I still give this guy an A- or B+. The Cavs have the second best record in the east behind Detroit and the 4th best record in the NBA behind San Antonio and Dallas in the West. All the teams ahead, San Antonio, Detroit, and Dallas have been together for a while. The Cavs this year feature a new GM, new coach, 2 new starters than last year, 2 new 6th and 7th men, and the 6th man from last year, Andy V, isn't even playing yet. Considering what was available on the market, I would say that Ferry made all the moves he could. Also, its no secret that this team could be playing better considering the talent on the team, but its going to take a while for these guys to learn how to play with each other and get the hang of the new system.
Lets look at the signings
I say he could because Sarunas Jasikevicious was our first choice for PG, we gave him an equivalent offer as Indy, and he simply didn't want to come, that one isn't Ferry's fault. Jones has done what we've expected from him, talk trash and shoot 3's. Is his attitude really hurting any team chemistry? I'm not sure about that one. But I think Jones is working out to be a better deal than Watson, Antonio Daniels, or Marko Jaric.
Z has been Z, pretty much what we expect, and the best free throw shooter on the team. There was no better big man available. I still say Z should take our techs.
Larry has been better on the defensive side of the ball and seems to have struggled finishing this year, but hes been one of those guys who can single-handedly keep the team in a game and it turns out he can hit an open trey. JJ, Allen, and Redd all would have commanded even more money than Larry (though i do realize Larry is getting a near-max contract).
Henderson has been the best bang for our buck, but no ones too excited about this one. Its one of those quiet moves a good GM would make.
Marshall is a little on the soft side, but we knew that coming in, he more than makes up for it with his experience and gives us a different dimension than what we got with Gooden, so I think they compliment each other well. Also Marshall is another one of those guys that will win you games, as we've seen.
With these signings (henderson doesn't count really) we pretty much used up every available dollar of cap room to what I think is the best combo I could think of. Maybe you could switch Sarunas with Jones and things would be better, but that one wasn't a Ferry call. If you sign JJ, Allen, or Redd, you probably can't have Marshall, Z, and Jones.
The other option Ferry had was to wait until next year. Now, this would probably be inexcusable and the uproar caused by letting 27 million in cap room just sit there for a year would probably get the LA and NY writers in a Lebron leaves Cleveland frenzy. What the Cavs needed most was a shooting guard, and really, there aren't going to be 4 top quality shooting guards available as free agents any time soon, especially not next year.
So what does the team need? We still need a real backup center, I don't think Anderson Varejao is going to be the answer. We also need some quickness, a guy to harass the Tony Parkers of the world. But the Cavs will have at least the MLE and a 1st round pick this year to try to address some of that.
