Links to the Present: April 30, 2013
2013-04-30
“One name that makes sense is former Cavs guard Eric Snow, who was an assistant under Larry Brown at SMU this past season. He doesn’t have vast coaching experience, but he seems like he’d be a Brown-type guy. He’s disciplined, hard-working and no-nonsense. Snow, a Canton native, played for the Cavs from 2004-08. The Cavs could keep one of the holdovers from Coach Byron Scott’s staff — Jamahl Mosley or Nate Tibbetts — or perhaps Canton Charge coach Alex Jensen. One former player who likely called Brown is ex-Cavs forward Donyell Marshall, who is living in the Cleveland area. He coached in the NBA Development League two years ago.” [Bob Finan – The News Herald]
“It was a stunning admission, even from a man as emotional as Dan Gilbert.” [Marla Ridenour – Akron Beacon Journal]
“The Cavs are interested in Oden, but I’m not sure if that interest is going to translate into a deal _ and certainly not before this summer’s free-agent signing period begins in July. Oden will have other suitors, and he may go to the highest bidder, which probably won’t be the Cavs. A lot will depend on what happens between now and then, especially with regard to the NBA lottery and draft and, perhaps, trades.” [Mary Schmitt Boyer – The Plain Dealer]
“So frustrated did the Cavs owner become that after the Cavs 113-103 loss to visiting Denver on Feb. 9, Gilbert tweeted, “We have made good progress recently but when the Cleveland Cavaliers arrive back to the top tier of the NBA we will be a DEFENSIVE 1st team.” This came during the team’s best month of the season.” [Mary Schmitt Boyer – The Plain Dealer]
“Dan Gilbert explicitly called firing Brown three years ago a mistake, though it seems most people still think he was right to do it back then. My feelings that summer were mostly of despair. I didn’t think LeBron was going to come back, and I doubted any other coach would be as good for the Cavaliers as Mike Brown. I didn’t like the firing then, but I believe I was in the minority.” [David Zavac – Fear The Sword]
“What’s next: His contract is up and if Scott were still the coach, the plan was supposedly to let him test the market. That likely remains the case. But there’s little doubt Livingston is Brown’s kind of guy. Consider it 50-50 that he returns.” [Sam Amico – Fox Sports Ohio]
Of players involved in more than 10% of the Cavaliers possessions, Shaun Livingston fared best in raw plus minus.
Commentariat: choose 1 free agent you would like the Cavs to pursue, and provide your ideal (try to be realistic) contract details. I’ll start: DeMarre Carroll: 4 years @ 2 million a year. He was given the most opportunity to contribute in February, where he averaged slightly over 20 minutes a night. During that stretch he posted an ORTG and DRTG of 109.6 and 95.3, respectively. His per-minute numbers stuff looks like a slightly more active version of Alonzo Gee. But based on some advanced statistics, Carroll had a superior season. He’s also 2 inches taller than Gee and the Cavs are undersized at SG, SF, and PF right now. I think he could be an upgrade over Gee in Mike Brown’s system and would command a smaller contract. A 4 year contract would bring him to age 31.
