Now that the Indians fine season is over, we at Cleveland Sports Perspective realize we have forgotten about the NBA’s defending Eastern Conference Champions, our own Cleveland Cavaliers. It’s the price that has to be paid living in a town where a couple of teams have deep runs in the playoffs in the same year. The regular season starts a week from today with the Dallas Mavericks visiting the “Q”, so it’s time to start looking at the wine and gold.
The biggest news out of training camp has been the holdout of guard Sasha Pavlovic and big man Anderson Varajao, and how those holdouts will impact the team. You have to put yourself in GM Danny Ferry’s shoes. You have to understand that one of the reasons this team hasn’t made a big splash in the off-season is the number of untradeable, bad contracts currently on the roster. I’m talking about Donyell Marshall, Eric Snow, Damon Jones, and Ira Newble. The last thing Ferry wants to do is hamstring himself with more deals of this ilk. That’s why he doesn’t just load up the truck with cash and deliver it to the front door of both players to get them into camp.
With the addition of free agent Devin Brown, and the development of second year men, Shannon Brown and Daniel Gibson, the Cavs are ready to allow Pavlovic to change teams. I don’t think Mike Brown is losing sleep about Sasha not being in camp, as both Browns are better defenders than Pavlovic, and at the worst can be the streaky offensive player Sasha was last season. I’m guessing the front office is hoping Pavlovic will receive an offer soon, so they can work out a sign and trade, hopefully for some needed draft picks.
The Varajao situation is more problematic. He is a key member of the wine and gold in his role as the number one back up at center and power forward. Donyell Marshall cannot defend at the four, and sliding Drew Gooden into the pivot weakens the defense as well. The hope is that Dwayne Jones, who has little experience, and Cedric Simmons, also in his second year, can fill in at those spots. That is a huge leap of faith for a team that has championship aspirations. However, giving the Wild Thing a contract more than that of Gooden, and over $10 million per year can only hurt the Cavaliers in the future.
As for the rest of the team, we should continue to see improvement from LeBron James. Remember, he will turn just 23 on December 30th. That is indeed a scary thought. It is important for the coaching staff to develop another post player who can score because Zydrunas Ilgauskas isn’t getting any younger. Coach Brown is putting in a new offense again, and here’s hoping he sticks with it throughout the season. He needs to get James in positions to finish, not to initiate the play. Also, the new offense has to mask the lack of a true playmaker in the backcourt. Both Larry Hughes and Gibson are combo guards, so in theory, either can start the attack. That might be the biggest key to the season.
We know the Cavs will be a good defensive team. The head coach has preached it from day one, and last year the wine and gold was a very good team on the defensive end. With Varajao not in camp, they need Jones to step up and rebound and defend to pick up the slack. I’m anxious to see how much better last year’s rookies are, and to see if the improved shot LeBron showed in the summer translates in the regular season. The Eastern Conference will be better than last season with the young Bulls gaining more experience and the Celtics having their triad of stars, to go along with the usual suspects (Pistons, Nets, Heat). It won’t be easy getting back to The Finals this season.
JK
Cleveland Sports Perspective 