Does Utah hold the key to Cleveland's future?

[Soar]

Jefferson's past injuries scare me. I would love Milsap here though. He has always been one of my favorite players in the league. If we could snag him for a decent price, it would be huge for the rebuild. Add one more big lottery piece and make the playoffs in 2014.

 

[Lyst]

All we have right now is Irving and Waiters. The rest of the team is all scrubs and projects, less of the latter. While grabbing one of these big men might make the Cavs more watchable and help us win more games right now, its absolutely a horrid move for the future. We must still build through the draft and not worry about the next couple years.

 

[Jon]

Here's an interesting question: I think most of us on these forums agree the Cavs need to look for a young, dynamic big man to pair with our explosive backcourt to take the next step. Which young bigs in the NBA would you give up all of our future assets for in a trade? Off the top of my head, I can think of three: (in no particular order) DeMarcus Cousins, Derrick Favors, and Greg Monroe.

With that bunch, I sure hope you're not including our own #1's.

Otherwise, my list stops and ends with Anthony Davis.

Not sure why anyone would want to pay the max to Jefferson or Millsap. If they were as good as some people seem to think they are, Deron Williams would still be in Utah, Sloan would still be coaching, and they'd be contending for championships.

 

[Homestar]

Yeah I don't understand any value in trading for Millsap or Jefferson. We are one of the few teams with the cap room to bring them in, I don't want to give up any assets. Either they sign with us in the summer, or we move on.

Side-note from tonight's Jazz-Raptors game. The most impressive stat from this 3OT bout?

Demarr Derozan - 60 minutes played out of 63. Wow.

 

[Randolphkeys]

Yeah I don't understand any value in trading for Millsap or Jefferson. We are one of the few teams with the cap room to bring them in, I don't want to give up any assets. Either they sign with us in the summer, or we move on.

Side-note from tonight's Jazz-Raptors game. The most impressive stat from this 3OT bout?

Demarr Derozan - 60 minutes played out of 63. Wow.

Watched the whole thing because I have several players on my fantasy team and the wife was working out until about an hour ago.

1. Jefferson was the goto guy at the end of regulation and first overtime. He looked like he needed to be fed the ball tonight, but he didn't disappoint when he got the ball. His spin hooks are deadly and his unexpected three pushed the game into the first overtime. Man's game for Al.

2. Millsap went through a stretch of just being a defender and facilitator, but in the second and third overtime he didn't look gassed. Amazing fitness level for a forward.

3. Derozan is emerging. He has a little court vision now, which is opening up the game on his drives. Toronto locked him up for the next four years, but I can see why. Just a gutty performance.

 

[RTrees]

Why was Al Jefferson traded twice?

The way I remember is that his first trade might have been more about getting KG than getting rid of Al Jefferson.

The second time, was it a money thing? Kevin Love thing? I can't much remember the circumstances that well but ESPN started that trade's article with "In their quest to get more athletic, faster and financially flexible, the Minnesota Timberwolves were looking to move power forward Al Jefferson's slow-it-down, low-post game and chunky contract."

So is there any baggage with the trade history or is that just circumstances?

 

[Chris]

We could easily be 4-3.

The Bucks game should have been ours and the Suns game was a joke. It's too early to really guess what seed/lottery spot we'll be right now. One thing is for sure though, our bench sucks some massive cock and they are the reason we're losing games.

Our starters are already pretty damn good. Irving, D3Waiters, and Andy are all great, Gee is a good defender and TT is.....developing. If we had an average NBA bench we'd easily be a 6-8 seed THIS YEAR (with two developing 20 year olds as the best players keep in mind.) Imagine adding a very solid big man like Josh Smith, along with our first rounder this year.

This team has so much hope and it's very exciting. I don't want Grant to make moves just to make moves, but he MUST make the right moves when they're presented to him. We have the core, we have the assets, but now it's a waiting game.

But we're not. We're 2-5. Zero depth, and a mediocre starting lineup.

Calling Dion Waiters "great" after 7 games is just ridiculous. Irving is a matador on defense. Gee sucks and TT is an enigma. Andy is having another good season, but all of these guys have huge weaknesses that other teams can and will exploit, and they just aren't good enough or experienced enough to overcome them.

 

[AuxiliaryPie]

But we're not. We're 2-5. Zero depth, and a mediocre starting lineup.

Calling Dion Waiters "great" after 7 games is just ridiculous. Irving is a matador on defense. Gee sucks and TT is an enigma. Andy is having another good season, but all of these guys have huge weaknesses that other teams can and will exploit, and they just aren't good enough or experienced enough to overcome them.

Waiters has been great, Kyrie's lack of defense is shitty but he's still prolific offensively. Gee has gaurded the shit out of Durnat and CP3..two entirely different players that were both bothered by him to the extent of talking to Scott about it, which is amazing in my book. TT is an average power forward who still has a lot of upside. Andy is amazing. See how easy it is to be happy about the future of this team?

Oh, and Boobie seems to have his killer stroke back too

 

[Green Lantern]

If I had my pick of the two, I would prefer Millsap... But I also think he would be the hardest to get and who Utah will ultimately try to keep... I really think if you were to put him in this environment, he would flourish and develop into an All-Star big... A multi-faceted player who could play the pick-and-pop and get buckets on the low-block on this team would be huge... He's also a decent defender and a very good rebounder... Al Jefferson, I'm not really high on but I recognize the value of his low-post scoring ability combined with age... And that intersection of where he's at with those two things is rare to be available, which is why he's attractive..

I guess the point of this thread wasn't more so about trade ideas or about the Utah big mean...

The root of the question is my main concern going forward: where do the Cavs get their future low-post player?

The Cavs are at a point where I don't think they're crappy enough to get a high pick to get a Zeller or McAdoo and I don't think the draft is deep enough to have a talent of the type of ability they need, fall to them in the later portion of the lotto... Historically, that's not where you get your impact players....And even looking forward down the road two years from now, I think you'll start to see this team looking to leap out of the lottery... Obviously that's a lot of projection but like I said, my main concern is where this team is going to find this piece.. I'm having a hard time seeing it, which is why I brought up Utah...

Unless you can make a trade for a future big piece without sacrificing a core piece,then they have to rely on the draft to get one. There's no other way to look at it right now. No team is going to release one right now that they can jump on. And the reality is, Andy is the only valuable player that can be traded.
The Cavs need a SF in the worse way.

 

[Jon]

Why was Al Jefferson traded twice?

Knee problems, crippling salary, not a superstar.

 

[MD13]

But we're not. We're 2-5. Zero depth, and a mediocre starting lineup.

Calling Dion Waiters "great" after 7 games is just ridiculous. Irving is a matador on defense. Gee sucks and TT is an enigma. Andy is having another good season, but all of these guys have huge weaknesses that other teams can and will exploit, and they just aren't good enough or experienced enough to overcome them.

Not only are we 2-5, but we've also only missed one game from andy. Given how nonexistent the depth is on our team, any injure hugely reduces our chances of winning. It seems pretty clear that the cavs organization wants another high draft pick, so i wouldnt count on the depth improving over the season; in fact, it may get worse with a boobie or andy trade. I think another high draft pick is the way to go since as soon as next season kyrie may be good enough to singlehandedly drag a team tp 40 wins, but i cant see this cavs team winning many games with the bench we have.

 

[Chris]

Waiters has been great, Kyrie's lack of defense is shitty but he's still prolific offensively. Gee has gaurded the shit out of Durnat and CP3..two entirely different players that were both bothered by him to the extent of talking to Scott about it, which is amazing in my book. TT is an average power forward who still has a lot of upside. Andy is amazing. See how easy it is to be happy about the future of this team?

Oh, and Boobie seems to have his killer stroke back too

I'm very happy with the future of the team...as it will be in the high lottery of the 2013 NBA Draft, exactly what we need, rather than in Al Jefferson's pocket, exactly what we don't need.

 

[AuxiliaryPie]

I'm very happy with the future of the team...as it will be in the high lottery of the 2013 NBA Draft, exactly what we need, rather than in Al Jefferson's pocket, exactly what we don't need.

thats all well and good, but dont say "Gee sucks" "Dont call Dion great" "TT is an enigma" when Gee has been stellar on defense, Dion is/has been great and TT is at worst an average power forward with a ton of athleticism. Ya dig?

I want us to have a good lotto pick for sure, but dont slam the only guys that have actually been playing well

 

[Chris]

thats all well and good, but dont say "Gee sucks" "Dont call Dion great" "TT is an enigma" when Gee has been stellar on defense, Dion is/has been great and TT is at worst an average power forward with a ton of athleticism. Ya dig?

I want us to have a good lotto pick for sure, but dont slam the only guys that have actually been playing well

A rookie who has had two huge games in 7 and has played decently well in the other 5 is not "great." That is what people who rail against Cleveland fans have a huge problem with. One good game and a guy is amazing. Two good games and he's a Spartan Lord of Basketball suddenly. God forbid someone have three good games, they may get a statue. Saying a guy is promising, or is showing potential, or is playing well, is all good. Once you say a guy is GREAT- guess who the great players in the league are? Well, I'm sure you know. Dion Waiters isn't one of them yet.

If Gee was so good there wouldn't be 1600 pages of literature on these very forums begging for SF upgrades.

TT is about average, maybe a tad above average. We agree there.

 

[AuxiliaryPie]

A rookie who has had two huge games in 7 and has played decently well in the other 5 is not "great." That is what people who rail against Cleveland fans have a huge problem with. One good game and a guy is amazing. Two good games and he's a Spartan Lord of Basketball suddenly. God forbid someone have three good games, they may get a statue. Saying a guy is promising, or is showing potential, or is playing well, is all good. Once you say a guy is GREAT- guess who the great players in the league are? Well, I'm sure you know. Dion Waiters isn't one of them yet.

If Gee was so good there wouldn't be 1600 pages of literature on these very forums begging for SF upgrades.

TT is about average, maybe a tad above average. We agree there.

You dont think he's playing Great for a rookie? especially a rookie's first games?
7 games @ 28mins, .488 FG, .531 3pt, 2 reb, 2 asists
those are pretty fucking good. Especially for a rookie whom everyone booed on draft night (i was at the Q, booing along with everyone). He has no rookie jitters, he plays some decent-good defense on top of his awesome offense stats.

Thus far, for a rookie, Waiters is GREAT.

I only commented on Gee being a great defender..which he is