Getting Frye, Not Moving Love=Right Moves for Cavs

The trading deadline in the NBA came and went, and the Cleveland Cavaliers only did some tinkering as we hoped they would earlier this week.

One of the things the Cavs needed to address was getting another reliable shooter from beyond the three point line, and they did just that, getting C/F Channing Frye from Orlando for Anderson Varejao, Jared Cunningham, and some draft picks.

We understand that dealing a long time Cavalier in “Wild Thing” will hurt some fans, but if you take sentimentality out of the equation, you will realize this is a good move by GM David Griffin.

Varejao didn’t get much playing time under either David Blatt or Tyronn Lue, so basically, Griffin moved someone who doesn’t play for someone who should get some minutes and also could solve a weakness.

Let’s face it, Tristan Thompson and Varejao are basically the same player, they don’t compliment each other.

Frye is a career 39% shooter from beyond the three point arc, and is making 40% of these shots in 2015-16.

His minutes are down about eight per game from a year ago, but Frye is now 32, and quite frankly, we would be surprised if he plays more than the 17 minutes a night he was getting in Orlando with the wine and gold.

There were many rumors surrounding Kevin Love as the trade deadline approached, and that made us shake our heads.

The primary rumor was Cleveland getting Ryan Anderson is return, which is ridiculous because he will be a free agent at the end of the season.

Love continues to be a whipping boy for those critical of the Cavs, but we feel the player hasn’t been productive as everyone thought because he is not utilized to the best of his ability.

When Lue took over the team, he wanted to get Love some touches around the elbow, where he had success in his best years with the Timberwolves. However, since the first couple of games, that has disappeared along with the production from Love.

After a four game stretch where the forward averaged 22.5 points and 9 boards per contest, the last four outings have produced 10 points and 7 rebounds.

Granted, Love left two of those games early with injuries, but even when he was in there, he seemed like an afterthought on offense.

Lue talks about sacrifice, but really no one has given up more than Love, who has been used pretty much like a glorified “stretch four”.

We feel that part of LeBron James and Kyrie Irving’s sacrifice should be to get Love some scoring opportunities as well. The team will be tougher to defend when they don’t ignore the big man.

Now, that doesn’t mean Love is blameless. His shot from outside (including at the free throw line) seems flat. He’s had many wide open looks from beyond the arc, and simply hasn’t made as many as he needs to.

His percentage isn’t down from last year, so perhaps again, it’s that he’s being used in this manner too often.

Maybe Frye makes the Cavs less reliant on Love for outside shooting from a big man.

We will not consider Love a “bust” or not worth getting in the trade until the wine and gold make a concerted effort to use him more efficiently.

By the way, we also don’t understand complaining about a guy who averages 16 points and 10 rebounds per night.

Our Comments On What Cavs Are Up To

The free agent frenzy in the NBA has come and gone for the most part, and the word has come down today that LeBron James is ready to sign another two-year deal (a one year contract with a player option, much like last year) with the wine and gold.

We thought it would be time to answer some questions about the Cavs and what they have done and still may do this off-season…

The Tristan contract. Look, there is no question that Thompson’s value to the Cavaliers is much higher than most any other team, because his skill set fits better with a contending team.

We also understand that Thompson is represented by the same firm that handles James, and LeBron wants him back here and wants him to get paid.

So, big deal. Just do it.

We realize that some older fans can’t understand how James can impact how Dan Gilbert and David Griffin handle Thompson’s contract, but that’s the reality of the NBA these days.

James put himself in a situation where he has a substantial say in the future of this basketball team.

And the Cavs and Gilbert are better off with him wearing wine and gold (or navy blue) and having that say than him being somewhere else.

We are sure Gilbert doesn’t have a big deal with it.

Signing Mo. Our first reaction was bringing back Mo Williams was that it was no big deal. Williams is on the wrong side of 30 years old (he’ll be 33 in December), and he’s never been known for his defense, which is key in post-season basketball.

However, he did average 17 points per game after being traded from Minnesota to Charlotte last year, and he likely will not have to carry a large role with Cleveland. He will be Kyrie Irving’s primary back up, and he can still stroke the jumper.

And it didn’t cost the Cavaliers entire mini-mid level exemption, so Griffin still can spend around $1 million on another free agent.

Williams can provide scoring with the second unit, and on the days where Irving has to miss games.

All in all, it’s a good thing for the Cavs.

Dealing Andy? The talk of a possible deal with New Jersey involving G/F Joe Johnson in which the Cavs give up Brendan Haywood’s expiring deal and Anderson Varejao have died down a little bit.

However, if the Cavs had a deal to significantly improve their roster and had to give up the long time Cavalier, then so be it.

Look, it’s a business and there is no room for sentimentality.

Varejao’s problem over the last five years has been staying on the court. In that time frame, he has played more than 31 games just once, in 2013-14 when he participated in 65 games.

When James was in Miami, we advocated dealing the big man in order to get value for him before his worth was totally decimated by the injuries. He was no longer reliable.

If we had our druthers, and you could improve the team by moving only Haywood, then fine, but if you have to deal Varejao to make it work, then that’s okay too.

James’ Contract. We are convinced there is no more misunderstood or questioned player on the planet than James. After agreeing to the deal today, idiots came out of the woodwork complaining about his “loyalty” to the Cavs.

His people told us we was going to do this last year, and to this point, he has been true to his word. The “one and one” deals are simply to get him the most money he can according to the system every year.

And remember, last summer, he said he didn’t have the energy to change teams again.

Fans who question this are no better than the national media people who said Kevin Love was leaving via free agency this year.

Is This Most Talented Cavs’ Team Ever?

The Cleveland Cavaliers certainly haven’t had a glorious history. Their all-time record since joining the NBA is more than 300 games below .500.

However, they have been to the NBA Finals in 2007, and lost in the Eastern Conference finals three times. And without disrespecting the ’06-‘o7 conference champs, the best team in franchise history may just be the last wine and gold squad to fall one step short of The Finals, the 2008-09 team that one 66 games in the regular season.

That team is a regular on lists of the best teams to not win an NBA title.

Our feeling was that collection of players failed because of Mike Brown’s failure to adjust to what Orlando was doing offensively in the conference finals, and because of the playoff schedule.

If you recall, the Cavs swept each of their first two series against Detroit and Atlanta, and had to wait nine days, from May 11th when they eliminated the Hawks, until May 20th when they took on Orlando.

The Cavaliers were rusty in Game 1, losing on their home floor, where they lost just twice all season long.

By the way, that team won 18 of their last 21 games in the regular season.

Since the current Cavs have now won 16 of their last 18, we decided to compare the current roster to perhaps the best team in Cleveland professional basketball history.

The starters on that team were LeBron James, Mo Williams, Delonte West, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and Ben Wallace.

Anderson Varejao also started 42 games that season, getting the nod when Ilgauskas and Wallace had injuries. Sasha Pavlovic also started 12 games, mostly for West.

James, who was 24 at the time, averaged 28.4 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists per game, which is comparable to this season’s figures of 26 points, 6 boards, and 7 assists.

However, that team had no one who can compare to Kyrie Irving, who is blossoming into the superstar in front of our eyes. The fourth year player out of Duke is getting 22 points and five dimes per night as offensive option #2.

Williams filled that role in ’09, getting 18 points and four assists. Irving is taking more shots than Williams did, with both making almost 47% of their tries.

Ilgauskas was the team’s third leading scorer at 12.9 a game, with 7.5 boards and shooting 47%. Kevin Love is the third leading scorer this year at 16.8 points, with 10.3 rebounds. He is shooting just 43% from the floor, although he attempts far more three point shots than Big Z did.

That group’s bench was led by Varejao, Boobie Gibson, and Wally Szczerbiak, while the current Cavs use Tristan Thompson, Iman Shumpert, and Matthew Dellavedova as the primary bench options.

We would give David Blatt’s crew an edge because the second and third best players on this team are much better than those on the 66 win team.

Even the bench appears to be better. Varejao scored 8.6 points and 7.2 rebounds as the first big man off the bench in ’08-’09, and Thompson has better numbers at 9.1 and 8.4 respectively.

That group was stronger defensively, because Ilgauskas was still a force inside and Wallace was one of the best defensive players in NBA history up front, and West was a very good defender too.

However, the three Cavs who joined the team in January are helping greatly on the defensive end. Since Timofey Mozgov joined the squad, he has provided the inside presence Blatt’s team sorely needed. And Shumpert and J.R. Smith have given the wine and gold better defense on the wings.

Can this team go farther in the post-season than the ’09 team? That remains to be seen. But it is looking like this might be the most talented roster ever to play in Cleveland.

That’s how quickly things have changed in the last month or so.

Time For Cavs To Play Youth

The Cleveland Cavaliers playoff chances are down to slim and none, as they are now six games behind the Atlanta Hawks for the eighth and last spot in the Eastern Conference.

However, that doesn’t mean the wine and gold should go into full tank mode for the rest of the season.

On a pretty good west coast swing in which the Cavs went 2-1 beating playoff teams/contenders Golden State and Phoenix, they also lost Kyrie Irving for at least two weeks with a biceps injury.

We believe that Irving should go back on the court when he is healthy, and really, he would show a great deal of leadership by demanding he play.

It would show everyone in the organization that the days of losing being an acceptable outcome are long gone.

However, with all of the injury issues, which also include Luol Deng (ankle) and C. J. Miles (foot/ankle), it is time to start seeing what you have in some of the players currently residing on the bench.

With the same players out on Tuesday night against Miami, Mike Brown decided to play virtually eight players, with the ninth (Miles) playing less than two minutes.

The only guys to get decent minutes as substitutes were Anderson Varejao, Matthew Dellavedova, and Tyler Zeller.

Brown has to learn for the first time in his coaching career how to ease young players into action, because as we’ve been reminded many times, he’s always coached his team to the playoffs and he’s always gotten past the first round.

Brown needs to give Sergey Karasev some minutes, and not just the last five minutes of the game, he needs to get him in the rotation.

And while Brown’s instinct is to give Varejao more minutes at forward/center, he needs to get Zeller on the court for more minutes as well.

That’s what is best for the future of this franchise, whether Brown is part of that future or not.

It has been rumored that acting GM David Griffin may sign G Seth Curry to a ten-day contract because of the injury to Irving, and our joke was would Brown even notice he was on the bench because of his reluctance to play younger players.

We have discussed the coach’s lack of success developing young players before, but this is his opportunity to change and start “coaching them up”.

You have to wonder what is going on since the wine and gold have pretty much one coach per player on the roster. They have to be working with these guys and getting them ready to play in the NBA.

And if and when Anthony Bennett is ready to play again, he needs to be out there on a steady basis too. That’s what the last three and a half weeks of the season should be about.

We aren’t saying that the rookies and Zeller should be playing 40 minutes per night, nor should Deng and Miles be benched for the rest of the year.

Winning should still be in the equation as well because this team needs to learn how to win and maybe a strong finish will give them a boost going into the summer.

But, Zeller, Karasev, and some of the other guys at the end of the bench should be getting some minutes on a nightly basis too.

Let’s see if the coaching staff can make a bit of a change.

This Off-Season, It’s Time for Cavs to Deal Andy

The Cleveland Cavaliers probably won’t make the playoffs this season because they have too much of a deficit behind Charlotte and Atlanta and a tough March schedule to maneuver.

Still, it was the right move to try to get in the post-season, and the trades obtaining Luol Deng and Spencer Hawes were worth making, and an effort should be made to keep both for next season.

After all, the Cavs are still a very young team with Kyrie Irving just turning 22 years old, Dion Waiters just reach that age in December, and Tristan Thompson will hit 23 years of age later this month.

All three players have plenty of improvement which will be made by experience and getting stronger with age.

Even Hawes won’t turn 26 until just after the season ends, and he has played well in a Cavs’ uniform thus far, averaging almost 14 points and nine rebounds since coming over from Philadelphia at the trade deadline.

Keeping the free agent would give the wine and gold depth so they can finally make the move they should have made the season after LeBron James left town for Miami.

It’s time to deal Anderson Varejao.

Every year, the Cavaliers trick themselves into thinking “Wild Thing” will be healthy, because when he is, he is a quality NBA big man, averaging almost 8 points and 8 rebounds per game, mostly due to a highly active style of play.

He takes charges, dives for loose balls, and keeps plays alive and does so with relentless effort.

Because he’s been the best big man on the team since James left, he has often been overexposed, playing too many minutes. When that happens, the Brazilian gets hurt, thus having no impact on the team.

This has been a trademark of Varejao’s career. He misses a lot of games, playing 75 games or more just three times (’06-’07, ’08-’09, and ’09-’10) in his ten-year NBA career.

Yes, injuries are a part of sports, but when it happens to the same players year in and year out, it is not a coincidence. They are injury prone, thus no longer reliable to the team they play for.

The same thing happened with Courtney Brown for the Browns, and Grady Sizemore for the Indians. They simply couldn’t stay on the field long enough to make a contribution.

In those four years since he appeared in 76 games in 2009-2010, Varejao has missed 162 out of a possible 291 games, that’s more than half of the contests played by the wine and gold.

He has currently missed the team’s last 10 games with a back injury.

Assuming he will be back soon, the acquisition of Hawes means Mike Brown can play Varejao less minutes, meaning he will have a better opportunity to stay in the lineup, and off of the training table.

The Cavs need to establish Varejao’s health for the rest of the season so they can use him as a trade chip this summer in an effort to help the organization. The last few years, his injuries were season ending, so nobody was willing to deal for him until he showed he could get back on an NBA floor.

His skill set would be very important to a team trying to make a push toward a title, so however the GM is this summer, should be able to make a favorable deal for Cleveland.

It will be a bittersweet day, because Varejao is the last link to the glory teams in Cleveland, including the one that made the NBA Finals in 2007. But the time has come to make the move.

What is needed is for Varejao to get back on the floor this season.

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.

Deng’s Professionalism Makes Him Best Cav

When the Cleveland Cavaliers traded for two-time all star Luol Deng a little over a week ago, we proclaimed our love for the trade and said Deng steps in as the second best player on the team immediately.

We were wrong.

Deng is the best player wearing the wine and gold uniform right now.

You are probably reading this saying we are out of our mind, surely Kyrie Irving, the much-publicized young point guard is the best player. After all, he is the face of the franchise.

After watching four games with Deng in uniform, it is clear he is the alpha dog.

Why? Not to be too simplistic, but he’s a basketball player.

He makes open jump shots, he moves without the basketball, he plays solid defense. Isn’t that what you want out of a basketball player?

We have been campaigning for some sort of veteran presence on the Cavaliers, and getting the all-star small forward from the Bulls, is the first step in the right direction.

Instantly, Deng has developed a chemistry with fellow vet Anderson Varejao, communicating with him on defense and moving without the ball to get good looks at the hoop when the “Wild Thing” has the ball at the elbow.

This is because they know how to play professional basketball, something the younger Cavs like Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters have yet to grasp.

However, these two players and the rest of the players who are new to the league should be watching Deng and Varejao with an eye toward being the professional both of these players are.

It’s why it is clear, if you know basketball, that Luol Deng is now the Cavaliers’ best player.

It appears to have surprised the newcomer when his new teammates didn’t communicate on the floor. To be sure, the Bulls must do it quite a bit, and talking makes teams better particularly on the defensive end of the floor.

The younger players have ability, but they seem to have “SportsCenter” games, meaning they do things that show up on highlight reels, but don’t necessarily contribute to winning basketball games.

Irving, in particular, seems to be struggling since the arrival of Deng, shooting just 37.5% from the floor and his assists are down as well in the four games Deng has played. Perhaps, Irving is having difficulty converting from being in total control of the offense to Deng’s more disciplined approach.

And Deng’s contribution on the defensive end definitely tips the scales in his favor. He may not be on the all-defensive team, but he gets in his man’s way consistently.

Watch the younger players on the defensive end, opponents flash to the basket all the time and you will see the Cavalier defender trailing his man quite a bit.

This isn’t to say Luol Deng is a special player, but he appears to be the epitome of a professional basketball player. He plays the game the correct way.

GM Chris Grant would be well served to obtain another veteran player to go with Deng and Varejao to help the Cavaliers move forward.

The more players guys like Irving, Waiters, Tristan Thompson and Tyler Zeller can learn the game from the better off the future of the Cavaliers will be.

Cavs’ Parts May Not Fit

Since the holiday season is upon on, it seems appropriate to refer to the roster of the Cleveland Cavaliers as the island of misfit toys.

This isn’t to denigrate the talent of some of the players, and really, it is not to rip on GM Chris Grant for his selections in the draft.

Grant’s job is to draft the most talented player available when it is his turn to pick. So, if he thought Anthony Bennett was the best player last summer (and it is way too early to judge otherwise) then you have to take him.

The problem with the roster is it is too heavy in some areas and it needs help in others. Our thought was that Grant could deal from strength to shore up the weaknesses, and he may do that in time, but he can’t wait much longer.

Let’s look at the power forward position. Currently, the wine and gold have four players that are primarily “fours”: Tristan Thompson, Anderson Varejao, Earl Clark, and Bennett.

Mike Brown tries to alleviate the problem by playing Varejao at center and Clark at small forward, but they give up a lot (Varejao—size, Clark-quickness) at those spots.

Most NBA teams use two power forwards on the roster, so right now, there is an overload there.

At the small forward, the Cavs have Alonzo Gee, a defensive specialist, and they can play swingman C. J. Miles there as well, although in limited minutes.

Gee doesn’t shoot well enough to be considered a problem for the player assigned to guard him, and Miles doesn’t have the size to be able to guard the elite small forwards of the league, although he is the one Cleveland player who has knocked down open shots thus far.

In the backcourt, the Cavaliers have the centerpiece of the current roster, point guard Kyrie Irving. Irving can score and set up teammates, and if he has a weakness, it’s that he loves his dribble.

It would be one thing if he were moving with the dribble, but more often than not, he’s at the top of the key bouncing the ball and going nowhere.

That could be because of the simplistic offense the coaching staff runs.

The other players who get time in the backcourt (along with Miles) are Dion Waiters and Jarrett Jack, both combo guards rather than true off guards. This means both are more effective with the ball in their hands.

However, the coaching staff probably wants the ball in Irving’s hands.

You could have plays where the ball starts in Waiters or Jack’s hands and they set up Irving, but you would have to have something set up for that, and right now that doesn’t look to be the case.

So, the three-headed backcourt doesn’t seem to fit well together right now.

So, the pressure is on Grant to convert his superfluous parts into ones that can help this basketball team win and win now, because although there is talent on the roster, it doesn’t fit together.

There are too many players who have similar games, which is fine if they play at different times, but when you have to play Waiters and Jack at the same time or have Thompson and Varejao on the floor at the same time, it’s a problem.

If this team is going to start winning, this roster may have to be fixed. Grant has to make some moves to get this team to start putting games in the win column.

Optimism for Cavs Should Be Guarded

Tonight, the 2013-14 edition of the Cleveland Cavaliers will debut tonight at Quicken Loans Arena when the wine and gold take on the Milwaukee Bucks.

There is a lot of optimism regarding the team this season, with many national experts picking the Cavs to make the playoffs for the first time since LeBron James went to Miami.

Is this optimism warranted?

You can make arguments both ways.

The first concern would be the injury factor. Three key members of the squad have had problems staying on the court over the last three years: Kyrie Irving, Anderson Varejao, and newcomer Andrew Bynum.

If all three can play 60 or more games, Mike Brown’s team will be in great shape. But that’s a huge “if”.

Bynum and Varejao, along with Tristan Thompson, who we feel will be much improved, and Tyler Zeller will provide a formidable frontcourt combination.

However, the first two players mentioned can’t be counted on to stay healthy.

We said over the off-season that the Cavaliers needed to proceed as if Bynum would not play one minute this season. They needed to continue to build as if he wasn’t going to play.

Perhaps reducing Varejao’s minutes will help him stay on the court. Even if Bynum can’t play, Thompson and Zeller can handle the post, and first round draft pick Anthony Bennett and free agent signee Earl Clark can split time at the four spot as well.

However, if both big men are out, does the wine and gold have enough at the key rebounding positions?

In the backcourt, Irving has shown he can be one of the most dynamic players in the NBA, but he has missed significant time in each of his first two seasons with injuries. Perhaps this will be overcome as the former first overall pick gets stronger with age.

If he misses a lot of time this year, he could get the “injury prone” rap that no one wants.

Last year, when Shaun Livingston came in from Washington on Christmas Day, he brought veteran leadership for the guards. He has moved on, and in his place, GM Chris Grant signed Jarrett Jack as a free agent.

Jack will bring that same leadership and he has a proven history of putting the ball in the basket, scoring 13.0 points per game last season and 15.6 per contest the year before that.

The veteran is a true combo guard, playing the point when Irving is on the bench and playing off guard when Irving is on the floor.

Along with Dion Waiters, the Cavaliers will have a solid three guard rotation most nights. That is if Irving can stay healthy.

One thing can be said with certainty for this year’s squad. They will be better defensively; Brown will make sure of that.

Because of that, no longer will the Cavs lose huge leads down the stretch. The coaching staff will make sure that everybody makes an effort when the opponents have the basketball. That alone will lead to more victories.

If Irving, Varejao, and Bynum can stay on the court for most of the season, the Cavaliers will definitely be much improved.

However, none of those three can be counted on for durability until they prove otherwise.

Until this is proven, the Cavs will have to be viewed through jaundiced eyes.

Cavs Lack of Action Tiresome

It is beginning to seem like the same old song for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

They have multiple picks in the draft, have plenty of salary cap space, are involved in a bunch of trade rumors, and then do nothing.

Yes, we know the off-season is far from over, and there is plenty of time for GM Chris Grant to make big moves to improve his basketball team. Heck, last season’s biggest trade, that of James Harden to Houston, didn’t occur until a couple of days before the regular season started.

But it seems like the same ol’ song for the wine and gold.

Owner Dan Gilbert publicly proclaimed this was the last draft lottery his team would be involved in after winning the first pick, but right now, the Cavs don’t look any closer to a playoff team than they did the day the season ended in the middle of April.

Grant has accumulated a lot of young talented players, most notably Kyrie Irving, but also Tristan Thompson, Dion Waiters, Tyler Zeller, and new first round pick Anthony Bennett. Still, they lack a legitimate small forward, and a true center.

You want power forwards? Then Cleveland should be where you search with Thompson, Bennett, Anderson Varejao, and free agent signee Earl Clark all on the roster. Obviously, Mike Brown can play one of those guys at center, but they would be out of position.

The problem is year after year, fans are told that the Cavs are acquiring assets, getting draft picks and cap space so they can be a player in major trades, much like the Celtics were when they traded for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.

With all the player moves made around the league in the past week, the wine and gold sat idle, while supporters called for patience and understanding.

Al Jefferson, a proven NBA center went to Charlotte, the league’s worst team for three years and an estimated $41 million.

Grant’s defenders immediately pointed out it was a bad contract. On the other hand, the Cavs are paying Varejao $8 million per year to mostly not play.

Jefferson is 28 years old, hasn’t missed more than five games in a season in the last four years, and is a career 16 points, 9 rebounds a year guy. He will be 32 when the contract ends. He couldn’t help the Cavs?

Enough of the talk about cap space! It is meaningless if no one wants to take your money, and if you study free agent movement in the NBA, no high-profile player is coming here as a free agent.

They didn’t when LeBron James was here (although part of that was his fault), and they aren’t going to come now.

The best bet for a big man now is a poison pill contract offer to restricted free agent Nikola Pekovic, a 6’11” center from the Timberwolves. He averaged 16.3 points and 8.8 rebounds with Minnesota last season, and is one of the leading free agents still available.

There has also been talk of how Dwight Howard’s signing in Houston may make Omar Asik available. He averaged 10 points and almost 12 boards for the Rockets last season. He makes almost $15 million next season.

The point here is all of the losing is getting old, and the promises of getting better are even older.

The Cavs need some veteran players to teach and help the young guys to win. Having a bunch of young players and hoping they will figure it out has only worked once in recent memory (Oklahoma City).

If Gilbert and Grant want to get basketball fans in Cleveland excited, they need to do more than talk. And they need to make a good move, not just one for the sake of making one.

Cavalier fans are tired of talk. They want something to get this team back in playoffs not just for 2013-14, but for a while.