Discussing Other Teams' Moves (Part III)

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Is it petty of me to chuckle just a bit at the thought of Tom Thibodeau potentially swooping in and taking a job that Eddie Jordan was considering?


Kings Open Up Coaching Search To Include Thibodeau

Not bringing on Thibodeau already cost him the Wizards job, IMO. Don't want to offend DCZards, so I'll leave it at that as far as Sacramento considering Thibodeau is concerned.

EJ's also got to worry about Philly taking Thidodeau or another coach.

[floppymoose]

Something like 80% of the teams who lose Game 1 of a playoff series end up losing the whole series

Compute that again, this time for teams that are 8-0 before that game 1.

[LyricalRico]

The Lakers clearly need better PG play in their backcourt and more toughness in their frontcourt. How about these simple offseason moves:

Lakers trade: Lamar Odom (sign and trade)
Pistons trade: Jason Maxiell

Lakers trade: Morrison, Farmar, and future first
Bulls trade: Kirk Hinrich

Of course these deals do have their contingencies. The Pistons will have to have missed out on both Boozer and Milsap for them to be interested in Odom IMO. Also, there would have to be a very cold market out there for Hinrich. Still I don't think it's that far-fetched.

FREE AGENCY
Re-sign Ariza
Sign Nesterovic

Bynum/Nesterovic
Gasol/Maxiell
Ariza/Walton
Bryant/Vujacic
Hinrich/Fisher

That team beats Denver IMO.

[Rafael122]

Cavs upgraded their talent and its still Lebron and friends. I give them 2 years...this and next. If they can't win a championship, James bolts.

Teams are going to re-load in 2010 making everything a lot tougher.

And on another note, who is Moe Williams and why is he trash talking? He's a nobody.

[Wizards2Lottery]

who is Moe Williams and why is he trash talking? He's a nobody.

He is one game two shot away from having the stupidest quote in sports history.

[LyricalRico]

Cavs upgraded their talent and its still Lebron and friends. I give them 2 years...this and next. If they can't win a championship, James bolts.

Yep, Danny Ferry will have to have another busy offseason. They don't have much in the way of picks or young talent so to get any sort of talent upgrade, he's going to have to swap his expirings for overpaid guys on longterm deals (Redd, Randolph, Kirilenko, SJax, Maggette, Posey, etc). Then if they still can't get over the hump, LeBron will leave and they'll be stuck in "cap Hades" with mediocre talent.

[closg00]

LOL! Remember when the Cavs were pitching Mo Williams for the all-star's?

[mhd]

If the Cavs lose, Ferry is going to have to trade his expirings for overpaid guys. The Cavs cannot stop Howard, so I could see a deal for a big man who's got huge money. Maybe something like:

Cavs trade:
Big Ben+Hickson+Sasha for Troy Murphy+Jeff Foster+Jamaal TInsley

Pacers clear a bunch of 2011 cap off (they are losing a bunch of money) while getting a young big in the process. Murphy gives the Cavs some needed outside shooting from a big.

[LyricalRico]

If the Cavs lose, Ferry is going to have to trade his expirings for overpaid guys. The Cavs cannot stop Howard, so I could see a deal for a big man who's got huge money. Maybe something like:

Cavs trade:
Big Ben+Hickson+Sasha for Troy Murphy+Jeff Foster+Jamaal TInsley

Pacers clear a bunch of 2011 cap off (they are losing a bunch of money) while getting a young big in the process. Murphy gives the Cavs some needed outside shooting from a big.

If their primary concern is putting muscle on Howard, they'd actually be better off keeing Wallace. He's been fine on Dwight, it's Z that has been a problem for them. I say forget about Howard and upgrade the whole team instead. Something like this could work for them:

Cavs trade: Ilgauskas and Pavlovic
Jazz trade: Kirilenko and #20

Cleveland gets an upgrade at PF plus a pick, while Utah clears their cap and gets some insurance in case they lose Okur. Then the Cavs can turn around and do this:

Cavs trade: Ben Wallace and Hickson
Nets trade: Vince Carter

That was rumored to have been discussed at the deadline, maybe it finally goes through. Re-sign Smith and pick up McDyess and they've got:

Verajao/McDyess
Kirilenko/Smith
LeBron/Summers(#30)
Carter/West
Williams/Teague(#20)

[WizBiz]

Rumor has it that Eddie Jordan will coach the 76ers...good for him.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4216449

[fishercob]

Rumor has it that Eddie Jordan will coach the 76ers...good for him.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4216449

And good for the Sixers. I think that's a good match. COngrats to EJ.

[Dedicated_76ers_fan]

**Sobs** We wanted Thibadeau, not a loser that has an 8-18 playoff record. This means that outside of 2 playoff series's, the dude's been swept.

[LyricalRico]

This is GREAT for the Wiz! Now we have one less team to worry about. I can't wait to destroy them from downtown while Eddie has them "protecting the paint".

[Benjammin]

This is GREAT for the Wiz! Now we have one less team to worry about. I can't wait to destroy them from downtown while Eddie has them "protecting the paint".

I think the Wizards should trade Etan and Jamison to Philly. I know EJ has to have a guy to "bring the force" and Yoda isn't available (anway have you all gotten a look at Yoda's wingspan and standing reach-Wizardynasty filled me in that the numbers were hideous.)

[lupin]

So, uh, Thibs must have the personality of a dead fish eh? Maybe he just isn't head coaching material. As an outsider, you would think he has the bonafides.

[fishercob]

I was thinking about where the Cavs go from here and thought about the trade they made at last year's deadline:

Hughes, Gooden, Shannon Brown, Ced Simmons, Ira Newble and Donyell Marshall
for
Wallace, Szczerbiak, and Joe Smith

I loved the trade for Cleveland at the time because it surrounded Lebron with "specialists:" Wally to make shots, Ben to play D, smith to rebound, play D and own Antawn Jamison

But it didn't turn out that well. Wallace was done, or he certainly is now. Wally can't be on the floor if he's matched up with an even marginally-athletic guy by NBA standards. Would have been nice ot have had Gooden and Shannon Brown, and Hughes has the length to guard Hedo a bit. But in truth, I guess they didn't give up that much important.

I read somewhere (maybe here) that Forbes estimates Lebron leaving Cleveland would instantly devalue the orginzation by over $100M. I think that fact is directly related to this group of CHinese investors that just bought into the team. I think the Cavs are going to throw everything they have into this offseason -- even if it means a huge luxtax bill -- to keep Lebron from leaving.

Now they don't have a ton of assets outisde of Lebron. But they have big expirings, a bunch of future firsts, and I could see them selling high on Delonte after a great playoffs. I think they'll be out hunting for good players on big deals that teams want to get rid of, and fully expect them to use the MLE. Who knows -- their aggressiveness may just prompt Ernie to give up a little more than he otherwise would (McGee?) in an effort to land Bosh/Amare to keep up with Cleveland or keep them out of their hands.

Should be interesting.

[mhd]

I think the Cavs could trade high on West, though he should be starting and Williams should be the 6th man. The Cavs really need an athletic wing scorer.

[LyricalRico]

^ Nah, West is probably the only guy on that team with any heart. All they need to do is get bigger/younger upfront. Dump Ben for Kirilenko and Ilgauskas for Kaman. Take a guy like D.Summers at #30 and bring back Flip Murray.

Kaman/Verajao
Kirilenko/Hickson
LeBron/Summers
West/Gibson
Williams/Murray

Their cap is screwed but they're in the Finals next year.

[mhd]

Honestly, the best person to play next to Lebron was John Salmons. He had the size to defend big wings, while hitting 3 pointers.

[LyricalRico]

Wow, Verajao opting out. I'm sure he'll generate interest around the league. He actually signed elsewhere a couple years ago but Cleveland matched. Now that he's unrestricted, it'll be interesting to see where he goes.