Addressing the hole at center

[Dylan Windler's Mom]

I'd look at a guy like Kyle O'Quin as our backup big, he struggled last night- but we need a big who can play defense, block shots and still step out to hit a jumper- O'Quin is that guy.

 

[kovanovich]

I'd look at a guy like Kyle O'Quin as our backup big, he struggled last night- but we need a big who can play defense, block shots and still step out to hit a jumper- O'Quin is that guy.

That's fine, but what are you going to trade to get him? He only makes $1M so there is no incentive for Orlando to cut salary and they have no tax issues anyway. He becomes an RFA this summer, so maybe if Orlando felt they didn't want to pay him, they'd be willing to flip him now, but they'd want something back. He's not worth the Memphis pick, so there isn't really anything to give up for him.

Maybe this summer he is someone you try to sign to an offer sheet using your taxpayer MLE or biannual, but there will be surer targets out there, guys who aren't restricted.

Back to Brandan Wright and Boston, which clearly is a trade scenario worth monitoring...Not sure if Brad Stevens didn't get the memo, but he is hardly doing anything to enhance Wright's trade value, playing him a total of 50 minutes over the first 6 games in Boston...23 points/11-18 shooting/10 rbs/2 blocks.

Oddly, Jae Crowder has been playing more.

 

[gratefuldead]

denver blowing lead, losing this chicago...nurkic is getting more mins the mozzie

come on denver, cough him up

 

[gratefuldead]

welp denver blew the game, another loss

they gotta be ready to blow it up soon

gallo is down for the season again, they have a losing record in the west

 

[CavsHomer]

welp denver blew the game, another loss

they gotta be ready to blow it up soon

gallo is down for the season again, they have a losing record in the east

Mozgov with a horrible game tonight:

Fouled out after only 25 minutes, was 1-4, had zero blocks but got his shot blocked three times...

Having said that: It's time to come to Cleveland!

 

[gratefuldead]

Mozgov with a horrible game tonight:

Fouled out after only 25 minutes, was 1-4, had zero blocks but got his shot blocked three times...

Having said that: It's time to come to Cleveland!

he was one of only guys on the team to have a positive +/-


he was like +14 going into 4th quarter....his defense and presence is what protects the basket

 

[paulpressey25]

Hah! Some foresight he had though, joining RCF back in 2008 just so he could let us all know some 6 years later that Larry Sanders could be had!

As Pressey says though, I don't think a mid-season trade is particularly plausible. That said, I believe a package include Waiters, Haywood, and Amundson would work (Real GM Trade Checker says it's good).

I think an off-season trade involving Haywood's ballooning contract is much more likely, but if the Bucks are motivated to dump Sanders' contract, what value would they expect back?

I got a flux capacitor to head back in time to 2008 to throw you guys all off in anticipation of the great 2014 Larry Sanders sales job.

On a serious note, the hard part for a deal are the assets the Cav's have. We don't want Waiters near our young guys for chemistry reasons and the Memphis pick is nice but not worth giving up Larry for. The other problem is that the Cav's can't trade Varajao until May, because his salary would fit well into a deal. There just doesn't seem to be a good asset package fit.

That said, you guys probably need to fire your coach and let LeBron pick his guy. Then come back and figure out what you need closer to the trade deadline.

 

[Dylan Windler's Mom]

I got a flux capacitor to head back in time to 2008 to throw you guys all off in anticipation of the great 2014 Larry Sanders sales job.

On a serious note, the hard part for a deal are the assets the Cav's have. We don't want Waiters near our young guys for chemistry reasons

You do realize your team has Larry Sanders on it right? It doesn't get any worst than that


Larry Sanders punched Mike Dunleavy while teammates in 2012-13

The first year of Larry Sanders’ four-year, $44 million contract extension with the Bucks went really, really horribly.

Who would have seen that coming?

Well, the Bucks probably should have.

Sanders nearly came to blows with Monta Ellis during the playoffs, which could have been chalked up to an isolated moment of frustration – except it wasn’t Sanders’ first such incident with a teammate.

Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times on Sports Radio 1250 (hat tip: KL Chouinard of Bucksketball):

It’s one thing to make comments behind closed doors about guys if you’re a player. But when you physically hit them, that’s quite another thing. And everybody knows about the Monta Ellis incident. Earlier that same season — which didn’t go reported until I found out last season, if that makes sense – was that early in that season, he and Mike Dunleavy had a confrontation. Dunleavy was sitting in front of his stall. After a game, they were talking about sharing the ball blah blah, and Sanders walks over and says ‘hellooo.’ Clocks him.

In December, Woelfel wrote Sanders punched a teammate but didn’t specify it was Dunleavy. Apparently, Dunleavy – now with the Bulls – said a year ago he was on the receiving end of the punch, but nobody really reported on it.

View: https://twitter.com/JimOwczarski/status/476030766984355840


Anyway, we know now, but the Bucks obviously knew then – and they still paid him all that money. What did they think would happen? The salary increase would make him more grounded?

Sanders is just 25, and there’s still time for him to mature. It would be foolish to write him off forever.

At his best, he’s an elite defender and shot-blocker who finishes well on the other end. Centers are always a commodity, especially ones with his potential.

But at some point, he must restrain himself if he’s ever going to meet that potential.

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports....hed-mike-dunleavy-while-teammates-in-2012-13/

 

[Randolphkeys]

The Cavaliers seem very comfortable with keeping Varejao out of trade talks. He was just given a long extension to keep him in Cleveland the rest of his career. As usual, other teams want him but he isn't available... and sadly can't help on the court yet again.

Losing his length, willingness to contest in the paint, and ability to defend multiple positions with his mobility have been a huge blow to the team. Thompson deserves credit for battling but he just doesn't have the length or the ability to draw the opposing best big man away from Love.

Mozgov is the best fit because of his true center size, an ability to defend the paint equal or better than Sanders/Varejao, and understanding of what Blatt wants to do in half court offense. He is easily the best option, followed by Brandon Wright in Boston. Coach ability, being a mobile and willing asset on both ends of the court, and not worsening an already tenuous locker room should be taking precedent over simply defending the paint.

 

[CavsFan005]

The Cavaliers seem very comfortable with keeping Varejao out of trade talks. He was just given a long extension to keep him in Cleveland the rest of his career. As usual, other teams want him but he isn't available... and sadly can't help on the court yet again.

Losing his length, willingness to contest in the paint, and ability to defend multiple positions with his mobility have been a huge blow to the team. Thompson deserves credit for battling but he just doesn't have the length or the ability to draw the opposing best big man away from Love.

Mozgov is the best fit because of his true center size, an ability to defend the paint equal or better than Sanders/Varejao, and understanding of what Blatt wants to do in half court offense. He is easily the best option, followed by Brandon Wright in Boston. Coach ability, being a mobile and willing asset on both ends of the court, and not worsening an already tenuous locker room should be taking precedent over simply defending the paint.

Teams want Varejao? Really? I would think that most people are counting him out, at least he probably won't ever be the same after this injury. The guy just can't stay healthy to save his life. If teams were calling to take AV's contract I would move it in a heart beat.

Id also take Wright over Mozgov. I want a defensive minded center. Every time I watch the Nuggets play I just see him as a poor mans Z. He is big, he gets rebounds but surprisingly he doesn't play much d for his size.

 

[Kouki]

Not to mention he's athletic. We barely have any athletes on the team.

 

[kookoo]

The Cavaliers seem very comfortable with keeping Varejao out of trade talks. He was just given a long extension to keep him in Cleveland the rest of his career. As usual, other teams want him but he isn't available... and sadly can't help on the court yet again.

Losing his length, willingness to contest in the paint, and ability to defend multiple positions with his mobility have been a huge blow to the team. Thompson deserves credit for battling but he just doesn't have the length or the ability to draw the opposing best big man away from Love.

Mozgov is the best fit because of his true center size, an ability to defend the paint equal or better than Sanders/Varejao, and understanding of what Blatt wants to do in half court offense. He is easily the best option, followed by Brandon Wright in Boston. Coach ability, being a mobile and willing asset on both ends of the court, and not worsening an already tenuous locker room should be taking precedent over simply defending the paint.

Agree with everything other than that. I haven't seen him contest anything.

 

[CavsFan005]

Player A: Wright
18.7mpg,8.8ppg,4.1rpg,1.6blk, 24PER, 74 % fg

Player B: Mozgov
25mpg, 8.9ppg, 8.0rpg,1.2blk,15PER, 51 % fg

Player C: Koufos
15mpg, 4.5ppg, 4.1rpg, 1.1blk,14.36PER, 54 % fg (Im not seeing the obsession with this guy)

If your looking at the stats what jumps out to me is Wright was shooting 75 % fg with the mavs. I believe that was leading the NBA at the time before he got traded. If you put that around the weapons we have, that could have some serious potential. What worries me is he is only grabbing 4 rebounds a game, as he is probably more a PF then a C. I think we could probably get away with it in todays NBA and play Haywood when needed against bigger centers. I also think if you jump his minutes to 25 he would easily swat over 2 shots a game. He is by far a better shot blocker then Mozgov.

Ideally we get both of them, but I doubt it happens

 

[Randolphkeys]

Teams want Varejao? Really? I would think that most people are counting him out, at least he probably won't ever be the same after this injury. The guy just can't stay healthy to save his life. If teams were calling to take AV's contract I would move it in a heart beat.

Id also take Wright over Mozgov. I want a defensive minded center. Every time I watch the Nuggets play I just see him as a poor mans Z. He is big, he gets rebounds but surprisingly he doesn't play much d for his size.

I was responding directly to PaulPressey25, who felt Varejao's contract should be included in a deal for Sanders. Just a month ago, he was being called a team leader, praised for being one of the reasons LeBron wanted to return, and possible player who should get his number retired. He got hurt, but let's not decide he can't come back arbitrarily. No information either way yet.

Agree with everything other than that. I haven't seen him contest anything.

This website is very useful for seeing who attempts to defend the paint, who is successful in defending the paint, and who just pretends:

http://nyloncalculus.com/stats/rim-protection/

I think statistics can certainly be misleading, but these show that Varejao was the Cavaliers most consistently willing defender. His effectiveness at it went in the wrong direction in December, but early on he was right there with Andre Drummond, Mozgov, and Sanders. Interestingly, one of the biggest risers in reading this website the past month has been Nurkic. He is definitely proving he is ready to take over in Denver. I really wish we found a way to nab him.

You will also notice Gobert has been a beast this season while Kanter doesn't really register. This is why Utah has been trying to move Kanter so hard. I hope we don't bite on it.

Tyler Zeller, who looked like a pansy in Cleveland, has been doing great work the past month. He is likely one reason Wright isn't playing more.

Not surprisingly, this metric has shown Kevin Love doesn't put his body on the line much at all defensively, making TT and Varejao look even more like they are on an island.

 

[*L-Train*]

i keep coming back to Dalembert. the Knicks are absolutely horrible, they have a high payroll (89Mio this year according to BBinsiders) and Dalembert has an expiring contract (so we could acquire him using the DPE). he's not a very good player but his rim protecting numbers have been solid this year and i'd take him over Haywood. would New York give him up for nothing?