Once upon a time, Anthony Parker was, as I understand, perhaps the best player in the history of Israeli basketball. He was like Kobe Bryant — he could shoot from anywhere, make plays when he needed to, and fill up the scoreboard while demoralizing his opponents.
When Parker returned to North America with the Raptors, he was a prototypical “3-and-D” player — he played great man-to-man defense and knocked down open threes on offense, particularly from the corners, which Toronto fans began referring to as “Parkerville.”
In 2009-10, AP was brought in to be a role player next to LeBron, and he did a decent enough job, although he could never defend or put pressure on defenses the way a 100% Delonte did in 2008-09.
In 2009-10, AP was in a situation he wasn’t supposed to be in, and he knew it. Parker’s defense is still decent, but it’s anything but game-changing, and he wasn’t able to save the Cavs’ abysmal defense. The Cavs didn’t have enough quality playmakers to open him up for threes, which meant he had to try and find his “Michael Jordan of Isreal” form, and the results weren’t pretty. You could see flashes of the player he used to be — the smooth jumpers off of pin-downs, the surprisingly good playmaking, the smooth footwork on offense. However, at 36, AP showed that he isn’t a starting-quality two-guard anymore, and would be a fringe rotation player at best on a contender. By the way, Anthony Parker played the 3rd-most minutes of any Cavalier last season.
Early in the season, Parker made his threes, but was way outmatched whenever he stepped inside the arc. Parker’s best moments of the season came in February, which could be described as a “please, for the love of all that is holy, trade me to a decent team for one more shot at a ring” stretch of basketball. In February, Parker averaged a season-high 11.7 points per game on 50% shooting from the field and 47.4% from beyond the arc, and the Bulls were starting Keith Bogans at shooting guard. Ultimately, though, nobody had any real interest in AP, and that seemed to take a lot of the wind out of his sails.
In March, Parker averaged 7.5 points on 39% shooting overall and 35% from beyond the arc, with the only real bright spot being a 20 point-performance against the Heat that AP recorded while only taking nine shots. I think motivation was an issue for Parker last season.
Parker won’t be back for the 2011-12 season — the Cavs have Casspi wearing chai next season, and the backcourt that finishes games will be Irving/Baron anyways. Hopefully Parker finds a contender that can find a use for him as a 7th-9th option next season, because he can still contribute with his shot and his smarts and he deserves some more NBA success before he calls it a career.
2010-11 Grade: C minus
Outlook for 2011-12: He’s gone.
If we can rid ourselves of Anthony Parker and Daniel Gibson (leaving Andy as the only remnant of the Lebron era) I would consider the next season a total success. I’ll trade Gibson right now for a 3rd round pick.
So you would trade him for an imaginary draft pick?
(I think the best offer for Gibson might be a 4th rounder…. Which is too bad, because if he could prove he could go a month without getting hurt, contenders would certainly covet him for a playoff run and even give up a late 1st-rounder.)
But PD reports suggest the Cavs want to bring AP back because they “love his character”… but giving a roster spot and minutes would be a bit surprising to say the least. Maybe a coaching role makes sense, if he’s that great a guy and his knowledge of the game is deep.
The Cavs could use a younger version of Parker right now. I’m hoping they don’t end up bringing him back as a player only because that would mean that they see no future in the NBA for some of the younger guys.
Gibson might still have a future as a solid role player on the Cavs. The injuries are probably harming his career more than his size. Scott doesn’t mind playing two small guards and there will be times that they will need his shooting ability.
Pairing Gibson with Kyrie/Baron could be productive for stretches of the game. For Gibson to be effective, he needs a playmaker handling the ball that forces the defense to collapse into the paint to set up a drive and dish. Even though Gibson’s too small to start at SG and has trouble staying healthy, he could be a good backup guard.
No way should AP be playing for the Cavs next year. By the time this team becomes a playoff contender, he will be 40. He belongs on a win-now contender (maybe Boston or Chicago). David Lighty or Scotty Hopson can’t be that much of a downgrade from AP. Plus, being 15 years younger is a major advantage.
@Alex I seriously doubt Boston would take him because they need youth so Chicago might be the best place for him
Ok for the guys on the top of the comment land, there are only 2 rounds in the basketball draft, football has 7. Also, Boobie brought more than what he did on the court. He was our best (second best? either way it was him and varejao) player for much of the season until he got hurt. The problem is that he tried to do too much and fill the void that LeBron left, and thats why he got hurt. Boobie is a shooter, can defend and rebound well and can every once and a while drop in a floater off of a good offensive set. He is a VERY valuable player if only because of his locker room calmness and his Fan Favoritedom. I mean lets be honest, who on the Cavs tried harder this season? no one. not. a. one. you could make a case for Varejao but at most he is equal to Boobie IMO. I mean this is the guy who was the only one trying in the first heat game and played quality D on D-Wade, slowing him down enough to make him less effective. You can STOP D-wade but you can slow him down, and boobie did. PPL need to remember him for what he is on AND off the court and remember that this guy LOVES it here. Stop hating.
As for AP, dude is a solid player and Chicago was stupid not to bring him in. He is twice the player Keith Bogans is and is much better than Kyle Korver. He could have taken both their minutes and fit their system perfectly. Its possible that this hurt them more than ppl knew in the Chicago series, when LeBron tore them apart. Guess what? AP, at 6-6, could have defended LeBron in stretches and at least got in his way, which is pretty much all you can do (unless your name is Shawn Marion, Deshawn Stevenson, or Jason Kidd…just sayin….) He could drop epic 3s with D-Rose slicing to the hoop, and if they closed out on him he could do his idiotic dribble moves that seem to work about half the time….which considering his role would be pretty good. Game 2 of the ECF is a perfect example. Between the Chicago shooting guards the stat line was 14 pts, 2 assists 2 steals and 2-9 beyond the arc. in 50 minutes of play. Thats pretty terrible. AP easily could have bumped that to 20 pts 4 assists and 5-9 beyond the arc, and played just as good defense (or better because D-wade was a rebound away from 24-10)
@justin the comment of the day my man daniel gibson has heart and he can be a very valuable SIXTH man if u ask me i see him as a jason terry type player when boobie is on he can change the game when his jumper falling. the cavs need to sign an athletic quick shooting guard because i feel thats what you need these days in the nba
Do you guys remember 2 years ago? when Boobie was nothing more than a bench warmer for the 60 win Cavs? That’s what he really is as a player, and don’t tell me anything about this year because anybody could’ve shined on this years Cavs. That’s just how bad they were. His skill set is easy to come by in the NBA and I say we deal him and let AP retire. (As much as I love both of them, they aren’t what we should be looking for right now.