All-Star Roundup, and who Would Help the Cavs? — w/ a Haywood Contract Update

LeBron moved into second place all time in All-Star game scoring with 30 points last night– including 15 in the first eight minutes — but he missed his third MVP trophy when Russell Westbrook went off for 41 points to lead the West to an All-Star game victory last night.

There was a flurry of fluff over the weekend, and it’s impossible to list every interview or soundbite, but one thing of note, LeBron James was elected Vice President of the NBPA, joining president Chris Paul as the top players in the union power hierarchy. Count me in the group that thinks having two max players at the top is bad for the rank and file NBA guys. Their focus is going to on improving contracts for the guys at the top of the salary structure, not the middle or the bottom. Of course, I’m an old school prole. I’m always wary of the rich. If there’s one guy who knows how to leverage his image for gain, it’s James. For all the LeBron news about him holding court at the All-Star game, click here.

J.R. Smith provided my highlight of the weekend (above), by participating in the NBA All Star Weekend fashion show, SI reports.

With the All-Star game in the books, the talk now turns to the NBA trade deadline, which is Thursday the 19th at 3PM. The Cavs are in the middle of a few rumors, but nothing is really concrete. Let’s take a look at who’s out there in trade or as a free agent, and who could help the Cavs. While the Cavs’ biggest needs are probably another big and another guard, they’d add a wing if the price was right.

Chris Manning at FearTheSword aggregated the Jason Lloyd and Mark Stein tweets for a report that the Cavs are not pursuing Amare Stoudemire. Besides, they’d have to give up J.J. Hickson to get him, right? In seriousness, every rumor I’ve read says Dallas is the frontrunner. There’s probably not enough shots to go around here for Amare, ayway.

Speaking of wings, all’s quiet on the Ray Allen front…

Despite rumors that Ray Allen would decide about playing over All-Star, teams haven’t heard if he’ll play. Still no timetable for decision.

— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) February 16, 2015

There aren’t a lot of guys directly linked to the Cavs, but the Cavs are in a tough spot. If the Cavs look to only move Haywood, Harris, and (say it aint so!) Dellavedova, they can only take back slightly over five million in salary. Of course, if Cleveland relaxed their stance on James Jones, Mike Miller, and Shawn Marion, they could have some more flexibility. But with guaranteed contracts and powerful friends and agents, those guys are harder to move.

Count me in the camp that wants no part of Michael Beasley or Andre Blatche. Blatche had an excellent FIBA tournament, and has dominated in China to the tune 31 points and 14.6 rebounds per game. But have you seen clips of guys playing in China? It’s basically Americans and some Euro pros combined with Chinese guys that look like they couldn’t start for Saint Ignatius. It’s a weird league. And I don’t think Beasley will ever screw his head on right. I doubt LeBron wants to relive that adventure. LeBron is a lot of things, but someone who puts up with knuckleheads isn’t one of them.

So let’s look at guys who could help the Cavs. One of the guys at the top of my list? Henry Sims from the Sixers. He is a solid defensive big who can play both spots, doesn’t need to score much, and is on a minimum contract, so the Cavs don’t need to trim the roster to get him. His moratorium on being repatriated to the Cavs is over, too. The only problem, is the Sixers don’t need more middling draft picks. They’d probably rather just hang on to Henry.

Sacramento is a mess. They have rebounding specialist and general thug, Reggie Evans on a vet minimum. The Cavs could use a thug. But at 34, with a 42% field goal percentage and no shotblocking ability, are six hard Reggie Evans fouls worth the risk that he’s going to do something really stupid in the playoffs? You know who might be available though? Darren Collison, and his very reasonable $4.8 million contract. Now would Sactown be stupid to trade a starting point guard on such an affordable contract? I’d offer a first rounder because yes, they’re stupid, and they might actually need that Haywood contract. (HOW?) Sactown also has Ryan Hollins and Razor Ramon Sessions. Let’s just move on.

Jerome Jordan of the Nets is a seven-footer who shoots 59% from the field, and 83% from the line. He boasts a 17.5 PER, and is on a minimum contract with decent per minute shot block and rebound stats. Cavs could do a lot worse, and he’s an RFA after this year.

The Pelicans have a smorgasbord of big men: Omer Asik, Alexis Anjinca, and Jeff Withey. I’m sure they’d love to unload Asik, but the contract doesn’t work and Anjinca has been electric as a backup center with a 20 PER. I’m guessing Withey would be available for the right price. He only plays 6.6 minutes a game, but averages almost a block every ten minutes with a 17 PER. But do the Cavs have an asset the Pelicans want?

Orlando has a ton of serviceable bigs. Kyle O’Quinn is my favorite. Another guy on a minimum contract, he’s a defensive maven who’s lost on that team. He’s a restricted free agent and would give the Cavs some leverage with Tristan Thompson next year. I’d give up a future first for O’Quinn. Dewayne Dedmon is another guy who fits the bill: an undrafted player on the second year of a minimum contract who sports a 1.44 DRPM. The Ghost of Luke Ridnour plays in Orlando too.

I brought up the Lakers’ Robert Sacre‘s name the other day. He posts a 2.29 DRPM and has a bit of thug to him. I like him. There’s Lots of Ed Davis fantasies out there among CtB readers, but I’m betting the Lakers hang on to him to try to re-sign him. But who knows? David is a guy that L.A. could maybe turn into a first rounder. He’s a very solid player with good percentages and splits, and a total RPM around zero. Wayne Ellington also needs to be on the Cavs radar. With Irving and LeBron, Ellington can play at the one in stretches, and his shooting would do wonders for this team. I’d even park Delly on the pine for Wayne. Haywood pick and a first rounder for them, so that LA can use it when they get over the cap? Maybe even a conditional pick?

The Knicks Cole Aldrich is a guy I’ve always liked. He boasts an RPM just under 16 and is a big body. He has an ORPM below -4.  (Is that possible?) That has to be cause he’s on the Knicks, right? Pablo Prigioni is there too. He’s a 37 year old ball hawking guard who can play point and shoot 37% from three. Solid third (or backup) point, right? Why not just get half the Knicks squad?

Miles Plumlee from Phoenix is available, and Phoenix is one of those teams that could actually use the Brendan Haywood contract next year. Plumlee only shoots 50% from the line, and that leads to only a 13 PER, but he does post a 1.74 DRPM. Also, Plumlee is on the hook for a reasonable $2.1 million team option next year.

Miles is the Plumlee on the bottom.

Denver’s Darrell Arthur… 6’9″ guy who has played center before, and shoots 25% from three, but takes 2.3 a game… His splits: 42%/25%/81% 7.5/3.2 . He does sport a very good 1.19 RPM but only a 12.98 PER. Darrell’s a little too small to back up Mozgov, and his $3.2 million salary is a bit tough. When it comes to guards, I feel like saying “Jameer Nelson’s available” is the basketball equivalent of the Sprint Hamster saying this.

But hey, if you want to replace Delly with a guy who finishes just as poorly, has lost his defensive chops, and isn’t hitting at the same clip from three, be my guest. To wrap up, my favorite option is probably Sacre and Ellington. Ellington can play point on this team, and did some ball-handling the first time he was in Cleveland. But Henry Sims, Prigioni, and/or Orlando’s bigs would great additions.

— Update —

Arch Stanton makes a great point about the Haywood contract, but let’s not forget why other teams are interested. Just because the Cavs can’t use it in a sign and trade because they’re taxpayers, doesn’t mean it’s not incredibly valuable. Here’s a list of all NBA salaries for next year. Look at guys making around $10 million next year. There are a ton.  There are gettable guys the Cavs could get with the Haywood contract this summer. It would be very very shortsighted to move the Haywood contract now.  Also remember that the Cavs can add existing salaries to Haywood’s contract. It’s not like a salary exception. Mike Miller is untouchable for this season, but for next? The Cavs could combine it to add a guy like Iguodala…

Notable guys on this list by salary, in the millions: Andre Iguodala $12.3, Larry Sanders  $11 (if you’re into that sort of thing), Danilo Gallinari $10.9, Ryan Anderson $8.5, Channing Frye $7.8, Isaiah Thomas $6.9, Marvin Williams $7, J.J. Redick $6.9, Jarret Jack $6.3, Jason Thompson, $6.4, Josh McRoberts, $5.5, Spencer Hawes, $5.5, Shaun Livingston $5.3, Victor Oladipo, $5.2, Tony Allen, $5.2, Otto Porter $4.7, Kris Humphries $4.6, Ian Mahinmi $4, Marreese Speights $3.7, The Morris brothers $8 and $9 million, and a very very intriguing Kenneth Faried whose $12 million 2016-2017 salary will be a bargain.

The cap is going to explode in 2016-2017. It might increase to $90 million. Guys on this list with contracts going into 16-17 might end up being an absolute bargain.