As I said in the original post... it was an idea that popped into my head, and I posted it as-is.
After thinking about it a little more, I think that Eric and Sasha for Larry is a better deal, and we'd still get a couple 2nd rounders or possibly a 1st rounder.
Those of you who think Larry Hughes is not a good player are beyond belief. Yeah, Larry had problems here... yeah, he complained. But why? He didn't like playing the point because he felt it was not a strength of his. What happens when a person convinces himself that he cannot (or don't want to) do something? They usually don't do it well...even if all signs point otherwise, as-was the case with Larry.
Furthermore, Larry would not sit on our bench. He is far superior to any 2-guard we have. He may not be the best shooter, but he never was... nor did he ever claim to be. What he did do well, was defend better than any player we've had in Cleveland since the late 90's.
If you guys think Boobie would be matched-up well with Mo and LeBron, then Imagine Larry at the two. Ignore his past with us, and look at the big picture:
Mo brings the ball up-court... he is defended because teams cannot leave him alone. Larry streaks up one wing, with LeBron streaking-up the other wing.
Larry cannot shoot long-balls, but he had a high fg% inside 18 feet. If he's streaking to the right circle, while LeBron is streaking to the left; Mo coming-up the middle; we have a million options:
Pass to LeBron= defensive shift & Double team = Larry steak to hoop, or Pick for Z, or lebron drives and dishes to Mo or Larry, who can either drive and dish or pick and pop with either Z or Mo... Andy/Ben stays in paint for rebound or dunk.
With West... we can do that too... But he is not the defensive presence that Larry is. Boobie isn't even fractionaly close, Wally isn't either.
If we could get Larry back here for Sasha and Eric... then I say we keep Wally as the back-up SF, and look at our depth with him:
PG: Williams/West/Boobie/Kinsley
SG: Larry/Boobie/West/Wally/Kinsley
SF: LeBron/Wally/Larry (small line-up)/Kinsley(small line-up)/DuPree
PF: Ben/Andy/JJ/Darnell/LeBron (Small Line-up)/Wally/DuPree (both small line-ups)
C: Zydrunas/Andy/JJ/Lorenzen
Larry would be able to switch defensively for really good PG's, allowing Mo to defend a lesser 2-guard. He'd also be able to take defensive assignments for LeBron, allowing LeBron to stay fresher.
And for a defensive line-up:
PG: Delonte
SG: Larry
SF: LeBron
PF: Ben
C: Either Z or Andy
For a fast offensive line-up:
PG: Mo
SG: Boobie or Delonte
SF: Larry
PF: LeBron
C: JJ
For a tough, slug-fest line-up:
PG: Delonte
SG: Wally
SF: LeBron
PF: Ben or Andy
C: Z or Andy
And look at the regular second unit:
PG: Delonte
SG: Boobie
SF: Wally
PF: Andy
C: JJ
(that's damn near as good as a starting line-up)
Larry would give us a lot of options, and wouldnt be the problem he was on offense before, because he wouldn't be the #2 man anymore... or even the #3 man. He wouldn't be asked to score anymore... before we wanted him to be someone he wasn't. Now, he could just do what he does best... play lock-down defense, and score points w/o having plays run for him.
People that dont want Larry just because he did bad as a #2... that is silly. A true Cavalier fan would see the obvious plus in this deal. Not only do we upgrade... we get pick(s?), and another expiring contract...and we have the option of actually keeping Wally if he does well, and re-signing him to a reasonable deal next year.
Lot of inter-changable players with Larry on the court.
And... even if he got hurt.... and missed 50 games... Would it matter? All we'd really be missing is Sasha, who is likely to sit most of the year anyway.
