say this. With that being said, this could all just be spin. Furthermore we had no chance at getting KG, so why didn't Ferry talk to Indiana during that time and try to sneak a trade for Jermaine O'Neil while everyone was hell bent on getting KG.
 
Couple things that I found interesting from the article:

There was no truth to a story that circulated last week that had the Cavs sending power forward Drew Gooden to Golden State for the Warriors' trade exception.

Makes sense...

Sources say the Cavs have explored a sign-and-trade deal with Warriors free agent Michael Pietrus. Pavlovic could be involved in that scenario. If he returns to the Cavs, he might be hard-pressed to remain in the starting lineup with the emergence of Daniel "Boobie" Gibson. Gibson had a strong performance at the Vegas Summer League at point guard.

This doesn't... As the article may say "he might be hard-pressed to remain in the starting lineup," wouldn't we want him to return as a spark off the bench? I mean regardless if Gibson or Sasha starts, we still need a scorer coming off the bench... And it was evidenced in the series versus the Pistons and Spurs how much a scorer off the bench can help a team... Gibson gave us scoring off the bench every game, along with energy and both of those things went a long way helping us win the Pistons series and stay competitive in the Spurs series... Regardless if he would start or he wouldn't start we still need a scorer off the bench and more importantly an insurance policy if/when Hughes goes down...

Also, I don't know if he realizes that while Gibson playing sparingly in the Vegas Summer League due to injuries, Gibson was solid at the PG spot.. He didn't have what I'd call a 'strong' summer league...

And a S&T of Pietrus for Pavlovic doesn't make sense either... As much as this team needs a shooter, we can't afford to give one away (especially like Pavlovic), without getting one of equal talent back... As much as Pietrus may be a solid shooter, he's no where near Pavlovic... This team has streaky shooters in Damon Jones and Donyell Marshall.. Our only consistent one last year was Daniel Gibson and we can't afford to give one of our other semi-consistent shooters away for another streaky one...

I just hope we don't do something like this, as much as I'd love for us to make a move or to get Pietrus... I just don't think it makes sense to give up a guy like Pavlovic for Pietrus...

Now if the Warriors are looking for some cap relief, we could do something like Ira Newble, David Wesley and a 2nd round pick for Pietrus... That means Pietrus would sign for around the MLE (what he's been asking for) and the Warriors can get around 1.5 mil in immediate cap relief and cap relief after the season... It may the give them enough cap room to sign James Posey and re-sign Matt Barnes without going over the tax who... Just some food for thought...
 
Any players in a Pietrus sign and trade is just speculation. That is this case with article.

Gibson was very good in the summer league. He could do what he wanted when he wanted. He wasnt there to score 25ppg.
 
LBJAlltheWay said:
Sure Ferry says he's working the phones, but what GM would willingly say, "No I'm just sipping alcohol drinks, I'm sitting on my hands, or I'm hiding under my desk". Think about it, no GM in their right mind would say this. With that being said, this could all just be spin. Furthermore we had no chance at getting KG, so why didn't Ferry talk to Indiana during that time and try to sneak a trade for Jermaine O'Neil while everyone was hell bent on getting KG.

This post makes no sense.

Ferry does have a boss and his name is Dan Gilbert. Any potential deals especially regarding the luxury tax the owner is involved. If you dont think Ferry is doing his job on a daily basis and talking with Gilbert then that is just complete naivete.

The part about O'Neal makes even less sense than that is possible. Who said O'neal wasnt talked about? Who said that the Cavaliers have what the Pacers would want? Who said the Pacers would trade him within the division?
 
MYoung23 said:
This post makes no sense.

Ferry does have a boss and his name is Dan Gilbert. Any potential deals especially regarding the luxury tax the owner is involved. If you dont think Ferry is doing his job on a daily basis and talking with Gilbert then that is just complete naivete.

I'm sure he is talking to him. Gilbert already stated he can go over the luxory tax and he's willing to do whatever to win a championship for this city.

The part about O'Neal makes even less sense than that is possible. Who said O'neal wasnt talked about? Who said that the Cavaliers have what the Pacers would want? Who said the Pacers would trade him within the division?

It didn't have to be O'Neal, it could be anyone. I just didn't see the point in wasting the time and effort in trying to obtain Garnett when Boston had way more to offer then we ever did.

Think about this:
1. How many teams haven't made a move this offseason?
2. We have the MLE and BAE just sitting there.
3. Was there a FA out there that could have done:
a.) Provided off the bench scoring
b.) Provided clutch shots/veteran experience in the playoffs
4. What did he do last offseason?
 
We weren't within 10 light years of having anything for Garnett that held the interests of Minnesota for more than two seconds. What we need to be doing is going about finding all these teams that have gaping holes in their rosters due to the big trades that have gone down this offseason ...and capitalize on thoe situations ...lots of possibilities exist but Danny has to learn the ropes of finding the what the best opportunities are that are out there and seizing them.

I think I've heard of about four different scenarios this offseason that I thought would improve the team, but, in looking for the 'perfect' situation ...Ferry has lost out on great opportunities.

Plus, he's not on the same page as I am in regards to what I feel the team needs in terms of guard help.
 
Thanks to MYoung for some sanity. Rep.

I'm having trouble wrapping my head around: "It didn't have to be O'Neal... it could have been anyone." Who else has been traded this offseason that you thought would help us? Did we have a higher draft pick to offer Seattle for Ray Allen? Did we have a max contract that would expire quicker than Francis in order to get Zach Randolph? (BTW: I personally hate Randolph, his crappy attitude and defense, both of his D-cup tits, and wouldn't want him on the Cavs anyways.) Unless a palyer was already moved who we targeted, I doubt the door is completely closed.

Here are some more questions in compliment to MYoung's questions about O'Neal:

1. Which teams have traded a significant player within their own division in the past four years? (Answer: nobody).
2. Who has already been signed so far in free agency for the MLE or under? (Answer: Kapono and Luke Walton were overpaid, Grant Hill chose Phoenix for Steve Nash and no state taxes.)
3. Who says the offseason is over? (Answer: fools). We are in cosntant negotiations with two of the best remaining free agents, namely Pavs and AV. We are linked to several trades that didn't go through, but that doesn't mean one isn't on the horizon. We haven't signed a complimentary free agent yet, but that doesn't mean we aren't going to. In fact, very few of the mid-to-lower-level free agents have signed yet. I think the best deals of the offseason in relation to production and cost are still out there.
 
LBJAlltheWay said:
Thinks about this:
1. How many teams haven't made a move this offseason?
2. We have the MLE and BAE just sitting there.
3. Was there a FA out there that could have done:
a.) Provided off the bench scoring
b.) Provided clutch shots/veteran experience in the playoffs


The lux cap is 67,865,000. Right now we have 11 players under contract at 65M without Sasha and AV. Let's say we sign those two for 9M...that puts us over the cap by 6-7M. If we use the MLE and BAE we will then be 14M over the cap with a payroll of around 82M. I don't think adding 16M in payroll and paying an additional 14M in tax is what Gilbert had in mind when he said he would be a responsible luxury tax team this summer.
....AND YOU ARE ALL GOING TO WANT HIM TO USE THE MLE AND BAE AGAIN NEXT YEAR ON ONE OF THE BEST FA CLASSES EVER.

I think the plan is to sign AV and Sasha to the numbers I mentioned above and have a payroll of around 72M....again, paying 6-7M in tax. Then move that 72M around via trade to fill holes and address our needs. I don't think they want to keep on throwing salary around, they want to get better players for the salary we are already paying. Move expiring contracts, package an underperformer or two with a performer like Drew. Then at the end of free agency maybe find a bargain or two(Boykins?). This plan may take months to execute. Fortunately, we have 3 months until tipoff.
 
I'm frustrated with Ferry's whole attitude of not needing an offensive assistant, seeing other teams in our conferance/division improve while we do nothing. I just feel by the time Ferry does something it's going to be something stupid like signing another David Wesley. Look at the Celtics, they aren't even close to being done. They are ready to sign Mutumbo according to rumors.
 

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