Over the past few weeks, we have been critical of the way the Cleveland Cavaliers roster has been put together and the inaction of the team’s GM, Chris Grant.
Early this morning, Grant finally did something and also cashed in some of the assets he’s been collecting over the past few seasons.
Grant dealt Andrew Bynum, a player who had worn out his welcome in Cleveland for whatever reason, and three future draft picks to the Chicago Bulls for two-time all-star small forward Luol Deng.
Finally, the wine and gold have a legitimate small forward.
Deng can be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year, but it is refreshing to see a Cleveland team close to a post-season berth take a chance and try to make the playoffs instead of collecting more tickets for the draft lottery.
Let us remind you that even though the Cavs are 11-23 on the season, they are just three games out of the eighth seed in the weak Eastern Conference.
We have been bemoaning the balance of the roster for a few weeks now, as our feeling is it is made up of point guards and power forwards.
The Duke alum is still just 28 years old (turning 29 in April) and is averaging 19.0 points per game this year, a figure that would put him second on the Cavs. He’s also grabbing seven rebounds a night and is a solid defender (2nd team all defense in 2011-12), which should make Mike Brown happy.
He’s a career 16.0 point scorer and is a 46% lifetime shooter from the floor. He’s a quality player and quite frankly is the second best player wearing the wine and gold.
And you basically gave up nothing to sign him, because the draft picks are something a young team doesn’t need. Why add more youth, and the players coveted by the people who value the unknown may never be as good as the newest Cavalier.
Bynum was a risk when the Cavs inked him to a two-year deal last summer, having not played at all last season. He showed some flashes of playing well, most notably a 20 point effort against the Bulls ironically. However, Cleveland basically paid him to go home a little over a week ago.
For the Cavs to turn him into an all-star in Deng is unbelievable.
Hopefully, there are still more moves to come because the team is still top-heavy with guards who need the ball and power forwards. For example, where does Mike Brown find minutes for first overall pick Anthony Bennett.
Now the onus for success shifts toward the coach, who needs to shorten his rotation to nine players.
For right now, the starting lineup will have two players who can shoot (Deng and C.J. Miles) to go with Kyrie Irving.
Our proposal is to use Irving, Dion Waiters and Jarrett Jack at guards with Miles getting time at both shooting guard and small forward with Deng.
Tristan Thompson, Anderson Varejao, Bennett, and Tyler Zeller should divide the big men spots.
That would leave Alonzo Gee and Earl Clark as the odd men out.
What is clear is the Cavs have a better mix of talent today than they did yesterday, and their GM used an asset to improve his basketball team.
Whether or not it translates to success on the floor is now up to the coaching staff.
JK
Cleveland Sports Perspective 