Marreese Speights Has a Player Option

[metalman213]

Re: Welcome Marreese Speights

He has only been here 5 games where we went 3-2. We've been hovering around 500 for the past 18 games.

Even during the best stretch of basketball the entire season we have been under .500 and only came close because of close wins vs bad teams. With Speights the team has just looked so much better to me (even though the cavs have won close too and the only quality win was vs the Thunder). Its not a big enough sample size yet, but imo this team looks so much better with a decent bench, and that can go a long way towards bolstering a playoff run next year.

 

[buzzdog]

Re: Welcome Marreese Speights

Interesting question about what to do with Speights.

I have a question for whoever wants to reply. Speights has a nice face-up game tht fits well with TT and helps the floor spacing in general. He's young and worst case he'd be cheaper than AV.

I love AV but he is getting up there in age, and all the injuries have to take their toll. Will he really be a factor if the Cavs field a perennial playoff team from next year until Kyrie either moves on or retires?

So for me the question is, who would be better to keep long term, AV or Speights? I'd love to see the opinions of the knowledgeable basketball junkies here.

 

[Tornicade]

Re: Welcome Marreese Speights

why not keep both and target drafting/acquiring a small forward. Cavs will need to be smart with their contracts and have alot of cap space room. why throw it at players who would be essentially overpaid or or given big salary just to meet the min. when we have guys who are worth their contracts and are quite moveable.

Speights is someone you keep your options up with and retain him if you can. The Cavs have literally no investment in him. whether he stays or not. the cavs got a good return.

 

[Dr. Gymbo]

Re: Welcome Marreese Speights

Interesting question about what to do with Speights.

I have a question for whoever wants to reply. Speights has a nice face-up game tht fits well with TT and helps the floor spacing in general. He's young and worst case he'd be cheaper than AV.

I love AV but he is getting up there in age, and all the injuries have to take their toll. Will he really be a factor if the Cavs field a perennial playoff team from next year until Kyrie either moves on or retires?

So for me the question is, who would be better to keep long term, AV or Speights? I'd love to see the opinions of the knowledgeable basketball junkies here.

Varejao is on this team for the foreseeable future. His injuries have harpooned and deflated his trade value. I'd imagine he'd have to play at the level he was playing prior to his injury while staying healthy for the entire season next year to get reasonable offers for him. His value peaked and I doubt it will ever be the same. So, for now, Andy is a part of this team.

As far as Speights is concerned, I don't see the Cavs signing him to a contract that's much more than the one he's currently on ($4-5M per year). If he continues to play well while he's here, he will generate more interest and money than that somewhere. We don't own his Bird rights because he waived them as part of his trade to Cleveland. So it's not like we could offer more % raises per year compared to other teams.

Chris Grant has preached and preached his model of draft picks and valuing cap space. I don't see them throwing it away a year early. If Marreese had been here 2-3 seasons and was putting up these numbers, it'd be a no-brainer to me. But at best, we'll get 5 weeks (prior to the deadline) or 8-9 weeks for the rest of the season from where we acquired him. It's tough to disrupt your long-term philosophy on a guy you did not draft initially and have a limited sample size of his body of work.

I think we know what we have with Varejao. His injury history is concerning as he ages. But we don't really know what we have in Speights. We could have an idea based on flashes he shows. I think it's hard to compare the two and pick one to go with because of the mitigating details that float around the two players.

At this point, I think I'd rather keep Varejao and the flexibility that allows the team to make trades like the one that brought Speights here in the first place.

 

[Douglar]

Re: Welcome Marreese Speights

So it's not like we could offer more % raises per year compared to other teams.

Speights is currently on the Cavs, so the Cavs are the only team that could offer a 5 year contract and the large raises.

The Cavs have cap space so they don't need bird rights to make a large offer. They could offer up to max salary or available cap space whichever comes first.

 

[buzzdog]

Re: Welcome Marreese Speights

People seem to be leery of trying to sign and keep Speights because;

1) they think he's only playing for a contract and
2) his performance will drop off once he gets paid,
3) signing him will use too much cap space making a max contract FA signing impossible after 2014,
4) if we draft another big we'll have a bit of a surplus on the front line.
5) He screws up the tank.

That pretty much sums it up, doesn't it?

But apparently Speights has surprised people like BS with his intensity, professionalism and general physicality and skill set. He has expressed a strong interest in staying in Cleveland theoretically because he sees the young talent and the Cavs as up and coming winners in the NBA.

From what I can see Speights is one of those guys who may just be coming into his own in the league. He's the right age, the right size and he has pretty good skills. His long term attitude and work ethic has people concerned but it's up to guys like Scott and Grant to figure out if he's the real deal rising player who fell into our laps, or if he's a flash in the pan pretender who won't perform over the long haul.

AV would be a nice veteran presence but we'll have to make a decision on him no matter what by the 2014-2015 season. Injury history, age and salary aren't much in his favor. I'm not sure what his contract status is the final year other than not being fully guaranteed.

But if people are worried about signing the max FA in 2014-15 then wouldn't AV logically be the piece what would no longer be here? That would free up the requisite amount of cap space even if we signed Speights to say $7 mil/yr for 5 years.

Why couldn't we figure on having both here next season as Tornicade says, hopefully get something of value for AV if and when he redeems his value, and still be able to sign a max FA after next year?

Of course this would be completely contingent on Scott and Grant having a positive evaluation of Speights as a useful front line piece as we approach our playoff run years.

From what I can see guys like Speights aren't quite as easy to come by as people seem to think.

 

[bigfoot5415]

Re: Welcome Marreese Speights

Speights is currently on the Cavs, so the Cavs are the only team that could offer a 5 year contract and the large raises.

The Cavs have cap space so they don't need bird rights to make a large offer. They could offer up to max salary or available cap space whichever comes first.

Yea but under the new CBA we can only offer 1 player a 5 year deal. His raises, regardless of where he would sign would be 4.5% since he lost his bird rights, as oppossed to 7.5%

 

[KI4MVP]

Re: Welcome Marreese Speights

Speights is currently on the Cavs, so the Cavs are the only team that could offer a 5 year contract and the large raises.

The Cavs have cap space so they don't need bird rights to make a large offer. They could offer up to max salary or available cap space whichever comes first.

not that we'd offer him that, but we don't have his bird rights so we can't offer either a 5th year or larger raises.

 

[CruiserNFL]

Re: Welcome Marreese Speights

People seem to be leery of trying to sign and keep Speights because;

1) they think he's only playing for a contract and
2) his performance will drop off once he gets paid,
3) signing him will use too much cap space making a max contract FA signing impossible after 2014,
4) if we draft another big we'll have a bit of a surplus on the front line.
5) He screws up the tank.

That pretty much sums it up, doesn't it?

But apparently Speights has surprised people like BS with his intensity, professionalism and general physicality and skill set. He has expressed a strong interest in staying in Cleveland theoretically because he sees the young talent and the Cavs as up and coming winners in the NBA.

From what I can see Speights is one of those guys who may just be coming into his own in the league. He's the right age, the right size and he has pretty good skills. His long term attitude and work ethic has people concerned but it's up to guys like Scott and Grant to figure out if he's the real deal rising player who fell into our laps, or if he's a flash in the pan pretender who won't perform over the long haul.

AV would be a nice veteran presence but we'll have to make a decision on him no matter what by the 2014-2015 season. Injury history, age and salary aren't much in his favor. I'm not sure what his contract status is the final year other than not being fully guaranteed.

But if people are worried about signing the max FA in 2014-15 then wouldn't AV logically be the piece what would no longer be here? That would free up the requisite amount of cap space even if we signed Speights to say $7 mil/yr for 5 years.

Why couldn't we figure on having both here next season as Tornicade says, hopefully get something of value for AV if and when he redeems his value, and still be able to sign a max FA after next year?

Of course this would be completely contingent on Scott and Grant having a positive evaluation of Speights as a useful front line piece as we approach our playoff run years.

From what I can see guys like Speights aren't quite as easy to come by as people seem to think.

I hear what you are saying relative to keeping both (MS and AV), and if Speights turns into A Player trading AV prior Summer of 2014 to regain Cap Space. But, a potential fallacy of that plan is, well, look at AV right now. If AV is hurt when we need to trade him to regain cap space, and he is hurt, we'd be stuck without a tradeable commodity, and no way to regain cap space. Just a risk

 

[buzzdog]

Re: Welcome Marreese Speights

I hear what you are saying relative to keeping both (MS and AV), and if Speights turns into A Player trading AV prior Summer of 2014 to regain Cap Space. But, a potential fallacy of that plan is, well, look at AV right now. If AV is hurt when we need to trade him to regain cap space, and he is hurt, we'd be stuck without a tradeable commodity, and no way to regain cap space. Just a risk

Isn't that the situation with AV regardless of what hppens with Speights? And, come 2014-15 AV would be an expiring contract that isn't guaranteed that year, not sure how that plays into it but it would seem AV would be easy to move?

 

[Douglar]

Re: Welcome Marreese Speights

not that we'd offer him that, but we don't have his bird rights so we can't offer either a 5th year or larger raises.

I stand corrected. I didn't realize that you needed full bird rights to get the 5 year deal.

http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q53

 

[EugB23]

Re: Welcome Marreese Speights

If he ever developed a jump hook and a few post moves, this guy would be an All Star, would like to see him more on the low block if possible...

 

[oasis05]

Re: Welcome Marreese Speights

If speights could defend he'd get the max.

 

[Hydroponic3385]

Re: Welcome Marreese Speights

The tank crew on here must be hating Speights and the bench tonight :chuckles:

 

[EugB23]

Re: Welcome Marreese Speights

Speights needs to stay IMHO if we can sign him to a reasonable contract,imagine him with AV next season....