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Eessh ... Not a good night for those trying to get those final spots on the roster. They got some good run too as Blatt rested all the projected starters.

Cunningham went 1 for 12 from the field.
Cook went 2 of 5 with 4 turnovers.
Daye didn't do much and was -15 while on the floor.

Diante Christmas probably did the best (3/4-10pts), and he's likely to be first cut.

noone balled out tonight, I really wish we'd actually try to win one. I think we see with Kaun and Andy why the cavs aren't in a hurry to give TT all that money.. Andy is so much better at everything than TT and Kaun is a much better backup for Mosgov than TT. Kaun come April/may is going to be great. He's tough around the rim.I still think Cunningham will be the 15th guy, noone else has even come close. Rough night tonight but everyone was kinda off, thats what happens when Blatt changes the rotations every 2 minutes. But Cunningham flashes, his ability to get to the rim and draw a foul is a good skill to have, hes a true combo guard which could give us flexible lineups until kyrie/shump get back. Think they said Love should be ready by thursday.

It was nice to see delly be able to catch and shoot some tonight, dude still has horrible skills for a PG, but he's active and as long as the right lineup is out there and he can get shots off, he'll be good..he's obviously worked on it in the offseason. We have alot of shooters on this team. The middle is going to be wide open all year, plus having andy in the middle is like having another PG down low, unlike Tristan Black Hole Thompson. This scenario has played out perfectly thus far for cleveland. Everyone staying healthy, the bigs are playing better than any rotation of bigs we've ever had and defense as a team has been pretty damn good for the most part.

Did Dellevadova push you down at recess when you were a kid or something?

no, not hardly, just don't like his game...Particularly as the backup pg, as a 3rd pg energy type guy I'm fine with him....moving along

If the Cubs curse ends, the Cleveland sports curse will end because of Lebron James.

I guess the cavs pulled their 5/80 offer for TT. This isn't going to end well for Thompson, he put WAAAY to much trust into a guy that doesn't have a clue how to be a agent. With the way our bigs are playing, if this holdout runs into the season he might stand to lose alot of money. I'd prefer them to get something done, I'd love to be able to let Andy/mosgov get some rest early in the season.

I figured that a 14 man regular season roster would make sense for the Cavaliers, and it looks like that's exactly what's going to happen.

Cleveland Cavaliers will carry 20-man roster through camp; only 14 for regular season | cleveland.com
http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2015/10/cleveland_cavaliers_to_carry_2.html#incart_river

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Cleveland Cavaliers will keep a full 20-man training camp roster until the final day of camp, team sources reveal.

The Eastern Conference champs will go into the regular season on Oct. 27 carrying 14 players, not 15, the maximum the league allows. With Tristan Thompson continuing his holdout, the Cavaliers have 13 guaranteed roster spots occupied.

Camp invite Jared Cunningham is by far the favorite to claim the 14th slot at this point. The team isn't totally against taking on 15 by adding two roster hopefuls, but I'm told it would take an extraordinary effort on the part of the other invites to make that a possibility.

The salaries for all the camp invites are non-guaranteed and do not contain a trigger date, which means the team can hold onto them as long as they want and release them without owing a penny more.

Teams usually prefer to keep an open roster spot in case there's an opportunity to execute a lopsided trade. But again, with the salaries not guaranteed, that flexibility will be there.

At the conclusion of the Cavaliers' preseason schedule on Monday, they'll likely waive a few players and bring in replacements to elevate the practices leading up to opening night. Either way, the team will maintain 20 camp players.

Cunningham, Quinn Cook, Austin Daye, D.J. Stephens, Dionte Christmas, Nick Minnerath and Chris Johnson are the invitees fighting for a roster spot.

The longer this goes, the more I want him to lose big. If he wanted to stick it to the Cavs, he should have signed the QO and left next season. Now, he's painted himself into a corner with almost zero leverage. He should fire his agent and take the 5/80, if they'd put it back on the table.

Jeez, even 80 is too much for him.

yep I agree, I also think this hurts Paul for signing potential players...just about everything you could have done wrong with the only 2 guys you have, he has..I don't count lebron because lets face it, lebron could be represented by lebron jr and he'd still get everything and anything he wanted. Paul and his history of extorting teams for average players will be his end. If i was to guess, cavs probably have something in the 65-70k range on the table. Thats probably right at the max i think Thompson is worth, especially when you watch Andy who many think is overpaid at 10/yr doing so much more than TT can. The whole situation is unfortunate for everyone, but I don't feel bad for Paul and I hope the worst possible outcome for him. As long as lebron stays out of it,, the cavs shouldn't cave. I don't think lebron has near the leverage people think. No way he'd risk leaving again over TT given everything the organization has done the last 2 years to build a winner. I also know James knows Mosgov is a much bigger piece than TT

Paul also has Eric Bledsoe, who had a contract dispute last off-season and ended up getting the max.

Yep, but he didn't get the max either, he got 5/70, max for him would have been 85. So he signed for less than TT wants, and he's about 30x the player TT is. He's the cornerstone of the Suns, TT..not so much.

Ah. I thought he got the max. Thompson (and his representatives) overplayed their hand. They need to just sign and move on. They are banking on the Cavs not playing well coming off of injuries at this point. The best thing that could happen to Thompson is the Cavs stinking out of the gate.

yeah the problem with that thinking by thompson is I think most expect the cavs to struggle a little out of the gate with the new pieces and people coming off injuries...they are built to play well in June, not october. I can't see any scenario that ends well for TT unless the cavs throw him a bone. But with the way they handled it (Paul and TT) i wouldn't be inclined to think benevolence is really in their line of thinking right now..lol

Not many injuries worry me more than a back injury. Not a good way to start the season. Although it could be a blessing in disguise. Now the Cavs can rest James more frequently.

j/c:

It's been pretty ugly thus far. Some observations:

--Moz looks heavier and a bit out of shape.

--Kaun has pretty good footwork on O, but is terrible on defense.

--We're going to miss TT tremendously. Not one of our current bigs can really give the team what TT gives the Cavs.

--I like Cunningham a lot. Has some explosion off the dribble. Quick burst into the passing lanes on defense. Has a knife-like ability to penetrate the defense.

--Cook has some value, but I think he leaves his feet too much. That would be a problem when defenses get serious.

--LeBron's back? That's a scary one. Very scary.

Moz is a bit out of shape, especially from a cardio aspect, because of his surgery.

It seems to me that Lebron when Lebron missed time last year that his back was involved? It is a hopeful sign that he got a shot (probably a steroid) and is taking proactive action in the off-season, instead of waiting till the regular season.

Kaun was reputed to be a better defender than Moz in their time in Europe. Moz is our best big defender, by far, so if Kahn is anywhere close, he will be our 2nd best defensive big. Thompson really blossomed defensively in the post-season, but he was often a liability on defense during the regular season.

Kaun has been our best big defender...i'm not sure which games you guys are watching..he's active underneath and he protects the rim well, however ..its been said Mosgov is only at about 60% with the knee...so he's going to be alot better, as will Kaun once he gets used to NBA players and rules...I've been very happy with what we've got from Kaun. I don't think we're missing TT at all, Andy is alot better in every aspect. When Andy is in, teams actually have to pay attention to him, because he can drive, he can shoot the 15 footer and he is a great passer, TT is none of those things. He better get to camp quick or he's not going to get much of anything in the way of minutes.

We have looked like poo most of the preseason, Mo has been hot garbage, dealing with injuries, Blatt not coaching to win, but none of that matters, This isn't the NFL where we only have 16 chances to get better, we have 82 games before we start playing ones that matter. No reason to do anything in the beginning other than get rest, get people healthy and come out and dominate after the ASB

and lebrons back is a non issue, its what he got a shot for last year and he's had the same problem on and off for a couple years..he'll be fine. They shoot him up with Anti Inflammatory and he's good as new.

Ironic, you blasted this team and Blatt for not coaching 100% during he regular season.

I wonder how many more years LeBron wants to do this..

Say they win the chip this year, you've done the impossible and brought a title to Cleveland, and "redeemed" your promises..

How many more 100 game seasons do you want to put your body through?

We've looked like poo because we're starting our bench and bringing our D-league roster off the bench to spell those guys. Nobody is really trying to win. They realize the preseason has no bearing on anything, so they are just trying out new things and taking it easy. Health is the main concern.

Even the first few months of the regular season don't matter that much. This team realizes it's all about being healthy and reaching their peak in April.

yep which is why i said its not a big deal because we are built to win in June not october.

I've never blasted the team, and I've never blasted Blatt, I've said I'm not sold on him yet, and I'm still not...Its really easy to win with this roster. Its how he handles the injuries and players coming back that is going to show his makeup. I like Blatt, I think he's going to be fine in the long run as long as lebron buys in, that didn't happen much last year. But he's got to coach the same regardless. This early part of the season is going to be huge for setting the tone for the rest of the season. He's got to do a better job than last year of managing playing time and rest..I know he knows that now...but its going to be hard for the first couple months with all the injuries

Probably until he can be an owner just like Michael is. Don't know how much money he has in the bank (I know a lot) but you need a lot to own a team.

Interesting take and breakdown..Looks like TT is worth less than our initial 4/52 http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/tristan-thompson-isnt-worth-anywhere-near-94-million/

Jack Cooley had 15 rebounds in 18 minutes last night in their win against the Mavs. It's too bad we picked him up so late, or we might of had a chance to get a better look at him. Those kinds of numbers could of put him on the roster until TT's contract situation was resolved, but now it might be too late.

Cunningham will probably get the 14th roster spot though. He's got a lot of energy, plays defense and can play both guard spots, which will be needed until Shumpert comes back.

I'm not sure it means he can't have a spot, With TT still holding out, we have another spot open in the interim, and Cooley has always been known as a rebounding machine in Dleague, i think he has the record with 29 in a game.. Plus he can actually score a bit.. Cooley is a nice pickup..on this team he could be successful

Also, Dionte Christmas might be the worst basketball player I've ever seen in the nba, I would have rather gave his minutes to DJ Stephens

LINK

The holdout is over.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have agreed to a five-year, $82-million contract with restricted free agent Tristan Thompson, according to a report from Chris Haynes of Northeast Ohio Media Group.

Excellent! Let's get this season rolling!

All that for an extra 2 million over 5-years. Lets just hope he doesn't mail it in for the next couple of years.

According to reports, the squabble was about the amount of guaranteed money.

I wonder if we keep Cunningham now or just roll with a roster of 14. We're paying the highest tax bill in history right now.

At any rate, we're pretty dang deep at the moment:

C: Moz, Andy, Kaun
PF: Love, TT
SF: Lebron, Jefferson, Jones
SG: Smith, Shump, Harris, Cunningham?
PG: Irving, Mo, Delly

finally, 5/82 was a great compromise on clevelands behalf, they didn't have to but they prove time and time again they are willing to take care of their own. I still think we'll carry Cunningham with Kyrie and Shump out since he's a combo guard and he plays pretty darn good defense

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/nba-ke...d=story-twitter

Kevin Love Q & A with Kirk Goldsberry. Must read.

Odds that Thompson shows up to camp fat?

Thank God!

I know some of you don't agree, and that is fine, but in my opinion, we desperately need this guy if we want to win the championship.

I would not have blamed the Cavs if the deal wasn't reached, but man, when you have a legit chance to win the championship, you don't worry about the cap 3 years from now.

TT is an exceptional player. He is the one guy who is least likely to be injured amongst our bigs. He is our best interior defender. He is our best rebounder. He doesn't need shots on a team that has a plethora of guys who demand shots. He opens up the lane because teams face guard him. The bigger the moment, the better he plays.

This is a huge signing for the Cavs. I feel good about our chances again.


I wonder if LeBron's back will start feeling better? LOL

Thompson is not a better interior defender than Mozgov, he also clogs the lane because he has nearly no offensive game.

The first thing that popped into my head when I heard he signed.

We disagree. Imagine that????