Gibson and Varejao, bench tweeners?

[Baseline Runner]

These two players are key building blocks for our future. Yet both seem to be tweeners that are better coming off the bench. Gibson will never be a PG nor is he tall enough for a SG. Varejao fits somewhere between C and PF, not quite big enough for one nor strong enough for the other. He's also plagued by foul problems, reducing his playing time and making it more likely he's a bench player.

I think both of these players are very good and are even better bench players, they could even be future 6th men of the year. But should 2 players who are better coming off the bench really be key building blocks for our future, untouchable in trades? Next year we will have a mountain of expirings and we will be a key player in the trade market. We might be able to acquire talent without parting with either of these players, but when you consider we will have 3 major needs to fill, it seems unlikely.

We need a legit PG
We need a second scoring option, most likely a swingman with an outside shot
We need atleast one big man to replace Z and/or improve upon Gooden.

Furthermore we have to look at quality rather than just quantity. Ideally next year we'd be able to fill one of these holes with an all-star caliber player who is young or still in his prime.

[Gordon Bombay]

its not really who starts, but who finishes. both gibson and varejao are guaranteed to be there in the fourth quarter alongside lebron and two players playing well for that particular game

[TheOUTLAW]

I couldn't have said it better. At present both Gooden the Hughes are more minute eaters than they are closers. Varejao and Gibson are both closers and both have shown themselves to be able to consistently make big plays.

[GoLebron]

These two players are key building blocks for our future. Yet both seem to be tweeners that are better coming off the bench. Gibson will never be a PG nor is he tall enough for a SG. Varejao fits somewhere between C and PF, not quite big enough for one nor strong enough for the other. He's also plagued by foul problems, reducing his playing time and making it more likely he's a bench player.

I think both of these players are very good and are even better bench players, they could even be future 6th men of the year. But should 2 players who are better coming off the bench really be key building blocks for our future, untouchable in trades? Next year we will have a mountain of expirings and we will be a key player in the trade market. We might be able to acquire talent without parting with either of these players, but when you consider we will have 3 major needs to fill, it seems unlikely.

We need a legit PG
We need a second scoring option, most likely a swingman with an outside shot
We need atleast one big man to replace Z and/or improve upon Gooden.

Furthermore we have to look at quality rather than just quantity. Ideally next year we'd be able to fill one of these holes with an all-star caliber player who is young or still in his prime.

I'm not gonna say I disagree completely, but I think you're jumping to conclusions. There have been plenty of effective short pgs over the years and AV makes up for what he lack in strength by playing tough and hustling.

You have to be patient when young guys are developing. It's tough for us because our other options are not so great, but look how well its paid off for the Mavs to take it slow with Devin Harris and for the Celtics to wait to until they had a decent team to make Rondo their starter. Not every pg is Deron Williams or Chris Paul. I'm pretty confident that Boobie can learn to run the point relatively well, and as I recall, most analysts have said they think he has the skills and basic instincts to learn the position if he puts his mind to it.

With big guys, it's generally easier to tell when they're rookies if they're going to be able to adapt and to give them starters minutes, but don't forget that AV came from the Brazilian national team and he has to adjust to a lot of different things in this league: better players, longer games and seasons, different styles of play, different officiating, the need for better conditioning, etc. And he's adapted relatively well in just two years in the NBA. He may end up being a lifelong sixth man in the NBA, but like with Ginobili, it won't be for talent reasons, and I think we can all agree that at this point ginobili has established himself as a guy you'd like in building your team.

When you're trying to build a team, you're always trying to fill needs, but generally not in any particular order. We already have a leader in Lebron, a decent center in Ilgauskas for the next couple years, and we have a great bench led by Boobie and AV. If you look at all the best teams in the NBA, they have a deep bench, or are striving to create that deep bench (suns, celtics). It doesn't make sense to fill a void by creating another one.

[heathmalc]

First, Let me talk about Gibson:

He "is" short for a "shooting-guard", but he is NOT short for a point-guard!! He is 6'2 and currently weighs 205. In an interview with BW he said he hopes to add 10 more pounds of muscle over the next year. In-addition to the size/strength thing , Gibson has developed being able to shoot off the dribble - a necessity for a good pg -. He still gets a little crazy sometimes with his handle, but according to commentators, he has improved dramatically since last year's playoffs. Mike Brown has said that he is no longer a liability on defense, and he's getting better. Add to this that LeBron calls him his "little brother," and you can pretty-much throw-out the notion of trading Gibson.

Anderson Varejao -

Anderson does a lot of the dirty work, and it always moving. He has developed a mid-range jumper and a hook-shot and has improved his free-thow%. He may not have the ideal strength, but have you ever seen him back-down...or just get completely dominated? He makes his opponent fight for everything! That being said, I think that the Cavaliers would have no problem trading Varejao due to his agent, who has caused too many problems....and is the main reason the Cavaliers turned-down overtures from Phoenix this past summer regarding Shawn Marion.

As for them being bench players... I believe that either of them could/would start, not only for our team, but for at-least half of the other teams in the league.

Just because other people underestimate the Cavaliers, doesn't mean that the Cav's own fans should.

Next year Gibson will be the full-time point-guard! I'd bet on it.