Little Future right now.
Posted: Sun Mar 18, 2012 9:00 pm
I've tried to watch this team this year, but I'm just so disgruntled with many of the "players" that we have on this roster. Perhaps it's a deep seeded hatred of Jamison and Gibson, both of which are the final lovechild remnants of the rape from LeBron's departure.
So anyways, looking at the roster right now for 2012-13, and i see the following
Staters-
Irving-No doubt a special player, and the only reason I even tune into the Cavaliers. He's going to have to take it to the next level with his wretched supporting cast if this team is ever going to be good. Something like 25ppg or more.
Andy-He's a really good player, but his inability to stay healthy is troublesome. Ideally you'd want him playing like 20-25 minutes per game and hope that he can help you steal several games a season you shouldn't win.
Bench-
Gee-Possibly good enough that he should be a rotation player on most lower tier teams. He's obviously miscast as a starter on our squad. I think there's a place for him in this league, and I would hope we attempt to retain him on a reasonable bench player type deal. Something like 3M a year for 3 years.
Thompson-I'm not convinced that he will ever be anything more than just another guy. The signs are certainly there for him to become a great defensive player. But he is only shooting like 40% and his free throw percentage is a liability. Maybe it was lack of a camp, but he better take a giant step forward next year.
2013 Rookie(our pick)-Whomever we take needs to be able to contribute from day one, and will most likely be thrust into a starting role.
2013 Rookie(Lakers pick)-We need to get this one right. Even if it's an undersized big in the mold of a Blair, Faried, Boozer-type that gets passed over a bunch of times. Gotta hit on this pick
The Rest
Boobie-He's not a good player. He had one good game vs. Detroit, and we've overpaid him for the past 4 years because of this. I pray we won't pick up his option(should be a no-brainer to decline) and also pray that they won't offer him a contract.
Jamison-He can score the ball, but he's really aging. In many ways, he's probably hurting us this year because we stay in games we normally wouldn't. Hopefully we don't bring him back, as the 2012-13 cavs won't be playoff caliber
Parker, Samuels, Hollins, Harangody, Erden, Casspi, Walton-
None of these guys are even rotation players. I don't see the upside in bringing any of them back, but surely we will end up seeing at least a few of them next year.
Conclusion-
I don't really see much of a future here. We basically have to pull another ace out of our asses and get someone like Davis by winning the lottery. Even then, we'd still be at least one more excellent rookie away from making a step towards being an upper division squad. We will have some cap space this offseason, but I don't know if that will even matter. I don't think anyone will even want to play here.
Our best strategy might be to target some of the Restricted Free agents, and attempt to overpay them in order for us to cause their team not to match-
Eric Gordon-Scary injury history. But he's conceivably worth maxing out and praying that the league owned Hornets pass. He can score, and would give us the type of backcourt that you can easily see evolving into an elite level team.
OJ Mayo-Perhaps worth attempting to obtain on an above market deal, but on one that isn't going to destroy future flexibility. Memphis is at or near the spending limit, so I'm betting he would be available.
Nic Batum-He appears to be a pretty solid player, but ideally I'd like to see more scoring if I'm going to overpay for a guy. Looks likely to want to continue in Portland.
Aaron Brooks-He would make for a very undersized backcourt with Kyrie. But he's an established scorer that we could possibly obtain for an above midlevel offer. We would need some elite defense behind this configuration of a backcourt, but it's certainly possible that it could work. Phoenix seems to be playing hardball with him, but if we were to offer like 4/30, I bet we could snag him.
I hope that we can take the steps forward and build this team into a playoff squad. But as of now, I'm not convinced that next year is going to be dramatically better than the past couple.
So anyways, looking at the roster right now for 2012-13, and i see the following
Staters-
Irving-No doubt a special player, and the only reason I even tune into the Cavaliers. He's going to have to take it to the next level with his wretched supporting cast if this team is ever going to be good. Something like 25ppg or more.
Andy-He's a really good player, but his inability to stay healthy is troublesome. Ideally you'd want him playing like 20-25 minutes per game and hope that he can help you steal several games a season you shouldn't win.
Bench-
Gee-Possibly good enough that he should be a rotation player on most lower tier teams. He's obviously miscast as a starter on our squad. I think there's a place for him in this league, and I would hope we attempt to retain him on a reasonable bench player type deal. Something like 3M a year for 3 years.
Thompson-I'm not convinced that he will ever be anything more than just another guy. The signs are certainly there for him to become a great defensive player. But he is only shooting like 40% and his free throw percentage is a liability. Maybe it was lack of a camp, but he better take a giant step forward next year.
2013 Rookie(our pick)-Whomever we take needs to be able to contribute from day one, and will most likely be thrust into a starting role.
2013 Rookie(Lakers pick)-We need to get this one right. Even if it's an undersized big in the mold of a Blair, Faried, Boozer-type that gets passed over a bunch of times. Gotta hit on this pick
The Rest
Boobie-He's not a good player. He had one good game vs. Detroit, and we've overpaid him for the past 4 years because of this. I pray we won't pick up his option(should be a no-brainer to decline) and also pray that they won't offer him a contract.
Jamison-He can score the ball, but he's really aging. In many ways, he's probably hurting us this year because we stay in games we normally wouldn't. Hopefully we don't bring him back, as the 2012-13 cavs won't be playoff caliber
Parker, Samuels, Hollins, Harangody, Erden, Casspi, Walton-
None of these guys are even rotation players. I don't see the upside in bringing any of them back, but surely we will end up seeing at least a few of them next year.
Conclusion-
I don't really see much of a future here. We basically have to pull another ace out of our asses and get someone like Davis by winning the lottery. Even then, we'd still be at least one more excellent rookie away from making a step towards being an upper division squad. We will have some cap space this offseason, but I don't know if that will even matter. I don't think anyone will even want to play here.
Our best strategy might be to target some of the Restricted Free agents, and attempt to overpay them in order for us to cause their team not to match-
Eric Gordon-Scary injury history. But he's conceivably worth maxing out and praying that the league owned Hornets pass. He can score, and would give us the type of backcourt that you can easily see evolving into an elite level team.
OJ Mayo-Perhaps worth attempting to obtain on an above market deal, but on one that isn't going to destroy future flexibility. Memphis is at or near the spending limit, so I'm betting he would be available.
Nic Batum-He appears to be a pretty solid player, but ideally I'd like to see more scoring if I'm going to overpay for a guy. Looks likely to want to continue in Portland.
Aaron Brooks-He would make for a very undersized backcourt with Kyrie. But he's an established scorer that we could possibly obtain for an above midlevel offer. We would need some elite defense behind this configuration of a backcourt, but it's certainly possible that it could work. Phoenix seems to be playing hardball with him, but if we were to offer like 4/30, I bet we could snag him.
I hope that we can take the steps forward and build this team into a playoff squad. But as of now, I'm not convinced that next year is going to be dramatically better than the past couple.