I also think that Dalembert, at 34, may enjoy playing for a championship, on a team where he wouldn't have to play a ton of minutes. He is getting older .... so maybe that has some significant appeal.
We'll see what happens.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
...the Cavs could wind up moving Dion Waiters for Mozgov, J.R. Smith, and Iman Shumpert. That's a great return for the former No.4 pick that clashed with teammates and never really felt comfortable.
LOL..........okay, this changes my perception of the trade.
What about this was relevatory?
Quote:
It needs for LeBron--and then the others--to buy into Blatt's system and stop the stupid playground ball crap.
Blatt's offensive sets haven't exactly been inspired or creative, and he's had his fair share of attempting to fit round pegs in square holes.
There's a learning curve for everyone involved, and I don't envy anyone who has to run an offensive system with Irving and Waiters, but there hasn't exactly been signs of a competent offense that's just being stymied by a player or player(s) freelancing.
These things take time, and we've all been impatient about this to an extent, so that's not a knock, but I think we were all certainly expecting/hoping for a bit more at this point.
JR Smith is kinda an underrated defender (people think he's god awful when he's pretty average) but when you set a pick on him its like he gets sucked into a black hole
Kevin Love looked like he was shooting a medicine ball tonight. Kyrie also sort of ran out of gas in the 4th quarter. We were getting murdered inside with Thompson, Love and (egad) Mike Miller trying to defend Howard. Mozgov can't get here quick enough.
But the Morris twins have the same agent.. and apparently the Suns went to them and said we have 4 years and 52 million.. you guys devy it between yourselves..
And they did.. (4 years 32, and 4 years 20)
But they apparently both share a bank account anyways.. live together.. and also have the same tattoos..
Weird.
Am I the only one that pronounces hyperbole "Hyper-bowl" instead of "hy-per-bo-le"?
But the Morris twins have the same agent.. and apparently the Suns went to them and said we have 4 years and 52 million.. you guys devy it between yourselves..
And they did.. (4 years 32, and 4 years 20)
But they apparently both share a bank account anyways.. live together.. and also have the same tattoos..
Weird.
If they were husband and wife it would be considered completely normal.
"If there's one thing I've learned in this world, it's that you need a good sidekick" (Danny DeVito, "Always Sunny")
How about the Clippers up 70-48 on the Lakers at the half. Yeah, 70 points scored for the Clippers in the 1st half.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
Gee, I could hardly watch that without any loud, obnoxious, and/or offensive music.
I can't wait for him to get there. He is going to be a huge help.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
Yeah he will be. .we can finally bury Thompson on the bench where he belongs, maybe he will be able to see how you move your feet and how to properly play help defense. .ie not leaving your guy before needed. Watching the game tonight I thought of 2 things. .one is delly is still the worst player on our team and he's shooting 7% on 2pt field goals last 12 games and 13%for the season. ....let that sink in and throw in he's getting starters minutes. The other thing is we might have the best and worst finishers under the basket in the nba on the same team with Irving and Marion. You watch the crazy stuff Irving does and then watch Marion miss point blank 3 times on the same possesion with no defense several times a game. .Marion has been a disappointment to say the least. Kyrie when he gets going is fun to watch. .he just humiliates whatever defender they try. He and Dwight had some words after a foul tonight then kyrie made Howard look silly several times. .I got a chuckle out of that. I didn't expect us to win given or personnel tonight but we played tough even though love was horrible. With lebron we win that pretty easy. I hope this rest gives lebron his explosion and quickness back.
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. -John Wayne
Watching the game tonight I thought of 2 things. .one is delly is still the worst player on our team and he's shooting 7% on 2pt field goals last 12 games and 13%for the season. ....let that sink in and throw in he's getting starters minutes.
He's getting starters minutes because the majority of our starters are hurt right now, and he's one of the few on the bench that actively tries on defense. I don't know why you keep banging on the backup point guard as your go-to scapegoat and the top reason we are struggling right now, but Delly was hardly the reason we lost tonight. Him and James Jones were the only two that weren't in the negative in +/- for the game. Tonight's loss had everything to do us getting abused down low on both sides of the court and pretty much everyone going stone cold. I think Delly was the only one to hit shots outside of 5 feet in the fourth quarter.
I wasn't even mad about last night. Can't fairly criticize the team as a whole with pieces coming in and out. Reinforcements are on the way soon. We know we at least have a chance to fix our problems. Just need guys to be healthy. We'll probably get Shumpert before or around the same time LBJ comes back.
Watching the game tonight I thought of 2 things. .one is delly is still the worst player on our team and he's shooting 7% on 2pt field goals last 12 games and 13%for the season. ....let that sink in and throw in he's getting starters minutes.
He's getting starters minutes because the majority of our starters are hurt right now, and he's one of the few on the bench that actively tries on defense. I don't know why you keep banging on the backup point guard as your go-to scapegoat and the top reason we are struggling right now, but Delly was hardly the reason we lost tonight. Him and James Jones were the only two that weren't in the negative in +/- for the game. Tonight's loss had everything to do us getting abused down low on both sides of the court and pretty much everyone going stone cold. I think Delly was the only one to hit shots outside of 5 feet in the fourth quarter.
i didn't say delly lost it last night, but he did for sure against philly. And shooting 37% last night was like a season high for him..lol. I wasn't mad about last night, we aren't a very good team right now and houston is pretty damn good.. I expected them to be a tough out even if we were healthy. And we battled them to the end last night. I think we are missing shooters on this team..outside of the big 3, everyone is streaky. Mosgov will help because unlike TT he can actually be an offensive weapon for something other than dunks. Mosgov has range out to the 3 point line and is a monster dunker..He's the anti thompson..Mosgov will dunk on and through people. I think JR smith will be fine here once he gets settled in..I hope Shumpert is coming back soon or this was a pretty silly trade. As much as I believe Mosgov will help. I think giving up 2 first was silly. They knew we really wanted him and took advantage. But we got our big now. I'd still like to see dalembert or O'Neal brought in for depth.
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. -John Wayne
I wasn't even mad about last night. Can't fairly criticize the team as a whole with pieces coming in and out. Reinforcements are on the way soon. We know we at least have a chance to fix our problems. Just need guys to be healthy. We'll probably get Shumpert before or around the same time LBJ comes back.
yeah last night was just a product of not having enough healthy scorers..Kyrie was the only one doing anything and just wore out..plus houston saw that and just rotated their Defense into stopping kyrie. Only thing I don't get is why haywood didn't get more minutes..he was the only one having success against defending howard. I think there when howard starting going off I'd had haywood in to try to slow him down and body him up. But other than that,I think we did about as good as we could have
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. -John Wayne
As much as I believe Mosgov will help. I think giving up 2 first was silly. They knew we really wanted him and took advantage. But we got our big now. I'd still like to see dalembert or O'Neal brought in for depth.
2 first round picks in the NBA is nothing like 2 first round picks in the NFL. The pick we put into this trade from OKC is protected 1-18 this year, 1-15 next year, and the following, IIRC. The other pick we traded is protected for the next 2 years from 1-5 and 15-30. That means that in those 2 years, the pick has to land 6-14 in order to be conveyed. That is Memphis' pick, and they are currently 3rd in the West. That pick is unlikely to be much whenever it finally conveys. Those picks are not as valuable as NFL 1st round picks would be.
As far as O'Neal or Dalembert, I think that we will look at Dalembert, but when O'Neal came in with another team earlier this year, there were reports that he was out of shape. Maybe we try to sign Dalembert, but he will have to decide to play for a minimum deal in order to come in. That is all we can afford. I hope we can add another big for depth, but who knows? We also might be waiting on Okafor. Now that he won't have to play a ton of hard minutes, maybe we'll be more attractive to him as well.
Just another thought.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
first, I knew you were talking about Dalembert, which is why I was reminding you that we may be saving the spot for Ray.
also, Dalembert has to clear waivers, then will have to want to sign with us. we definitely need a big more than a wing right now. I do worry that Dalembert has been hurt this year though because he's been awful.
OK, Sorry, that's not the way I read it. My mistake then.
It was my fault, I was playing coy the way I worded things.
theres only a handful of nba players in the history of the league that have been traded for 2 firsts...Howard, Andre igouldala, and a couple others that are all MVP/All star caliber. Mosgov isn't even averaging 10 points a game..Morey was asking for 2 firsts for Asik, and i think we can agree I'd rather have him. Hell Wizards got gortat for 1 first rounder, I'd rather have him as well. My point is, yes he fills a need, And in the end if we win noone will care, but we overpaid, thats what happens when you're desperate. It was no secret Griffin was desperate, especially in his want of mosgov.
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. -John Wayne
(1) you have been railing on Griffin for not doing anything and having a team full of holes.
(2) Griffin trades Dion & Memphis 1st rounder to fill 2 of those holes, while also back-filling Dion's role.
(3) you rail on Griffin.
The 1st round picks given are likely to be in the 20s and they weren't helping this year. Getting the 1st from OKC was obviously only done in order to facillitate the 2nd trade.
Was it a bit of a tax on the trade because Denver knew we wanted to go all-in now and Andy is hurt? Of course. But, I don't think it's a terrible one and it should help the team enough as he (on paper) fills our biggest weakness.
You do get that we don't need a huge scorer at C, right? We need a guy who will be a defensive stopper, first and foremost.
Further, Mozgov has played in, and had success in Blatt's schemes.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
leadtheway, lakers had to give up a first and bynum. Bynum was coming off a strong double double year and while we know the wheels came off, at the time he was a prized chip. So saying the lakers "only" dealt a first is a bit leading on IMO
Now that we've traded what we can this year though, it's time to make a run. no excuses.
You do get that we don't need a huge scorer at C, right? We need a guy who will be a defensive stopper, first and foremost.
Further, Mozgov has played in, and had success in Blatt's schemes.
the games i've watched, we need scoring where we can get..and yes I know that we need a defensive minded center, i've said it since training camp..just saying mosgov isn't worth 2 firsts..his defense is not all that...he's actually quite average, however..compared to what we have is a huge improvement. Like I said.. I completely understand why we gave up what we did..but I also know we gave up more than anyone else would have for him. So we have no excuses now.
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. -John Wayne
(1) you have been railing on Griffin for not doing anything and having a team full of holes.
(2) Griffin trades Dion & Memphis 1st rounder to fill 2 of those holes, while also back-filling Dion's role.
(3) you rail on Griffin.
The 1st round picks given are likely to be in the 20s and they weren't helping this year. Getting the 1st from OKC was obviously only done in order to facillitate the 2nd trade.
Was it a bit of a tax on the trade because Denver knew we wanted to go all-in now and Andy is hurt? Of course. But, I don't think it's a terrible one and it should help the team enough as he (on paper) fills our biggest weakness.
I have railed on griffin before the trades, not so much since..I think he did a good job of getting value in the dion trade, but he overpaid for mosgov, which like I've said, I understand why. Just stating mosgov isn't a 2 first round pick player. Its still unclear how it all will work. But I am excited again to watch when we get healthly, its been a few weeks of some horrible basketball. I'd give Griffin a C+ right now..it really hinges on if shumpert returns productive from injury and if smith can provide offense off the bench. I think mosgov is who he is..he's steady, and a big body.. I still remember when he played for the knicks and Blake Griffin posterized him in the worst way..ill look for that link...but what i loved about mosgov is later he put blake on his ass...mosgov has a mean streak..i like that, I like his game. I just don't think he's a 2 first player..yes they may be low..but they are still firsts..bottom line is as I've said if we win and this works, noones going to care. So just win.
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. -John Wayne
I'm glad Mosgov is a 71% FT shooter. It means he won't be a liability late in games.
oh like dellevedova.
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. -John Wayne
On July 21, the Cleveland Cavaliers signed rookie Joe Harris to a contract, leaving them $1.6 million in cap space. The team then embarked on a convoluted and complicated journey that included five trades, eight second-round picks, two first-round picks, five delayed signings and $1 million in cash. This twisted voyage led them to Wednesday's trade for Timofey Mozgov.
The Cavs' front office, led by general manager David Griffin, has been aggressive in creating assets and spending money to build a team around LeBron James. The trail of maneuvers and contractual timing that enabled the Mozgov move was costly but quite creative.
Here's how it happened:
Step 1
With their remaining cap space, in July the Cavs made a two-tier trade with the Utah Jazz. They traded Carrick Felix for Erik Murphy. Then, in separate transactions, they absorbed John Lucas III into cap space and Malcolm Thomas with a minimum salary exception. The reason for this trade was for the Cavs to turn that $1.6 million in space into three players with non-guaranteed contracts totaling $3.4 million. They could not have pulled this off without that little bit of cap space.
To get the Jazz to cooperate, the Cavs paid with their 2015 second-round pick and a check for $1 million.
Step 2
Once the Cavs had exhausted their cap space after the Jazz trades, they inked five players whom they had initially delayed signing. By taking advantage of the various exceptions that allow them to exceed the salary cap, the team signed first-round pick Andrew Wiggins, second-round pick Dwight Powell and veteran free agents Mike Miller, Shawn Marion and James Jones.
All the contracts were guaranteed other than Powell's, which is a relevant detail.
Step 3
On Sept. 25, the players acquired from the Jazz had become eligible to be repackaged in a trade under NBA rules, and the Cavs did just that. They traded the former Jazz players, plus Powell, to the Boston Celtics to acquire Keith Bogans. Essentially the Cavs took four players whose contracts totaled $4 million in non-guaranteed money to get Bogans and his $5.2 million non-guaranteed contract.
To get the Celtics to participate in this maneuver, the Cavs handed over their 2016 and 2017 second-round picks. The Celtics sent two second-round picks back to the Cavs in the deal, the Sacramento Kings' 2015 and 2017 picks. But those will only end up in the Cavs' hands if they are in the last five picks in the draft, making them unlikely to ever convey.
So the Cavs had Bogans' contract, a valuable $5.2 million trade chip they created from that once-paltry $1.6 million in cap space. However, the mission hadn't yet been accomplished.
The Cavs didn't want to pay Bogans' salary or have him take up a roster spot for months. Also, if they didn't trade him by Jan. 10 they would have to guarantee his full salary. So the Cavs needed another move.
Step 4
If you need to offload a player for any reason, these days you call the Philadelphia 76ers because they have open cap space to absorb players and will provide just about any trade service for a second-round pick. That's what the Cavs did on Sept. 27. They traded Bogans to Philly in exchange for another 2015 second-round draft pick that will never actually convey -- the 76ers only send their pick to the Cavs if it falls between the 51st and 55th pick in the draft.
In return the Cavs sent their 2018 second-round pick to the 76ers, meaning they had used their 2014, '15, '16, '17, and '18 second-rounders in this exercise. As a side note, the Cavs traded their 2019 second-round pick this week to the New York Knicks in a deal that got them J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert.
Bogans, Murphy, Lucas and Thomas were all later waived by the Sixers and Celtics. Powell was used in the Rajon Rondo trade and is now in Dallas.
Steps 1-4 left the Cavs holding a $5.2 million trade exception with an expiration date of one year, Sept. 27, 2015.
Step 5
On Wednesday the Cavs used the trade exception to acquire Mozgov, who fit into it nicely with his $4.6 million contract, filling their badly needed center role. The Cavs had wanted Mozgov since July and their need got stronger when Anderson Varejao was lost for the season. They sent the Denver Nuggets two future first-round picks, the major part of the trade. The Nuggets also sent the Cavs a 2015 second-round pick, the lesser of the Chicago Bulls and Portland Trail Blazers picks, meaning it will probably fall in the bottom 10 spots in the draft.
Considering where the Cavs started, it was making something from virtually nothing, even if it cost them a cache of draft picks. It is a strong example of how salary-cap management and manipulation are an important part of front-office work in the modern NBA.
And just what lengths the Cavs were willing to go to get a center.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
I'm really curious what we do with the haywood contract...thats a big chunk of money
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. -John Wayne
I'm really curious what we do with the haywood contract...thats a big chunk of money
We can trade him for anything under probably $11 million or so. (I can't remember the rules on trading contracts on a team that is capped out) We could also trade his contract for a player with a smaller contract, if that team wants cap relief. From what I have seen of Griffin, and the way he has had wheels in motion for long term plans, I am sure that he has targets of this sort next year. Maybe we take back a guy in the final year of his contract (a guaranteed final year) for the non-guaranteed deal. (which the other team could then cut and save their cap)
Worse comes to worse, and I think that we could trade his non guarantee deal for nothing but a pick, and create a trade exception in addition to that pick. Griffin has show that he knows the rules inside out, and can work the system very effectively.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
i thought i read somewhere something could happen with JRs contract that would create a 6 mill expiring as well.
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. -John Wayne
i thought i read somewhere something could happen with JRs contract that would create a 6 mill expiring as well.
Next year it becomes an expiring. He has a player option for next season, so it's pretty likely he picks it up.
And while there is no guarantee that any or all of those assets become anything great, at the very least they are assets that are available for Griffin to use.
It is amazing how he turned a bunch of pieces into assets galore. Turning Dion and a 1st into Mozgov, Shumpert, and Smith, (plus, potentially, a 2nd) was incredible. We did give up a 1st rounder that is unlikely to convey until 2017, and since it belongs to Memphis, the pick isn't likely to be very good anyway.
IIRC, we have no 1st round pick in 2016, but other than that our 1sts are intact. We have no 2nd rounders for a few years, but so what. If a team really wants a 2nd rounder, it seems like they can always buy one. However, given that most 2nd round picks wind up with non-guaranteed deals, it's unlikely we'll fit one onto the roster anyway. It does seem as though Griffin understands the rules perfectly, and that Gilbert is willing to pay whatever he feels he has to spend to win.
That said, I wonder if we keep Thompson. I wonder if he will want to stay, being 3rd or 4th on the depth chart as a PF/C?
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
Wow, How did they not call a foul on the Warriors???
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
Man, the Warriors have to commit attempted murder to have a foul called against them.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
I don't think the Cavs played well. They made a lot of tough shots.
It was disheartening to watch Smith and Kyrie not move the ball around, not run the offense, and just chuck-up shots. They made quite a few of them to keep the game relatively close, but you won't win consistently w/that type of attitude.
It's upsetting that the players are so selfish that they won't run Blatt's offense. It start w/LBJ. If he isn't buying in, then guys like Kyrie won't either.
Blatt will take the fall for this selfish group of players and Love will likely opt out of his contract and go to a team that has a chance at winning.
Man, I am so sick of the playground mentality of this team.
Perhaps the league’s most depressing story so far. They’ve underachieved on both ends and sit just three games over .500, with a tiny positive point differential to match that middling record. That understates how good they’ve been offensively; they’ve hovered around the top five in points per possession when healthy and they’ve scored at a rate above the Mavs’ league-best offense when all three of LeBron James, Kevin Love, and Kyrie Irving are on the floor.
The offense is not the fluid passing machine we all envisioned. The Cavs sprinkle in some funky stuff, but this is basically a souped-up version of the stagnant LeBron-centric offense they ran during his first stint as a hometown hero — one LeBron high pick-and-roll after another, with shooters dotted around him.
And that’s fine. You can destroy defenses that way, even if they all know what’s coming. A LeBron–Tristan Thompson pick-and-roll with Kyrie Irving, Wing Shooter X, and Kevin Love spotting up is a powerful weapon.
But it’s not the sort of offense that David Blatt ran in Europe, and having Love toggle between token post-ups and begging for the ball in the corner doesn’t maximize his value. There is a space between running the offense through Love, like Minnesota did, and marginalizing him. It involves leveraging his shooting ability at power forward by having him screen and cut all over the floor — sucking defenders into his moving orbit, opening up things for teammates.
In a healthy, continuity-based offense, things like this can both start a possession and work as a second or third option if Plan A yields nothing:
Love said all the right things about committing to Cleveland, but we should all know by now that public proclamations after happy trades mean nothing. He’s a free agent this summer, and he will absolutely survey the market if things continue this way in Cleveland. LeBron’s on-court demeanor toward him has been icy; James will regularly glare back at Love after yet another enemy layup in Love’s grill.
The defense has been even worse than expected, and Anderson Varejao’s season-ending Achilles injury won’t help. Love talked a big game about washing away his warts on that end, but he hasn’t walked it yet. He still admires his 3-point shots while his defender happily leaks out in transition. Love will never be a rim protector, but just trying can help. Raise your arms, jump in the air, and cause at least some sort of distraction.
There are just too many possessions on which Love does nothing as a help defender. He watches the game happen to him.
The problems aren’t all on Love. The roster doesn’t contain a functional center. Cleveland wasted too many spots on Friends of LeBron who can’t play, and while Joe Harris and Matthew Dellavedova are charming sorts who have their moments, they shouldn’t play major rotation roles on a title contender.
LeBron has been coasting, sometimes to an embarrassing degree, on defense. Chill mode, everyone. Here’s the tell that reveals a defender isn’t working: When his man passes out of some action and cedes control to a teammate, the defender will relax. He’ll stand up straight, lower his arms, watch the rest of the possession, and perhaps even creep toward midcourt in anticipation of a fast-break chance.
With LeBron doing this all the time, it has hurt Cleveland. They’ll dial all of this up in the playoffs, but nearly halfway through the season, they did not appear a legitimate threat to any of the Western Conference powerhouses — even while piling up points with all three stars on the floor.
This trade may not change that, but it helps. Shumpert’s ambitions for ball-dominant stardom rankled the Knicks, but he’s exactly the sort of 3-and-D player Cleveland sorely needs; I mentioned him as a target for Cleveland’s bizarre Keith Bogans trade exception before the season — which they still have after using the Varejao injury exception in this deal.
Cleveland had zero such players beyond LeBron. Waiters is shooting just 26 percent from deep, and in a weird twist, he has struggled horribly on open catch-and-shoot 3s in each of the last two seasons, per SportVU data. Those are exactly the kinds of shots he needed to hit in a LeBron-centric offense.
Waiters occasionally tried on defense, but he has been mostly awful — slow, unwilling, unintuitive. Shumpert isn’t a blowaway defender, and he’s a (slightly) below-average 3-point shooter for his career. But he’s long-armed and tenacious, he can guard multiple positions, and he should grade out as quite good on that end if he can just avoid his bad tendencies — gambling for steals and losing focus off the ball as his man cuts backdoor.
Shumpert can hit enough open 3s on offense, and he has shown some secondary playmaking chops — especially earlier this season in the triangle. He can’t run an offense on his own, but if LeBron bends the defense away from Shumpert and then kicks the ball to him, Shumpert can create something off the dribble. He’s a willing and smart passer in tight spaces, and a decent enough pull-up shooter from midrange when the shot clock is running down. He’s been turnover-prone, and he barely gets to the line, but he should be able to keep things moving in a background role.
Philadelphia 76ers v New York KnicksAlex Goodlett/Getty Images
Smith is the tax that Cleveland must pay for acquiring Shumpert and a first-round pick from the Thunder — a pick that will likely fall around no. 20 this season or toward the back end of the first round next season. That’s a nice asset. It is well documented now that Cleveland has trapped itself in a place where it will be very hard to improve the roster in the easiest ways.
Shumpert and Tristan Thompson, a LeBron buddy, are free agents this summer. Re-signing both would rocket Cleveland way over the luxury tax, and that’s before even accounting for the possibility that the Cavs flip Brendan Haywood’s nonguaranteed contract for another high-salaried guy. Retaining both Shumpert and Thompson long-term might even imperil their flexibility in the vaunted summer of 2016, when most team executives expect the cap to rise by nearly $20 million — to something around $90 million.
Market-value deals for Shump and Thompson would take Cleveland well over that mark, assuming max-level contracts for LeBron and Love. A few other moves could take Cleveland close enough to the tax that even executing a sign-and-trade or using the full midlevel exception1 would be dicey.
That was already going to be the case before this trade. The needless Varejao extension put them in cap hell. Smith’s deal expires after next season, so he doesn’t affect their 2016-17 cap picture, and they were already going to be shot this summer. Shumpert replaces Waiters in the long-term cap projection.
He’s a better fit around LeBron, and Cleveland did well to add another pick beside the Memphis first-rounder it snagged two seasons ago. It won’t be a great pick, but the Cavs are avoiding the classic superteam trap of dealing away every possible method of restocking the back of the roster with young and cost-controlled players. It’s a much better than 50-50 bet that Cleveland uses one of its extra first-rounders to deal for a center; the Cavs are in serious off-and-on talks with Denver and Memphis about Timofey Mozgov and Kosta Koufos, respectively, per several league sources. They could always sign Samuel Dalembert once he becomes a free agent, but Samuel Dalembert has never been the answer to any team’s questions.
Smith, by the way, is a live body with a track record of doing some useful things in the NBA — even on good teams. Both he and Shumpert have to get healthy, but Smith is a much better shooter than Waiters, and he gives the Cavaliers a decent athlete on the wing who can actually play. That doesn’t sound like much, but the Cavs need real wing depth. It allows them to play smaller, using LeBron at power forward, without forcing so many one-dimensional liabilities onto the court.
The Cavs will need that kind of lineup flexibility until they somehow get a full stock of big men. Smith is a head case prone to jacking even worse shots than Waiters, but he can make more of those shots, and the Cavs won’t need him to play major minutes.
