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Looking Ahead: 2013-2014 Cleveland Cavaliers

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2013/14 Depth Chart
PG-Kyrie Irving/Chauncey Billups/Lorenzo Brown
SG-Corey Brewer/Dion Waiters
SF-Danny Granger/Alonzo Gee
PF-Tristan Thompson/Tyler Zeller
C-Greg Oden/Anderson Varejao/Alex Len

I appreciate all of the work you put into this, but... hello 4th or 5th seed for the next 4 years.
 
@B Mac, why would that be the 4th or 5th seed for the next 4 years? If the ideal situation for the following season plays out, Granger is gone, LeBron is in, what more do you want? That team is a 4th or 5th seed next season and gets them back to playing hard and wanting to win.

The 2014/15 roster will be different. Billups will be gone, he's only here on a one year deal, Gee will be gone, Oden may or may not still be around, if he is then that means he was healthy and back to playing extremely well, Granger will be gone, and ideally the SF position will be manned by LeBron James.

2014/15 Roster would be:
Irving/Brown
Brewer/Waiters
LeBron/Draft pick(Sergey)
Tristan/Andy/Zeller
Oden/Len/Draft pick

That isn't a 4th or 5th seed team. Heck by that point Waiters might be the starting SG with Brewer backing up both SG and SF, or we could likely move him to another team as well. The roster put together sets you up to make moves in FA in the following FA while also giving you the ability to win immediately.
 
I was thinking about the Wizards the other day. They effectively started their rebuild one year before us by getting John Wall, and only this season post-All-Star Break are they starting to see the results. I'm still confident we can make the playoffs next year... but as much as I hate to say it, maybe the Cavs need to add another season into their rebuild timeline?

Here are some examples of the Wizards rebuilding moves:

  • In 2009, the year when they should have started rebuilding, they traded the #5 pick for Mike Miller
  • In 2011, the Wizards drafted Jan Vesely over Klay Thompson and Kawhi Leonard when they needed wing players and had Andre Blatche on their roster.
  • The Wizards signed Andre Blatche to an extension in 2011, and then amnesty waived him in 2012 before the extension kicked in.
  • The Wizards used their cap space and McGee to get Okafor and Nene.
  • The Wizards waived Shaun Livingston when they needed a backup point guard.

I'd say that the Wizards have been rebuilding for almost 5 years. They got Wall and Beal and a couple of role players. Beal is going to have to become a super duper star or they are going to have to nail this draft to get any better than 4th seed in the East. They probably wouldn't even make the playoffs in the West.

In three years of rebuilding, the Cavs have picked up 3 core players, they still have a lot of draft picks to drive trades or acquire more talent, and a lot of cap space with two years to use it. The Cavs team is going to look very different before Kyrie's extension kicks in.
 
Post draft I would like the roster to look like this:

PG: Irving, Livingston
SG: Waiters, Ellington
SF: Gee, Miles, GRIII
PF: Tristan, Speights, Jones
C: Len, Andy, Zeller

Re-sign Livingston and Ellington for multiple years, don't give Casspi a QO, give Jones league minimum for a year, pick up Miles' team option, and Speights picks up his option. Leaves 2 spots for free agents which is too hard to predict.
 
Post draft I would like the roster to look like this:

PG: Irving, Livingston
SG: Waiters, Ellington
SF: Gee, Miles, GRIII
PF: Tristan, Speights, Jones
C: Len, Andy, Zeller

Re-sign Livingston and Ellington for multiple years, don't give Casspi a QO, give Jones league minimum for a year, pick up Miles' team option, and Speights picks up his option. Leaves 2 spots for free agents which is too hard to predict.

Hello Wiggins/Parker
 
@Bimbo - Maybe, but at least it gives the team a chance to compete and makes it more likely that Cleveland doesn't become a revolving door for top flight talent that comes int doesn't leave as soon as they can. Do you really think that if the Cavs tank for a 4th year in a row, 3rd with Irving, that even if we are lucky enough to get Parker/Wiggins he's going to want to continue to suck for a 4th straight year again as Wiggins/parker continue. Then even if they are ready in their 2nd year, maybe come close to the playoffs or even barely make it to get knocked out early, that he's not going to want to go elsewhere where he has a higher chance at winning?

Also who are they going to get with that #17 pick? GRIII isn't better than Granger or even Corey Brewer who at least has experience and ability to start at SF for us and give us the defensive presence and corner 3 pt shooting. Oden's duct taped knees as you put them don't cost us a lot of money and will be a low risk high reward opportunity. If he doesn't stay healthy you cut ties with your team option. If he does you keep him around. Plus what else are we going to do with that money? You don't get an award at the end of the season for being the team with the most remaining cap space at the end of the season. It just gets you another top 5 pick as it means you have a lot of young and/or bad players and no Vets to give the vet leadership.
 
Here's my offseason strategy. Assuming we are picking 1-3, I think we should draft Nerlens Noel there. A backcourt of him and TT would be pretty nasty, and would really help out our poor defense. Then we trade the Lakers pick (assuming they make the playoffs) and our 2 second round picks to the Wizards for the 8th pick, and we get Otto Porter there (I think he's gonna fall a few spots before the draft) where IMO could/will be the steal of the draft, and is a perfect match for us. Then in F.A., I think we re-sign Ellington, Gibson, Livingston, and Speights and sign Nolan Smith (PG from Portland) to fill out the 3rd PG spot on the depth chart. So your lineups would look like this:

PG Kyrie Irving 2
SG Dion Waiters 3
SF Otto Porter 20
PF Tristan Thompson 13
C Nerlens Noel 11

PG Shaun Livingston 14
SG Wayne Ellington 21
SF Alonzo Gee 33
PF Anderson Varejao 17
C Tyler Zeller 40

PG Nolan Smith 4
SG Daniel Gibson 1
SF CJ Miles 0
PF Kevin Jones 5
C Marreese Speights 15

As long as we stay healthy, I think we can easily reach the playoffs. Not only do we have one of the youngest and most talented starting lineups in the association, but we also have depth to back it up.
 
Why would the Wizards take the #17 pick and both of our 2nd rounders for the #8 pick just so we can pick Otto Porter who they themselves might pick? Martell Webster and Trevor Ariza are both free agents after this year so they'll need a SF and Porter fits their team just as well as he fits ours... Also don't think that is a playoff team as a) Noel is going to miss at least half the year rehabbing his ACL and on top of that both Porter and Noel are rookies so unless they simply play out of their minds, once Noel is back, we had better hope everyone on the team is healthy the entire year. As in Irving, Waiters, and Andy all play at least 76 games. Chances of that all happening...
 
Like I've said. If you're going to trade the 17th pick, you get something better than a 1 year, 30 year old rental that is coming off of a knee injury plagued season. I like the idea of trading the 17th pick for a proven player, but not for one that will be here for 1 year, costs a lot of money, and has injury issues. That is a terrible return for a 1st round pick on a rebuilding team. 2nd, Brewer gives us nothing Alonzo Gee or CJ Miles gives, and at the 5 million you have is just ridiculous. 29% from 3, 42% from the floor is what Gee is giving us already, and you want to give him more money for that? He's having a career year points wise because he is playing in a system that is inflating every players stats on that team. And giving Greg Oden a 3 year deal worth 12 million is a risk. 1 because he's yet to prove he can play a full season, let alone 3, and 2, if you're drafting Len AND keeping Varejao and Zeller, when the hell is this 3 year 12 million dollar player going to play? You're going to have him play over the 4th pick? Or over the guy making close to 10 million a year? Yeah, no. And that team I listed, if they stay healthy, is in the playoffs...sorry to break it to ya, new guy.
 
Oden if healthy would be part of the rotation, you wouldn't keep him out there for long, much the same as Andy to keep them healthy. Andy is also able to back-up both PF and Center positions, Alex Len will need time to develop, big men typically take 2-3 years to develop, so it's not like he's going to be able to come in year 1 and put up 16 ppg, 8.5 rpg, and 2 bpg. There is 96 minutes to be split between PF and C positions, you would expect Tristan to get 33, that leaves 63 minutes for 3 players in Alex Len, Greg Oden, and Andy V to get minutes. Oden would likely get about 18-20 minutes a game each and Andy V the rest. Zeller becomes a 5th man in the depth chart and rotates in as needed due to health/injuries as he can paly both PF and C. I'm not so sure that team would be in the playoffs, Gee starting alone makes that team bad. Also expecting everyone to be healthy when they haven't proven be able to stay healthy for one season let alone 2 or 3, why do you think they will now? That goes for Irving, Waiters, and Andy. Who's going to be able step up and provide some kind of production if one or more are out, AGAIN? Alonzo Gee? That isn't a playoff team... sorry to braek it to ya, father time.
 
I can't stand when people try to pretend Wade is 40 yrs old and is going to suck in a year. He's still a great player unfortunately. Bosh is also much better than your typical 3rd wheel.
 
I can't stand when people try to pretend Wade is 40 yrs old and is going to suck in a year. He's still a great player unfortunately. Bosh is also much better than your typical 3rd wheel.

It's funny that there are people in here who seemingly know LeBron is coming back in 2014. It's going to be funny to hear how sad they are when he re-signs with Miami.
 
lol Alex fuckin Len.

What the deal with people already drooling for this kid ? :chuckles:
 
lol Alex fuckin Len.

What the deal with people already drooling for this kid ? :chuckles:

He's 7'1", put on 30 lbs last summer and still has room to add more, has above average athleticism, blocks shots, has a euro style offense that fits next to Tristan, and is a high character guy. Other than that, I have no idea.
 

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