Monday, June 11, 2007

Quick Offseason Thoughts

Looking to the offseason, I'm curious as to how the Cavs can improve. LeBron and Gibson are the core of the team, and you'd want to build around them. Varejao is worth resigning as our PF/C of the future (I actually think the guy is in the throes of developing a decent offensive game) and Pavlovic is good at everything but finishing after a good drive (I'd really like to see him spend the offseason working on his jump shot and decision-making skills, he really is one of the more explosive offensive players in the league but has a mental block at the rim). Eric Snow's a good guy to have around for defense, and Gooden is getting better by the year (though he needs to get more consistent). The question is, what do we do with the rest of the players? Z's clearly not the right fit for this roster, though can we move the guy (or will we have the stones to)? Marshall, Damon Jones, Ira Newble, and Scot Pollard are dead weight. Who knows what Shannon Brown is capable of. And Larry Hughes is basically Eric Snow, but with poorer shot selection (he actually takes shots).

So the question is--which of these guys can we move? Who can we get in return? If we do have to part with one of the "core three," who is it (LeBron is obviously excluded)? I don't think we can move Varejao, because though he's our hottest commodity, he's also close to being our best interior player. Gibson is just too good to trade right now, plus LeBron would flip. So that leaves Pavlovic. But I worry about trading him--he has all the tools to be a star if we can get him going. And what would we trade him for? Could we spin him to the Kings (along with Z and maybe Gooden) for Bibby? It would give the Kings a team somewhat like the one they used to have--Euro shooter/scorer; big, not particularly mobile center on the downswing of his career; athletic power forward. But would the Kings do it? Should we? How else do we improve, given the lack of a draft pick? Can Shannon Brown be an answer for us on offense next year? Is there any way we can move Larry Hughes? And what the hell do we do about offensive coaching?

All questions I will be pondering over the next few weeks--stay tuned for my thoughts on the answers after the Finals are over. In the meantime, I'd love to know what thoughts you have.

1 comment:

sandytowne said...

I think maybe the best place to start is buying one of the suns first round picks. Right now they are already at the luxury tax threshold (as are the cavs), but unlike dan gilbert, the suns owner does not want to go over. I think the suns will either trade marion and a pick for cap relief, or be open to someone buying a pick.