Larry Hughes agrees to a five year contract with the Cavaliers

[NarlCavs]

What a relief. I was getting worried the Cavs would miss out on all the top FA's.

We wanted one of the big 4 FA SG's and we were able to get one. Good move. It might be slightly overpaying but the Cavs had to in order to get it done. ESPN reported 5 years for $65 million.
Hughes greatly upgrades the perimeter defense which was as big a problem as perimeter shooting last season. Along with Johnson, Hughes has the most versatile game of the FA SG's. His ability to handle and create will make the Cavs very versatile on the perimeter.

Nice work by Ferry and the Cavs front office. There was an opportunity when Hughes got lowballed in the Wizards 1st offer and the Cavs jumped in and took advantage of the situation. Apparently they may have even gone strong after Hughes while also going after Redd since they probably felt the odds of getting Redd were slim.

Resigning Z and most likely signing S. Jasikevicius will be the next steps. That will make a successful offseason.

 

[d3]

Yes NarlCavs, so was I. I am really happy with the sign --Hughes is a very good player who is worth the max in the long run-- Redd wasn't . Isnt it suprising how Redd declines and the next day we get another All-Star?.

Ferry is doing a great job.

 

[LyXo]

Very, very happy with the signing. Never would have thought it would have happened, but it did. Sweet harmony.

I'm very pleased with Ferry. Doing all the right things. Keeping Z and getting a marquee SG, wonderful. He'll bring in Sarunas Jasikevicius and we'll be contending for the East Champs next season.

 

[Hurl Bruce]

I can't find it in the chat, but someone was adamant that Hughes would not leave DC. Glad he was wrong.

 

[E-Light]

I can't find it in the chat, but someone was adamant that Hughes would not leave DC. Glad he was wrong.

that was james. He sounded like a washington fan holding onto a strand of hope larry wouldn't leave, forcing the wizards into a rebuilding process. :chuckles:

 

[CleveRocks]

If ATL ends up with JJ ill be kinda pissed.

Yeah, well think about how Nash will feel!

 

[Pioneer10]

Here's a good assesment of Hughes from MCH at basketballboards.net:

Ok let me say this. Hughes is a very versatile player. He can bring the ball up the court, but he is not a PG, has great handles, and he can shoot the ball. Last year for the first time before he got injured late in the year, he was finishing with authority around the basket on breaks. In previous years he didn't try to finish with a dunk, last year he did, until he broke his thumb, and that slowed him down a little. He can get to the line, and he can make his FTs.

My only negatives with Hughes are shot selection, feeding the post, and gambling on D. He can shoot the 3, but lhis decisions when to shoot lower his average. A lot of the time he will look for his own shot rather than throw it down low, though that may be a testament to kwame Brown's ability to receive a post pass than larry's willingness to pass it inside. Though he was hesitant to pass into the post, he would very routinely penetrate and dish to Haywood. I envision Ilgauskus benefiting from that greatly. On fast breaks he will pull up at the Free Throw line too often (shot selection), and if he reverts back to previous years and doesn't try to throw it down, he suffers a little at finishing strong. He plays the passing lanes well, but at the cost of playing solid man defense. This worked for the Wizards who needed to generate offense through the break because of the lack of general shooting and interior play. I am not sure how it will work with the Cavs.

He has missed games but I would not call him injury prone.

Good Luck.

We're going to have to work on those weaknesses with Larry especially the shot selection and feeding the post. He can't be breakin off plays like he did with the wizards especially with the Z in the post.

I think the biggest concern basically is that Hughes needs the ball in his hands on offense and we all know Lebron going to be the guy with the ball the majority of the time

 

[cavincali]

the thing that i am most looking forward to now is how everybody on the team raises there game because now there are a couple of good players. whenever the kings landed a backup point guard, delk, jackson, martin, they played soooo much better than they did in their previous situation.

hopefully we see a better "team" not a team with a couple of good players, because if that is the case we failed.

i was suprised that he was the all-defensive team, if he takes j-mac's spot oh my goodness but will the d be so much better.

 

[BlueSeats626]

Just thing of all of the upcoming fast break dunks with the two of the top leaders in steals (Hughes was 1, LBJ was 3, AI was 2) on the same team.

 

[Glen Infante]

I had a smile on my face all day when I heard the news. Thank goodness I can read RCF through my cellphone. I would have had a lot of catching up to do.

I think the biggest concern basically is that Hughes needs the ball in his hands on offense and we all know Lebron going to be the guy with the ball the majority of the time

I share the same thought. The 1st thing that popped into my mind when we started the Larry Hughes talk months ago was how is Larry going to be effective w/o the ball? He is a ball handler and a creator, I don't think he is a "Rip Hamilton" type of guy who will just run around and catch and shoot. LeBron isn't that type of player neither.

And on top of that, if we do pick up Sarus, he needs the ball in his hands to be effective also. How will all this work?

 

[Karma]

In Larry and Lebron we have two perimeter defenders who play the passing lanes. This is one challenge to Coach brown has. He needs them to make educated decisions instead of going for the big play every time. Offensively we have to wait and see what our final roster looks like before jumping to any conclusions.

 

[Mac]

In Larry and Lebron we have two perimeter defenders who play the passing lanes. This is one challenge to Coach brown has. He needs them to make educated decisions instead of going for the big play every time. Offensively we have to wait and see what our final roster looks like before jumping to any conclusions.

That is something he has to control.

We cant have both flying for the pass because that would leave Drew and Z open for fouls, easy buckets, and free throws.

Id trust Hughes more than James in that role of taking a chance, Hughes is more sound, where as James is astrocious on defense.

Now we have a leader like Snow in the game at the same time, I think he can get them to settle down and we can have a pretty good defensive team.

Esp if we sign a Haslim like player....Id even keep Drew and tell him the importance of his role off the bench, he could be a 6th man of the year award winner here if he comes off the bench.

He could still get 12PPG 10 RPG, and still be a BIG part of the team.

Hopefully we could understand that if we did something like that. There isnt a ton of height in the East, so I could trust AV rotating in at the four or the five.

 

[NarlCavs]

With LeBron, Hughes and whoever is at PG we now have 3 perimeter players who can all create and handle. That should make for a tough matchup for opponents.

If it is true about Hughes not feeding the post well, it might have something to do with Haywood and Brown being the Wizards post players. I'd have trouble feeding them in the post too. Similar to those who complain Z doesn't pass out of the post. Who was he going to pass to--Ira Newble?

Hughes penetrates well and has a decent mid range game. There's more to perimeter shooting than just hitting 3's.
I expect Sarunas to be signed and he along with Jackson and possibly Pavlovic provide some deep shooting threats. Don't forget about even more improved outside shooting from LeBron. Look at hisi mprovement there from year 1 to year 2.