I don't see how poeple can say that we should keep Z...I don't care what the hell Z did in the regular season. If we didn't have him, we still would have ended with a top 3 record in the league. The Magic are not leaving our conference. What is the point of keeping Z id we cannot get passed the Magic with him as our center. Is it acceptable to be Eastern Conference runner ups to you? Because it is not to me. And with Z as our center, thats all we will be.
Completely disagree. It's a matter of Xs and Os. Z pulls bigs out of the paint as much as any big in the league (likely more). This opens up all kinds of room for LeBron and the guards to penetrate. He's got the length to alter shots and is the master of offensive rebounds.
The Cavs aren't built to beat the Magic. But they're built to beat every other team in the league. And who is the Z replacement out there just waiting to be had? Z with more strength would be the best Center in the league. I'll admit he doesn't have the size or strength to stay with Howard, but NO centers in the league do.
And building to beat Orlando isn't wise or necessary right now. There is no way they get by a healthy Boston, they barely got by a very injured Boston. They certainly aren't the best team in the league. With Z, the Cavs beat a healthy Boston in the playoffs with this years team, they likely beat a Lakers team as well. Orlando just matches up well against the Cavs, and Mike Brown's defensive system. Your call to get rid of Z shows a fundamental lack of understanding of the basic defensive system the Cavs use, as well as how the Cavs are built to beat the majority of the playoff contenders. Sure, injuries happened, and Orlando got some breaks and some luck and ended up facing Cleveland in the ECF. That's a low probability outcome. You don't build teams for low probability outcomes, you build for high probability outcomes. Getting rid of Z for someone who can force Howard out a bit further from the basket likely weakens the Cavs against most teams in favor of matching up slightly better against one team who likely won't face them again in the playoffs.
What the Cavs could use to beat Orlando is a solid backup SF. I'm sure Wally is a nice guy, and he can hit the open shot when it's needed, but defensively he just can't keep up with a guy like Hedo. For the Cave to beat Orlando in the future, they need to run Lebron at the 4, have a defensive minded backup SF play significant minutes at the 3, and let Mo and Delonte play straight up against Orlando's guards. The big mismatch is the series wasn't Howard over Z, it was Rashard over ALL of the Cavs 4's. The Cavs just don't have any peremiter defenders at the 4 spot (other than LeBron who should play the 4 against Rashard). It would be great if the Cavs had a center who could keep Howard from getting slightly closer to the basket, but slowing down Hedo and Rashard would have led the Cavs to victory. It's also much easier to find a defensive minded SF available than it is to find a big available who can keep Howard out of the paint and make mid range shots to pull defenders out of the paint. It's also much more difficult to find a defensive minded 4 available to keep up with Rashard. You have to give up too much to get one of those type of players, that it weakens what the Cavs can do against every other team.
Trading an expiring for someone like Gerald Wallace gives the Cavs an answer to Hedo (and Rashard because LeBron then can guard him). It allows the Cavs to run LeBron more at the 4 throughout the season, something the Cavs did a lot with Wally this year. It wouldn't be a lineup the Cavs would run all the time, but it would give them the flexibility to match up with Orlando, without significantly weakening what the Cavs can do against every other team.