I generally try to stay as superstitious as possible where the Cavs are concerned, but I don't see Kyrie regressing in any meaningful way.  The manner in which he is effective shows intelligence and poise, and he has the athletic gifts to stay at the head of this rookie group.

Younger players usually regress from hot starts when they have a go-to move and their game is more one-dimensional.  KI is too versatile for that.  He can score from inside, mid-range, and 3...... and he can use both hands when finishing around the rim.  I am actually more concerned about Gee since he seems to love the baseline so much.

 

Here's something that I have started to notice with KI.  He has to be double-jointed.  His body bends in some really funky ways.  I first noticed this watching the replay of his game winner against Boston when they showed the angle from down by Boston's basket.  He did something with his left knee that would usually make me sick to my stomach seeing it on a football field.  You can kind of see it if you freeze the frame at 0:40 of the video posted below, but Bass's head is in the way.  I can't find the angle from the back where it really stood out on my dvr in superslowmo

 

I'm having some difficulty figuring out what Gee's 'ceiling' is.  He's as athletic as most any wing player, he has good size (both height and weight), he can shoot, he surely can defend, he hustles.  I suppose his ball handling could be better, but other than that.... this kid is oozing potential.  I just can't believe two teams gave up on him before we snatched him up.

 

On another note.... both LBJ and Wade endorsed Andy for the All-Star team.

^How about "Andre Iguodala who can't pass"?

That's two wins in the last three games against teams with winning records. And the road game against Miami was pretty even right up into the fourth quarter. And now we've got a 9-game home stand. I'm hoping we can to within a game of .500 at the end of it.

 

BTW, as we discussed trade bait recently, what about Ramon Sessions. His trade value will go up as long as he can showcase his talents while Kyrie is recovering from his concussion. Question is, what void can we fill from a team that needs a point guard? Maybe the Clippers could use Sessions after Billups went out for the season with the torn Achilles? But what do they have that we need?

 

Sent from my BlackBerry 9810 using Tapatalk

Too bad Andy's biggest contributions don't show up on the stat sheet.....

 

http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2012/02/cleveland_cavaliers_irving_and.html

Only one of the EC reserves (Deron Williams) plays for a team with a losing record.  When the coaches vote for the reserves, there seems to be an instinct to make sure the best teams are represented somewhere on the roster - JJohnson, Iggy, Hibbert.  It would be hard to say that Atlanta, Philly, and the Pacers don't have one All-Star, I suppose.  Funny thing is.... I'm not so sure that those three have been the best players on their respective teams this year with JSmith, Holiday, and Granger probably having the greater game in and game out impact.

Varejao is better than Deng, but the Bulls (and the Heat) are unquestionably the strongest teams in the East. It would be strange to have the Heat's Terrible Trio there but only Derrick Rose from Chicago. I guess the argument is that Varejao has the opportunity to get the minutes and boards he gets because of an overall weak roster, but I'm not sure I buy that. Irving didn't deserve it - not sure why anyone thought he'd be in there. He isn't there yet. Varejao was definitely a borderline all-star, though. If he has another season like this one, maybe he'll get a look. Irving will be in there in a season or two.

That's two wins in the last three games against teams with winning records. And the road game against Miami was pretty even right up into the fourth quarter. And now we've got a 9-game home stand. I'm hoping we can to within a game of .500 at the end of it.

 

BTW, as we discussed trade bait recently, what about Ramon Sessions. His trade value will go up as long as he can showcase his talents while Kyrie is recovering from his concussion. Question is, what void can we fill from a team that needs a point guard? Maybe the Clippers could use Sessions after Billups went out for the season with the torn Achilles? But what do they have that we need?

 

Sent from my BlackBerry 9810 using Tapatalk

 

I've been looking at a lot of the options and the one I keep coming back to is draft picks.  There really aren't any players we could reasonably expect in a trade that we would want or that would make us much better.

While disappointing no Cav made the All Star team, never underestimate the power of the "nobody believes in me" and how it can really make players get better.  Hope it applies here!

Andy needed the rest anyway

That's two wins in the last three games against teams with winning records. And the road game against Miami was pretty even right up into the fourth quarter. And now we've got a 9-game home stand. I'm hoping we can to within a game of .500 at the end of it.

 

BTW, as we discussed trade bait recently, what about Ramon Sessions. His trade value will go up as long as he can showcase his talents while Kyrie is recovering from his concussion. Question is, what void can we fill from a team that needs a point guard? Maybe the Clippers could use Sessions after Billups went out for the season with the torn Achilles? But what do they have that we need?

 

Sent from my BlackBerry 9810 using Tapatalk

 

I've been looking at a lot of the options and the one I keep coming back to is draft picks.  There really aren't any players we could reasonably expect in a trade that we would want or that would make us much better.

 

If we can get a good deal for Sess, then I'd be open to trading him. But we should NOT (repeat: NOT) give him away. I'd rather keep him than give him away for nothing more than a crap shoot draft pick. I don't expect us to get an all-star (or future all-star) for Sess, but giving him away is crazy to me, imho.

We will likely lose him in FA at the end of the year for nothing.  So... if you can get a low first round pick for him, that would be hard to pass up.

Here's a handy list of draft pick credits for each franchise http://basketball.realgm.com/nba/draft/future_drafts/detailed.  A few notes on teams we may be looking to partner with:

1. Holy sh!t New York!  That team is going to be bad forever.  Basically they have no tradeable assets except a 2013 first rounder.  They have traded away first rounders in 2012, 2014, and 2016.  Good luck with that!

2. The Lakers have all of their own first round picks, and added a first round pick from Dallas in 2012 that is top 20 protected until 2018.  Maybe we try for their 2013 pick in exchange for Sessions?

3. I know we're not looking to hook up with Miami anytime soon, but I was just looking at the draft picks they owe us.  I didn't think much of it at the time, but those 2013 and 2015 picks might actually be pretty valuable.  That 2013 pick is one Dwyane Wade injury away from being a mid-first rounder and the 2015 pick has a decent chance of being a good pick regardless.  Of course Kyrie will already be 23 at that point, so we should start to see his production fall off.

A few points....

 

NYK can't trade their 2013 pick until after the 2012 draft.  See the "Ted Stepien" rule named after our former owner.

 

I actually think Miami plays better in the regular season with only 2 of the big 3.  Losing Wade would pretty much wipe out their chances at playoff success, but they would still hold one of the league's best records regardless.

Oh, Stepien.  Point taken on that 2013 pick.  But by that 2014-15 season, Miami will have $61mil committed to 30 year-old LeBron, 30 year-old Bosh, and 33 year-old Dwyane.  Obviously at least two of those players will still be very good, but not "we don't need any other players even though our entire salary cap is committed to 2 30 year-old players and 1 one player in his mid-thirties who doesn't have ankles anymore" good.

That's why LBJ opts out after 2013-2014 ;)

I was thinking that it wouldn't be that weird if one or all of the Heats opted out after a couple more seasons of no championships, but I didn't realize they would be getting $20mil by the end of the contract.  Hard to imagine anyone walking away from $20-$30 mil.

It would not be unprecendented.  The key for a max salary player is to sign as many max salary contract as you can.  Walking away a year early to re-up with another team for 6-7 more years of guaranteed money is a wise move.... especially with the concern that your skills and value could start to quickly diminish the more you get north of 30 yrs. old.

As much as I like Sessions, he has to be traded because I don't see him re-signing here.  Further, his stock is really high at the moment and this team doesn't need to be worrying about the playoffs this year.  I'm not saying that I wouldn't want to see them in the postseason, but it wouldn't be the end of the world if they didn't make it, so no reason to hold on to Sessions through the end of the season.

 

As for the Heat, I really think if they don't win it all this year, Riley might make some big changes, including possibly jettisoning one of the Big 2.5.  That's a dream scenario for me and I don't think it's that impossible to have happen.

After Antawn missed the two free throws with three seconds left in regulation, I changed the channel and I didn't go back.

Cavs are pretty useless without Varejao and Irving.

They were also playing a pretty good team. They've been beaten this year by good teams by wider margins than last night's -- with Andy and Kyrie on the floor. But it's shame they're injured. This home stand is a chance to get back close to .500, but injuries may cause the opportunity to slip away.

Way to go cavs.  Was it just me, or did that play where Gibson sprained his ankle seem a little dirty?

While it means nothing because there was no defense played, Kyrie Irving put on a show tonight at the Rookie-Sophomore game, scoring 34 points and taking MVP honors.  Also, here's an interesting piece on Irving growing up and the role his father played:

 

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/kyrieirving_120224/nba-father-laid-plan-kyrie-irving-followed-it

 

Go Cavs!

While it means nothing because there was no defense played, Kyrie Irving put on a show tonight at the Rookie-Sophomore game, scoring 34 points and taking MVP honors.  Also, here's an interesting piece on Irving growing up and the role his father played:

 

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/kyrieirving_120224/nba-father-laid-plan-kyrie-irving-followed-it

 

Go Cavs!

 

What's most interesting is that top scorers from each team were both Cleveland Cavaliers. Yes, everybody saw that Kyrie Irving was the top scorer for Team Chuck. But the top scorer for Team Shaq was Tristan Thompson. I know it's just a meaningless exhibition and a chance to have some fun, but I do think it shows we have some pretty decent young talent on this team.

of course little to no defense was played but WOW, Kyrie impressed almost every NBA fan in the league besides us because we know what he's already capable of :). TT was actually trying to play some D and altered a few shots, he reminds me of a younger Andy with his nonstop hustle and energy. He's always running the floor showing and fighting for a board, give this kid a couple of years to more develope his game and watch out league, another bonified allstar in the making. As bad as im split on wether to make the playoffs or lottery pic, i wouldn't mind seeing this team in the playoffs but what's frustrating with myself is, short term success or long term i.e lottery pick. Anyways go CAVS!!!!

mayne, I can't wait for Antwan Jamison's contract to be baught out -__-, can't stomach his play or how man minutes he actually gets by poor shooting, shots, and lackluster defense. I try to root for him but geeze its getting hard to, shoot, shoot, shoot, get out my way shoot, under my legs shoot mentality lol. Him off the team will probably make us worse given the face he gives us 20 ppg (taking outrageous shots) but it will give time for TT to get much needed playing time and experience for a rebuilding year anyway. Parker is annoying the hell out of me too lol, thinking he's Jordan, pass the rock you can't shoot. Go Cavs!

We desperately need Andy back on the floor to wake up these sleepwalkers.

Definitely excited for Jamison to be gone.  He needs too many shots to be productive, and I think he's a big part of the reason that Kyrie has started recent games relatively slowly.  TT is obviously very inconsistent, but he's also only 20 years old.  Give these young fellas some run!  Oh, and please trade Ramon to the Lakers for a first round pick.  I don't want to watch him and Kyrie try to play together anymore.

Great minds think alike, eh lol, you're spot on. I like Sessions as a backup point guard and would love to keep him if he accepts that role (highly doubtful), but I don't see it happening so he needs to be traded to the Lakers for that 1st round pick. I do think Sessions would be a good point guard in this league (starting material), but when him and Irving are both out on the floor he hinders his progess imho. Its like he trys to showup Irving at times and be the savior, a role in which he cannot suceed in. This is Irvings team, although he's not selfish he should really be at times, like the instances of Parker taking them two game winning shots. Jamison is annoying, if he gave his all and hustled on every play rather than the offensive end I wouldn't care, but he doesn't give a f on Defense or foul shooting. Like you said he takes too many shots to be productive, anybody given his minutes and shoots almost to 25 times a game could end up with 20 ppg. Thing with TT that's getting to me is lately I've been noticing he's getting blocked or the ball knocked out while going up for a dunk, more playing time will help his progress. Erdan isn't showing much of ish as the same with Hollins, we desperately need Andy back but losing now is best we can do for the future. I don't like losing nor want them to but its the only route we have to go to be successful once again, the more ping pong balls the better.

we desperately need Andy back but losing now is best we can do for the future. I don't like losing nor want them to but its the only route we have to go to be successful once again, the more ping pong balls the better.

 

True, losing does have a long-term upside. But I try to live for today!

we desperately need Andy back but losing now is best we can do for the future. I don't like losing nor want them to but its the only route we have to go to be successful once again, the more ping pong balls the better.

 

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.

There was a good series of articles on cavstheblog (article here http://www.cavstheblog.com/?p=8062).  The writer goes through the way each of the winningest teams of the past 20 years became winning teams.  Very few of them accomplished it with multiple lottery picks of their own.  Oklahoma City is the current darling of the league and the model everybody points to, but last time I checked they had 2 winning seasons under their belt and 0 championships. 

There was a good series of articles on cavstheblog (article here http://www.cavstheblog.com/?p=8062).  The writer goes through the way each of the winningest teams of the past 20 years became winning teams.  Very few of them accomplished it with multiple lottery picks of their own.  Oklahoma City is the current darling of the league and the model everybody points to, but last time I checked they had 2 winning seasons under their belt and 0 championships.

 

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. 

^well said and I agree..

The point I was trying to make (by pointing to the point that somebody else was making) is that none of the recent champions have gotten there by having successive lottery picks.  It does seem quite important to have 1 grand slam lottery pick to start with. Granted, Boston did turn two lottery picks into a championship, but that's not a model I would want to follow.  They completely mortgaged their future by essentially rolling the dice with three 30+ year-old players on the downside of their careers.  It happened to work in their case.  San Antonio won their first championship in David Robinson's 10th season in strike-shortened 98-99.  I don't see how either of these cases apply to the Cavs' current situation, unless you want to add another lottery pick in 15 years when Kyrie's dirt stache starts to turn silver.  Other recent champs: Lakers (Kobe, fantasy free agent addition, then trades); Detroit (free agency, trades, smart late round drafting);  Miami (Dwyane Wade, trade (which did include a recent lottery pick)); Dallas (Dirk Nowitzki, time).

The point I was trying to make (by pointing to the point that somebody else was making) is that none of the recent champions have gotten there by having successive lottery picks.  It does seem quite important to have 1 grand slam lottery pick to start with. Granted, Boston did turn two lottery picks into a championship, but that's not a model I would want to follow.  They completely mortgaged their future by essentially rolling the dice with three 30+ year-old players on the downside of their careers.  It happened to work in their case.  San Antonio won their first championship in David Robinson's 10th season in strike-shortened 98-99.  I don't see how either of these cases apply to the Cavs' current situation, unless you want to add another lottery pick in 15 years when Kyrie's dirt stache starts to turn silver.  Other recent champs: Lakers (Kobe, fantasy free agent addition, then trades); Detroit (free agency, trades, smart late round drafting);  Miami (Dwyane Wade, trade (which did include a recent lottery pick)); Dallas (Dirk Nowitzki, time).

 

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.

we desperately need Andy back but losing now is best we can do for the future. I don't like losing nor want them to but its the only route we have to go to be successful once again, the more ping pong balls the better.

 

True, losing does have a long-term upside. But I try to live for today!

 

True, on the other hand living today will not get you quicker to sucess. I hate to have the mindset with the Cavs as I do with the Browns but realistically, that's the only way we have at being elite once again. I do believe if LeBron made an longterm commitment here, we would have signed better FA. People tend to forget that when Larry Hughes came out he was a hot comrodity (basically carried his own team if my memory serves me right the Wizards in the playoffs), unfortunately for us it didn't pend out to our expectations. Donyel Marshall was such a sharp shooter coming into FA but for some reason once he got here was a complete bum as the same goes for Damon Jones. We have tried to bring ppl in to surround LeBron with, its just that they were poor decisions and not to mention we got to good too quickly (couldn't go the okc route). Once Irving builds up his reputation even more then his outstanding rookie season into a d.rose, cp3 then we might be able to attract top notch FAs again, untill then the draft is our only hope. I do believe we are going down the right path to where we want to be down the future, Chris Grant is a genius. If we win now I'm happy but if we lose, I wouldn't be to upset. That's the loser mentality to have, I agree. Anyways, leggoooo Cavs!

The point I was trying to make (by pointing to the point that somebody else was making) is that none of the recent champions have gotten there by having successive lottery picks.  It does seem quite important to have 1 grand slam lottery pick to start with. Granted, Boston did turn two lottery picks into a championship, but that's not a model I would want to follow.  They completely mortgaged their future by essentially rolling the dice with three 30+ year-old players on the downside of their careers.  It happened to work in their case.  San Antonio won their first championship in David Robinson's 10th season in strike-shortened 98-99.  I don't see how either of these cases apply to the Cavs' current situation, unless you want to add another lottery pick in 15 years when Kyrie's dirt stache starts to turn silver.  Other recent champs: Lakers (Kobe, fantasy free agent addition, then trades); Detroit (free agency, trades, smart late round drafting);  Miami (Dwyane Wade, trade (which did include a recent lottery pick)); Dallas (Dirk Nowitzki, time).

 

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.

 

Couldn't agree more or explained it any better :-), top picks doesn't guarantee that they'll pan out but unfortunately, that's the only option we have.

It's AN option.  A savvy front office will trump high draft picks every time.  Remember how we got Kyrie? (I mean besides drafting him with the first overall pick.)

That's not to make the claim that low picks are better than high picks.  But I think the record shows at least fairly clearly that intentional tanking isn't as successful a strategy for contention as determined and intelligent management.

That's not to make the claim that low picks are better than high picks.  But I think the record shows at least fairly clearly that intentional tanking isn't as successful a strategy for contention as determined and intelligent management.

 

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

I disagree with the notion of intentional tanking.  However, let's take a look at the very best players in this league and where they were drafted:

 

L James #1

K Bryant #13

D Wade #5

D Rose #1

K Durant #2

D Howard #1

T Duncan #1

K Garnett #5

B Griffin #1

K Love #5

C Anthony #3

C Paul #4

D Williams #3

D Nowitzki #8

 

Pattern?  Certainly seems so.  Kobe was the only one not drafted in the top 10, and that was only because he was a skinny kid straight out of high school when the Lakers traded Divac to the (then Charlotte) Hornets to acquire him on draft day.

 

Now, putting aside the '04 Pistons, name one NBA champion that has not had at least one player considered to be in the top 10 in the league.  Even going back to LAL (Magic, Worthy, KAJ), Boston (Bird, McHale), Chicago (Jordan, Pippen), Houston (Olajuwan)..... great teams in the NBA are always led by great players.  We know we won't get any of those players through Free Agency, so the draft really is our only hope to build a dynasty.  That's how San Antonio did it when they the Admiral got hurt and they had a down year to draft Duncan.... then really showed some scouting savvy by snatching up Parker and Ginobili to build their dynasty.

Doesn't hurt.

I disagree with the notion of intentional tanking.  However, let's take a look at the very best players in this league and where they were drafted:

 

L James #1

K Bryant #13

D Wade #5

D Rose #1

K Durant #2

D Howard #1

T Duncan #1

K Garnett #5

B Griffin #1

K Love #5

C Anthony #3

C Paul #4

D Williams #3

D Nowitzki #8

 

Pattern?  Certainly seems so.  Kobe was the only one not drafted in the top 10, and that was only because he was a skinny kid straight out of high school when the Lakers traded Divac to the (then Charlotte) Hornets to acquire him on draft day.

 

Now, putting aside the '04 Pistons, name one NBA champion that has not had at least one player considered to be in the top 10 in the league.  Even going back to LAL (Magic, Worthy, KAJ), Boston (Bird, McHale), Chicago (Jordan, Pippen), Houston (Olajuwan)..... great teams in the NBA are always led by great players.  We know we won't get any of those players through Free Agency, so the draft really is our only hope to build a dynasty.  That's how San Antonio did it when they the Admiral got hurt and they had a down year to draft Duncan.... then really showed some scouting savvy by snatching up Parker and Ginobili to build their dynasty.

 

I agree that you need that centerpiece.  I guess I'm banking on Kyrie being that player.  The picture gets much murkier when you talk about the second best player on a team.  These tend to be high picks not drafted by the team they won a championship with, and acquired very late in their careers.  Jason Terry, Pau Gasol, Kevin Garnett/Ray Allen, Shaquille O'Neal, Clyde Drexler, Adrian Dantley/Bill Laimbeer, Kareem (pulled a reverse by acquiring Kareem first, then drafting Magic).  The only exception to this rule are the Jordan Bulls and the Hamilton/Billups/Prince/Wallace/Wallace Pistons.

Sorry, forgot about the Spurs.  They did it with late draft picks.

It's AN option.  A savvy front office will trump high draft picks every time.  Remember how we got Kyrie? (I mean besides drafting him with the first overall pick.)

 

Agree, you must agree tho that was lucky and its highly doubtful that a team would be as stupid as the Clippers were last year :-D. That type of deal will probably never happen again especially after the example the Clippers gave NBA owners around the league lol. I however do believe our front office is one of the best in the league, savvy enough to make the deals needed possible.

 

I'm not tanking on the season, simply stating that everytime we play I'm cheering for us to win each and every time, but if we somehow lose by giving all of our effort, I wouldn't be sad either. Half of this team will not be here next season, so what's best for now/ couple years down the road, to make the playoffs with players that won't be here next season and go out the first round likely and having our draft stock go down, or more ping pong balls? Personally, I think the NBA lottery is rigged.

It was foolish on my part to claim anyone needs to be savvy when dealing with the Clippers.

Name the last big-name free agent the Cavs signed outright.  We can't bank on that route working for us.

 

The Spurs hit two homeruns with Parker and Ginobili.  I doubt that happens again, especially with the way international talent is scouted nowadays.  But they also had #1 draft pick Tim Duncan and, for at least their first championship, they also had #1 draft pick David Robinson.

 

I am a HUGE Kyrie fan, but on a championship team, I see him more as "1a".  We need either a big or a wing who can take over the game to build a legitimate championship contender.  He doesn't have to be the best player in the league, but he has to be at least on the level of Paul Pierce in his prime.