Just as Bad as the Record Indicates

[Green Lantern]

Re: Not as Bad as the Record Indicates

While the Cavs might win some games..blah blah,they lack major talent until they can aquire some superstar like players.
Problem is they aren't going to get much in the way of trades because whats tradable is going to fetch a ton. AV might get some talent back but Grant would need to get a young big in the deal.
As said Grant's drafting worries me..I know there hasn't been a ton to pick over but he seems to be a GM who takes chances by taking guys a bit early ..

 

[Jon]

Re: Not as Bad as the Record Indicates

Pretty sure we were over the cap the summer LeBron left. Granted, we had a big trade exception that we never used, but given the quality of guys that were available, I can't really blame Grant for not using it.

Even if we were over the cap, there's always the MLE and other cap exceptions ... and I'm not trying to insist we could have made some huge deal. I'm talking about snagging young players who are just looking to prove themselves and will sign at a reasonable price for a team that will give them minutes. And they don't even have to be free-agents. There are always players like Sessions who've worn out their welcome and their old team is just looking to make them go away. Casspi was another player in that category. The trick is making those deals work and putting your excess minutes to work developing future assets.

 

[wuck]

I changed the thread title. Because I'm in a good mood, I didn't change it to "Even Worse than the Record Indicates".

 

[mhi]

I changed the thread title. Because I'm in a good mood, I didn't change it to "Even Worse than the Record Indicates".

:chuckles:

You should just merge it with mine here http://realcavsfans.com/showthread.php?41240-Worst-record-in-the-NBA-by-All-Star-Break as they all are record related.

 

[BankShot]

yes, we are bad right now, but when I look around the NBA at the other 8-10 teams in rebuild mode, I would not trade our roster with any of them...now that is 75% due to Kyrie being here, but our supplemental pieces (Dion/TT/Zeller) are also pretty solid compaired to other teams in lotteryville. Add in Andy as a huge potential trade piece, and I'd say our rebuild is about as good as it could be right now.

 

[Douglar]

I still think that the team isn't as bad as the record indicates.

The coach isn't trying to win games, the team is featuring guys for trades, and the roster is very young.

I think we'll see the team play a lot better in the spring and start to string a few wins together.

 

[mcfly]

This team would be a lot better if they would defend consistently. I really like Livingston's ability to push the ball and hope he gets our second unit going. Run. Run. Run.

 

[Wine and Gold]

Re: Not as Bad as the Record Indicates

To many young guys with holes in their games: Irving's defense, Waiters scoring consistency, Tristin's post game, Zeller's defense amid explosions on offense at times........and on and on.

That is what you get with a bunch of 20-22 year olds. Pain at the court. Even worse than pain at the pump......It is why Scott doesn't get overly mad, especially when another all-star potential prospect may be coming........sorta makes him forget filling up the tank in his sports car.

And they are all young and in their 1st or 2nd year in league. At 20 Lebron was terrible defensively too. All kids have holes in their games that need built upon, but all those players listed can improve greatly upon their given weaknesses, and fully expect they will. We know Irving is a starting piece. most likely Thompson. Roster composition in the future will determine whether Waiters best role for us is aside Kyrie in the starting rotation, or as a Harden-type super sub off the bench. But, I would think if we can find that long starting shooting guard aside Kyrie, with Waiters coming off the bench would be something that championship caliber teams are made of. Zeller is a bench rotation big ...you find spots where he isn't forced to face a strong physical big in the paint defensively, and you have a viable asset. He helps space the floor well and can drag a big out of the box when the court has 60% bench units on the court. He'll fit that role effectively for a dozen years in this league. With those four, and Gee..who is the perfect bench SF ///you have five pieces. When looking long-term at what we project our roster rotation when we contend ...we have, most likely, two of our future starters, and three of our bench rotation. You would have to think that the draft assets we have and will get from Varejao can fill two more starting roles ....and free agency will fit the final piece into the puzzle. The 2014-15 season will represent the first season that the ball and chain is taken off Byron Scott, and winning games becomes the priority over what we have going now, which is pure development.

This trade deadline we should look to gain some future trade assets from Luke Walton, and possibly Varejao. But have a feeling Varejao may be what we ultimately use to try and get one of the three or four ultra key players coming out in the 2014 draft ...two shooting guards in that draft have to be our long range targets I would presume, and allow us to put Waiters in the role he is perfect to play ...which is a super sub off the bench.

 

[Magic Brownies]

i know its frustrating watching this team night in and night out, i get it. im frustrated too because we would all love to be surprised and have this rebuilding process skip a season. but the truth is, this is exactly what we want. exactly. the cavs are in most if not all games, play hard, have a lot of young potential, assets and cold hard cash. were competitive, but still not winning = perfect. someone should tell the browns, this is how you rebuild. be patient, we tried the FA route years ago, lets try the actual rebuild. dont forget how bad the thunder were for a few seasons.

 

[Jon]

This team would be a lot better if they would defend consistently. I really like Livingston's ability to push the ball and hope he gets our second unit going. Run. Run. Run.

We've seen so little of him, but yet his passing ability already seems to add a spark.

 

[Joe Henderson]

yes, we are bad right now, but when I look around the NBA at the other 8-10 teams in rebuild mode, I would not trade our roster with any of them...now that is 75% due to Kyrie being here, but our supplemental pieces (Dion/TT/Zeller) are also pretty solid compaired to other teams in lotteryville. Add in Andy as a huge potential trade piece, and I'd say our rebuild is about as good as it could be right now.

Just take a look at last night's opponent... The Kings are in year 7 of their rebuild. Their lottery picks were Spencer Hawes (traded for Dalembert) Jason Thompson, Tyreke Evans, Cousins, Fredette, T-Rob... Even with a ROY in there, that's one hell of a cautionary tale.

 

[Jon]

Re: Not as Bad as the Record Indicates

Not to overly nitpick here, but Kyrie is our only 20 year old. Tristan and Dion are both 21, and Tyler is 23.

I still remember a game late in James's rookie season against the Nets (19 at the time) with only seconds left in the game he was guarding the inbounder, and snatched the pass right out of the air and scored leading us to an improbable come from behind win. When I saw that, I felt like if he could do that it was all over for the rest of the league - and while that wasn't quite the case - opponents have to be very careful passing the ball anywhere near James.

So, yes, these guys will learn and they will improve ... but outside of Kyrie's offensive wizardry, there's not a lot of jaw dropping going on at the Q.

 

[mhi]

Re: Not as Bad as the Record Indicates

The 2014-15 season will represent the first season that the ball and chain is taken off Byron Scott, and winning games becomes the priority over what we have going now, which is pure development.

That's the way I see it too, but people are enamored with the 'OKC rebuild' and expect us in the playoffs next yr.

 

[Jon]

Just take a look at last night's opponent... The Kings are in year 7 of their rebuild. Their lottery picks were Spencer Hawes (traded for Dalembert) Jason Thompson, Tyreke Evans, Cousins, Fredette, T-Rob... Even with a ROY in there, that's one hell of a cautionary tale.

And the Kings just happen to be one of the 4 teams actually worse than the Cavs on defense. You can't expect it to kick in without a coach willing to kick it in and players willing to be kicked.

 

[rabman_gold]

I know we could be better, but a team like us shouldn't have our spirit broken first (aka "giving up") before getting back to the top, or we'll look like another reincarnation of the pseudo contenders that got their collective asses kicked by 1976 Celtics, Jordan, the Spurs, or the "fountain of youthanized" Celtics from 2010"...