I. Introduction
Cleveland Cavaliers: Well behaved team looking for a good Owner
John Popp (jpop@aol.com), who’s liver wasn’t going to hold up for another
Draft Party anyway.
Wow! A ton of stuff has happened since the last time I wrote a team report
but unfortunately not much of it’s been good. The team is up for sale, last
seasons draft pick (Diop) still has bust written all over him,
Lucas couldn’t
diagram a successful play if his life depended on it and seemingly the team’s
brightest young star will be shipped out on draft night. On a more upbeat
note, Coach Lucas did get some production out of the enigmatic Person and
Murray but just didn’t have enough gas in the tank to make a decent run.
The off-season again brought a shuffling of personnel. Gone by the wayside
are Chris Gatling, Clarence
Weatherspoon, Matt Harpring, Cedric
Henderson,
Robert Traylor, Jimmy Jackson and Brevin
Knight. The collection of talent
brought on in the wake of sending these players packing is at best a real
yawner. Tyrone over the Hill, Jumaine
Jones, Brian Stith, Brian Skinner and
Ricky "Mensa" Davis all left the Cavaliers looking up at mediocrity. Add to
that the draft day move of Michael Doleac for the draft rights to
Brendan
Haywood and you had a recipe for disaster.
Paxson, who never saw a deal that he didn’t like, still reigns over the
organization and lives by the motto that change is good while improvement
need not be part of the equation. With an impending sale just over the
horizon, there are certainly more changes to come and Paxson probably won’t
be judged on his ability to reduce payroll alone. That could spell bad news
for the lackluster GM while much of his fate will be determined over the next
few weeks and a large part of his future rests on some seemingly fragile
footing.
The acquisitions of Jones and Davis were actually halfway beneficial. Jones
despite a limited game showed that he had complimentary player skills at both
small and power forward while Davis enamored the fans with some flashy dunks
and a decent array of offensive tools. Doleac, Hill and Stith proved to be a
much different story. Hill has certainly lost the prowess that made him a
contributing factor in Philadelphia. Doleac was nothing more than a suitable
role model for Mihm and upon his dismissal from the team later this summer
perhaps they can go shopping together for some nice skirts and sweaters with
the money they fleeced out of the Cavaliers.
The Cavs muddled through pre-season posting a 1-5 record. They started the
regular season in much the same fashion with a 2-9 record. That was followed
by a pretty good run (11-9 over the next 20), catching a lot of teams with
injury problems, on the wrong side of back to back games, Ilgauskas back in
the line-up and Hill not far away. At about that same time you could hear
the ill-fated cries of the fans chanting "PLAYOFFS" which turned out to be as
prudent as talking about a no hitter in the dugout after the third inning.
A season that no one held much hope for turned from bad to ugly. Getting
production out of Murray and Person didn,t matter. Ilgauskas was in the
line-up and the fans still didn’t have enough reason to watch. A season
where losses seemed to be an investment in the future and Diop rotted on the
bench. A season where ugly turned to hideous and it’s no wonder that the
present ownership is running for adequate shelter.
II. Season Statistics
Player Pos G M/Gm FGm FGa PCT 3m 3a PCT FTm FTA PCT AVG
1 murray,lamond SF 71 32.6 430 986 .436 101 238 .424 215 263 .817 16.6
2 miller,andre PG 81 37.3 474 1045 .454 22 87 .253 365 447 .817 16.5
3 person,wesley SG 78 35.8 467 944 .495 143 322 .444 99 124 .798 15.1
4 davis,ricky SF 82 23.8 376 781 .481 11 35 .314 196 248 .790 11.7
5 ilgauskas,zydrunC 62 21.4 241 567 .425 0 5 .000 208 276 .754 11.1
6 jones,jumaine SF 81 26.4 287 640 .448 52 168 .310 45 68 .662 8.3
7 hill,tyrone PF 26 31.2 71 182 .390 0 1 .000 67 103 .650 8.0
8 mihm,chris C 74 22.4 221 526 .420 3 7 .429 124 179 .693 7.7
9 langdon,trajan SG 44 10.8 70 176 .398 27 74 .365 42 46 .913 4.8
10 doleac,michael C 42 16.8 78 187 .417 0 0 .000 38 46 .826 4.6
11 stith,bryant SG 50 13.3 70 188 .372 24 68 .353 44 52 .846 4.2
12 skinner,brian PF 65 17.0 88 162 .543 0 0 .000 48 79 .608 3.4
13 coles,bimbo PG 47 14.7 56 146 .384 4 20 .200 33 37 .892 3.2
14 trepagnier,jeff SG 12 6.4 7 23 .304 0 1 .000 4 7 .571 1.5
15 diop,desagana C 18 6.1 12 29 .414 0 0 .000 1 5 .200 1.4
Rebounding Statistics
Player AS AS/g ST ST/G TO TO/g BK BK/g TND OR OR/g TR
TR/g
1 murray,lamond 157 2.2 70 1.0 141 2.0 43 0.6 14.7 81 1.1 372
5.2
2 miller,andre 882 10.9 126 1.6 245 3.0 34 0.4 24.3 108 1.3 379
4.7
3 person,wesley 173 2.2 77 1.0 74 0.9 37 0.5 15.3 50 0.6 294
3.8
4 davis,ricky 178 2.2 69 0.8 148 1.8 23 0.3 10.3 63 0.8 243
3.0
5 ilgauskas,zydrun 70 1.1 17 0.3 94 1.5 84 1.4 10.3 136 2.2 334
5.4
6 jones,jumaine 116 1.4 75 0.9 79 1.0 46 0.6 11.0 125 1.5 490
6.0
7 hill,tyrone 23 0.9 17 0.7 48 1.8 13 0.5 11.5 79 3.0 274
10.5
8 mihm,chris 24 0.3 18 0.2 97 1.3 89 1.2 7.0 133 1.8 392
5.3
9 langdon,trajan 60 1.4 13 0.3 40 0.9 5 0.1 4.0 13 0.3 55
1.2
10 doleac,michael 25 0.6 15 0.4 37 0.9 11 0.3 5.1 47 1.1 168
4.0
11 stith,bryant 42 0.8 29 0.6 30 0.6 6 0.1 4.1 20 0.4 85
1.7
12 skinner,brian 17 0.3 24 0.4 42 0.6 61 0.9 6.3 93 1.4 281
4.3
13 coles,bimbo 107 2.3 13 0.3 31 0.7 4 0.1 4.2 12 0.3 55
1.2
14 trepagnier,jeff 12 1.0 8 0.7 11 0.9 4 0.3 2.0 3 0.2 12
1.0
15 diop,desagana 5 0.3 1 0.1 12 0.7 10 0.6 0.9 5 0.3 17
0.9
Team Scoring Totals
Min FGm FGa PCT 3m 3a PCT FTm FTa PCT PTS TND AVG
Totals 19855 2948 6582 .448 387 1026 .377 1529 1980 .772 7812 105.30
95.3
Opponents 19855 3053 6678 .457 473 1200 .394 1506 2014 .748 8085 110.81
98.6
Team Rebounding Totals
AS PF ST TO BK TC EJ FF OR TR AVG
Totals 1891 1752 572 1129 470 24 1 3 968 3451 42.1
Opponents 1989 1638 602 1018 459 28 1 4 928 3310 40.4
Record 29 - 53 Home 20 - 21 Away 9 – 32
Salaries and Contracts
Player signed years salary misc FA
Ricky Davis ........... 1/2?/99 4 $4,130,761 rc '02
Michael Doleac ........ 1/21/99 4 $6,072,816 rc '02
Trajan Langdon ........ 8/10/99 4 $6,630,156 rc '02
Brian Skinner ......... 1/21/99 4 $4,011,981 rc '02
Jeff Trepagnier ....... 8/6/01 2 minimum xt-opt '02
Bimbo Coles ........... 8/12/00 4 $10.35 million p-opt '03
Tyrone Hill ........... ??,1/22/97 ??+5 ??+$37.5 mill '03
Jumaine Jones ......... 7/16/99 4 $3,624,986 rc '03
Andre Miller .......... 8/10/99 4 $7,475,791 rc '03
Bryant Stith .......... 8/13/01 2 $4,000,000 '03
Chris Mihm ............ 7/12/00 4 $9,013,254 rc t-opt '04
Wesley Person ......... 10/29/97 7 $39.9 million '04
DeSagana Diop ......... 7/5/01 4 $8,637,085 rc t-opt '05
Zydrunas Ilgauskas .... 8/1/96,1/29/99 3+6 $2.48 mill + $70.9 mill'05
Lamond Murray ......... 8/4/99 7 $25 million '06
Cleveland Cavaliers Total: $45,649,974
Zydrunas Ilgauskas ......... $11,250,000
Tyrone Hill ................ $6,600,000
Wesley Person .............. $6,300,000
Lamond Murray .............. $3,750,000
Bimbo Coles ................ $2,200,000
Chris Mihm ................. $2,067,960
Michael Doleac ............. $2,000,856
Bryant Stith ............... $2,000,000
Andre Miller ............... $1,934,520
DeSagana Diop .............. $1,842,480
Trajan Langdon ............. $1,604,880
Ricky Davis ................ $1,496,400
Brian Skinner .............. $1,483,461
Jumaine Jones .............. $786,600
Jeff Trepagnier ............ $332,817
III. Cavalier Draft History
Former General Manager Wayne Embry
- 1986 - Brad Daugherty 1st, Ron Harper 8th, Mark Price 25th
- 1987 - Kevin Johnson 7th
- 1988 - Randolph Keys 22nd
- 1989 - John Morton 25th
- 1991 - Terrell Brandon 11th
- 1993 - Chris Mills 22nd
- 1995 - Bob Sura 17th
- 1996 - Vitaly Potapenko 12th, Zydrunas Ilgauskas 20th
- 1997 - Derek Anderson 13th, Brevin Knight 16th
General Manager Jim Paxson
- 1999 - Andre Miller 8th, Trajan Langdon 11th
- 2000 - Jamal Crawford 8th, Traded to the Chicago Bulls for Chris Mihm 7th
- 2001 – Desagana Diop 8th, Brendan Haywood 20th, Traded to Orlando for Michael
Doleac
Year after year I have attended the Cavaliers Draft Party. It’s generally a
good time despite more often than not I cause my liver some serious damage in
the wake of the Cavs selection. Last year was no different and I left
shortly after hearing what there excuse about drafting Diop was. I didn’t
even make it across the street to the Tavern when my cell phone rang letting
me know that at #20 they had picked up Haywood. Hmmm, makes some sense, pile
up a bunch of big men to have on the roster, let them sort out and make a
decent trade in the future. Almost relaxed at that point I sat down at the
Tavern to enjoy some of the foaming yellow liquid to relax as I had nearly
made sense of the journey the Cavs had embarked on. I didn’t even get the
glass to my lips when the Doleac deal was announced and my phone started
ringing. "How could this be?" I heard blasting from my phone. "Wasn’t
Tinsley on the board, didn’t Paxson know you can’t go into a season with
only 2 points on the roster?" There had to be another answer but I found no
solace on ESPN as they concluded their draft coverage, the barkeep began to
flip the chairs up on the tables and I found myself nearly drown in a pool of
malted barley and hops.
This year things will be much different as the Cavs have canceled their Draft
Day Party, saying that it only provides bad publicity and the fans are not in
tune with the realities of the event. Obviously it’s the Organization
that’s out of touch and year after year the choices the fans applauded (Andre
Miller, Derek Anderson and Brevin Knight) have enjoyed success while the
choices that have drawn the ire of the fans (Bob Sura, Vitaly Potapenko,
Trajan Langdon and Desagana Diop) have not. The Cavs should have more bad
news in store on Draft Night, parting ways with Miller and possibly drafting
a player unfamiliar to the casual basketball fan.
With that little episode being a pre-cursor to the season, I did my best to
hold some level of interest. Throughout the season shoveling snow seemed
more important than watching a game from tip-off to buzzer, going out to
dinner took precedence over going to games and free tickets would fall by the
wayside as I could classify nearly anything as a better entertainment value.
With that in mind I had set out early to analyze the draft and make some
sense of what the Cavs future held. Usually I don’t start taking a hard look
at the draft until the NCAA Tourney, but this year scouring the International
Basketball pages trying to unearth some talent was far more pleasurable than
watching the Cavs.
IV. Player Analysis
Centers – An area that the Cavs can’t afford to place anymore emphasis on
with Diop, Mihm and Ilgauskas already in the picture, but certainly not the
amount of talent to carry a team very far.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas - An oft injured but stronger Rik Smits. Good post moves
on the blocks, decent jump shot out to 18', strong and the ability to block
some shots. The Cavs have severely limited his minutes especially in back to
back situations. Lucas has also tried to move him further away from the
basket offensively to give him some passing lanes and to minimize the
possibility of a career ending repeat foot injury. The Cavs entered last
years draft as if he wasn’t going to be available, but Z received solid
minutes and played decent on both ends of the court.
Chris Mihm - Nice speed for a center, solid post moves although does not use
his body well to create space. Uncanny knack for picking up a handful of
offensive rebounds but does not box out well defensively. Mihm did not build
one bit on his rookie season. He seems lost and timid at times despite
having better size and ability than most centers he faces. Quite simply the
guy is a milquetoast and one needs to wonder if there is any hope in salvaging
the little girl’s career.
Desagana Diop -What can you really say about the guy when no one has really
even seen him play. In the few minutes he was on the court he showed the
ability to miss easy shots, involuntarily create hard fouls and on occasion
block a shot. He has long arms and a big frame but certainly doesn’t look as
big as advertised. Supposedly plagued by some injuries, it’s my thought that
the Cavs just wanted to conceal how unready he was for the NBA game.
Michael Doleac (Free Agent) - Nice jumper from the baseline, but that’s about
it. Has put on some muscle and will hang around the NBA for a few years
because of the leagues lack of size and depth at center. The Cavs won’t make
any effort to keep him unless he comes at a bargain basement price.
Power Forwards – With Hill probably heading out of town after this season you
need look no further to see where the Cavs can really use help. Mihm was
supposed to get a lot of minutes at power forward last season but it really
never panned out.
Tyrone Hill – A great rebounder that would be a welcome addition to any team
needing help on the boards. Very limited but strong post moves and the
ability to pick up a couple of points a night on the offensive boards.
Always disgruntled and always a headcase he seems to stay focused when on the
floor and never lets things get in the way of being productive. Will
certainly be headed out of town when he wraps up his contract and has let
everyone know that he views being in a Cavs uniform the same way a felon
looks at being in solitary confinement at the local prison.
Brian Skinner (Free Agent) – Not an offensive threat to speak of but takes
good care of the ball and seemingly does better board work than Doleac or
Mihm. Not likely that he will be with the team next year but a player that
does’nt cost you anything when he’s on the floor.
Small Forwards – Not a bad cast but all supporting players. No true star but
the depth is great enough that the Cavs won’t add anyone here without trading
someone out. Murray could be good trade bait as he had an excellent season
and a value contract.
Lamond Murray – Murray once again follows a bad season with a good one.
Lucas did a masterful job of motivating him and he seemed to look for his
shot, chase down some loose balls and actually on occasion do some boardwork.
Despite a big frame and a reliable jumper from the perimeter, Murray does not
have what it takes to be an unconscionable gunner. Murray has all the talent
to be a big time star but not the heart to compete at that high of a level.
Should his on again off again seasons continue as history would indicate,
the Cavs will be in for some real problems trying to regain what he left
behind. That could all be moot if Lucas does as good of a job getting him to
play as hard this season as he did last.
Jumaine Jones – Jones has some talent albeit very fragmented. Tough rebounder
who spent a lot of his minutes at power forward despite giving up a fair
amount of size. He plays decent defense at both small and power forward
although certainly not challenging many shots inside. Offensively he is not
a terrible shooter but sees enough room where he should convert at a higher
percentage. Gets out and runs well on the break but in half court sets has
trouble putting the ball on the floor a second time.
Shooting Guards – Depth with Ricky Davis stepping up late in the season and
Person playing well. Much like small forward depth but no true star. We’ll
see if the Cavs believe that Davis has star potential when they work to get
the free agent signed.
Wesley Person - Can knock down the long range bomb and plays pretty decent
defense for an offensive minded shooter. Under Lucas, Wes was asked to put
the ball in the air a lot more than in past seasons. He did a better job of
moving to open spots without the ball, better at catch and shooting off
screens and even managed to develop somewhat of a mid-range game putting the
ball on the floor with a dribble or two. He never has had the competitive
edge that his brother did, but having Chuck on the coaching staff seemed to
pay some dividends. Wes greatly benefited from the return of Ilgauskas and
double teams to the post. Wes still isn’t playing all the way up to level of
his contract, but now in a trade the Cavs wouldn’t need to give up the farm
to reduce the payroll.
Ricky Davis (Free Agent)- Ricky likes nothing better than taking the ball to
the rack. In interviews this past season he made comments before games about
wanting to dunk on some of the leagues long in the tooth stars (i.e. Jordan)
and find himself on SportsCenter as a result. That never sat well with me as
the club was in a huge tailspin and getting an occasional W would have sat
better than a fantastic dunk that made the news reels. That aside, Davis
showed that he has some real talent this season. Quick off the dribble, nice
mid-range jumper and probably a decent stroke behind the arc a few years from
now. Much of his game is based on his high wire act and quick leaping
ability while on the defensive end he is often lost but does manage to stay
in front of his man in straight up situations. Ricky really turned up the
heat over the last 20 games and the Cavs would certainly like to keep him.
I’m not sure how far teams will be willing to go, but the large exception is
certainly waiting in the wings.
Brian Stith – This was often a move that puzzled me. Certainly Stith brought
an upstanding NBA citizen in the Cavs locker room. Stith also possesses a
well rounded game but one that has seen better days. He plays good defense,
moves well without the ball, has 3 point range and manages to grab a few
boards. Nothing spectacular and again a player who has seen his better days
gone by of which none were stellar.
Trajan Langdon (Free Agent)- This will likely be Langdon’s last year in a
Cavs uniform. The Cavs finally gave up on using him as a shooting guard and
played him at point for limited minutes. Although he did show more skill at
handling the ball, it was often such a chore for him that the shot clock
would wind down to single digits before he could get the ball into another
players hands. He wound up having a decent season for the few minutes he
played and might find himself a home with a team that can run without a true
point on the floor. He can still nail the 3 but that’s about all and my guess
is that he’ll be nailing somewhere else next season.
Point Guards – After Miller there is no one outside of the much maligned
Coles. Obviously they need a backup but unlikely they will take one at #6.
There should be some decent points left in round two, and there still is the
outside possibility the Cavs will move up to get a shot at Williams.
Andre Miller – The only true star on the Cavs roster. Every time I watch
Baron Davis I scratch my head and wonder how his out of control game made to
the All Star game while Miller sat home. Miller does have some deficits in
his game such as no jump shot although he does manage to knock down an 18
foot set shot on occasion. Andre is as strong as any point in the game and
looks to draw contact when attacking the rim. His pull-up jumper in traffic
is a thing of beauty and if he ever develops a shot behind the arc is in-line
for super stardom. Solid playmaker and lead the league in assists. Could make
a couple of All Star game appearances in the near future but as things stand
that would more than likely be with another team as he is mentioned in
several trade rumors and is approaching the end of his contract.
Bimbo Coles – The oft injured point guard missed nearly half his games this
past season. With the way he played when available the Cavs wouldn’t have
sunk much lower should he have missed them all. There is nothing good at all
to say of his game so I’ll just let him fade into the sunset as he completes
his 3 year deal with the Cavaliers.
Coaching
John Lucas – Only by looking at what I wrote last year can I commend the job
that Lucas did. I set the parameters for success at getting Murray and
Person returned to productivity. He accomplished that and did it
masterfully. The team at times showed excellent offensive fluidity but
probably couldn’t stop a WNBA team from scoring in triple digits. The
success rate for scoring after timeouts was terrible. In fact even in losing
efforts, where the score was out of reach, Lucas would call time-outs to have
the team make a final shot in preparation for better days while poor shots
would clank off the rim if they were lucky enough to get that far. I had
always known that Lucas wasn’t a good Xs and Os coach but never knew to what
degree. I also have believed that Lucas was nothing more than an interim
coach and the Cavaliers were just buying time while they amassed some talent.
His days are certainly numbered and it doesn’t look like he’ll get the
infusion of talent he needs to prove successful.
Management
James Boland – I would normally start with a General Manager but the Cavs and
Gund Arena CEO seems to have his hands in so many of the mandates bestowed
upon the GM that he bares much of the responsibility for the Cavs downfall.
When the Cavs moved into their new building it’s rumored that he was the
impetus in bringing on some new talent and somewhat mortgaging the future
(Wes Person for first rounder when the Cavs should finally make the playoffs)
to make a big splash for the new set of fans. That was also the muscle
behind securing Kemp in an ill-fated trade. How he has managed to escape
scrutiny is beyond me despite employing 2 different GMs and 3 Coaches. All
along the team has gotten worse and as Paul Brown once said, "I don’t blame
you, I blame the guy that hired you".
Jim Paxson – Paxson has made a variety of moves as GM and in my opinion is
batting .500. Pulled the trigger on the biggest deal in Cavs history and
cleared the seemingly outlandish contract of Kemp off the books. Without
knowing the mandates that have been set in front of him it’s hard to really
judge his success on the trade front. On the draft, he has had a couple of
real busts in Langdon, Mihm and Diop. The trade of the draft rights to
Haywood for Doleac was another poor move, although some have speculated that
it was to clear salaries off the book in a shorter time frame. He may well
prove to be the scapegoat for the Cavs woes but only knowing the guidelines
that he has had to work under can shed some light on how successful he has
been.
Ownership
Gordon Gund – No owner can escape criticism when things are going this bad.
In the past he restored a team that had traded away most of its future and
inserted good management and coaches. Something happened on the trip from
Richfield to Cleveland and the new Arena. What had been a first rate
organization had now turned into a flophouse for second rate coaches, career
journeymen and annual trips to the lottery. With an impending sale on the
horizon their won’t be a tear shed when he leaves the building for the final
time. In a way it’s kind of sad as the Gund’s have done so much
philanthropic work in Cleveland and their reputation will forever be tainted
by the dismantling of this team over the last few years.
Foreign Scout
Rudy D'Amico - I only mention Rudy as the Cavaliers for a number of years
have retained his services. He was instrumental in the drafting of Ilgauskas,
alerted the team of Vitaly Potapenko before he attended Wright State, had the
Cavs heavily considering Jake Tsakalidis and planted seeds about a possible
Gasol selection at #8 or Vladimir Radmanovic at #20. Needless to say for
better or worse he has the Cavs ear and certainly elevates the possibility of
the Cavs drafting a foreign player.
The team is at a real crossroads. Not good enough to make an impact or even a
playoff run by securing a good talent in the draft. The contract situations
of Person and Ilgauskas only make them tradable should the Cavs pass along a
draft choice or give up some value in another player. Andre Miller sits on
the cusp of signing a max deal while he alone is not enough to make the team
successful. With the other contracts in place losing Miller might be the
bedrock of waiting for the other large contract to expire and building anew.
This team is in the midst of a serious rebuilding process that should they
not slip lower or get lucky in the lottery, at best only leads to mediocrity.
V. Draft Needs
For the third time I find myself referring to my last years report and very
little has changed. Here are the five items Paxson placed as priorities for
the 2000 off-season, followed by my commentary.
1.SIZE – Collectively the centers on this roster don’t add up to much.
Ilgauskas can play at an All Star level but for only a handful of minutes a
night. Mihm has shown no improvement in skills and is seemingly better suited
for cover shot on GQ than to have a meaningful NBA career. Diop didn’t play
much and no one really had a good enough look at him to determine if he will
have a decent career. With the 8th choice one would think you should get
better production out of even a highschooler. That was perhaps the biggest
tragedy of all last season as the Cavs were out of the playoffs by the end of
January and still couldn’t afford Diop minutes. Tyrone Hill is in his final
contract year and Doleac will be cut loose shortly, creating an overwhelming
need to secure some talent at power forward. With these points in mind a
backcourt player would need to have hands down better talent and potential to
be selected at #6.
2.ATHLETICISM – Miller and Davis provide some degree of athleticism to a
squad replete of it. There is no shotblocker and the only decent rebounder
will be out of town by seasons end. The lack of overall team speed and quickness
leaves the Cavs with a very porous defense. The Cavs will certainly
look hard at the shooting guards and small forwards that can create their own
scoring opportunities but will do so with caution as the roster is full with
players at those positions while at the same time being nearly void of
talent.
3.COMMITMENT AND DISCIPLINE – While some sense of order was restored the Cavs
still have far too many players that are empathetic and do not possess the
intangibles creating a winning environment. No doubt that these guys can all
play at a level above what they've shown but without the effort they will all
sink to the depths of the NBA's talent pool.
4.LEADERSHIP – There is no floor leader or player that can step up on court
or in the locker that can ignite a fire in this team. This is perhaps the
reason that the very passive Andre Miller has been considered expendable.
Unfortunately, some of the players' need vocally chastised on the floor and
in the locker room while still having enough compassion to not make for
adversarial relationships. I always look back at the competitive fire that
Artest displays and recall how huge the Langdon tragedy was.
5.DEVELOP MORE CONSISTENCY – The inability to convert after timeouts, the
defensive breakdowns and surefire losses in close games needs to be remedied.
There were times when the Cavs played well but couldn’t get over the hump as
a result of these lapses. The talent certainly reveals itself at times but
there was only a small handful of games where the team played well
throughout. It's pretty to point the finger at Lucas and his lack of being a tactician, but the players also need to be accountable.
With these points in mind I set out to evaluate the talent in the upcoming
draft.
Possible selections
(Working under the assumption that Jay Williams, Yao Ming and Mike Dunleavy
have already been selected).
Drew Gooden
Although I see very few scenarios where he will be available at #6 it
wouldn’t be a total surprise if he slipped that far. The Cavs really love
this guy and have them on top of their hit list. Unfortunately the Cavs
won’t get a chance to work him out as he has withdrawn from a workout sitting that he has been assured of going earlier than the Cavs selection. Good
size, some shot-blocking ability and a decent rebounder despite his somewhat
thin frame. Good jumper for the power forward position with excellent
passing and ball handling abilities. His stock has seemingly risen as teams
are satisfied with his abilities to spend time at small forward while waiting
for him to develop the strength and weigh to be better anchored inside at
power forward.
Caron Butler
The biggest rap against Butler was his size for playing small forward. With
his wingspan measured at just shy of 7’ he will play much bigger than his
listed 6’6". Butler is a tremendous athlete and certainly possesses excellent
range while having a body that will certainly aid him on the boards. The Cavs
are very impressed with him and there is little chance that he will slide by
them.
Maybiner Hilario
An immense physical specimen that possesses the raw power of a young Shawn
Kemp. An out of the gate shotblocker whose strength and size are very NBA
ready. The biggest problem for the Cavs would be his propensity to commit
fouls and putting another developmental player on the roster. The Cavalier
company line is that they are looking for a player that is ready to compete
immediately, but if Gooden and Butler are gone he could well be the
selection. One last item, if Hilario would have played a year in the states
I doubt we would be hearing much smack about Wilcox’s abilities and potential.
Chris Wilcox
Good size and athleticism make him a certain top ten selection. Has backed
out of workouts and will conduct only three joint workouts. Any time that
there has been a player conducting such limited workouts it’s been because
there is something to hide. With Wilcox weighing in at less than 220lbs his
immediate impact at power forward has been somewhat diminished. This
combined with being a developmental player increases the risk associated with
his selection.
Dajuan Wagner
A shooting guard with a scoring mentality in a point guards body. No doubt
he’ll be a great player but he will certainly turn a roster upside down in an
attempt to surround him with complimentary players. His selection would
certainly mean the demise of Andre Miller in a Cavalier uniform and it’s
doubtful that he would make the immediate impact that would be called for in
a replacement for Miller.
Qyntel Woods
An array of talents and seemingly someone the Cavs should consider. Three
point range, passing and ball handling skills and able to defend players on
the wing. His past drug use will scare some teams away although the Lakers
interest will have teams taking a hard look. In the Cavs situation and having
a plethora of similar talents it’s doubtful they go that direction.
Future Considerations
Coaching
As mentioned previously I view Lucas’ term with the Cavs as being on an
interim level. With new ownership rolling in to town he could be passed on
in an attempt to get a higher profile coach. There are several scenarios
that I can see that happening although it would take a total collapse for him
not to make it through the season.
Free Agents
The Cavs will definitely be seeking some veteran help this off-season. Be it
retaining Davis or searching for a player willing to come to town for the
majority of the midlevel exception.
Possible Trades
No one on this roster is safe when the team is willing to trade its best
player in Andre Miller. There is even the outside possibility of moving
Ilgauskas or Person along with Miller to ease the cap pressures. Paxson has
also mentioned the possibility of trading out of the draft for a decent
veteran.
The Next Couple of Drafts
The Cavs won't have a selection in the first round next year if they crawl
out of the lottery. They are certainly making Phoenix wait a long time for
the pick (originally Denver) as part of the deal that brought Wes Person to
town. They have made little secret of their want of Lebron James by
conducting illegal workouts. I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see the
wheels totally come off this season in an attempt to increase their lottery
odds.
VII. Selection
Maybiner Hilario, Power Forward, Brazil, 6'10" 227lbs
The Cavs have a couple ways they can go but so much will be predicated by
whose on the board when they select. The front runners are Drew Gooden and
Caron Butler. If these players are gone it becomes a situation of which the
best player left might be which could include Dajuan Wagner, Qyntel Woods,
Chris Wilcox or Maybiner Hilario. Some other outside possibilities would
include Jeffries or Tskitsivilli.
With the Hilario selection I placed a lot of faith in his size and
athleticism. Also, when in doubt go big and Hilario certainly has that going
for him with many teams considering him a center prospect. Hilario has been
in Cleveland for months and I’m sure the Cavs have seen a lot of him, given
their new found penchant for conducting illegal workouts (i.e. Lebron James).
With Maybiner Hilario the Cavs get an inside defensive presence who will
certainly help a team replete of defense. With him being a developmental
talent they will also slide down the ladder and increase the odds of landing
the #1 next season. As the Cavs have little to look forward to outside of
another walk to the land of bouncing ping pong balls this season, its not
inconceivable that they would choose to wait on a developing Hilario. In many
ways he is not ready for the NBA but the upside potential bode well for his
future.
VIII. What will actually happen
The Cavaliers will walk away from the draft with a bigger or more athletic
player than what currently fills the starting roster. They won't care how
they arrive with one be it a trade of the choice or Gooden or Butler landing
in their lap. The goals are unclear and it’s too far away for new ownership to
change the direction. The wins and losses won't matter nearly the ultimate
goal seems to be getting Lebron James in a Cavs uniform. Next year is certain
to be a rebuilding one and the losses will pile up like the beer bottles in
front of me on draft night.
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