Thanks, Browns. For Making Football Matter Again

If the plan for the Cleveland Browns continues to progress, 2018 will be the known as the year football became relevant in northeast Ohio again.

This afternoon, the Browns have a chance to finish over .500 at 8-7-1, and as a bonus, they can knock the Baltimore Ravens out of the playoffs.

After a pair of seasons in which they won a single game combined, Cleveland has become normal. They can be classed with the rest of the league, and not a joke of a franchise.

And over the past three seasons, the organization (and yes, we mean both general managers) has put together a solid core of very good young players.

It appears after all these years the Browns have their quarterback in rookie Baker Mayfield. They have a pass rushing force, Myles Garrett, for perhaps the first time since the 1950’s.

They have a shutdown cornerback in Denzel Ward, if he can avoid getting concussions which kept him out much of the second half of the year. We have heard people talk about Ward not making as much of an impact since the first few games of the season, and that’s because opponents stopped throwing his way.

Nick Chubb should reach the 1,000 yard plateau today, despite not really playing much in the first half of the season. Joe Schobert is the leader of the defense from middle linebacker, and when Gregg Williams is asked about Mayfield’s leadership, he always brings up Schobert as well.

And Jabril Peppers and Larry Ogunjobi are showing they will be mainstays of the defense.

Yes, the Browns still have some holes, they need to add depth, and they could use help at linebacker and in the secondary, and also need to add to the offensive line.

Instead of looking for a quarterback, the main focus of this off-season will be to find the head coach that will hopefully guide the Browns to the playoffs for the first time since 2002, and the man who can take the franchise to its first Super Bowl.

In the past week, we have heard growing whispers that owner Jimmy Haslam will be involved in the process, and we pray this is not the case.

Let GM John Dorsey lead the search, make the decision, and have the owner sign off. That should be the extent of Haslam’s involvement.

Our concern is that ownership wants to bring in the “hot” name, a flashy hire, instead of getting the best man for the job.

In our opinion, there aren’t a lot of difference makers as a head coach in the NFL, and two of them, Andy Reid and John Harbaugh, were not the hot coordinators in the league when hired.

But they were leaders, and turned out to be the best men for the job for their respective teams.

And that’s what Dorsey should be looking for, and we believe he will pick the correct candidate. Hopefully, the ownership goes along with his choice.

With a bunch of draft picks this spring and a ton of salary cap space at his disposal, Dorsey’s charge this off-season is taking the Cleveland Browns from a contender to an AFC power, a team that is consistently in the playoff mix.

No matter what happens today, 2018 will be looked at fondly down the road by football fans here.

It was the year football mattered again.

Cavs’ Slumping And Defense Is Still An Issue

The Cleveland Cavaliers had a decent stretch of games from December 3rd, a win over Brooklyn on the road, through December 18th, another victory on the road over Indiana.

The wine and gold went 4-5 in that span, and the losses were pretty much against the NBA’s best squads, two losses to Milwaukee, and defeats at the hands of the Warriors and 76ers.

No one can complain about losing to those teams.

However, since the win over Indiana, the Cavs have lost to Charlotte, Toronto, a depressing home loss to Chicago, and Memphis.

The injuries appear to have taken its toll on the roster. Of course, Kevin Love has missed most of the season, but now Tristan Thompson is out as well, and David Nwaba and Rodney Hood have been out of the lineup in the past couple of weeks.

That’s two of the team’s best players, their best perimeter defender, and perhaps their best perimeter shooter. You take those spots off of any NBA team, and they will struggle, so it is no surprise the Cavs’ performance has dipped as of late.

The slump has coincided with rookie Collin Sexton hitting the proverbial rookie wall too, which hasn’t helped the team’s showing either.

Sexton has made just 20 of his 64 shots in those four games (31.3% compared to his season total of 42.9%), and he’s hit just one of his last 12 three point attempts, covering seven games.

His assist totals are up though, accumulating 15 in the past four contests, compared to 2.6 dimes per game for the season.

He’s also not getting to the free throw line either. In six of the last 10 games, he failed to get to the charity stripe, something that failed to occur only seven times before this stretch.

While many people have written Sexton off because he didn’t play like Kyrie Irving immediately, we still think the 19-year-old can still be a good player.

That said, it may be time to bring the rookie off the bench for awhile so he can watch the game develop before he gets in there. Besides, most of the time, the offense at the beginning of the game runs through Larry Nance Jr. and Cedi Osman a lot of the time anyway.

Hood and Nwaba are “day to day” and Thompson and Love will return after the first of the year, so help is on the way.

We were curious about a statement Nance made the other day about the team’s defense. It is funny that two of the team’s best defenders are Nwaba and Nance, two players who both joined the team in the last calendar year.

NOTE: The six best defenders, according to Defensive Rating are Nance, Sam Dekker (traded), Love, Nwaba, Thompson, and Jalen Jones, recently called up from the G League.

It is odd that only Love and Thompson are holdovers, and both came to the Cavs before Tyronn Lue brought Mike Longabardi on board to handle that side of the ball.

We have been critical of the team’s defense over the past few years, and although a lot of the faces have changed, one that hasn’t is who is coaching it.

One move we would love to see made after the season is bringing in a new mindset defensively. Cleveland is last in the NBA in defensive field goal percentage and defensive rating.

There are teams that play good defense in the league without having superstar players. Utah ranks 5th, Memphis is 6th, Miami is 8th.

It can be done.

This team doesn’t have an identity defensively, meaning a concept to hang their hat on. The points per game allowed is down due to the slower pace Larry Drew has the team playing at.

Until they establish solid defensive concepts, they are going to struggle to win.

Browns Get Playoff Atmosphere This Sunday

When the Tennessee Titans won Saturday afternoon, the slim chance for the Cleveland Browns to make the playoffs went up in smoke.

However, the Browns will get to experience a playoff atmosphere in their season finale against the Baltimore Ravens.

As everyone knows by now, if the Browns beat Baltimore for the second time this season they will likely knock the Ravens out of the post-season, provided the Steelers beat the Bengals.

This experience should be invaluable for next season, when the Browns should be in the playoff hunt for real. And it will be on the road, making it more difficult for the young Browns, as it will be a very hostile atmosphere.

That’s why John Dorsey, Gregg Williams, and the rest of the organization should do everything it can to win the last game of the year.

And we don’t doubt for a second that is exactly what they will do.

The Browns’ front office and players aren’t about rebuilding anymore, they know how good they can be, and the culture has been changed. No more playing for draft picks, no more settling for getting close.

Oh, by the way, a victory over the Ravens would give Cleveland a winning record, 8-7-1, for the first time since 2007.

A victory would also establish the Browns as a force in the AFC North in 2019. With a bunch of draft picks and a ton of cap space, there is no reason to believe Dorsey won’t be able to add more good players to provide the depth the team needs to contend.

For the first time in a long time, there will be expectations around the Cleveland Browns. No doubt many national experts will be picking them to make the playoffs.

How will they respond? Will they have the same chip on their shoulder they did coming off an 0-16 season? Our guess is with Baker Mayfield at quarterback, they will.

We have seen people being critical of the streak of five wins in seven games because the schedule hasn’t exactly been imposing. For a franchise that won just a single game in the past two years, it’s a ridiculous claim.

It shows progress that Cleveland has gotten to the point where they can beat the teams on par with them record wise. Would those people prefer the Browns lose to the Bengals, Broncos, and Panthers?

The Browns have been losing for so long, people have forgotten what it is like to win. That’s why they are still calling for players to sit out the final game of the season to avoid injury, or to have a higher position in next spring’s draft.

Perhaps when the Browns have several playoff appearances under their belt, it might be time to sit players down, or it would be okay if the seeding for the playoffs were set in stone, the rest would do certain players good.

More so, Williams wants to win because it creates a better case for him to keep the head coaching gig. Would Dorsey let Williams go after he finished the season 6-2? It would be very difficult.

As Charles Barkley once said, if it ain’t broke, don’t break it.

Anyway, Sunday’s game it one to look forward to. The Browns can ruin the Ravens’ resurgence behind first round pick Lamar Jackson, and they can put the Steelers in the playoffs.

The fate of the AFC North centers on that game, and CBS’ number one announcing team will be on hand to cover it.

It’s the biggest game the Browns have played in years even though they can’t reach the playoffs.

It should be fun for sure.

Why Tribe Needs To Deal A Starter.

After the Cleveland Indians dealt Edwin Encarnacion and Yonder Alonso in separate deals last week, there were many who felt the Tribe no longer needed to deal a starting pitcher.

We don’t feel that way.

We still believe a starter, either Corey Kluber or Trevor Bauer, will be moved before spring training (probably before the end of the calendar year) to clear out more money and to bring some young, controllable bats to the Cleveland lineup.

As it stands right now, the Indians lineup isn’t that strong. Here is a projected batting order for Opening Day–

Carlos Santana DH
Francisco Lindor SS
Jose Ramirez 3B
Jake Bauers 1B
Jason Kipnis 2B
Jordan Luplow RF
Tyler Naquin LF
Roberto Perez C
Leonys Martin CF

Is that lineup good enough to win 85 games, let alone 90? That’s up for debate to be sure.

And while the Cleveland rotation would be the best in the game, in the regular season, you need to score runs to win. The only team that reached to post-season in 2018 that didn’t finish in the top five of their respective league in runs scored was the Milwaukee Brewers, who were 7th.

In the post-season, pitching can and usually does dominate. But you have to score runs to get there, and right now, we aren’t convinced the Tribe has enough firepower.

It seems like much of the talk recently is about Kluber, and we are sure the “jokes” about trading a two time Cy Young Award winner will be plentiful.

However, if you can move the right-hander and his $17 million salary for 2019, and get a bat or two, or perhaps a bat and a reliable bullpen arm in return, doesn’t that lengthen the lineup?

And that’s exactly want the Indians need.

Let’s say Kluber is moved to Cincinnati for a package centering around top ten prospect, Nick Senzel, who would play third for Cleveland and is major league ready, OF Scott Schebler (who we don’t really like, but…) and reliever Amir Garrett.

With the money saved by dealing Kluber, the Cleveland front office signs Nick Markakis as a free agent on a one year deal. Suddenly, the Tribe lineup looks like this–

Santana DH
Senzel 3B
Ramirez 2B
Lindor SS
Markakis RF
Luplow LF
Bauers 1B
Perez C
Martin CF

And you would have Kipnis as a platoon player in left field and Greg Allen to play center against left handed pitching. If Senzel is the player everyone thinks he is, you now have a lineup that has more length, and should score more runs.

We don’t think something like this is possible without moving a starting pitcher. Perhaps the front office can be super creative and pull off a miracle, and we would love to see that.

Besides, your starting rotation would still be Trevor Bauer, Carlos Carrasco, Mike Clevinger, Shane Bieber, and a mix of Adam Plutko, Cody Anderson, or perhaps Danny Salazar.

That’s good enough to get the Indians into the post-season, and once you get there, you only use four starters anyway.

It doesn’t have to be the Reds, certainly the Dodgers are a possibility and other teams as well. But, people who think the Indians only need one bat are delusional in our opinion, they need at least two.

The other way we see to make that happen in to deal from strength, and that means a starting pitcher.

We think the Tribe front office thinks the same way.

Playoff Hopes Slim, But These Browns Have A Lot To Play For.

After defeating the Denver Broncos last Saturday night, nothing went the way the Cleveland Browns wanted them on Sunday.

Most notably, the Steelers defeated the Patriots, meaning the Browns already slim chance to make the playoffs are down to a very convoluted results, which would need Indianapolis and Houston to tie on the last weekend of the season.

That said, there are still plenty of things for the Browns to play for during these last two games, the home finale this week vs. Cincinnati, and at Baltimore the weekend before New Year’s Day.

First is a chance to finish over .500 for the first time since 2007, and only the second time since they returned to the NFL as an expansion team in 1999. The even crazier stat is since 1989, 29 years ago, the Browns have been over the break even mark just three times (1994, 2002, and 2007).

That’s unbelievable.

They also have a chance to win four divisional games in one season. That hasn’t happened since Bill Belichick was in charge here, and that was 1994. Back then, the Houston Oilers were still in existence and were in the AFC Central with the Browns, Steelers, and Bengals.

So, success has been a seldom occurrence for this football team, which we think everyone has realized this season.

It’s been so rare, some fans don’t know how to handle it. We have heard a few people saying since the last two games don’t really make a difference for the Browns, Baker Mayfield and some other key players should sit them out to avoid injuries.

First, athletes (and include leaders and coaches) don’t think that way.

Second, the only reasons to do that is to rest players for a possible playoff game or to sit a veteran player out in order to look at younger guys. In Cleveland’s case, Mayfield and the others are the young players.

Sitting them out is a loser mentality, living in your own fear. Besides, would you want to be the person to tell Mayfield he isn’t playing the last two contests?

Nick Chubb, who didn’t play much in the first quarter of the season, needs to average 70 yards per game in the last two weeks to reach the 1,000 yard plateau. Now, a 1,000 yard season doesn’t have the cache it used to have, but it still would be a great accomplishment for the rookie.

With three more sacks this season, Myles Garrett would rank in the top ten all time for the franchise in career sacks, tying Kennard Lang and Jamir Miller. Reminder, he’s playing in just his second year.

We said this when he was drafted, but we’ve been watching Browns’ football for more than 50 years and they have never had a pass rusher like Garrett.

And then you have the coaching situation. There is no doubt that Gregg Williams has a better case to keep the job if the Browns go 6-2 in the last eight games rather than 5-3 or 4-4.

Also, Freddie Kitchens’ reputation would be more enhanced the more Cleveland racks up victories. If he isn’t the offensive coordinator here next season, we will have that job somewhere in 2019.

While the playoff hopes are minuscule, there is still a lot to play for if you are part of this Browns’ organization. That’s why they will treat these last two games like they have any of the contests since Gregg Williams took over.

At Least Cavs Work And Play Hard.

After LeBron James left for Los Angeles following the 2017-18 NBA season, no one figured the Cavaliers were going to be at the same level they reached over the past four seasons, meaning The NBA Finals.

There were a few of us who thought the Cavs could still be competitive, like contending for a low playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, but when you lose the team’s best player, Kevin Love, to injury, any thoughts of that went out the window.

Love has played just three of the squad’s 30 contests to date, and won’t be back until mid-January, so he will likely play just half of the Cavs’ schedule in 2018-19.

Since then, the wine and gold’s second best player, Tristan Thompson recently went out with a foot injury, and he will miss two to four weeks.

Despite these injuries and a coaching change six games into the regular season, the Cavaliers continue to play hard, and since Larry Drew took over, the shorthanded Cavs have been a pretty competitive basketball team, meaning they aren’t getting blown out on a nightly basis.

The team’s front office has taken a ton of criticism over the years about how the team was built around James, the trade of Kyrie Irving and the return they received, and their attitude toward this year’s roster.

But one thing they should be commended on is stressing character on the players they’ve given both Drew and Tyronn Lue to coach.

We are sure everyone has heard about the issues with the Chicago Bulls, who by the way, have the same record as the Cavs. The team fired Fred Hoiberg because they weren’t winning and when new coach Jim Boylen took over, he started implementing longer and tougher practices, which irritated some of the players.

Our guess is that Bulls’ management will be looking to move the players who are feuding with the new boss as soon as possible. There is an entitlement felt by some players, who have been coddled since it was determined they were good at basketball, and some players don’t do everything they can to win games.

That hasn’t been the case with the Cavs. Since Drew has taken over, he has changed the roles of several players, and no one has said a thing.

Which is something, because the players like Love and Thompson, who both have made four straight Finals appearances, could be upset that the Cavaliers have one of the worst records in the NBA. Instead, Thompson in particular (because of Love’s injury), has established through his work ethic, how to conduct yourself as an NBA player.

The lone dissenter was JR Smith, and once again, the front office and coaching staff did the correct thing by telling the player to stay home until a potential trade can be worked out.

Bringing back Matthew Dellavedova, a player with a excellent work ethic, was another good move by GM Koby Altman, although not as good as getting a first round pick in the deal with Milwaukee.

The players the Cavs have on the roster are coachable and willing to do what the coaching staff is asking. That should not be minimized.

The work ethic James put in place here still exists. That should help the Cavaliers going forward.

Tribe Deals Good First Step, Now What?

As baseball’s Winter Meetings came to an end, it appeared the busy week we all expected for the Cleveland Indians was not coming to fruition.

Then, in the next two days, Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff took the first steps in what we figured the organization wanted to do this off-season, reallocating the payroll in an effort to make the 2019 Indians better.

The first step was dealing Edwin Encarnacion to Seattle, and thus returning Carlos Santana to Cleveland. That saved (depending on where you get your information) an estimated $5 million on the ’19 payroll.

The other half of the deal sent Yandy Diaz, who it seemed the Indians were loathe to play, to Tampa Bay for 1B Jake Bauers, a top 100 prospect, who hit .201 with 104 strikeouts in 384 plate appearance for the Rays last season.

However, looking at the left-handed hitting minor league numbers, he didn’t have a profile of an all or nothing hitter.

We don’t understand the lack of gusto for Diaz, who’s high on base percentage (.361 in the majors, .415 in AAA) was never taken advantage of by the Tribe. We are disappointed in the lack of opportunity for a player whose only problem hitting was not getting the ball in the air.

Friday night, the front office cleared a spot for Bauers by dealing Yonder Alonso, another over 30 player whose hitting seemed in decline, to the White Sox for a minor leaguer, clearing another $8 million off the books.

This gives the Tribe a decent chunk of change to upgrade the roster and still keep the payroll where it was a year ago. And that figure might be the highest the ownership feels comfortable with, whether the fans like it or not, or they believe it.

If the organization doesn’t spend the saved money, then they deserve all of the criticism they will get. We don’t believe that will be the case though.

However, they still have a lot of holes. We believe to have a solid batting order, you need seven reliable hitters. Right now, the Indians have three: Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez, and Santana.

That leaves them four short, and we don’t think they can fill them all in free agency. And don’t forget, they still need to address the bullpen too.

They need to either move Jason Kipnis in a deal similar to the Alonso transaction to free up more money, or continue to explore trading Corey Kluber or Trevor Bauer to fill two or perhaps three pieces.

Then you may be able to put a solid batting order out there every day.

We may be considered insane for saying this, but even if the Indians had the financial wherewithal to sign either Bryce Harper or Manny Machado, it really wouldn’t solve their problem.

It would simply make their top heavy batting order more top heavy.

We like what Jordan Luplow may bring, but he hasn’t proven it at the big league level. Same with Jake Bauers. Adding one or two players with some success in the majors, or a top hitting prospect (like Alex Verdugo of the Dodgers), would seem to be more helpful, and help the Tribe have the kind of attack which give pitchers nightmares up and down the order.

These two deals were a great first step for the front office, but now the real work has begun. Adding players who can help next season.

And don’t be fooled by people claiming they won’t have to trade a starting pitcher. They still do in order to reshape the team they want next season.

Tribe’s Off-Season “Plan” Makes Sense

We thought the Cleveland Indians would have made a major move by now, and by the time you read this, perhaps they have.

What is puzzling is the way a possible major trade by the Tribe front office is being viewed by many baseball fans here.

Part of it is reflex. Many people (including us) lived through the desert from 1960-1994, where the Indians where pretty much a joke throughout the sport, struggling to make payroll, and seemingly without a plan on how to be competitive.

The other part is the nagging thought that the Dolan family wants to cut the team’s payroll. Now, it is fair to say they don’t want to increase the budget for major league player’s salaries, we will stay firm to our belief that the Cleveland payroll will still be somewhere over $120 million in 2019.

After reaching the World Series in 2016, and having the best record in the American League the following year, last year’s team showed signs of regression.

Cleveland has the third oldest position player roster in the AL, and 4th oldest in all of the majors a year ago, behind the Mariners, Giants, and Angels. Every regular was over 30 years old except for Jose Ramirez and Francisco Lindor.

It’s tough to figure on any increased production for any player who has entered his 30’s. We aren’t saying it’s impossible, but it certainly isn’t likely.

So, the conundrum the front office has is improving the everyday lineup, and to do that, they likely have to deal from the strength of the team, the starting rotation.

Think about it. Comparing last year’s team to a possible 2019 lineup, where do you see improvement?

1B–Yonder Alonso was a disappointment and would not figure to get better.
2B–Jose Ramirez will be better than Jason Kipnis (but see below)
SS–Lindor, enough said
3B–We like Yandy Diaz, but he isn’t going to have a better year than Ramirez
LF–If Kipnis is the nominal starter there, he’s not hitting better than Michael Brantley
CF–A platoon of Leonys Martin and Greg Allen, might be an improvement
RF–Jordan Luplow? Are we sure he’s better than the Melky Cabrera/Brandon Guyer platoon?
C–Roberto Perez won’t likely hit better than Yan Gomes did a year ago.
DH–Edwin Encarnacion is turning 36 next month.

That’s three spots where you can legitimately think of increased production with people currently on the roster. Doesn’t bode well for a more balanced and better hitting attack in 2019.

So, if you can trade a starting pitcher like Corey Kluber or Trevor Bauer and improve your team at one or possibly two spots, doesn’t that make sense?

And if it’s Kluber, and you gain some cash to upgrade another position through free agency or my by getting a player another team wants to unload because of salary, isn’t that the right move?

This isn’t the NBA, where other teams will give you a good player for the expiring contract of a mediocre player. So, no one is going to give you a young, ready to play prospect for Jason Kipnis.

The front office knows they need to make the everyday line up better, and they are trying to make a trade from a position for strength.

It might be tough to swallow, but it absolutely makes sense.

Browns In A Meaningful December

It is December, and the Cleveland Browns are still in a playoff race.

That seemed impossible after a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers dropped the Browns record to 2-5-1, and raised the Steelers mark to 4-2-1. When Pittsburgh won the next three to jump to 7-2-1, it made the prospect even more remote.

But Jimmy Haslam and GM John Dorsey let Hue Jackson go after that game, and since, the Browns are 3-2, while the Steelers have dropped three straight, and have games the next two weeks with New England and New Orleans.

It’s still a tremendous long shot, but for the first time since 2014, the Browns are playing meaningful football in December.

Whether or not it will continue beyond this weekend will depend on what the Browns do this weekend against Denver, a very difficult place to play.

The Broncos are just 3-3 at home this season, but their losses are to the Chiefs (11-2), the Rams (11-2), and the Texans (9-4). A win there by Cleveland would be very impressive indeed.

It would also set the team up very nicely for a week 17 game with meaning. There is no doubt the Browns will be favored at home the weekend before Christmas against Cincinnati.

And wins in the next two contests would put Gregg Williams’ team at 7-7-1 heading into the season finale, on the road against Baltimore.

For a team that came into the season with one win in the last two years, that’s very exciting.

Again, it’s a long shot. The Browns could very well lose in Colorado this weekend, and drop the season finale and end up at 6-9-1, which again would be a tremendous accomplishment given the 2016 and 2017 seasons.

The reason for the hope is not just Baker Mayfield, although he is the chief one. But Cleveland has exciting players all over the field.

It’s fun to watch Nick Chubb run the ball, to see Myles Garrett go after the quarterback, and to see the toughness of Jarvis Landry and Demarious Randall.

Sundays are fun again. And that’s a breath of fresh air.

But back to Mayfield. After the Panthers marched right down the field on the game’s opening drive, there were no worries at all. That’s what having a quarterback does for you.

When the Browns have poor down and distance situation now, we don’t dread it, instead we wonder if Mayfield can make a play to keep the drive going.

We have a QB who can throw the long pass, can beat the blitz by hitting the hot receivers, and can put the touch on the ball to get it over a linebacker and into the hands of his teammates.

When was the last time we had a signal caller that gave fans that kind of confidence?

This isn’t to say we are elevating Mayfield to top ten quarterback in the league status, he’s started just ten games in the NFL. We’ve seen other young quarterbacks (Marcus Mariota, Jameis Winston for example) come into the league and have people proclaiming them as the league’s next best things.

However, we have to say, that there aren’t many young QBs we would take over Mayfield. Perhaps just Patrick Mahomes and Carson Wentz.

Again, we may think differently next year. But, the future of Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland Browns look very bright. Maybe even pre-expansion team bright.

Cavs Making The Right Moves For A Bad Season.

The winds of change continue to blow through Cleveland Clinic Courts and Quicken Loans Arena, as the Cleveland Cavaliers made their second deal in two weeks, moving another veteran piece to a playoff contender.

Two weeks ago, it was Kyle Korver going to Utah for Alec Burks, who based on his week and a half with the wine and gold can play.

Friday night, it was George Hill who was moved to Milwaukee, in exchange for veteran big man John Henson, fan favorite Matthew Dellavedova, and most importantly, a first round pick, which based on the Bucks have Giannis Antetokounmpo, should be conveyed in 2021.

Hill missed a lot of time this season with a shoulder injury, and when he returned, he really didn’t seem very engaged. In his last game with the Cavs, he played 25 minutes, didn’t score and had three assists.

He may have helped rookie Collin Sexton in practice, but in games, it was clear that he wanted out, much like it was evident he wanted out in Sacramento a year ago before the Cavs traded for him.

Henson, 6’11”, will turn 28 before the end of the calendar year, and is currently out with after wrist surgery, with reports that he can return after the All Star Game. He averages 7.8 points and 5.4 rebounds for his career, and is a solid defender.

He adds some needed size to the roster, a roster that has ignored size over the past few years. He can be a free agent after the ’19-’20 season, making him an expiring contract next year.

Dellavedova will, of course, bring grit and energy, and a good locker room presence. His game and shooting have declined since he left the Cavs after the championship season. Whether he can regain it will be something to watch.

Burks has been a great addition, averaging 14.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 3.2 assists in his half dozen games with Cleveland. Don’t fall in love with him though, he has an expiring contract, and will likely be moved for more assets before the trading deadline.

That said, he may be playing his best basketball since the ’15-’16 campaign.

Cleveland also moved Sam Dekker in the deal. Dekker has decent analytical numbers, but in watching him play, we just couldn’t see him as a piece down the road.

GM Koby Altman is in what former GM Chris Grant called “asset acquisition mode”, dealing off veterans for younger players, some on expiring contracts, and draft picks.

It’s a no brainer, really, when your team in 6-20 and lost the best player in the game in the off-season, and you started the year 0-6, that’s what you should be doing.

There is no doubt, the next guy they are trying to move is JR Smith, which may be Altman’s biggest challenge. Korver can still shoot, and Hill was a starter in the second half of the season last year.

Smith’s game has been declining for the past two years, and currently, the team is paying him to stay home.

His contract is an asset though, but it has to be hard for Altman to find a taker for Smith. If he can get something useful in return, then you have to tip your hat to the GM.

Before going all crazy about the front office though, remember, it is easier to deconstruct a roster and collect assets than it is the build a contending team.

A lot of people can collect draft picks, it takes a keen eye to bring in talent. With every passing game, Sexton looks like he can play, be a contributing player for a contender.

That’s a feather in Altman’s cap. If the Cavs have a top three pick in next year’s draft, Altman must convert that into a franchise cornerstone.