Hts121

Wow. I haven't heard of similar issues. Hopefully just bad luck

Shump, Felder and Frye are the players most likely to be included from our end in any package deal

I want Koby Altman to practice patience. There is no rush to trade Kyrie. The right deal WILL come around. Kyrie's value is too high for that not to happen. The only way he f's this up is if he jumps at one of the early low ball offers. I want something comparable to what Denver got in the Melo package..... Gallo, Wilson Chandler, Mozgov, Felton, 1st rounder, and two 2nd rounders. I'd tell teams to not bother calling unless they are offering something comparable to that. Speaking of Denver, I like the type of package they can put together. Murray, Harris, Chandler and picks. I've always like Chandler. He does just about everything well. Murray and Harris are potentially your backcourt of the future. The picks can be used on draft night or in trades for other assets.

^All of the seasons are very, very good.

^I'd take that deal as well, especially if Phoenix, as rumored, is willing to throw in a future 1st round pick. He could've got more money elsewhere, but came here to be on a winner and try to re-establish himself as an elite player. So he should be motivated. He wants to get paid next summer. Who do you see as a starting point guard? (someone that we could've signed, obviously). I don't understand this criticism because I don't know what better alternatives are out there for us. Enlighten me. And keep in mind that the starting PG on LeBron's team is really on a "point guard" in name only.

^Consider the price they got him for. Who were they supposed to get/sign? He's still a very good slasher, who can create his own shot. We will need that once Kyrie is shipped off. No telling what we will get for Kyrie, but at least now our hand is not forced to somehow land a PG in return. I think putting D Rose back into a winning culture could give him a boost. He has been relatively healthy the past two seasons and he can still put pressure on a defense. I definitely want him to start over Calderon. The outlook on this signing may change if we do end up getting Bledsoe. But, either way, it is not a bad signing. BTW, 8 of the last 9 MVPs now play for either the Cavs or the Warriors.

^I think he is missing two key ingredients - toughness and lateral speed. He isn't likely to gain either as he gets older.

^At his peak, Sprewell was a very good player. He just wasn't a top 10 player and I don't think Wiggins will ever reach that status. The awkwardness of his movements still persists. He is lacking that smoothness in coordination you see from the top tier players. His toughness also leaves something to be desired. He gets by with size and speed/athleticism and a fairly decent motor, as well as good, but not great, skills. As for the locker room comment, Wiggins is a weird kid. He is very quirky.

^I said when he was coming out that Luttrell Sprewell was his ceiling. I stand by that. And when I say he doesn't fit, I don't just mean on the court. He won't fit in the locker room.

Minny is getting a lot of play in the twitterverse because Kyrie supposedly listed them, along with Miami, SAS, and NYK, as his preferred destinations..... not that he has much say in where he goes. He is good friends with Jimmy Butler and Karl Anthony Towns. A few reasons why I don't see that happening. Wiggins is due for an over-bloated contract. Trading Kyrie for him would either this year or next, INCREASE the luxury tax bill Gilbert would have to pay. The other reason is fit. Wiggins doesn't fit..... and who would be your starting PG?

^There's a few ideas I saw floated that I like better. Never been much of a Wiggins fan. I've never thought his game would translate well to playing alongside LeBron. The best deals I've seen have Eric Bledsoe coming back as part of the package. But one idea I just saw floated had Delly coming "home" in some sort of multi-team format. Obviously, we would need some established all-star or super high-end prospect to be part of that package. But I love the idea of bringing Delly back. He gives us so much of what Kyrie did not and he is familiar with and to the coach and team. No transition period for him.

In response to this Kyrie fiasco, I saw something like this on twitter - "Before you go saying that Kyrie believes the world revolves around him, remember that he believes the Earth is flat."

That was one of my initial reactions as well. For as much as we hear from the Ric Bucher's of the world that the 'overwhelming consensus amongst NBA players" is that LeBron is as good as gone, someone must've forgotten to mention that to Kyrie. Regardless, Kyrie's rationale makes little sense. He wants to be more of a focus point but yet he had a higher usage rate than LeBron last season. He averaged a career high. He has played into the Finals the last three years, putting the spotlight more on him than it would be if he was the unquestioned star on a mediocre team. Either that is not really his reason or he is getting very bad advice. That said, I'm ready to move on. As much as I love watching Kyrie play, the advanced metrics don't place a whole lot of value on him. But he is young, coming off is best year, on a cap friendly contract, and is marketable. We can get a haul for him if we play our cards right. A much better return package than Love would bring and what he brings to the table is easier to replace. So here's an opportunity to improve the perimeter defense and perhaps the interior as well.

If it weren't for Bledsoe's knee issues, I'd jump on that trade. He is a way superior perimeter defender. If we play our cards right, we can come out of this as good or better. Like ^ said, Kyrie has a very friendly contract. He will be a much sought after commodity.

Kobe once demanded a trade from LAL. He wasn't traded and won multiple more championships with the team. I honestly don't understand the rationale for Kyrie. He is NOT a good first option. If he was, we wouldn't struggle so much when LeBron takes a seat. He is a great second option..... at least on offense. His current role, which allows him to stay at PG without really being a PG, is ideal. If he really does want out and we can find a trade that makes us better, I'm all for it. But if I'm the Cavs, I tell him to plan to be here next season. A lot can change over the course of a year. While the NBA journalists are having a lot of fun right now painting the three time defending EC champs as a sh!tshow, none of this matters. All that matters is where we are NEXT June/July.

5000? As big as that mall was, that seems high. I'll bet half or more of those jobs were PT and close to minimum wage.

1,200 new jobs. That's got to rival how many jobs were at Randall when it was at full strength.

Click bait

Swaggy P signs with the Warriors? Here's hoping his 'swag' infects that locker room. I think every team he has ever been on has went into the crapper. Wizards picked him in the mid first round in 2007. By the time he left, in 2012, they were a lottery team. He played one season in Philly and it was the first season the missed the playoffs in a while. They haven't made the playoffs since. Then the Lakers barely made the playoffs his first season there and have not made it back since. ^I agree that Hayward is not a game changer for the Celts, especially since they have to renounce Kelly Olynick and also get rid of some combo of Bradley/Smart/Crowder, all very good defenders. In fact, I would maybe argue that signing makes the matchup against the Cavs more difficult.

No, no. We need defense more than we need offense. We have two 25ppg+ scorers and a 20ppg scorer. Since everyone is so freaked out and panicking about GSW, how about we try something novel..... like not allow them to score close to 70 points in every first half? That would be a good place to start.

Yes GSW is better on paper, but it is far from a foregone conclusion that we lose to them in the Finals again. We were one 4th quarter meltdown away from the series being tied 2-2. Hell, we were one missed Korver 3 away from that. Lots of things can change. GSW may not be fully healthy. Durant may not be 'en fuego' at the right time. Our bench may actually contribute something. The experience is what you make of it. Someone spoke the truth this week when they said we worship the 80's Browns teams like they were Gods, and enjoyed the runs they had to the utmost, but the entire City is one big negative nancy when it comes to the Cavs/LeBron.

^The optics, I suppose. Plus, at least in PG's case, Indy probably wanted to minimize fan exposure to him by limiting the games he will play in Indy next year. In the end, I don't think the package they took from OKC was all that much worse than what we could've/would've offered them. And who knows what we did offer them.

^People have quickly forgotten how patient and deliberate Griffin was in his dealings. He was not a knee jerk GM. The people who are lamenting his absence want Gilbert to make knee jerk decisions. Part of what happened with Butler and PG trades is that neither the Bulls nor the Pacers wanted to trade their star players within division. As for Griff's departure, I think that was all him and Gilbert. He wanted more/sole control and a lot more $$$. Gilbert just doesn't place all that much value on GM. I'll bet he thinks that any competent GM who has LeBron and an owner willing to spend well into the repeater tax should be able to have some success. For my part, I don't want Gilbert making personnel decisions, but this criticism of him "cutting corners" by not paying Griff what he demanded is ridiculous if you consider that Korver's signing just added $20mill to the tax bill for next season.

NBA fans get waaaaay too tied up in potential rumors. Butler got traded to Minny. Didn't hear much, if anything about that potential before it happened. PG went to OKC. Not on anyone's radar before it went down. Point being, don't get too wrapped up in the "rumors" as far as what we can and will do. 99% of what you hear is what has already been discussed and dismissed. In real news, we did re-sign Korver at a reasonable price. I'm not worried about his age since his game never relied on explosiveness. Hopefully, after a full year in the fold, we will get better minutes out of him in the playoffs. And Jose Calderon signed for the vet minimum. So we add two to the five starters, plus Shump and Frye. That's your top 9 at the moment. I do believe the rumors that Shump is on the market.... but any deal for him has to be a 'win', so I don't think the chances that he gets traded are very high. If trading him frees up some money to sign someone better, then they will do it. Same for Frye. In other news, Cedi Osman will be coming over this year. I don't expect him to make any significant contributions.

^a little too hot and humid for me on Friday and Saturday, but Sunday and Monday (when we went to the islands) had near perfect weather.