DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum 2007/2008 Cleveland Cavaliers!!!

Thoughts on the season???

As of right now WE'RE IN TROUBLE!!!

We need to do something FAST about the Varejo and Pavlovic situations...This ain't good folks...

Right now this is a 45-37 team...30-52 if Bron goes down...

I ceased watching the game of pro basketball quite a few years ago, as the game is not the game anymore....

With that said, I would still like to wish the Cavs and their fans the best of luck this season.

It would have been real easy to jump bandwagons last night and become a Celtic Fan,....

They have a nice strong trio built,....something the Cavs don't.

Varejao is lousy i'm glad he's not signed.

I have to admit I'm little worried heading into this season. No Sasha and no Wild Thing. Sasha was a legitimate scoring threat and AV was the energy, he made the team go. Hopefully Brown can step right in where Sasha left, and hopefully we won't miss AV to much. I like the upside to this Simmons guy. But for all the problems we still have LeBron which means we will always have a chance.

SHOOT BOOBIE SHOOT!!!

I could certainly understand had EITHER of these two big goons DONE anything in The Finals last year,....

'Nuff said.

Ferry has already made enough bad moves. Overpaying Sasha and Andy would just make things worse. They will have some expiring contracts that will put them in a favorable position, in a year or two. Too bad I think that these contracts expire the year Lebron's expires, or close.

Thanks for the info.

I don't follow the NBA hardly at all.....but being a Clevelander, I do want the Cavs to win if anybody has to win in the NBA.

Forget those guys. They play out of control and don't add much.....if those guys are what decides the season for the Cavs, they are a pretty flimsy team who don't deserve to win.

not having these guys in camp, and possibly not ready for the season sucks, BUT danny ferry is doing the right thing by not offering these guys superstar money

you go withtout them, and maybe try to swing a deal

That's the problem with like 70% of the gm's in the leauge ... overpaying for guys that aren't worth it. Even Ferry has done it, but he was also desperately trying to blow cap space in an effort to "prove" to LeBron that we were trying to compete. Now we are stuck with contracts like Larry Hughes', Ira Newble's, Eric Snow's, and even Z's.

The way guarenteed money is and the collective bargaining agreement is in the NBA, you can't make mistakes with these guys. One bad contract, and you're stuck with it. It's going to stink not having Pavs and Andy, but we're definitely doing the right thing.

LeBron needs to win us back...

He's not the King anymore and is a distant third in our hearts and minds after wearing that Yankees cap...

Cavaliers sign rookie Demetris Nichols

CLEVELAND (AP) -- The Cleveland Cavaliers signed rookie Demetris Nichols to a contract Monday as they finalized their opening-day roster for the 2007-08 season.

The club did not disclose contract terms on Nichols, who averaged 4.8 points in five exhibition games with the New York Knicks, who waived him last week.

His addition will give coach Mike Brown more bench depth. He could also help offset the loss of forward Sasha Pavlovic, a restricted free agent who remains unsigned in a contract holdout with the Cavs.

The 6-foot-8 Nichols averaged 18.9 points laat season at Syracuse and was a first-team All-Big East selection. Nichols, 23, was taken by Portland with the No. 53 overall pick before he was traded on draft day to New York for a second-round selection.

The Cavs also waived forward Noel Felix. He played in three preseason games, averaging 2.7 points.

i'm hearing earl boykins could soon be a cav...

if you make him a bench guy, that is an awesome move...

i don't like him in the starting rotation, because he can't defend like mike brown needs his guys too, but for 15-20 bench minutes a night, he could be very helpful...

i'm also reading from yahoo that the cavs are 3 million apart with varejao, he wants 9, the cavs want to give no more than 6

why does andy and his agent think he's worth 9 million? who's going to give him 9 million? that's ridiculous, this isn't the cavs being cheap, this is varejao and his agent being unfair.

i'd like to see him get 9 million on the open market, won't happen.

Nichols is a nice developmental player, good project. One more move I'd like to see... the Rockets released Jackie Butler today. Sign him, sign him now, Danny. Please....

Okay, two names, Beno Udrih was traded and waived today and would be a nice PG project. Ferry has been after him for a while according to reports and I'd take anybody with PG skill right now. The end of the roster isn't great right now, and I'd take fliers with young players with upside over what is there.

Help wanted: Cavaliers explore possibility of signing veteran forward Juwan Howard

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Dejected over not getting to play in Minnesota with Kevin Garnett, Juwan Howard could end up a teammate of another superstar: LeBron James.

Howard, a 13-year veteran forward whose contract was bought out by the Timberwolves on Monday, would fit nicely with James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are desperate for experienced frontline help.

With restricted free agent Anderson Varejao still unsigned in a messy contract holdout, the defending Eastern Conference champions have been exploring the possibility of signing Howard to improve their depth before Wednesday's season opener against the Dallas Mavericks.

"I hope we get him," James said after practice Monday. "He can help us. We need a guy to play down low."

Howard has averaged 16.1 points and 7.1 rebounds in his career. Last season, he averaged 9.7 points and 5.9 rebounds in 26 minutes for Houston.

The Rockets traded him to Minnesota in June for guard Mike James. Howard had wanted to play with Garnett and spoke with regret about choosing Orlando over Minnesota the last time he was a free agent.

But when the Timberwolves pulled off their blockbuster deal and sent Garnett to Boston in July, Howard made it clear he was not interested in being part of a youth movement in Minnesota. He requested a trade, but the Wolves found no takers for Howard, who was owed $6.88 million this year and $7.38 million next year.

The Cavaliers might be able to get him for much less.

"Any time you can bring in a veteran like Juwan with his playing ability and character, you have to explore that," Cavs coach Mike Brown said.

The Cavs made two other moves to finalize their opening-day roster, signing swingman Demetris Nichols and waiving forward Noel Felix.

The club did not disclose contract terms on Nichols, who averaged 4.8 points in five exhibition games with the New York Knicks, who waived him last week.

His addition will give Brown more bench depth. He could also help offset the loss of forward Sasha Pavlovic, a restricted free agent, who like Varejao, remains unsigned in a contract dispute.

The 6-foot-8 Nichols averaged 18.9 points last season at Syracuse and was a first-team All-Big East selection. Nichols, 23, was taken by Portland with the No. 53 overall pick before he was traded on draft day to New York for a second-round selection.

Felix played in three preseason games, averaging 2.7 points.

Cavs, Pavlovic Agree on 3-year Deal

The Cleveland Cavaliers and restricted free agent Sasha Pavlovic have agreed to a three-year deal, Pavlovic's agent Marc Cornstein told ESPN.com.

Sasha Pavlovic

Pavlovic

Cornstein refused to give the numbers on the contract.

"Sasha is very excited to be returning to the Cavs," Cornstein said. "I believe he can help the Cavs build on the success they had last year."

The two sides had been at a standstill for much of the summer. Cornstein said that there was little movement until the last few days when Cleveland began to put a more serious offer on the table.

"Cleveland made great strides in the last few days to show how much they truely value Sasha and to ensure that we closed on this deal for the start of the season," Cornstein said.

When will he return to the Cavs?

Pavlovic is in Serbia at the moment and is preparing to return to the United States. He'll likely return to Cleveland on Wednesday but it's unlikely he'll play.

When his contract gets done, Cornstein said Pavlovic is ready to play.

"He's been working out twice a day with a personal coach. He'll be in excellent condition. Once everything is official he'll be ready to go."

The Cavs' other restricted free agent holdout, Anderson Varejao, remains unsigned with sources close to the negotiations claiming that the two sides are still far apart with little movement over the last week.

The Cavs struggled in the preseason without Pavlovic and Varejao. The team posted a 1-6 record and was blown out in the past few games.

The teams struggles, combined with a lack of off-season moves by Cavs GM Danny Ferry, led to LeBron James complaining publicly about the state of the team last week in a Q&A with the Akron Beacon Journal's Brian Windhorst.

"For me as a leader, you want guys around you that are going to help you win ball games," James said. "I'm going to do what is best for the team. But at the same time you see teams regrouping and reshaping, and with our team we didn't do any reshaping, we didn't do any regrouping. You start to think a bit, 'How are we going to continue to get better?'"

Instead, James said, the Cavs were coming into the season "worse" than they were last year.

"Oh, we're worse," James said. "We're not as good as we were if we have those guys. It's simple. We all know that. Those two guys are a big part of our team. There's no reason to sit here and say we're better without them. I think they're a key point to our team. At the same time, we have to continue to get better while they are not here. Hopefully something happens."

Signing Pavlovic is an important step, but he wasn't nearly as important to the franchise last season as Varejao, who was the team's best defensive player.

Without Varejao, the Cavs have a thin front line and miss his energy and defensive toughness in the paint.

awesome news

now let's watch andy's group break down and take the very generous 6m deal

i'm jacked about tomorrow, my girlfriend bought me a sixer of newcastle, i'm waiting to crack them open until the game starts tomorrow

dallas is going down!

the cavs kind of make me sad.

they should NEVER have lost boozer. Z should have been traded for some athleticism. it shouldn't be that hard to draft or sign a real point guard. don't even get me started on donyell marshall. dude would choke on a peanut.

lebron would be so much more effective with a cast around him that could really run, like the suns or the warrs. not saying blow up the team necessarily. if they want to be a slow, possession team they should go nuts trading for somebody like kirilenko. that guy is awesome.

one thing, it'll be fun watching detroit implode this year. im so sick of those guys.

anyways hoorah basketball! IMO the NBA has been improving the last couple years.

the cavs are fine..

running and gunning like the suns do doesn't equal championships...

although they do need to add the element of running, because while people see the spurs as a defensive team, they aren't exactly always a half-court team... they do run, and when they do, it's fun to watch...

and it starts with the point guard, by all reports, it seems like boobie worked his rear end off over the summer... can he develop into a point guard? i don't really know...

but i do know that he can be a very good player in this league, and i think he can serve a purpose on this team...

also, i think we'll be able to find out more this year about what we have in shannon brown, if he can bring anything to the floor, that's a bonus...

people rag on z, but z played pretty solid basketball in the playoffs...

i think the big key is keeping that little mid-range jumper falling for him, when he's hitting that shot, the cavs are a tough team to beat...

and i don't think it's wrong to expect more from hughes this year...

in his 3rd year into the system, hopefully he can get a better grip, and as always, he's gotta stay healthy... i'd like to see 70 games+ out of him...

i do think that danny ferry will pull the trigger on a trade if the cavs look lackluster during the year.. but i think we all need to be patient, the playoffs don't start until april, so there are plenty of things to weed out, but it would be nice to see them get a win against a good team like dallas to start off on the right foot, you have to imagine dallas is looking for blood after being destroyed by the warriors last year

Just picked up free tickets for the game tomorrow, cant wait!

Well now Sasha's in and AV is out.
I hope the new kid Simmons works out well...
Even though AV brings hustle and some D..he cannot block any shots, thus he's not a intimidator..

Well Howard signed somewhere on the west coast. Maybe now AV will realize that he has 6 million reasons to play for the cavs. Or did he sign and I missed it?

lol juwan howard horrible? what career have you been watching he's a 16/7 guy, he would be an upgrade to AV. Sorry, AV to me isn't worth 10 mil, he's barely worth 6mil. I'm glad sasha signed, of the 2, we would have missed him the most

I meant varejao he's terrible

lol, i didn't think you mean howard.. yeah AV isn't all that, i think simmons when healthy will more than make up AV's lost. AV has an idiot agent. Sure he was a nice energy guy, but he was out of control almost always and had no offensive game. shouldn't be hard to replace. We'll know

I would like him back at a decent salary. I would even say that 6 per year is too high for what he currently brings. If he (and sasha) would ever learn to drive to the basket UNDER CONTROL they would be awesome. Both just start the drive and hope for the best though.

last time i checked, defense wins championships, and the cavs play some of the best in the entire league...

boston goes out and gets garnett and an aging and injury-prone allen, and people think the world is coming to an end...

what did chicago do to get better? joakim noah? please...

toronto? with that awful defense?

in my opinion, detroit and cleveland are still the top dogs in the conference...

and the cavs were not a loss away from being the 7th seed... they were a loss away from being the 5th seed, but still having homecourt...

didn't matter, they proved that they were the best team in the east last year, regardless of seeding...

i just think the whole "OMGZ THE CAVS DID NOTHING!!" is as funny as the people who said the cavs screwed up because they didn't sign michael redd 3 years ago... it shows that people don't know a whole lot about the league...

Well I hope you're right Maybe we can pull this thread back up 30 games into the season