Cavs Ignore Shooting as Part of Game

While we are always critical of Cavaliers’ coach Mike Brown’s offense strategy, he does work under the handicap of not having an excellent shooter on his roster.

The Cavaliers rank last in the NBA in field goal percentage, making just 42.3% of their shots from the floor. And from beyond the three-point line, they are slightly better, ranking 21st among the 30 teams at 35.0%.

To illustrate the importance of shooting, here are the top five teams in the league in making shots: Miami, San Antonio, Houston, Oklahoma City, and Dallas. All five of those teams would be in the playoffs if the season ended today.

Now, this percentage can be raised by fast break opportunities which lead to high percentage layups and dunks.

So, a more accurate gauge of pure shooting would be the three-point field goal percentage, and again, out of the top five in this category (Spurs, Pelicans, Wizards, Trailblazers, and Warriors), four of them would also reach the post-season.

Why is having shooters important? Well, the obvious answer is the score is kept by putting the ball through the basket.

Still, the real reason you need them is to spread the floor, especially when you have put together a number of guards who excel at driving to the basket like Cleveland has with Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters.

And when the shot clock is running down, you can get the ball to a shooter who has a decent chance of making a long shot.

The closest thing Mike Brown has to a threat from outside is swingman C.J. Miles, who hits 39% from outside the arc. Acting GM David Griffin did take a good stride in this direction in obtaining Spencer Hawes, who is making 40.5% from distance this year.

There is no one else on the roster that opponents need to respect when they are standing beyond the arc.

To be fair, former GM Chris Grant did covet Bradley Beal in last year’s draft, but Washington snapped him up before the Cavs turn with the fourth pick which turned out to be Waiters.

Beal is currently 13th in the NBA in 3 point field goal percentage, making 41.9% of his shots.

Brown’s mentor, Gregg Popovich has embraced the three pointer, with two players among the top 20 in accuracy, and to be fair, when Brown was here before, he had snipers like Damon Jones, Donyell Marshall, and Boobie Gibson on the roster, all guys who could knock down the open three.

Irving is the Cavs’ most frequent shooter from outside and makes 36% of his attempts, but he is one of the guys who make their living driving to the hoop, and opponents want him to take that shot because he is so lethal going to the basket.

Waiters is the same type of player, but when you watch a game, don’t you wish we would go to the hoop more instead of shooting long jumpers? Opponents do too.

The Cavs need a player like Kyle Korver or Jamal Crawford or Marco Bellinelli, a pure shooter that defenses respect and are forced to account for when they are on the floor. Players like that also provide useful targets for Irving and Waiters when they penetrate.

Grant may have started to address the situation by drafting Sergey Karasev last year, but right now Brown considers him too green and too much of a defensive liability to get off the bench.

That’s not helping the current team, and it put too much of a burden on guards to get to the basket to create any kind of scoring.

Just another reason this Cavalier team has struggled to meet expectations.

The Manziel for Browns Debate

With the NFL Draft Combine going full mode right now, once again attention has drifted away from the turmoil in the Browns’ front office to who should they take with the 4th overall pick in the draft in May.

And of course, this brings up Texas A & M quarterback and former Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel. Certainly, he would bring excitement to what has become a moribund franchise, but would that translate into victories and playoff spots.

Browns’ fans don’t want relevance, as one Cleveland sports talker always espouses, they want wins. No one will be happy if there is plenty of buzz about the Browns and they finish 5-11 once again.

Our question to people who are begging for the Browns to take Manziel is would they bet a year’s pay that he will succeed in the NFL? Because that’s what Cleveland GM Ray Farmer has to do. If he’s not the answer, then Farmer has to explain his pick to owner Jimmy Haslam.

On Friday, the discussion centered on size, both Manziel’s height and the size of his hands. He didn’t receive good marks on the first set of measurements, coming in at under six feet (5’11-3/4″), but he had the biggest hands out of the top three passers entering the draft, larger than Teddy Bridgewater and Blake Bortles.

However, do these two things help Manziel with probably the most important job an NFL quarterback has, the ability to read defenses and put his team into plays that will succeed against the opposition.

Johnny Football’s supporters will point out that he is taller than the Super Bowl winning quarterback, Seattle’s Russell Wilson. However, critics (such as us) will point out that Wilson is not really an elite NFL passer, and while he did pilot the winning team, the Seahawks’ defense and running game had more to do with the victory.

If you made a list of the top ten quarterbacks in the league today, Wilson wouldn’t be on it. That supports our theory that GM Ray Farmer and his scouting staff should draft the best player available with the fourth selection, not the best QB left on the board.

Veteran scouts also seem torn on the Texas A & M quarterback. While many love his ability to make plays, others say he is quick to leave the pocket and leaves plays on the field. Others feel he’s a solid top ten pick, and conversely some scouts think he’s the biggest risk among the possible early selections.

Our thought is Farmer should take the best player on the board, because none of the holy trio (Bridgewater, Bortles, or Manziel) are Andrew Luck or even Robert Griffin III. The Browns have to get a player who can impact winning in 2014 with the choice, not someone who may have to be replaced a year from now.

Teams that overdraft QBs are usually still looking for replacements, just ask Jacksonville who selected Blaine Gabbert early and Minnesota, who did the same with Christian Ponder.

And it is not like the only need the Browns have is at that position. They still need a talent infusion for the entire roster, even with six Pro Bowlers. They still need another wide receiver, offensive line help, a running back, inside linebackers, and safety help, particularly if T. J. Ward leaves via free agency.

Manziel might be the sexy pick, but sexiness doesn’t win football games in the NFL.

Cavs Continue to Push for Playoffs By Getting Hawes

If you are one of those fans in Cleveland that is always looking toward next year, it was a bad day for you yesterday.

Acting Cavaliers’ GM David Griffin decided to continue the team’s pursuit of a playoff spot by acquiring 7’1” center Spencer Hawes from Philadelphia. The price wasn’t extravagant either, as the wine and gold parted with two second round draft picks and two players who aren’t currently in Mike Brown’s rotation: C Henry Sims and F Earl Clark.

Why would anyone complain about that price?

Second round picks in the NBA are like lottery tickets. Sometimes one will pay off, but most times, you throw them away because they are useless.

On the other hand, Hawes is just 25 years old, and averages 13 points and 8.5 rebounds per game, and he definitely can be used as a stretch big man, hitting almost 40% of his shots from outside the arc.

As the owner’s son has been known to say, “What’s not to like?”

Yes, Hawes can be a free agent at the end of this season, so he could be a rental player for the rest of the season. But, neither Sims nor Clark was probably going to be on the roster next season, so really, what did Griffin give up?

Besides, maybe the Cavaliers continue to play well and Hawes wants to stay with the Cavs. We realize the doomsayers can’t fathom that, but it is possible.

Our first thought when the deal was rumored is that Anderson Varejao must be hurt worse than the team is letting on. The newcomer gives Brown another solid big man to go with Tyler Zeller, Tristan Thompson, and Anthony Bennett.

If Varejao can return soon, it means that the coaching staff can cut down on his minutes to around 25 per night, which may just keep him healthier, and should have been the plan for him all along.

And Hawes outside shot should open things up for those guys and Varejao, when he comes back to operate near the basket. Too often, both bigs are in the paint clogging things up so it is difficult for Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters to go to the basket.

Hawes should help immediately, and also provides another veteran who has been around the league for years, like Luol Deng.

Speaking of Deng, there were plenty of rumors about the Cavs shopping him, but no deal was made, which is also a good thing. Mainly because Cleveland still doesn’t have an alternative at the small forward spot.

Yes, we understand Deng is also an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, and has made comments, which appear to show he is unhappy here, but if Griffin has a chance to sign him this summer, they have a better shot with Deng spending the balance of the season in Cleveland.

Besides, if the wine and gold can stay hot and make the playoffs in let’s say, the 6^th seed, maybe the former Bull looks at a pretty good future here with a lot of young talent, and stable leadership.

Deng would have looked crazy if he would have said he liked it here among all the chaos when he first arrived.

Things change in team sports.

Just a few weeks ago, Irving and Waiters couldn’t stand to play together. Chris Grant gets fired and Dan Gilbert and Griffin have a “come to Jesus” moment with the players, and they look like they actually like each other.

A lot can change by the end of the playoffs, and here’s hoping the young Cavaliers can get their first experience in the post-season.

Thoughts of Dealing Masterson are Silly

The Cleveland Indians avoided arbitration with Justin Masterson yesterday by signing him to a one-year deal at a little less than $10 million per year.

They can still talk about a multi-year deal since Masterson can be a free agent at the end of this season, but with the recent deal between Ubaldo Jimenez (four years, $50 million) and the likelihood that the Reds and Homer Bailey will agree to a six-year, $100 million deal, the odds of the Tribe’s #1 starter staying here past 2014 seem remote.

Of course, the reflex for all Indians’ fans was to trade the big right-hander since he likely will walk away at the end of the season.

As usual, there are several flaws in that argument.

First, everyone assumes that Masterson will have the same kind of season he had last season when he won 14 games with an ERA of 3.45. However, you don’t have to go that far back to find a season where Masty went 11-15 with a 4.93 ERA.

That was 2012.

Another season like that, and Masterson’s price will come way down.

The second reason is that the Indians were a playoff team last season, and would like to make it again this season.

No matter what you get for Masterson, they likely won’t impact this year’s team as much as a proven starting pitcher who will throw 200 innings for Terry Francona’s team.

If the Tribe had won 76 games last season, you might consider trading a player you may not be able to sign after the season, and looking toward 2015, but the reality is Cleveland won 92 games in ’13, and would like to make the playoffs again this season.

Now, if the Indians struggle at the start of the season and approach the July 31^st trade deadline being out of the race for the post-season, then it makes sense to see what you could get in return for the big righty.

But, you can’t move him right now unless you could make a deal that helps the ballclub this season.

Now we’re going out on a limb here, but another situation that bears looking at is the qualifying offer the Tribe made to Jimenez after last season.

GM Chris Antonetti could do the same with Masterson, thus keeping him in a Cleveland uniform for one more season at $14.1 million for 2015.

And we don’t know if Masterson has to have a six-year deal like Bailey appears to be getting in Cincinnati. Perhaps, he would be willing to listen to a four-year hitch, because he likes it here and of course, the Francona factor.

In recent seasons, the Indians have not wanted to go more than three years with a pitcher, but a guy who has been a horse and an innings eater might be an exception.

Of course, the pressure is on Masterson to have another solid season to make the Indians and/or other teams want to offer him a four-year deal following the 2014 campaign.

The point is you can’t deal your #1 starting pitcher coming off a playoff season and heading into a season where you want to get back to the post-season

It wouldn’t make sense to the players who inhabit the clubhouse, or to an already questioning fan base.

Tribe’s Success Doesn’t Help Dolan’s Image With Fans

There is no question that in the past few months, both the Cleveland Browns and Cleveland Cavaliers’ organizations have shown to be less than stable.

Browns’ owner Jimmy Haslam has replaced his head coach, his CEO, and his general manager in a six-week span since the end of the season. In addition, his football has lost ten games or more (the baseball equivalent of losing 100 games) six years in a row, and ten out of the last 11 seasons.

The Cavaliers have been a mediocre franchise ever since LeBron James departed, qualifying for a lottery pick each and every year, and not a low pick either, the wine and gold have had one of the NBA’s worst five records each season.

And recently Dan Gilbert fired his GM and replaced his head coach following last season.

Yet, the least popular owner in the city happens to own the franchise that has had the most success. That would be Indians’ owners Larry and Paul Dolan.

There are several reasons for the lack of popularity, the first being Gilbert and Haslam come off pretty well in press conferences, showing people, whether or not it can occur, that they are determined to bring a championship to Cleveland in their respective sports.

The Dolans probably shouldn’t talk to the media because when they do, they say things like the best fans can hope for is contending every once in a while due to the economic restraints in baseball.

That really doesn’t give fans a great deal of confidence.

To be fair, the Indians have the most stable front office in team president Mark Shapiro, who has been here for 23 years, and GM Chris Antonetti has been with the Tribe since 1998. And they lured Terry Francona, a two-time World Series champion as manager to the same post with the Indians.

So again, why the lack of love for the Tribe ownership, particularly in comparison to the other woebegone franchise on the North Coast?

There is a lack of trust for the Dolan family, even though they are from here, while Haslam and Gilbert aren’t.

Part of that comes from the article in Forbes showing the Tribe was making large amounts of profit. While the number may not have been accurate, the magazine should be regarded as a reliable source. After all, the figure didn’t appear in the National Enquirer.

Fans should understand that owners need to make a profit, but they would still like to see more money poured into the product on the field too.

The fans don’t feel like it’s a priority for the ownership to win a World Series for the city. The other owners talk about it, they may not really mean it, but they have enough sense to communicate the desire to the fan base.

This off-season is a perfect example of what we are saying.

Interest in the Tribe, dormant for a while, picked up in September as the ballclub was making a push for the post-season. The wild card home game sold out very quickly.

Yet, some of that momentum has been subdued due to a relatively quiet off-season in which the Indians have lost more (starting pitchers Ubaldo Jimenez and Scott Kazmir) than they added.

That’s the problem in a nutshell.

Had ownership opened up the purse strings even a little and allowed the front office to make a good acquisition, and there were some decent values out there, some trust would have been gained.

Instead, Tribe fans are muttering “same old Dolans”, and counting on Francona’s expertise to return to the post-season.

If they accomplish a playoff spot again, it will help the ownership’s cause. If they don’t, the anger toward them will like get more intense.

To Tank? Or Not to Tank?

The usual sports season in Cleveland goes as follows: Training camp, followed by exhibition games, the excitement of Opening Day, and then deciding if and when the old home team should go into full tanking mode.

Yes, there are exceptions, such as last year’s Indians, when the season concludes with a post-season berth, but even the Tribe went through a discussion about whether or not the team should start selling off assets.

It seems that anytime a Cleveland professional team reaches the halfway point in the season and are more than three games out of a playoff spot, the knee jerk reaction of many people is that the team should look toward next season.

Even in the NBA, it is beneficial to make the playoffs, especially if you have a young team whose future is ahead of them.

There are several things at play in determining whether or not a team should throw in the towel, and the relative age of the squad is first and foremost among them.

The only thing worse than being a bad team is being a bad, old team.

While we all know the Indians made it to the wild card playoff game last season, but in late July, Terry Francona’s team was sitting at 52-48 and had just the eighth best record in the American League.

The July 31^st trade deadline was coming up, and there were plenty of fans and people in the media who felt GM Chris Antonetti should think about dealing Asdrubal Cabrera and others for more prospects.

Obviously, they were wrong.

Now, you have people longing for the Cavaliers to get back in the draft lottery even though they were five games out of the playoff spot. That was a week ago. After four straight wins, they are 3-1/2 games out.

Yes, this is a good draft, but there doesn’t appear to be a LeBron James type player. So, you might get a player who will be an all-star one day, but he likely won’t be at that level for a few years.

Moreover, the Cavs are already a very young team. Does it make sense to add yet another young player? Or would they be better off getting some valuable playoff experience?

Since making the playoffs would be a step forward for the franchise, they should go for it. If they were stuck in a quagmire of first round losses over a three or four-year span, then they might be better off getting into the lottery.

So we come to the rules for when to tank and when not to. In football, since there are only 16 games, and virtually no trades are made, you can’t really tank. However, you can decide to play young players and hope they get better for the future.

In baseball, when it is clear you are out of the race, let’s say you are 15 games out of a playoff spot at the All-Star break, then you should trade older veterans and potential free agents for prospects to help with the club’s future.

If you are within five or six games of the last spot, why not try to improve the team and take a shot at getting in the post-season? Once you are in the playoffs, you have a decent shot at winning. That’s the way the sport is. Heck, the Cardinals won 83 games in the regular season a few years ago and won the World Series.

In basketball, again, if a team is clearly out of the playoff race, then they should try to get in the draft lottery. If there is a franchise player available and you probably can’t advance if the post-season, then you should tank.

However, if you are a young team on the way up and there’s no elite player in the draft, why not take a chance and try to make the playoffs.

We realize that younger fans lean more toward looking at next season, while older fans want to win now.

However, if you have a chance to make the post-season, you should take it. There are times to blow everything up and there are times to push forward.

In Cleveland, the reflex action too often is to tank a season.

Is Haslam the New Snyder?

Just when you think the Cleveland Browns are acting as a normal, professional football team, they throw a huge wrench into the mix.

They announced today that Joe Banner and Mike Lombardi are out as CEO and GM, with Ray Farmer replacing the latter as general manager.

The obvious point to be made is owner Jimmy Haslam was so disgusted by the season and seemingly bungled coaching search, that he couldn’t take the Banner/Lombardi combination for one more day.

Still want to tell everyone that these aren’t the same old Browns?

Look, this is not to say we thought Banner and Lombardi were doing a great job, in fact, we feel quite the contrary.

Banner seemed to be a “me-first” guy, a person who really wanted to coach the team as well as run it, and he didn’t seem to be satisfied with any person who wasn’t Joe Banner.

However, remember that the league recommended Banner to Haslam, the owner didn’t seem to seek him out.

Lombardi comes across as someone who still wants to sit on the lap of Bill Belichick, waiting with anticipation for every word that drips off of the Patriots’ coach’s tongue.

It seemed his solution to every problem was to go back to the Belichick tree.

Farmer helped put together a Kansas City team that had a bushel of Pro Bowlers on a 2-14 team in 2012 and made a major leap forward to the playoffs last season. The fact that Miami was very interested in him shows how respected he is throughout the NFL.

So do we assume things are better in Berea because Farmer and team president Alec Scheiner are more likeable to the fans and media alike?

As with the new coach and his staff, we can’t evaluate how the newest new regime will perform until the Cleveland Browns start playing football games that count in September.

The more disturbing aspect of all this is the growing Snyderization of Jimmy Haslam.

We felt all along that it was Haslam who pulled the trigger on Rob Chudzinski after one season in charge. Could it be that part of the reason Banner and Lombardi aren’t employed here anymore is they told the owner he was being impetuous?

Now, Haslam just fired two people he claimed were part of the solution just 18 months ago.

The Browns’ owner is looking more and more like his counterpart in Washington, Redskins’ owner Daniel Snyder.

Does anyone think that organization is well run?

Since 2000, Washington has gone through six coaches and have amassed three playoff appearances, a boatload compared to Cleveland.

He’s brought in college coaches (Steve Spurrier), veteran coaches with histories of winning (Marty Schottenheimer, Joe Gibbs, and Mike Shanahan), and offensive coordinators (Jim Zorn and new coach Jay Gruden).

They’ve gone 86-122 in that span. While that’s better than Cleveland’s record (72 wins) over the same time period, it’s hardly a winning franchise or something to be aspiring to.

If the Browns go 6-10 this season and Haslam keeps Farmer and Mike Pettine in place seeing some progress, then we can ease off on the Daniel Snyder comparisons.

Until that happens, he appears to be another owner who wants success, but either doesn’t know how to get it, or doesn’t have the patience to attain a winning team.

Either way, no matter how they spin it, it just looks like more chaos at Browns’ headquarters.

Tribe Off-Season Strategy is Bounce Back Seasons by Veterans

Although it doesn’t look like it outside your window if you live in the Cleveland area, baseball is just around the corner. Pitchers and catchers report to Goodyear, AZ on Tuesday.

The Indians are coming off a surprising season, going from 69 victories in 2012 to 92 wins and a berth in the wild card game at the end of the season.

The question is simply this: Can the Tribe do it again and remain the one beacon of hope in the darkness that is professional sports in our city?

Right now, most fans we speak to feel the same way, that the Tribe isn’t as good right now as they were at the end of the 4-0 loss to Tampa Bay on October 2nd.

Now, to be fair, there still is time to improve the ballclub, remember that Michael Bourn wasn’t signed until shortly after the Tribe was already in camp, but it appears the Indians will lose two starting pitchers (Ubaldo Jimenez and Scott Kazmir) to free agency, and haven’t done anything to replace either.

Wouldn’t it be nice if just once, the Indians’ management said they were going to go the extra mile and add let’s say $15 million to the payroll and go for it? Using that money to bring in another proven top of the rotation starter or a proven bat to put in the middle of the lineup would be a refreshing change.

As of right now, Baseball-Reference.com lists Cleveland as having the second lowest payroll in the division, ahead of only Minnesota, and only slightly ahead of them.

Instead, they went with the usual low risk, high reward signings. Players who have good career track records, but are coming off poor seasons and/or injuries. After all, it worked last season with Ryan Raburn and Kazmir, so why not try the same thing with Shawn Marcum and Jeff Francouer?

This year’s strategy appears to be hoping that players who have performed well at the big league level, but had off seasons in 2013 will rebound to their normal levels. The players in this category would be Nick Swisher, Bourn, Asdrubal Cabrera, and newcomer David Murphy.

Swisher, who will be 33 this season, hit .246 with 22 HR and 63 RBI (763 OPS) last season while battling a shoulder injury. His career norms are .255 with 28 HR and 88 RBI (820 OPS), playing half of his time in the bigs in hitter’s parks (Chicago and New York). He figures to be slightly better because of the shoulder and perhaps pressing a tad with the new contract.

Bourn is 31 and hit .263 with 6 HR and 50 RBI (676 OPS) in 130 games a year ago, stealing 23 bases. His average season numbers are .271, 5 HR and 43 RBI (700 OPS) and 48 steals.

We have said this before. Unless Bourn changes his game to more of a contact approach (he struck out 132 times in ’13), it is doubtful he will improve. His career best OPS is 739, which is about the average major league regular.

Cabrera might be the best chance for a rebound since he is 28 years old and is eligible for free agency. However, he is two years removed from his best year in 2011. He hit .242 in 2013 with 14 dingers and 64 RBIs (700 OPS), compared to his norms of .273, 14 homers and 73 RBI (748 OPS). With a higher batting average should come more runs driven home.

Murphy will be 32 this season and hit just .220 with 14 home runs and 45 RBI (656 OPS) compared to usual numbers of .275, 16 HR and 69 RBI (778 OPS). However, he is moving from a great hitters park in Texas to a pitcher’s park in Cleveland. In fairness, he doesn’t have the extreme splits other Rangers’ hitters have at their home park.

It will be interesting to see which, if any, of these hitters can bounce back in 2013 because it seems the Indians’ off-season strategy for success is based on them being better.

Again, wouldn’t it be nice if they actually just spent a little more cash one year?

Grant’s Flaw Was Not Building A Team

Over the past few weeks, we have been critical of the roster mix for the Cleveland Cavaliers, calling them and their roster of point guards and power forwards the “island of misfit toys”.

Today, GM Chris Grant paid for that roster construction with his job, being fired by owner Dan Gilbert after another disgusting loss to an undermanned Los Angeles Laker squad last night.

The question now is who is running the show going into the trade deadline, which figured to be the first step into reshaping this roster. It looks like assistant GM David Griffin gets the gig for now.

You also have to wonder what Grant’s firing means for Mike Brown, because you would have to imagine the new GM would want to hire his own coach, unless someone is promoted internally.

Grant made some solid trades in his tenure, getting a first round choice from the Lakers for Ramon Sessions, trading Jon Leuer to Memphis for three players and another first rounder, and getting Luol Deng from Chicago for Andrew Bynum, a player the team had suspended.

However, it will be questionable draft picks that sealed Grant’s fate.

He operated out of the box on his picks, taking Tristan Thompson at #4 three years ago, which was surprising, and he selected Dion Waiters in the same spot the following year when it appeared he would be picked later.

This year’s use of the first overall pick on Anthony Bennett didn’t help his cause.

The issue isn’t the talent level of Thompson and Waiters, both have shown they can play in the NBA, the problem is the Cavs have become a puzzle whose pieces do not fit together.

Thompson is the same type of player as Anderson Varejao, and Bennett is a power forward, the same position Thompson primarily plays.

Waiters is a player who likes to have the ball in his hands. Unfortunately, so does one of the team’s best players: Kyrie Irving.

So, those two have a problem playing together.

We get that Grant took who he felt were the most talented players at that spot, and really that is the purpose of the draft.

However, a good general manager needs to see that he has duplicated talent and use the excess assets to get people who can play positions where they have needs.

Grant tried by getting Deng, but he didn’t seem to value shooting the basketball as a skill set needed to win basketball games.

Looking at the roster, the closest the wine and gold have to a pure shooter is swingman C.J. Miles, who Grant signed as a free agent.

His coaching hire doesn’t seem to have worked out either, although there didn’t seem to be an exhausting search. Whether that was Dan Gilbert’s decision or Grant’s, we just don’t know.

Mike Brown was a curious choice, not only because he used to coach here, but because he seems to favor veteran players, and the current Cavaliers are a very young basketball team.

Now, where does this franchise go?

The obvious answer is the dreaded “tank” word, but unless the new GM is predisposed to deal a high draft choice, all that will do is bring another “project” onto a team replete with them.

Does the reformation of this basketball team start with another deal before the NBA trading deadline? It’s pretty clear a change needs to be made because they can’t go through another 30 games playing like they have the last two weeks.

However, the new GM will have to act quickly to start getting the Cavaliers on the correct path. He also has to make a decision on who will be the coach.

Firing Grant was a tough move to make, but the direction of this team had to be changed. The guess here is this was just the first shot fired.

Browns Have Coach, Now Need Players

Now that the Browns have a new head coach in Mike Pettine, and a new offensive coordinator in Kyle Shanahan, the next order of business for the team is the roster.

One of the selling points for the coaching gig made by Jimmy Haslam and Joe Banner was the presence of six Pro Bowl players, a large number for a 4-12 team. It’s also one of the reasons they probably used internally to fire Rob Chudzinski.

However, two of those players who were voted to play in Hawaii can be free agents, and you would think that if you are promoting them to coaching candidates, then they need to re-sign C Alex Mack and S T.J. Ward.

Keep in mind; the Browns have a lot of room under the salary cap to keep both players.

They certainly can’t afford to lose two of the better players they have coming off a season in which they earned the fourth pick in the NFL Draft.

There are enough holes already, particularly on the offensive line and in the secondary, to create new ones when money is the only issue.

That brings us to the draft, where the word is apparently out that Cleveland has made no bones about their desire to land Texas A & M quarterback and former Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel to the Browns.

The thought here is that if the brain trust really wanted Manziel to wear the brown and orange, they wouldn’t be leaking that to the media. They want people to think they want Johnny Football.

So, who do the Browns really want with the fourth pick?

Here’s hoping they take the best player available, which of course is the purpose of the draft. Too many personnel experts have said there is only one legitimate first round passer coming out this spring.

To us, it doesn’t seem to be a good thing to pick the let’s say, 25^th best player, with the fourth choice.

Maybe Manziel, Teddy Bridgewater, or Blake Bortles will be the next great quarterback in the National Football League. Our question is would you bet your house on it?

Because if you wouldn’t, or Joe Banner wouldn’t, then he should take Clemson WR Sammy Watkins, or South Carolina DE Jadeveon Clowney, or Texas A & M T Jake Matthews with the pick.

All three are dynamic talents and could impact the Browns as early as next season.

The name of the game should be about accumulating talent. And we just saw a team win the Super Bowl without having an “elite” quarterback in Russell Wilson.

Despite what they tell us in Berea, it can be done.

And even if they do choose a passer at #4, would it do any good to start an inexperienced QB at the beginning of next season? Let them sit and watch for at least a few games to get used to the speed of the game.

The only scenario that would be worse is trading the other first round pick the Browns accumulated to move up one or two spots to pick a quarterback. If Andrew Luck was at the top of the draft, it might make sense, but he’s not there.

The Browns have more talent on the roster right now than at any time in the past five years. However, they still have plenty of holes that need to be filled. Taking a player much higher than he’s rated isn’t the way to win, especially a quarterback.

It’s a risk the Browns can’t afford to make again.