Tag: philadelphia 76ers

Bynum Should Be Viewed as Bonus

In the next couple of days, the Cleveland Cavaliers will officially sign Andrew Bynum to a contract, making him the newest member of the wine and gold.

It was a great low risk, high reward signing by GM Chris Grant, as if the big man’s knees aren’t healthy, the parties can go their separate ways after the season and the Cavs will keep their salary cap flexibility.

If Bynum is healthy, the Cavaliers get one of the few legitimate centers still playing in the NBA, and a quality one at that.

However, the organization should still tread very carefully in putting this year’s team together.  In fact, they should plan things based on not having Bynum available at all this season.

That seems a bit harsh, but if the Cavs are serious about building a team that can make the playoffs, then they need to put that squad together without the former Laker, and have anything he gives the wine and gold be a bonus.

The state of Bynum’s knees are such that he missed a complete season last year while on the roster of the Philadelphia 76ers, who made the playoffs the year before and actually won a playoff series.

The Sixers gave up an all-star in Andre Iguodala, who would be a free agent after the season, to rebuild their squad around a franchise center, only to see him not play a minute.

They would up winning fewer games than they did the year before in a strike shortened season (35-31 in ’11-’12 vs. 34-48 in ’12-’13), missed the playoffs, and traded their starting point guard, Jrue Holliday for Nerlens Noel, the rookie from Kentucky who had knee surgery last winter.

This isn’t to say the same chain of events will happen to the Cavs if they put all of their eggs in the Bynum basket, but Grant needs to continue to put together a team that can compete for a playoff spot even if he doesn’t play a minute for them.

Cleveland should have a solid backcourt with Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters, and Jarret Jack taking most of the minutes.  There shouldn’t be any weakness at that spot if that trio can stay healthy.

Besides Bynum, the team has other injury woes that need to be address in the front court, as C/PF Anderson Varejao also cannot be considered reliable.  That means that coach Mike Brown will have to depend on Tyler Zeller as his only true pivot man, with his only other options being true power forwards like Tristan Thompson, Earl Clark, and Anthony Bennett.

That means Grant should be looking for another big man who can take minutes if Bynum and Varejao can’t take the floor.  And if the former can’t go, they certainly need a big man who is a threat to score in the low post.

The Cavs also need to continue to look for a legitimate small forward so Alonzo Gee can come off the bench.  Gee’s game plays better in smaller spurts, his lack of shooting was exposed with more minutes.

If they can fill those holes, then they have a solid team, one capable of making the playoffs for the first time since LeBron James’ departure.

Then if Bynum can play, they have a chance to be one of the  better teams in the Eastern Conference.

It is too risky for Brown and Grant to depend on the big man.  That’s a risk they can’t afford to make.

JK

Irving’s Injury Might Help in a Weird Way

The Cleveland Cavaliers received word that they lost their best player, 2011-12 Rookie of the Year Kyrie Irving on Monday evening.  Then they went out and broke a losing streak by defeating the Philadelphia 76ers.

The leading scorer in that game was Irving’s replacement, little known back up point guard Jeremy Pargo, who scored 28 points and dished out four assists.

While it is never good to lose a player of Irving caliber for a month, there could be some positives to come as a result of the point guard’s broken index finger.

Over the past few games he played, all but one being on the road, the former Duke Blue Devil was getting away from his playmaking duties.

In his first six games of the season, Irving averaged 6.5 assists per night.  In the next four contests, he dished out just 4.3 dimes and in the lone home game during that stretch, vs. Dallas, he had none.

This is not to criticize the second year player, as he was doing what he could to try to win basketball games, but it does suggest perhaps his teammates had started to defer too much to Irving and also Anderson Varejao.

Now with Irving out, likely until around Christmas time, it is time for some other people to step it up.

For one, it should make Dion Waiters a better player.  He’s one guy who will need to pick up the scoring load without Irving’s almost 23 points per night, and he will have the ball in his hands quite a bit.

He scored 16 points in the win on Wednesday (he did take 22 shots) and had six assists.  With Irving out, it would be nice to see Waiters start attacking the basket more.  He hasn’t been to the free throw line in the last two contests and only has one game thus far with more than four free throws.

If he starts going to the hole on a regular basis, he should be getting six to eight charity tosses per night.  The Cavs’ offense will need that, and it will make Waiters a better player when Kyrie comes back.

Another player who needs to step up is C. J. Miles, who responded with his best game of the season Wednesday, scoring 13 points on five of nine shooting.

Up to that contest, Miles was dreadful to start the season.  The game against Philly raised his shooting percentage to 26.7% on the year.  Remember, this is a guy who averaged almost 13 points per night just two years ago.  He’s a better player than he’s showed the fans of the wine and gold thus far, and with Irving out, he’s another player who will need to pick his game up.

Irving’s absence should also help decide who the back up point guard will be when he returns.  And Pargo gave himself a leg up with his performance in his first start.  Coach Byron Scott gave the job initially to Donald Sloan, but when he wasn’t passing or scoring well, the coach started easing in Pargo.

No one expects the latter to keep scoring 28 points a game, but if he can show he progress, it gives Scott a chance to give his best player rest in order to keep him fresh for the end of games.

Sometimes basketball teams need to learn they don’t have to be totally reliant on an all-star player, and it would be better for the team if everyone pulled their weight instead of waiting for the star to do it.

If the Cavaliers learn that collectively over the next few weeks, then Irving’s finger will help in the long run.

JK