Lemonade from Lemons (2 trade makeover)

[paulpressey25]

For those that want to blow it up, this won't excite you. I'd also concede these trades may not be accepted by the other teams. But there just aren't many teams that trade the entire roster in one offseason. Here's two semi-realistic ones to help win next year and position the team's salary situation.

Simmons/#8 for Josh Howard. I have no idea if the Mavericks would do this. If they would, this would be my first priority move. If they'd do this move, then I'd go to move two.

Mo/Gadz/37 for Varajao/Damon Jones/#19. I'd use 19 on Roy Hibbert.

The positives on these two deals are:
We dump the contracts of Bobby ($21 million), Gadz ($20 million) and Mo ($43 million).

We acquire the contracts of Damon Jones ($4.4mm), AV ($5.7mm) and Josh Howard ($21 million)

We send out $84 million and take back $31 million. That $53 million net difference pays for Bogut's extension. We've eliminated the mistakes with Bobby and Gadz.

On top of it, we get a better SF in Howard, a possibly better PF/C in AV and a free look at a guy like Hibbert. Plus we keep Redd in that scenario. Redd might work with Sessions at PG and much better defenders up front in Howard and AV.

We also then have the money to use our full MLE on a guy like Josh Childress if we want.

If Dallas won't do trade #1, I'd try to make it a bigger trade by adding CV or Bell on our side of the ledger. But I'd prefer to keep CV and Bell.

Again I know this won't excite many of you guys, but I think we can greatly improve the team next season and position our cap well for future moves. This would be a team Skiles could work with IMO.

[SCassell19]

Cant really complain about too many scenarios that would get rid of Simmons contract or Gadz contract. Plus anytime you aquire the worlds best shooter thats gotta be a plus

[TheOUTLAW]

I don't see the Cavs making that deal.

[LISTEN2JAZZ]

Not super exciting, but it'd be a solid playoff team. Of the two intelligent directions you could take the team, that's the one that I wouldn't prefer, but at least it is one of the two choices! (getting younger or winning now). Larry Harris never chose either.

Only addition is that if we do all that to acquire vets, I'd like to trade Yi for a solid veteran as well so that we can get past the first round.

[L&H_05]

The problem on the Cavs end with trading with the Bucks is that it's pretty much believed that Fegan (AV's agent) will veto any trade to the Bucks... He can do as such until the 5th of December from what I'm being told (that could be sketchy ??)..

According to an esteemed poster on RCF Cavs site, who works within the organization, the Cavs have already had a potential deal vetoed by Fegan and Av... The Bucks have some big men that could play in front of AV, one of which being Yi (who is a Fegan client) --thus it would be counterproductive to have AV going into a contract year while not being able to showcase for money playing behind guys...

[Rockmaninoff]

I thought I remembered you saying that, L&H.

I'd take Josh Howard, if we don't have to give up Redd for him. Redd, Howard, and Bogut could probably get us to the playoffs.

[paulpressey25]

L&H brings up a good point. I forgot that Fegan is AV's agent. There is no way he's let him come to the Bucks to compete with Yi. Although I could see AV playing a lot of backup center here.

If AV is not able to come here for that reason, that for me forecloses any Cav's deals. L&H, I tried to get Mo Williams to you at least.

Rockmaninoff should be happy because between Redd, Howard and Bogut, there is his 60ppg nucleus.

Adamcz, I know you want a blow it up, but I still think this is a reasonable route in that you've still got Yi, Sessions, Bogut and Hibbert to give you more possible upside growth.

[Wise1]

I like both moves PP. Fegan has to know that Very Joe does not have Yi'd upside and will always be a backup and spot starter in this league. There's a reason why the Cavs didn't give AV an 8 million per deal. He's not worth the coin. What he is is a solid role player that plays excellent defense. No one will pay AV starting center money. An honest AV would tell you that he can't play more than 26mpg because he only has 6 fouls to give. AV at "best" is an MLE guy. MLE guys take minutes whenver they can get them. Behind Yi and Bogut, AV would fill the same role for the Bucks that he did for Cleveland...backup 4/5.

Of course I love the Hibbert at 19 aspect. I think big Roy lost too much weight last season and thus played physically weaker. Once in the NBA, a "real" strength and conditioning coach should be able to fill him out much like the Lakers filled out Bynum who admittedly is wider through the shoulders. I think his mass and length in the paint would serve the team defense well.

[G-Dub]

I would definately do this deal. I heard that the Mav's want to get in the 1st Round. In my opinion, the #1 priority for the Bucks this offseason is to unload cap! (and crap) If they can upgrade the SF and get some toughness at the PF position, I am all for it!

[paulpressey25]

Again these deals don't have "Sizzle" ala Ted Thompson.

But as Michael Hunt said in his column today, the Bucks have $40 million of cap payroll tied up in four guys who don't work. Simmons, Gadz, Redd and Mo. And that the Bucks can't just sit and draft 8. They need to re-make the structure of the team. This does it.

[Wise1]

Again these deals don't have "Sizzle" ala Ted Thompson.

But as Michael Hunt said in his column today, the Bucks have $40 million of cap payroll tied up in four guys who don't work. Simmons, Gadz, Redd and Mo. And that the Bucks can't just sit and draft 8. They need to re-make the structure of the team. This does it.

Oh someone's leaving. You can count on that. The Bucks, imo, would gladly trade in Redd for the rights to Mayo in the right deal. Mo, I definitely don't see having a future with Scott Skiles. I think Simmons stays and will be used as a chip when he has a 10mil expiring.

If I had to guess, I'd say 2 of the 4 players listed above are goners before the season starts.

[tedbrogen]

Cavs won't do that deal for several reasons.

They won't have any interest in Mo. They already have two PGs (West and Gibson) who combined make less than Mo. Those two PGs are far more suited for their team than Mo. They play D, shoot the 3, and don't need to handle the ball. Mo is most valuable when he is handling the ball and creating scoring opportunities for himself and teammates. The Cavs don't need that. LeBron handles the ball all the time. They just need a PG who will hit open shots and play D. Mo doesn't play D.

The Cavs need to hold onto AV if they plan on making a run at the title next year. They will have to go through Boston to get to the finals next year, and they need AV to defend KG as he was pretty good at that in the playoffs this year, and no one else on their team is capable.

The whole thing about AV being able to veto trades.

AV is not a great fit for the Bucks. He is in the last year of his contract and would probably leave after one season. Also, I doubt the Bucks would want to invest a big contract into him with Bogut and Yi blocking him from being a starter anytime soon. I think they already learned with Gadz that they shouldn't invest big contracts into big men with no offensive game who are essentially bench players (not that AV is a bench player on every team, but he would be for the Bucks).

However, I do like the Mavs trade.

If you are just looking to dump salary and get the #19 pick, the Cavs might be willing to do:
Redd, Gadz, Bell, CV for Smith, Wally, Jones, #19. Although the Cavs would have to make the selection at 19 for the Bucks and then do the trade after making the pick because they aren't allowed to move the pick before the draft.

If they did that trade along with Simmons/#8 for Howard, I think they would be in good shape. They would end up with this:
Bogut, Yi, Howard, Mo, Sessions, Mason, #19 pick, #37 pick, and the expiring contracts of Smith/Jones/Wally, the 12th spot on the roster available for Ersan or an undrafted rookie.

[L&H_05]

^^ Disagree on Mo.. I think Mo would fit in well as it would allow LeBron to play off the ball and be more of a finisher than creator.. His health is my concern...

Agreed on AV, but if the Cavs can pull off a deal for Jermaine, I'll take him over AV any day of the week...Again, health is an issue... Major issue..

And I wouldn't mind going for a player like Ryan Hollins to replace AV.. I really like his potential to play solid defense in the right system... And the Cavs play the style of defense that can be championship caliber with a variety of players...

[JoeHova]

If they do that, I hate taking Hibbert at 19. He's 2nd round material at best, imo. There are probably 20 guys that will be available at 19 that I would rather see them take a chance on. When I look at Hibbert, I see "NBA Legend" Daniel Santiago. He'll probably be a little better than that, but not much.

[aaprigs311]

I like it other than the Roy Hibbert pick. Dude is worthless. Rich mans Erving ''not so magic" Johnson.

[tedbrogen]

^^ Disagree on Mo.. I think Mo would fit in well as it would allow LeBron to play off the ball and be more of a finisher than creator.. His health is my concern...

Agreed on AV, but if the Cavs can pull off a deal for Jermaine, I'll take him over AV any day of the week...Again, health is an issue... Major issue..

And I wouldn't mind going for a player like Ryan Hollins to replace AV.. I really like his potential to play solid defense in the right system... And the Cavs play the style of defense that can be championship caliber with a variety of players...

Please tell me why the Cavs would want to take the ball out of the hands of the best player on earth and instead give the ball to a PG who just led a team to 26 wins? If they let Mo run the show, even if he beat his man (which he wouldn't do as frequently as LeBron), the other team would just help off the other players on the team but I can guarantee LeBron's man would stick with LeBron. Also, Mo isn't nearly the finisher that LeBron is and doesn't get to the line nearly as much. Other teams would enjoy the Cavs new plan of taking the ball out of LeBron's hands though.

I know Mike Brown isn't a very good coach, but I think he has enough knowledge to know that LeBron should handle the ball almost every possesion he is on the floor.

Also, on the AV being a product of the defensive system the Cavs run. Then why was he the ONLY Cav who could slow KG? Wallace and Smith didn't come close, and Z was decent on the boards but couldn't do anything except sit back and let KG take wide open jumpers.

Additionally, Mo's horrible D is a big problem for the Cavs. They need a PG who can play good D, because the usually stick LeBron on the other team's worst offensive player and let him roam free on defense, in almost a one man zone. They did this against the Celtics and played him on Rondo a lot, and it really slowed the Celtics offense down. Sure at the end of games, when its must stop time, LeBron will usually be seen on the other team's best player, but if you pay attention during the first 3+ quarters, LeBron will be roaming around causing havoc because he is just leaving his man (the worst offensive player on the other team) alone. Mo would destroy all that. Why would they trade for a guy who makes more than the two PGs they already have combined and isn't as good a fit for them as those two PGs?