The Suns transformed the Q into a smoldering crater.
–This will be a quick recap. The Cavs were absolutely slaughtered in nearly every aspect of the game.
–You know who had a pretty good game? Omri Casspi. He was 5-for-10 from the field with 5 rebounds. He only took three shots from beyond the arc, which is both an act of capitulation and a welcome acknowledgement that he has not been, for whatever reason, a mediocre three-point shooter this season. He’s still kind of a disaster defensively, but the Israeli has looked like an NBA rotation player of late.
–You know who was pretty awful? Everyone else. Antawn Jamison was 1-for-8. Kyrie Irving had five turnovers. Alonzo Gee was a minus-24. Tristan Thompson couldn’t handle Marcin Gortat, who hung 22 on the rookie.
–A few of you in the comment section mentioned this: TT is suddenly not an awful free throw shooter? He was 4-for-6 in this game, but his stroke looks much smoother. If he continues to put in the work and starts shooting something close to 70%, that would be a huge addition to his game, since he’s starting to figure out how to use his quickness and strength to get to the line, just like he did in college.
–Re: Donald Sloan Watch: I’m pretty sure he’s not good. He has his moments, but he turns the ball over too much and isn’t a particularly capable defender. I think if the Cavs are looking for a guy to make about $2-$3 mil per year to back up Irving for 12 minutes a game, they can do better than Donald Sloan.
The Cavs will travel to Philadelphia and take on the Sixers on Tuesday. Until tomorrow, friends.
We could use the early second rounder on Irving’s backup instead of paying 2-3 million for it.
Sloan has been solid on defense so far. It is too early to tell if he will be a satisfactory backup for Kyrie. I was quite impressed with the chemistry that developed among the entire second unit today. Casspi’s solid game was partly a result of Walton being a good fit with him, Sloan and Harris. They even made Erden look productive a few times. If people are expecting the Cavs to find a player the calibre of Sessions, that probably is not going to happen.
Sorry to say this Colin, but you don’t seem to follow really closely what’s going on. In March Casspi has been back to his shooting skills big time. He also shoots the 3-pointers way over 40% recently. In March his shooting efficiency has been very good among the small forwards. Tonight was one of his less good 3-point nights.
when I watched Sloan at the New Jersey game recently, he picked up where Kyrie left off, attacking and penetrating in a strikingly similar fashion to how Kyrie had moments prior.
Sloan had 4 games and probably 2 training sessions with the Cavs – and fewer TO per minute than Irving:
Maybe it’s a little bit early for assumptions…
I’ve already seen enough from Sloan to know that he is not the backup of the future. Perhaps he will be an end of the bench player for some team, but as a not particularly talented combo guard, his future is in Europe. He would make a lot more money here. He doesn’t have good handle, his shot is clumsy and he doesn’t seem to be able to finish going left. There are many backup PGs we should want over him. And that’s ok.
Speaking of wanting things, going into this game, people should focus on Spencer Hawes. From what I have found, I believe he is an UFA this summer. Correct me if I am wrong. I really think we should make him a good offer. He has a nice mid-range stroke to balance TT and Andy, is a decent rotation defender, and a very good defensive rebounder to compliment our other guys. He is basically a younger version of Z without the crazy talent/skill-set that Z had pre-injury. It will be interesting to see what kind of offers he gets this summer. He is 23 and a legitimate C. Granted, I would like to have someone who can actually catch a lob, but he is a tremendous passer and between him and Andy, we would be very skilled at the 4 and 5. Thoughts?
Ben,
Its always a little risky to pay a guy like Hawes but this year it is doubly so. First he’s having a career year in rebound%, shooting% and assist% while having by far the best defensive metrics of his career. Obviously hes young at 24 and could well simply have made a jump from below average center to above average center but consider that he has done this in only 20 games due to injury this year. Then also consider that its a strike shortened season (reason to be wary about anomalies) and that the 76ers had a really easy schedule to start the season (when he got most of his PT).
I’m not saying its for sure, but I do think there is a lot of risk there and you could end up paying him 9+ mill a year (big men are expensive) and have him regress to being an average center (which would still be an improvement on his first 4 years in the league). If he had played the entire season at this level I would be much more comfortable paying him but with the extra questions the small sample brings I think the most I would want to offer would be lower than what he will get.
If I was going to make a substantial offer to a 76er it would be to Lou Williams (assuming he opts out) and play him 10 mins a game as our #2 pg + 20-24 as our SG. Hes a lot less of a gamble, is young and he has shown he can contribute off the ball sharing the floor with Jrue (who plays 35 mins a game with a 22% usg rate).
Did you see the starting lineup? Do you think this is Scott being told by Gilbert to start losing so that we can have a decent draft pick? I personally think this is a good thing. But maybe I’m wrong, maybe Scott was just giving some of the starters a little more rest than usual?
Ben,
Regarding Hawe’s, in each of the three seasons before this, he shot between 39 – 40% on long 2′s (16 – 23 ft). This year he was making 54%. In each of those three seasons, he shot between 59.4 – 62% at the rim. This year 74.5%.
His shooting in 19 games this year is totally out of line with what he’s done previously and would actually make him one of the best shooters in the NBA at the rim and on long two’s.
I agree with baconbacon, sample size is too small, Hawes almost certainly can’t maintain his shooting from his 19 games this year.
Free agency makes me nervous.
@Bacon
Totally agree that it would be risk for 9mil a year. And yeah, if basically any 7 footer with a pulse gets 5 mil, he will probably go for at least 7 a year depending on the structure. That being said, being saddled with a skilled big man who has always rebounded and passed well, wouldn’t be the end of the world. I’d much rather spend 8 mil him, then have to watch Jamison, Samuels, Erden types… It is likely that his crazy production at the start of the season was a bit of an aberration. But then he came into the league as a 19year old with an awful Kings team and didn’t really have decent coach until Collins. Let’s say he settles in somewhere in between his previous level of play and this season’s, he is still a decent player. He has really seemed to understand when to pass vs shoot this season leading to a much higher fg percentage and an insane assist rate for a big man. I’m not saying that he is our must sign or anything, but he does seem to compliment our current bigs very well.
I would love to get him for 7-8 mill a year, I think though that he will end up well over 9 mill a year for 4 years with an ETO or a 5 year deal from someone. This off season there are some potential “bargains” like offering to take Biedriens’ contract for a lightly protected first rounder from GS or amnestied big men for 1/2 their current cost who only have a couple of years left but are still productive (Brand, Hayward). I think the biggest flexibility you want is to go into that first season of the extra cap fees with space to take back a big contract. If Lebron, Wade and Bosh all picked up their options for that season Miami could save 60-79 million by dumping any one of those 3 for nothing in return. Consider how insane it would be to have Miami offering a 1st rounder to GIVE you a 31 year old D Wade. No locking risky players into big contracts for me until after that first season of crazy is passed.
Bringing in Hawes or any other player for around $7-9M/yr on a multi-year contract could be walking on a very slippery slope for the Cavs. Right now they have $31M committed to TT, Kyrie, Walton, Andy and Casspi. If they can sign Gee for $5M and add about $5-6M signing four draft picks, they are at about$41M. If they bring back Boobie, Samuels, Erden and Sloan or Harris that will add another $8M. That leaves roughly $9M left. Anyone they sign to a multi-year deal could become a CAP killer for the duration of their contract so he would have to be a good acquisition. The Cavs would gain some room as contracts expire but a good portion of that would be eaten up by raises built into existing contracts plus possible future large rookie contracts for future lottery picks. The Cavs will have to be very careful to play the FA game. One wrong move and the guy might as well change his name to Larry Hughes.
You are way overselling it JAG, Walton comes off at the end of next season so there is 6 mill to spend in the summer of 2013, so while an 8 mill players would push us right up against the cap (which is different from lux tax) for 2012-13 in your scenario we would have 6 mill + the MLE to spend in 2013. Then Boobie could be let go, freeing up 5 mill in 2013 in addition meaning we could probably grab an additional 8 mil player in 2013 + and MLE player and still be under the lux tax threashold with a full roster.
The reason not to grab a Hawes in FA is it could prevent us from a much better transaction a year later (like the baron davis one that netted us Irving in the end).
The only way the Cavs kill their cap is if they offer Gordon a Max contract, or if the 7-10 mill guy they sign is injury prone/massively regresses.
Unfortunately Boobie has one more year left.
Boobie’s final year is non guaranteed so the Cavs do not have to bring him back. They could do worse than him. His defense has improved an awful lot this year.