Barnes down to 2:

[NashtyNas]

Jared Dudley letting Bucher know Barnes is going to choose between Cleveland & Atlanta. Good luck Cavs fans! (y)

"JaredDudley619@RicBucher and also matt will be at cleveland or atl... show ur boy some loveabout 2 hours ago from web in reply to RicBucher"

[TheMan44]

well, that other nba insider dude, forgot his name, smith or something - tweeted that Barnes is signing with CAVS.

Barnes wants to be with Shaq and LBJ without a doubt and that Shaq called Barnes to get him to join the wagon......

looks like Cavs got a Lebron backup:

C Shaq / Z
F AV / Hix
F Lebron / Barnes
G West / Parker
G Mo / Gibs


but u gonna see a lot of this in the 4th quarter: Shaq, LBJ, Barnes-OR-Parker, West, Mo.

[NashtyNas]

Still, the PF position is extremely weak offensively. Ferry has failed to put young talent around Lebron so far, and unless a trade happens to bring someone like Jamison/Vill/Boozer to Cle, it'll still be a failure. How can you know your biggest weakness and not address it? Not to mention AV has been overpaid.. I love the Cavs, I love Lebron, but this is looking bleek. I like the Parker signing, and wouldn't mind Barnes (although people mistake his energy/hustle for good defense, and take him for a good shooter, yet he is STREAKY at best). Cavs NEED to get a good PF that can score and defend a bit to call this an off season. Trading West shouldn't be as big a problem with Parker/Green there now, and you can always sign another SG (Von Wafer, or someone as such), but the big positions are harder to fill.

I think HOU makes a good trading partner cause they need a temp center, and AV makes some sense. AV + 2010 first for Landy/Cook/White.

Williams/Gibson
AP/West
LeBron/White
Landry/Hickson/Cook
Shaq/Z

[Rise Against]

^^ It's not all about talent in this league. And we just resigned Varejao, there is no way we are trading him. As for Barnes, I wouldn't mind having him although I wanted Kleiza more, since he was more of a 4.

[TheOUTLAW]

I will never understand why alot of people who are claiming to be Cavs fans are so negative about a team that won 66 games last year and appears to have gotten better.

[Amon_Ones88]

Still, the PF position is extremely weak offensively. Ferry has failed to put young talent around Lebron so far, and unless a trade happens to bring someone like Jamison/Vill/Boozer to Cle, it'll still be a failure. How can you know your biggest weakness and not address it? Not to mention AV has been overpaid.. I love the Cavs, I love Lebron, but this is looking bleek. I like the Parker signing, and wouldn't mind Barnes (although people mistake his energy/hustle for good defense, and take him for a good shooter, yet he is STREAKY at best). Cavs NEED to get a good PF that can score and defend a bit to call this an off season. Trading West shouldn't be as big a problem with Parker/Green there now, and you can always sign another SG (Von Wafer, or someone as such), but the big positions are harder to fill.

I think HOU makes a good trading partner cause they need a temp center, and AV makes some sense. AV + 2010 first for Landy/Cook/White.

Williams/Gibson
AP/West
LeBron/White
Landry/Hickson/Cook
Shaq/Z

If we have Banres that is perfect.
Look here all of you dumbfaces who think we have no talent at PF. Who did we have last year? Ben (No offence at all) and AV (Improved offensively but not to much) and two unproven rookies....Now all we lost was Ben so I don't understand why people think we are in so much trouble offensively at the five. Plus we have added about eight points with Shaq over Z so that makes up for it. Plus Barnes or Parker can play the 4 they are just in a small line up. Lebron is going to see a lot of time at the four mainly in the second quarter and when you back court now has size and can drop each 16 points any night with Mo and West I am pretty sure the PF is not as big of a threat. Lets not forget if we get desperate we can resign Joe....actually I think we should resign him he loves it here and always plays better here. And JJ and DJ showed a lot of good last year and think this will be a coming out for both. And hey who is to say Mike Brown won't play Z and the 5 and Shaq at the four at some point if need be huh? Yes I would of loved a new PF like CV but in all honesty we have only upgraded three positions.

(if we got him) Barnes is better then Sasha
Parker is better than Wally
Shaq is better than Ben

Those are the three we got and the three we lost so I think that means we can win more than 66 and be stronger in the play offs. So calm down everyone I think we will be ok

[Benedict_Boozer]

We aren't great at PF - but we aren't horrible either. Varejao isn't a scrub, he can board and play defense, finish inside. He isn't a great offensive player but he doesn't really need to be on this team.

I would prefer a PF with more range next to Shaq but it's not the end of the world if we have to go with Andy.

Also there is still plenty of time for Ferry to make a trade.

[witnessmoboobie]

Its more important we have a good defender in AV at the 4 then another scorer who plays little to no defense. We have enough offense. The team has gotten better and deeper and I have faith Ferry will make a trade or a signing later in the season to help at the 4 position. Whether it is Joe or another vet. PLus maybe DJ or JJ will show some improvement and play some quality minutes for us. More likely DJ than JJ at this point.

[InBoobieWeTrust]

Meh, I really don't like Barnes at all.

[bcortell]

For the 14 or so minutes that we have someone in when Lebron rests during the regular season, we could do worse.. i.e. Sasha. I don't mind this as long as it isn't for much money. I'm a fan of a Rob Kurz signing (JJ's still rehabbing his back, so I don't know when he'll actually be good to go- wouldn't mind seeing him in the D league to get some experience and more attention this year, and DJ hasn't shown much in terms of offense, Joe isn't bad to re-sign, but he is already old and I'd rather take a chance with a young guy for the few minutes left at the 4---- those are my reasons for a Kurz signing)

Mo/Parker/Boobie
West/Parker/Green
Bron/Barnes
AV/Bron (or Barnes) in small ball/Kurz/ etc..
Shaq/Z

I'd be happy with that as the offseason. Still in good position to make a trade later with Z's expiring, West, Green, Eyenga, JJ, and Kurz (if he shows anything good)..

[Pula_86]

I'd love to land Barnes for his length defensively and adequate offensive punch. Hopefully, it will be for the BAE of 2 million per year. I still am not in love with Varejao's defensive. He was a marginal defender throughout the play-offs.

This team still needs either a shooter or more toughness in the post. Everyone is bad talking Ben Wallace, but he played Dwight Howard better than anyone else on our team. The player I would target is Leon Powe. Athough he is undersized, I love his toughness and willingness to fight. We need more of these guys for the play-offs. Joe Smith, Andy V, and Big Z are too soft for the physicality of the play-offs.

[DowJones]

Barnes would make our team deeper and more versatile.

[AlencoaoFCP]

I will never understand why alot of people who are claiming to be Cavs fans are so negative about a team that won 66 games last year and appears to have gotten better.

We all know the Cavs are better. They are. They're better and deeper. The prob is that ORL and BOST are better and deeper too.
If the Magic and the Celts didn't make those trade and signings we would be THRILLED with this off season, I guess.

I do think the Cavs are the better team but we have to prove it. And, so far, we proved nothing.

[hardcore]

Guys, I'm a bulls fans and I'm telling you the Orlando series was a fluke. It wont shock me if Orlando fades this upcoming season. Cleveland and Boston are clearly the 2 best teams in the east. I think Cleveland will win less than 66 but will win the title. I really hoped they'd sign Glen Davis or Wallace and the NBA title was a near certainty.

[akula1488]

Barnes is perfect for the Cavs.
This would be the regular starting lineup
Mo
Parker
Lebron
Anderson
Shaq

with Boobie, West, Z and Barnes coming out of the bench. The bench is strong.

With Barnes Lebron can also play the 4 with 3PT shooters at 1-3.

Or Cavs can go small with Mo West Barnes Lebron and Anderson, I can see Orlando has a tough time matching that.

Now it is time to find a better coach.

[NCHeels2008]

Do y'all still have money to pursue Klieza seems like he'd be a good fit

[Rise Against]

Do y'all still have money to pursue Klieza seems like he'd be a good fit

It depends on how much we offered Moon.

[Gordon Bombay]

i think its pretty apparent we want nothing to do with barnes

...if we want kleiza, we'll prolly have to involve a 3rd team

[Pula_86]

It looks like the Magic are about to sign Barnes to a 2 year deal. I think this is another solid signing by Orlando. He will be a good guys to bring off the bench in a role similar to Courtney Lee. While Carter and Barnes may be a slight downgrade from Lee and Turk, the Magic are stronger in the post with Gortat resigned and Bass now in Orlando.

Assuming Odom resigns with LA, Orlando, San Antonio, Los Angeles, and Boston might have created a little seperation from the rest of the NBA.

[L&H_05]

Nah, not really...