“[LeBron] basically told me to keep getting better every day. Coming from a player like him and his caliber it means a lot. Everything he said was right; keep playing every day and help my team get better.” [Manny Harris via Mary Schmitt Boyer]
I mean, the streak wasn’t going to end in Miami. As WFNY’s Scott Sargent points out, the Cavs have a legitimate shot at stopping this skid against Indiana on Wednesday. Their schedule also gets considerably easier this month, with games against Memphis, Detroit, and Washington on the horizon. None of those teams are particularly good, but does anyone else look at those matchups and think to themselves “the other squad is still considerably more talented than this Cavs team.”
Rob Oller writes about what he has coined “The Derision,” and the idea that the Cavs’ completely abhorrent play has gone largely unnoticed by the national media throughout the season, but given that, in any given game, an intelligent NBA fan probably wouldn’t give the Cavaliers more than about an 8% chance of winning, the Philadelphia 76ers’ infamous 9-73 is in play. He’s the first reputable writer of whom I am aware that has mentioned this possibility, but if the Cavs continue to sputter into oblivion for the next few weeks, he won’t be the last.
One of the running subplots of this season has been, in light of the Cavs’ futility, how long are fans going to stand by this team while it completely retools and starts enacting a plan for success some three or four years down the road. Bill Livingston talks to a Cavs season ticket holder who, like many, is incredibly frustrated by team as it is currently constructed. What I’m drawing from articles like this and a general sense of where Cleveland basketball fans are at emotionally via Twitter and the blogosphere, the Cavs desperately need to acquire an exciting young talent in the draft this summer. We’ve all been talking ourselves into Manny Harris and Christian Eyenga, but I think even the most optimistic Cavaliers supporters don’t see either of them as the engine of a playoff or championship team. We need Kyrie Irving or Derrick Williams or Perry Jones and we need them to be good; even more importantly, we need them to exhibit the potential to be exceptional. If you’re a Wizards fan, sure, you hate seeing your team lose as regularly as it does, but at least John Wall has shown some baffling athleticism, solid point guard instincts, and you can envision a universe in which, through some success in the draft and a smart free agent signing here or there, the Wiz can enter into NBA relevance followed by years of title contention. Cavs fans’ eyes need to be aglow with the same glimmer if the Q is going to quake as it did for the past seven years.
On The Twitters
“Can this be right? Only 4 times in the past 25 years has the team with the worst record in the NBA won the draft lottery.” [realcavsfans]
“Even though I’m starting to sound like Dan Gilbert, but I’m becoming a big Manny Harris fan. This kid can play.” [Bob Finnan]
“Gotta say, every game Eyenga plays, he looks better and better.” [Jason Lloyd]
First and foremost, we need to draft a star who can stomach living in Cleveland. An aversion to sunlight would be helpful.
I’m glad LBJ is showing some ‘civility’ to Manny. This can only help Manny’s game. Regardless of the situation around it, it’s always good to have one of the top players in the league offer some encouragement.
Yeah it was cool to see James give some props to Harris, hopefully it pushes Harris to get better and grow as an NBA player. We’ll see…
Hi, John
For those of us to dim-witted to understand the rules for trading palyers in the NBA could you explain something. The Cavs salaries this year total 50 million. Just under half that goes to Mo Williams and Jamison. How much salary would the Cavs have to take back in a trade (and maybe they can’t, the contracts make them untradible)?
If I am Glibert I am thinking why pay these guys that much money. What difference does it matter if I lose by an average of 15 a night or 20. Particularly Jamison at 34? If you can get a couple draft picks why not? Even if you jsut get a basically worthless econd round pick at least you dump the contract.
that first tweet kinda surprised me….figured most people know just because you have worst record doesn’t mean you’ll get first pick…more likely to land in top 5 but not #1 pick. i wonder why the NBA has a lottery but all other leagues base it on records….no wonder the same teams keep being competitive unless a team gets invovled in shady trades like boston la and miami hahaha
Hey Eric,
I think I can field your question. In the NBA, when two teams that are over the soft salary cap (or two teams that are making a trade that would put them over the soft cap), the team that is taking on more money than the other squad may only take on 125% plus $100k of the amount of salary they are sending out. So, for example, if the Cavs were to trade Jamison and Mo Williams, who, for the sake of this example, make $25 mil combined this year. If they were to trade Jamison and Williams to, say, the Mavericks, they would need to take in roughly $20 mil in salary. And the Cavs would want a good chunk of that $20 mil in salary to be coming off the books at the end of the year in the form of an expiring contract, otherwise they would just be trading Mo and Antawn’s lousy contracts for another team’s lousy contract(s), netting no real benefit in the end.
That sort of trade would technically work, but it’s tough to find a team that wants to take on Jamison and/or Williams because their contracts extend over the next couple years, and I’m not sure even a contender would look at the cost/benefit of taking either of those contracts and go “yeah, let’s do it” because it would most likely kill their cap flexibility. I see what you’re saying, and I would personally like to see the Cavs dump those contracts, too, but they need another team to bite.
That help?