Cleveland early offseason in review (HW/bondom34/dbrandon/Slava)

[HartfordWhalers]

Cleveland Offseason Review

HartfordWhalers Review

Key Losses:
Matt Dellavedova
Timofey Mozgov

Mozgov got crazy money, and at that point the Cavs had to let him walk. However, the ability to go big and have if not Mozgov, some other body that could serve that purpose would have been nice to keep. The first of the 2 picks spent for him was used this past draft on the rights to Korkmaz --Philly got it from Denver in exchange for taking on Javale McGee. And being full circle on that tangent, I wouldn't mind seeing a Javale McGee sneak onto the roster assuming he doesn't make GS's. But you have to let Movgov go and not think twice when he signs with the Lakers for that much. However, Cleveland should have approached the Lakers about making it a S&T (or more aggressively perhaps if they did). They did with Dellavedova and for 200k got a smaller TPE.

Dellavedova was a key guy that helped set a tone. Coming off a championship, and with rfa rights, the only thing stopping Cleveland from keeping him was some wallet watching at a very tough time to see that happen. Not a sudden preference for Dunleavy (who could have been absorded through an existin TPE). Is Dellavedova expendable? In a way yes, he isn't some all star or anything. But good backup pg's are MLE+ money, and they just let him go over a little over that price. I'm not a fan of the move.

Losses:
Dahntay Jones
Sasha Kaun

Dahntay Jones just signed again, an unguaranteed deal. I'm not adding him to the depth chart anyway.
Sasha Kaun was dumped very cheaply on Philly, saving significant money.

Draft:
#54 Kay Felder (traded for)

Would have rather seen the 2.4m used here spent to dump Mo Williams, and then Dellavedova re-signed.

Trades:
$2,465,386 to Atlanta Hawks for the rights to Kay Felder (54th)
S&T Matthew Dellavedova to Milwaukee for $200,000 rights to Albert Miralles and a TPE
Rights to Albert Miralles to Chicago for Mike Dunleavy and rights to Vladimir Veremeenko
Traded Sasha Kaun and cash (TBD) to Philadelphia 76ers for the rights to Chukwudiebere Maduabum

Look at Cleveland, 4 trades in one offseason. That makes them one of the most active teams in volume of deals. In terms of impact? I don't expect much from Dunleavy, so it all amounts to a bunch of whatever.

Free Agency:
Tyronn Lue 5/$35m (Head Coach)
LeBron James 3/$99,857,127
Richard Jefferson 3/$7.6m (last year ungtd)
Chris Andersen 1/$1.6m
James Jones 1/$1.6m
DeAndre Liggins 2/$2.1m (only 25k gtd per year with last year TO)
Kay Felder 3/$2.5m (gtd 1m, 1st and half of 2nd year salary with last year TO)
Dahntay Jones ungtd
JR Smith unsigned atm

Lebron re-signed. That is big news. Lue getting more money doesn't really matter besides to Lue as far as I can tell. Jefferson getting 2 years guaranteed is amazing. Chris Anderson? James Jones? Dahntay Jones again?

Someone tell me that the Cavs haven't gone and done what they did last Lebron run, hollowed out the roster with older over the hill guys while younger players leave. If Jordan McRae is the counter argument I'm not sure its much of an argument. This team feels like it is build on making sure any success is not sustainable.

Meanwhile, JR Smith is going to get seriously overpaid, so lets see by how much.

Current Depth Chart: (taken from bbinsiders)
PG: Kyrie Irving, Mo Williams, Kay Felder
SG: Richard Jefferson, Iman Shumpert, Jordan McRae, DeAndre Liggins
SF: LeBron James, Mike Dunleavy, James Jones
PF: Kevin Love, Channing Frye
C: Tristan Thompson, Chris Andersen
***JR Smith still unsigned but assumed starting sg***

Well, thats a roster that actually needs JR Smith. Or Shump to play better.

Needs:
Irving, Lebron and Love to play like they should.
GS to be injured come the finals, and to have Boston and Indy beat eachother up before the winner plays the Cavs in the East.

Additional Thoughts:
I'm not sure what they should have done at this point. But I feel like the Cavs are really setting themselves up to stumble the next two years compared to expectations.

Projected Win/Loss: 51-31 I have them 5.5 games below Vegas. And I know they have Lebron.

Off-Season Grade: C- I mean Lebron signing was a given. Getting rid of Kaun so cheap was a coup, letting Dellavedova walk was dumb, getting a 2nd rounder was a decent idea but I definitely would have dumped Mo instead. Lebron being 3 years is what makes this not a worse grade, although JR could effect it.

bondom34 Review

Key Losses:
Matt Dellavedova
JR Smith?

Losses:
Mo Williams (possibly)
Dahntay Jones
Sasha Kaun
Timofey Mozgov

Draft:
#54 Kay Felder (traded for)

Trades:
$2,465,386 to Atlanta Hawks for the rights to Kay Felder (54th)
S&T Matthew Dellavedova to Milwaukee for $200,000 rights to Albert Miralles and a TPE
Rights to Albert Miralles to Chicago for Mike Dunleavy and rights to Vladimir Veremeenko
Traded Sasha Kaun and cash (TBD) to Philadelphia 76ers for the rights to Chukwudiebere Maduabum

Free Agency:
Tyronn Lue 5/$35m (Head Coach)
LeBron James 3/$99,857,127
Richard Jefferson 3/$7.6m (last year ungtd)
Chris Andersen 1/$1.6m
James Jones 1/$1.6m
DeAndre Liggins 2/$2.1m (only 25k gtd per year with last year TO)
Kay Felder 3/$2.5m (gtd 1m, 1st and half of 2nd year salary with last year TO)

JR Smith unsigned atm

Current Depth Chart: (taken from bbinsiders)
PG: Kyrie Irving, Mo Williams, Kay Felder
SG: Richard Jefferson, Iman Shumpert, Jordan McRae, DeAndre Liggins
SF: LeBron James, Mike Dunleavy, James Jones
PF: Kevin Love, Channing Frye
C: Tristan Thompson, Chris Andersen
***JR Smith still unsigned but assumed starting sg***

Overall a quiet offseason,but that is expected after a title. They re-signed Lebron for a few years. Losing Delly hurts some but hardly a killer, I think JR stays but that could hurt. Keeping Lue is a good show of faith, Overall, a solid if unspectacular offseason.

Needs:
Health, backup PG if Felder isn't ready, maybe a rim protector?

Additional Thoughts:
No reason they should not be in the Finals, there really isn't much to analyze here to me. They had very little to do and did most of it. Only way it isn't good is if JR leaves.

Projected Win/Loss: 60-22

Off-Season Grade: B (C if JR walks)

dbrandon Review

Key Losses:
Matt Dellavedova
Timofey Mozgov

Mozzy had a down year, but he's pretty good. Delly is a big loss for their bench—his PnR chemistry with TT was a big part of their success.

Losses:
Mo Williams (possibly)
Dahntay Jones
Sasha Kaun

Yeahhhhh...no problem here.

Draft:
#54 Kay Felder (traded for)

I like Felder. If he was bigger he would have gone much earlier in the draft. That being said, having him as your backup point is...questionable for a championship contender.

Trades:
$2,465,386 to Atlanta Hawks for the rights to Kay Felder (54th)
S&T Matthew Dellavedova to Milwaukee for $200,000 rights to Albert Miralles and a TPE
Rights to Albert Miralles to Chicago for Mike Dunleavy and rights to Vladimir Veremeenko
Traded Sasha Kaun and cash (TBD) to Philadelphia 76ers for the rights to Chukwudiebere Maduabum

All of these are fine. Delly got paid more than they could afford.

Dunleavy is a lowkey excellent pickup for them if he's healthy.

Free Agency:
Tyronn Lue 5/$35m (Head Coach)
LeBron James 3/$99,857,127
Richard Jefferson 3/$7.6m (last year ungtd)
Chris Andersen 1/$1.6m
James Jones 1/$1.6m
DeAndre Liggins 2/$2.1m (only 25k gtd per year with last year TO)
Kay Felder 3/$2.5m (gtd 1m, 1st and half of 2nd year salary with last year TO)

JR Smith unsigned atm

I'm assuming JR is coming back, just holding out for more money.

Good FA all around. Most of the guys everyone's seen before and/or they're end of bench guys. Liggins is a lowkey solid pickup—I loved him in OKC. Solid defender with a motor that never stops and passable offense.

Current Depth Chart: (taken from bbinsiders)
PG: Kyrie Irving, Mo Williams, Kay Felder
SG: JR Smith, Iman Shumpert, Jordan McRae, DeAndre Liggins
SF: LeBron James, Mike Dunleavy, James Jones
PF: Kevin Love, Richard Jefferson, Channing Frye
C: Tristan Thompson, Chris Andersen
***JR Smith still unsigned but assumed starting sg***

Solid across the board. Defense still a problem, and they lack size, but it's a good team.

Needs:

I'd look for one decent backup center with size. Koufos is an obvious target. A little youth would be nice, but this is a win-now team, and Bron's always been best with a bunch of savvy vet shooters.

Backup PG is a big hole. They need ballhandlers.

Additional Thoughts:
They (assuming JR's re-signed) kept the band mostly together, doubled down on their most effective lineup, and shored up the wing a little. Losing Delly hurts, but I don't think that was going to be avoidable.

Projected Win/Loss:
62 wins

Off-Season Grade:
B, pending JR. They need a solid backup PG.

Slava Review

Key Losses:
Matt Dellavedova
Timofey Mozgov

Once Tristan Thompson improved his pick and roll offense, he basically took over Mozgov's area of expertise and the Cavs are one of the teams that value the ability for a big man to switch on pick and rolls rather than employ a shot blocker for defensive purposes. So all that combined and the fact that they won the championship in a season in which he was an afterthought meant Mozgov was out of the door. Even if they needed him, they probably would not have entertained offering him the kind of money he got in LA owing to their luxury tax issues.

Another tax casualty is Dellavadova and I feel this is a guy they are going to miss. Not only is he such a perfect fit in Lebron centric line ups to chase opposing PGs through screens but he's also a perfectly good insurance in case Kyrie misses some time. For the price he got in Milwaukee, he's still a good bet and I would have brought him back.

Losses:
Dahntay Jones
Sasha Kaun

Neither of these dudes matter much and somehow Dahntay got onto the Cavs roster, copped himself a nice playoff bonus and ended up winning a ring. Its so easy sometimes.

Draft:
#54 Kay Felder (traded for)

In general I don't like short PGs. Felder reminds me a lot of Barea without the 3 point shot (yet). His college stats look eye-catching and he has the strength and tenacity to hound opposing guards but at NBA level, the lack of height is almost always a major concern on the defensive end. As hard as you can try, NBA level athletes can always shoot over you. I don't think he is ready to fill in Delly's minutes but at this range, he is a very good pick.

Trades:
$2,465,386 to Atlanta Hawks for the rights to Kay Felder (54th)
S&T Matthew Dellavedova to Milwaukee for $200,000 rights to Albert Miralles and a TPE
Rights to Albert Miralles to Chicago for Mike Dunleavy and rights to Vladimir Veremeenko
Traded Sasha Kaun and cash (TBD) to Philadelphia 76ers for the rights to Chukwudiebere Maduabum

2nd round picks sure have started getting expensive. I remember Sarver selling picks in the 20s for $3M a piece in the late 00s and now the Nets paid $3M for a pick in the 40s and the Cavs are paying $2.46M for a pick in the 50s.

The salary absorbing trade to get Dunleavy is a very good move and he will help contribute valuable minutes to the rotation.

Free Agency:
Tyronn Lue 5/$35m (Head Coach)
LeBron James 3/$99,857,127
Richard Jefferson 3/$7.6m (last year ungtd)
Chris Andersen 1/$1.6m
James Jones 1/$1.6m
DeAndre Liggins 2/$2.1m (only 25k gtd per year with last year TO)
Kay Felder 3/$2.5m (gtd 1m, 1st and half of 2nd year salary with last year TO)

Took them long enough but Lue finally gets his money. I also recall reading that Larry Drew was renegotiating a deal to be promoted to associate head coach and I sure hope the rest of the staff who worked summer league without pay get new contracts soon.

Lebron's deal is a formality and his known associates Jones and Andersen get paid by association while JR Smith still remains uncommitted.

Current Depth Chart: (taken from bbinsiders)
PG: Kyrie Irving, Mo Williams, Kay Felder
SG: Iman Shumpert, Jordan McRae, DeAndre Liggins
SF: LeBron James, Mike Dunleavy, Richard Jefferson, James Jones
PF: Kevin Love, Channing Frye
C: Tristan Thompson, Chris Andersen

This is a very thin bench, even if JR returns. Far too many over the hill players hanging on and about the team with no real shot creators for the 2nd unit. So it might be best to stagger Lebron and Kyrie's minutes.

Needs:
1. Good health for Kyrie and Lebron.
2. Bench production from the likes of Mo Williams, Andersen and Frye.
3. A resolution to the JR contract conflict.

Additional Thoughts:
Repeating a title is most often harder than winning one. The Spurs never achieved it and over the past two decades, Lakers (x2) and the Heatles are the only teams to accomplish it. As such losing valuable pieces while trying to reduce the tax bill appears a bit silly. Like a game of poker, you maximize your odds to win a ring when you have a once in a lifetime talent like Lebron in hand.

Knowing Kyrie isn't the most reliable player and Lebron prefers to coast in the regular season at this age, I'm not a fan of losing Delly and not replacing him with an adequate back up PG. They better reach an agreement with JR or else they run a risk of facing some real challenges and making the finals won't be as foregone a conclusion as it is expected.

The delays in renewing the contracts of the coaching staff also sounds like a dick move, especially when you have a very positive vibe around the city for the first time in God knows how long. Its kind of soured what should have been a very pleasant offseason for them.

Projected Win/Loss: 56-26

Off-Season Grade: B

[jbk1234]

It's never easy to hold together a Championship squad b/c other teams are willing to overpay your role players. Delly will be missed but the Dunleavy acquisition helps. JR will re-sign but Klutch has to show everyone they'll hold out their clients in order to get every additional dollar. I'm concerned about rim protection and defense at PG. But I feel like with our roster we can just grab two defense-only guys from the D League to fill those needs.

If I had to make a bold prediction, it would be this - K. Love has a renaissance year. LBJ will be more relaxed now that he's got his ring. Kyrie has a ring and gold medal so I'm hoping he focuses on getting his teammates more involved. Lue seems like a good counterbalance to some of LBJ's more counterproductive tendencies and he seems invested in getting more value from having Love on the floor.

[jayjaysee]

I'd rather have seen Shump traded and Delly kept, and still ended up doing the Dunleavy trade if they wanted. No one else has that opinion though so I guess I'm off.

Mozgov walking was a no brainer. I don't think Birdman is an answer as a 4th big, clearly, but come the post-season I guess that doesn't matter much since the top 3 and PFBron will play almost all meaningful minutes. They could use another vet min big for regular season minutes, which shouldn't be hard to find - but they still haven't found.. I think Mo/Felder is a problem though. Even in the playoffs with Kyrie playing heavier minutes, 10-12 minutes a game are very important. And if Kyrie gets hurt, they have way too big a hole vs having Delly last time.

But Lebron signed for more than one year, so there's that. I'd say B offseason cause that's as low as I can give it with Lebron on a 2 year deal, would be lower if he only did a 1+1.

[Slava]

It's never easy to hold together a Championship squad b/c other teams are willing to overpay your role players. Delly will be missed but the Dunleavy acquisition helps. JR will re-sign but Klutch has to show everyone they'll hold out their clients in order to get every additional dollar. I'm concerned about rim protection and defense at PG. But I feel like with our roster we can just grab two defense-only guys from the D League to fill those needs.

If I had to make a bold prediction, it would be this - K. Love has a renaissance year. LBJ will be more relaxed now that he's got his ring. Kyrie has a ring and gold medal so I'm hoping he focuses on getting his teammates more involved. Lue seems like a good counterbalance to some of LBJ's more counterproductive tendencies and he seems invested in getting more value from having Love on the floor.

If avoiding a big tax bill is as much of a concern as it appears right now, I'm willing to bet the plan is to move Love to beef up the rotation. I don't think he will have a renaissance year, atleast not with the Cavs.

[KqWIN]

I still think Mack for Osman is a trade that could be made. They need someone to fill Delly's role so they can keep Kyrie's minutes as low as possible.

[nowyouknow]

C-

Losing Delly hurts quite a bit and they still haven't inked JR.

Dunleavy and Birdman for the mold, but are they going to be healthy and effective given their age/injury history?

I like Felder though.

Overall, just about as underwhelming an offseason as possible.

[Dupp]

I voted C and that's assuming J R resigns.

If he doesn't which seems extremely unlucky it'll be a Z-

[loserX]

Best move: does bringing back LeBron count? It was a foregone conclusion but you still can't make a better move than that. Failing that, turning Dellavedova's departure (a loss) into Dunleavy (a minor gain) is a positive.

Worst move: I have a soft spot for Birdman but he's not a serious replacement at C any more. At least he was cheap, I guess.

I can't render a judgement on JR until we see what happens.

In the end, they are a win-now team who got worse. They can`t get a good grade for that.

That said, they saved some big money on backup players, and of course they probably don't care what anyone thinks of their offseason now that they won The Title. Everything else is gravy and almost all the urgency has been sucked out of this offseason, otherwise I would have graded more harshly.

C- from me.

[Texas Chuck]

I'd rather have seen Shump traded and Delly kept, and still ended up doing the Dunleavy trade if they wanted. No one else has that opinion though so I guess I'm off.

.

I agree. But I believe Shump would take more assets to move than they realistically had to offer. I just don't think he works on hardly any other rosters because his defense really isn't good enough to make up for just how bad an offensive player he is. But Lebron, Love, and Kyrie allow the Cavs to carry him and he can help ease some of the heavy lifting for Lebron or Kyrie at the other end.

I think they are going to miss Delly for sure. Essentially they could have had him or Mo Williams and Dunleavy. Health alone should make Delly the choice, then you realize every think else he brings to the mix and I would have gone that route every single time.

[jbk1234]

I still think Mack for Osman is a trade that could be made. They need someone to fill Delly's role so they can keep Kyrie's minutes as low as possible.

Not for the Cavs.

[jbk1234]

It's never easy to hold together a Championship squad b/c other teams are willing to overpay your role players. Delly will be missed but the Dunleavy acquisition helps. JR will re-sign but Klutch has to show everyone they'll hold out their clients in order to get every additional dollar. I'm concerned about rim protection and defense at PG. But I feel like with our roster we can just grab two defense-only guys from the D League to fill those needs.

If I had to make a bold prediction, it would be this - K. Love has a renaissance year. LBJ will be more relaxed now that he's got his ring. Kyrie has a ring and gold medal so I'm hoping he focuses on getting his teammates more involved. Lue seems like a good counterbalance to some of LBJ's more counterproductive tendencies and he seems invested in getting more value from having Love on the floor.

If avoiding a big tax bill is as much of a concern as it appears right now, I'm willing to bet the plan is to move Love to beef up the rotation. I don't think he will have a renaissance year, atleast not with the Cavs.

Zero chance Love is traded for tax reasons heading into a CBA negotiation.

[HartfordWhalers]

Cleveland Offseason Review

Off-Season Grade: C- I mean Lebron signing was a given. Getting rid of Kaun so cheap was a coup, letting Dellavedova walk was dumb, getting a 2nd rounder was a decent idea but I definitely would have dumped Mo instead. Lebron being 3 years is what makes this not a worse grade, although JR could effect it.

Off-Season Grade: B (C if JR walks)

Off-Season Grade:
B, pending JR. They need a solid backup PG.

Off-Season Grade: B

Any grade changes?

[bondom34]

I'm good

[HartfordWhalers]

I feel like if the next CBA has an amnesty I'm okay, if it doesn't I will downgrade this. But it is supposed to be a grade at the time of a deal, so I'm on the fence on it.

I said in the other thread, but it feels like Cleveland just Doc Rivers'ed themselves. Short term it is great. Long term it is horrible. And I feel like Cleveland seriously weakened a team that was an underdog in the finals. I'm going to a D-. Tonight was harsh grading.

[Dupp]

C+

If we moved shump and kept Delly it'd be an A.


Signed lebron longer than i thought.

J r resigned ( one year too long oh well)

They were the important signings. If we get charmers cool. I like dubleavy addition as well and birdman. Even though they are minor.

[Slava]

I probably rated them higher than I should have to begin with, so the JR deal in the end doesn't move things much. Its a positive that he was brought back, kind of a negative that its for 4 years, not to mention the increasing tax bill now that he is on $15M per year.

[cammac]

C- The loss of Matt Dellavedova & Timofey Mozgov to many teams isn't a catastrophe but it hurts the Cavs. more than most teams in that Delly was a energy guy off the bench and Mozgov was the only true big. JR resigned which was an absolute necessity and Mike Dunleavy is a walking corpse. Depth will be a huge problem but they will finish in a 53 to 57 win range dependent on the rest LBJ receives and will finish either 1st. or 2nd in the Division.

[DowJones]

B simply because they got LeBron for 2 years instead of 1. Mozgov was never coming back. Delly is an important loss but he didn't play against GS and Felder might be a good replacement. Cole or Chalmers could also be added at some point.