Our Mascott is Gone
2012-11-29
So long and thanks for all the cash!
The Cavs waived Luke Harangody, unofficial mascot of CtB, today, in order to make room for Kevin Jones of West Virginia who averaged 27 points and 13.7 rebounds in 3 games with the Charge. Here’s the link. By receiving a restricted free agent qualifying offer from the Cavs last summer, Harangody will make over $1.05 million guaranteed this season. Recently sidelined with knee surgery, Harangody did not play in any regular season games this year. We’ve had our fun with him, but I’m sure it sucks to get hurt and be cut. In all seriousness, good luck, and Godspeed. I hope this is not the last we’ve heard of Luke Harangody.
Update: Here’s a link to Colin’s fantastic piece on Harangody from February. Thanks to CtB commenter, Richard, for the reminder.
Kj, I’m sure you heard Charles Barkley called Varejao a forward like 12 times in a 10 second span on national tv in front of millions of people. [MILLIONS Sions ions nnss] I was just praying you didn’t have any sharp objects around. I tweeted that Varejao is actually a center now. got your back bro
Hey, Tom! Defensive much! Jesus…
In the immortal words of Sgt. Hulka, “lighten up, Francis.”
To the topic, never understood how Luke made the squad this year. Glad to see him go.
I may be in the minority on this, but I think Grant should just maintain cap flexibility until after next season when You-Know-Who can opt out of his contract and return to finish the job he started. The grass here in Cleveland should look much greener after another 1.5 years of development (and hopefully a playoff appearance) for the young guys.
so far my single favorite piece from this blog was “The Edge of the Bench” Colin wrote last february.
http://www.cavstheblog.com/?p=7705
RIP Luke. Work on your 3 point jump shot and we might see you back some day.
Having a lot of waivable 1-year contracts can be useful for trades, I think that’s what it was about in part. Though not sure that totally explains it. Maybe he helped sell tickets in Canton? Like, literally worked in the ticket booth?
Scuzz
This is it exactly. Why would Grant go out and sign some FAs just make a few bitter Clevelanders feel better about themselves?
He’s playing it smart.
true, and this singing only goes to prove he is more interested in the future than the present. If we’re going to waste money, and our number one need is any warm body that can play 15 minutes a game and not completely embarrass themselves, why did we waste money on a guy that won’t get playing time barring injury and is a prospect for the future? This move proves nothing. I do think Grant intentionally went into the season with a bad bench by the absense of building anything. Worrying about future cap holds is one thing, but letting… Read more »
@ Jonathan
I meant it’s a bummer about his knees. Not saying that the Cavs would have landed him. But I think they would have offered a big contract at him had he been healthy.
I’m tempted to make mean jokes, but he seems like a hardworking guy. I wish him luck.
@Scuzz I don’t think it’s a bummer that we missed out on Bynum. Dodged a bullet there.
@Tom
It’s a bit of a stretch to say this move emphatically proves that Chris Grant isn’t intentionally building a bad bench. Kevin Jones is an undrafted rookie who has played a total of 3 games in the D-League. He’s most likely not even gonna see the court outside of garbage time, let alone be an impact player that greatly improves our bench.
Good luck, Luke. It’s a shame to see you go. I’m glad to see Kevin get put on the team. He had a pretty good senior year, and it seemed like he could become a quality player off the bench. If memory serves, he plays like Glen Davis. Not a high-flyer, but can play in the paint. A good rebouner, his shot is so-so. @Tom I never thought that Grant was out to build a bad bench, but more trying to be cautious with spending in FA. I wonder if he was biding his time this season and looking at… Read more »
I don’t see how this means Chris Grant is doing anything positive or negative. The Cavs freely hand out money (see Baron). The Cavs must feel that they need that back end roster spot filled with a live healthy body.
Gonna Miss Ya Luke…
The floor is 85% this year and 90% starting next season, but I think Baron Davis’ contract got us over that number.
Gody was a Byron Scott fav and an excellent practice player from what I’ve read.
Not a requirement this year, as I understand it. Next year we’ll need to spend to reach it. I just though it was odd with all the guys battling for roster spots, to guarantee one to a dude who was clearly just going to be an end-of-the-bench guy. Kevin Jones was one of those guys in the mix. Why they didn’t just let Gody ride off into the sunset, and give the spot to Jones (at a cheaper rate) at the outset, we may never know.
How were they in relation to the salary floor? Did they just give him the money to hit the floor?
I’m in the camp believing that Grant has a plan for this team, and generally makes decent decisions, but signing Harangody to the qualifying offer (early!) in the offseason was a real head-scratcher.
Sorry to see Gody go, but Jones plays a pretty good game.
Stop being so negative Mallory.
Luke –
This sucks. I know we had some fun at your expense, but dude, I’m gonna miss ya, man. You were so cool – you’d take jump shots even though there wasn’t a chance of them going in, your D was tenacious for a big lumbering white dude, and you gave us all hope for a better tomorrow.
I’ll miss ya Luke. Hope some other team is smart enough to snatch you up.
-Mal
This, permanently, answers the question for me, is Chris Grant intentionally building a bad bench. The answer is emphatically no. Why would you waste money to make your bench better if you were doing that.