AanandM7

It's hard to argue for tanking when Kyrie has a finish like that. Scored ten of the last twelve and assisted on the other basket. Scored the go ahead basket twice within the last minute. A key contrast between Lebron and Kyrie is that Lebron often settled for jumpers at the end of games whereas Kyrie attacks, attacks, and attacks. What a game!

Agreed. It also helps that we have an owner with deep pockets and wants to win above all else.

Those are all fair points and I suppose we'll just agree to disagree. I think, moving forward, doing poorly this year and having a core of Kyrie/MKG/Tristan is better than fighting for a playoff spot, getting swept in the first round and getting Kyrie/Tristan/Tyler Zeller. Just remember, superstar free agents and stars at the end of their contracts don't want to come to Cleveland, we have to build through the draft or crafty trades. The best way to get a good return on trades is to have good assets, which could mean higher draft picks. Ultimately, I'm rooting for the Cavs to win every game that I watch. But if they're competitive and they lose, I'm not to upset about it.

I think its definitely fair to say that tanking or praying for high lottery picks is not the only way to go. Yet, I do think that from Cleveland's standpoint, following the "OKC Model" is the best way to go, considering we're a mid-market team. Even though Oklahoma City has not won a championship yet, the fact is, they have the second best record in the league, made it to an extremely competitive Western Conference Finals last year, and have two 23 ppg+ scorers. Not to mention, their 4 most important players (Durant, Westbrook, Harden, and Ibaka) are all 23 years old and under. Thus, they should be contending for a championship for quite sometime. Durant, Westbrook, and Harden were all top-4 picks. A look at the other conference leader, Chicago, shows a similar picture. Chicago's three most important players, Rose, Noah, and Deng, were all top-9 picks. But they wouldn't be where they are without a little luck, winning the lottery in 2008 with only a .017% of doing so. They selected the reigning MVP, Rose. What if Chicago got the 8th playoff seed in 2008? They wouldn't have had a chance to select Rose, and would have been mired in mediocrity, instead settling for someone like Brandon Rush, Anthony Randolph, Courtney Lee, or George Hill. I think our own experiences with Lebron should tell us that getting a high draft pick is the way to go. Remember, after Lebron's rookie season, we simply got too good, too quickly. Although we didn't make the playoffs, we ended up picking 10th and the world famous Luke Jackson, Miami's original LJ6. Of course, we picked one behind Philadelphia, who selected All-Star Andre Iguodala, and three behind Luol Deng. Who doesn't think one of those guys would have been more productive. I'm advocating that Cleveland follow Oklahoma City because unlike the Lakers and the Heat's major draw, major free agents aren't going to be clamoring to come here. Our last major free agent signing was Anthony Parker. We can't rely on having Shaq come here or Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade coming here. But even still, the high draft pick model has seen some success: Kevin Garnett did not want to play in Boston. Then, Boston traded the 5th pick (Jeff Green) to the Sonics for Ray Allen. Even though they didn't "build through the draft" per say, they still used the draft picks as an asset, which the Cavs also have the option of doing. After that trade, Garnett found Boston to be acceptable and added them to his wishlist. The rest is history. In the San Antonio experience, #1 pick David Robinson and #3 pick Sean Elliott didn't win anything...until those two essentially missed the whole season, and won the lottery. They then picked Tim Duncan #1 overall. One team that had the right idea, but really missed the boat was Portland. If LaMarcus, Oden, and Roy were all healthy, they too would be a title contender. All three of those guys were top picks. At the end of the day, the Cavs won't automatically be title contenders if they get high picks, but it'll send them on their way. They'll need to make smart draft picks later in the draft (Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, and Ibaka), but you get superstars at the top of the draft. As we've seen here, one star isn't enough to win.

True, losing does have a long-term upside. But I try to live for today! The Cavs currently have the eighth worst record in the NBA, but Detroit, Toronto, New Jersey, and Sacramento are all within 2.5 games. If Ramon and Jamison are shipped off, I see all those teams passing us. On the other hand, a healthy Anderson and Kyrie have proven that the Cavs will win some games in which they are not favored. If the Cavs end up 4th in the lottery, they would pick 7th at the worst, which would still allow us to get Bradley Beal or Terrance Ross. Although picking 4th would mean we would be guaranteed one of MKG, Barnes, or Drummond, which would be huge for the future. But I agree that I cant wait until we don't have to decide between competing and draft position.

Some follow up on this work of art! http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2011/12/corporate_lawyer_by_day_metalh.html

Haha! We're still in school.

Congrats, Blinker! Can't wait to order this for my move back to Cleveland.

Thanks for your responses, everyone. It definitely was helpful. I think right now, we're going to lean towards Sprint.

Sorry if this isn't the correct forum to discuss this, but do any of you know what providers work best in Cleveland? We are currently deciding between Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T. I've had Verizon for a while and have had a good experience, but Sprint appears to have the best deal for the iPhone. Any help would be appreciated!

http://www.cleveland.com/strongsville/index.ssf/2011/12/fitzgerald_blasts_citys_lakefr.html "Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald criticized a 90-acre development plan by Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson that would include hotels, retail space, and restaurants, questioning the sources of funding and the likelihood it could ever get built."

From Hodge's Facebook: Hodge Podge Truck ‎"Hodge's" restaurant will be located in downtown Cleveland, very excited to be a part of the heart of the city.... and dont worry we have our own parking ;) no need to pay.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/zatgnqdIefs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Edit: Guess not. Sorry all. This should work. I also wanted to say that I'm happy to finally register and be a part of the community. I've been lurking for a while and always read up on all of the Cleveland development news. I'll be returning to Cleveland in May and hopefully stay for good!