The NBA trading deadline is a little over two weeks away, and Cavalier fans are anxious. They believe their team has a chance to win the NBA title, and they are clamoring for the deal that will put their team “over the top”. However, it’s not as easy as getting a big bat or an extra starting pitcher in baseball. Basketball is a sport that relies on each player working with each other. The chemistry involved is very important.
Right now, the Cleveland Cavaliers have great chemistry, both on and off the court. The right trade could solidify the wine and gold’s title hopes. The wrong deal could end the season earlier than most people would like.
My comment to Cavs’ fans is to be careful what you wish for.
Let’s take the case of Phoenix power forward, Amare Stoudemire, who is currently on the trading block. The Cavs could use some help on the front line; so naturally, Cleveland fans are salivating at the thought of having the big man on the floor with LeBron James, and newly named All Star, Mo Williams. Still, would this work out on the court as well as it looks on paper?
First, let’s remember the Cavaliers’ philosophy. They want to win with defense and rebounding. Stoudemire has said he wants to go somewhere where he can be “the man”. I take this to mean he wants to be the main scorer. Well, he’s not going to be that as long as #23 is suiting up for Cleveland.
Stoudemire is not a particularly a strong defender, so if he’s not willing to work hard on that end of the floor, he’s going to have a problem with Mike Brown, and the rest of his teammates, who have bought into Brown’s mantra of defense, defense, and more defense.
He also is not a strong rebounder. At 6’10”, he is currently averaging eight rebounds per night, just one more per game than James. He has never grabbed more than 10 boards per game in any year of his career. As of late, the Cavs’ problem has been the drop off in rebounding, so Stoudemire is not a solution in this area.
If GM Danny Ferry is going get some help before the trading deadline, the player he gets has to fit in with both the players and the coaching staff. This means he will have to be a good defensive player, not need the ball, and have a contract that expires before the end of the 2010 season. We’ve heard the names that fit those criteria, guys like Marcus Camby or Gerald Wallace.
This isn’t fantasy basketball. It’s not as simple as getting a guy like Amare Stoudemire and plugging him into your lineup. Perhaps Ferry can talk to the big man and find out that he will work hard on defense and his rebounding. However, I would feel better about Stoudemire if he said he wanted to be a champion, instead of “the man”.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 
When Steve Kerr and Coach Porter decided to go out and get Shaq, they were pretty much telling Amare Stoudemire he wasn’t capable of dominating the paint on his own. So when Amare says he wants to be "the man", I think he’s probably referring to that. I knew that trade for O’neal would cause problems…… If Stoudemire came to Cleveland, he would be the man (in the middle.) Z is at his best from the outside anyway, so there would be no problem with two big man trying to dominate the paint. And Lebron would distribute the ball to him in a way that Steve Nash did.Mike Brown "does" stress defense, but he is obviously not too concerned about Wally’s lack of defense or Daniel Gibson being a liability due to his lack of size against bigger guards. The main reason why those guys get minutes is because they score…. Amare Stoudemire can score; at a higher rate and a much better percentage than both of them. Coach Brown would not mind having another All Star on his team. But it doesn’t matter, I just don’t see Cleveland getting in on this trade because there are so many lofty offers already on the table. I agree with you though; a bad trade will cause too many problems for this team, it could ruin the future of this franchise. The Dallas Mavericks are a perfect example, but a good trade can turn the Cavs into a "serious" championship contender. The Lakers and the Celtics (last year) are good examples. So I would like to see Danny Ferry "aggressively" explore every possible option. Vince Carter is a long shot, but he would take so much pressure off Lebron. He’s a decent jump shooter and still a great finisher. Gerald Wallace would be a nice fit along side Lebron and Mo, but his injury takes away that possibility. Corey Maggette is a guy who I would like to see in a Cavs uniform because he can play great defense and he can score. Marcus Camby would give us more muscle in the middle, and his ability to hit the medium range jumper would really help this team. There are so many options out there worth considering, but Danny Ferry will have to be willing to gamble just a little bit.
Demetrius: I think Brown has been forced into using Szczerbiak and Gibson more because of the injuries to West and Pavlovic, who are better defenders. And it pains me to say that because Sasha drives me crazy.