Get Zach Randolph?
Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 12:15 pm
Forewarning: I am a Knicks fan and am approaching it from their point of view. I'd like to think that I'm even-handed enough to come up with a deal that works for both sides. I guess you'll all be the judge of that.
This general idea comes in three flavors:
A) Zach Randolph for Ben Wallace -- Cavs trade redundant, aging defense for offense. Wallace's deal is a year shorter.
B) Randolph for Wally Szczerbiak -- Cavs trade redundant, aging offense for better offense. Wally's deal is entering its final year.
C) Randolph and Stephon Marbury for one of the above plus Eric Snow and Delonte West (s&t) -- Cavs trade redundant, (half-)aging backup guards for better offense. Marbury and Snow both expiring, West accepts a sign-and-trade (that has a contract length of two years and fits inside the financial parameters of this exercise).
*Mix and match cash and/or future picks as you deem appropriate. It's not that I don't think that they belong, it's just that the point of this post isn't to think about petty differences, and I hope the argument doesn't devolve into that nonsense. I'm thinking big picture stuff here.
It's entirely possible that these ideas or ones like it have already been brought up a lot, but I think they bear repeating now that the Cavs have made their first big deal of the offseason -- the Mo Williams acquisition -- and unveiled their strategy in the long-anticipated LeBron James sweepstakes.
Essentially, that plan appears to be to add pieces between now and July 2010 in the hopes of improving the supporting cast dramatically enough to compete for championships, keep LBJ happy and keep him locked up.
An alternative route Cleveland could have gone was to save a lot of money for the summer of 2010 and give LeBron the chance to pick a free agent teammate like Wade or Bosh to run with for half a decade. It would have been risky, but who knows what would have happened.
Trading expiring deals for the five years and $43.5 million left on Williams' deal shows that they are be willing to improve the team in the short-term at the expense of their long-term cap flexibility. While it's conceivable that they'll let Wallace, Szczerbiak, Ilgauskas, Snow, Varejao, Pavlovic and West all walk in the next two summers and still go the free-agent route, I don't think that'll be the case.
So if the Cavs are confident in their plan, and LeBron has given them assurances that if they improve the team enough, he'll consisder extending his contract, then they should look at all possible trades to do that and make him happy. And any list of available assets should include Randolph.
Randolph has his reputation and his baggage, but LeBron isn't an impressionable rookie anymore, and I don't think Randolph is quite as bad a knucklehead as was Ricky Davis. Time to take of the kid gloves with James. Jordan was able to deal with Dennis Freaking Rodman and win three championships. This is a playoff team, and we've seen no evidence of Randolph dismantling good teams, only of his contributing to bad situations. Those are two completely different personality types.
LeBron could get him in line, right? We've seen Lamar Odom turn things around in the right situation, and that was in the same damn city where the bad reputation was built. Randolph just turned 27, his final story hasn't been written yet. And he fills a serious need for them, right? He makes the Williams-Pavlovic-James-Randolph-Ilgauskas Cavs instantly credible.
In return, the Knicks would unload a player who doesn't really fit into their short-term or long-term plans. On the court, his presence stunts the growth of Eddy Curry, who's only 25 and one lousy season removed from a pretty loud, if unrealistic, campaign to make the All-Star team.
Any of the packages that the Knicks got back would have some use in the next two years. Wallace does everything Curry does not, Wally can still shoot the rock a bit and sell tickets, Snow gets paid to attend the Mike D'Antoni Academy for Assistant Coaches and West fights for minutes in an already crowded backcourt.
Most importantly, they'd save a big chunk of money for the 2010-11 season, clearing their own path to try to steal LeBron. Cleveland could have a hand in its own demise, and if he were to leave, it would be one of those unsolvable riddles and people will always wonder if the Cavs ever had a chance. And that's a great Catch 22.
This general idea comes in three flavors:
A) Zach Randolph for Ben Wallace -- Cavs trade redundant, aging defense for offense. Wallace's deal is a year shorter.
B) Randolph for Wally Szczerbiak -- Cavs trade redundant, aging offense for better offense. Wally's deal is entering its final year.
C) Randolph and Stephon Marbury for one of the above plus Eric Snow and Delonte West (s&t) -- Cavs trade redundant, (half-)aging backup guards for better offense. Marbury and Snow both expiring, West accepts a sign-and-trade (that has a contract length of two years and fits inside the financial parameters of this exercise).
*Mix and match cash and/or future picks as you deem appropriate. It's not that I don't think that they belong, it's just that the point of this post isn't to think about petty differences, and I hope the argument doesn't devolve into that nonsense. I'm thinking big picture stuff here.
It's entirely possible that these ideas or ones like it have already been brought up a lot, but I think they bear repeating now that the Cavs have made their first big deal of the offseason -- the Mo Williams acquisition -- and unveiled their strategy in the long-anticipated LeBron James sweepstakes.
Essentially, that plan appears to be to add pieces between now and July 2010 in the hopes of improving the supporting cast dramatically enough to compete for championships, keep LBJ happy and keep him locked up.
An alternative route Cleveland could have gone was to save a lot of money for the summer of 2010 and give LeBron the chance to pick a free agent teammate like Wade or Bosh to run with for half a decade. It would have been risky, but who knows what would have happened.
Trading expiring deals for the five years and $43.5 million left on Williams' deal shows that they are be willing to improve the team in the short-term at the expense of their long-term cap flexibility. While it's conceivable that they'll let Wallace, Szczerbiak, Ilgauskas, Snow, Varejao, Pavlovic and West all walk in the next two summers and still go the free-agent route, I don't think that'll be the case.
So if the Cavs are confident in their plan, and LeBron has given them assurances that if they improve the team enough, he'll consisder extending his contract, then they should look at all possible trades to do that and make him happy. And any list of available assets should include Randolph.
Randolph has his reputation and his baggage, but LeBron isn't an impressionable rookie anymore, and I don't think Randolph is quite as bad a knucklehead as was Ricky Davis. Time to take of the kid gloves with James. Jordan was able to deal with Dennis Freaking Rodman and win three championships. This is a playoff team, and we've seen no evidence of Randolph dismantling good teams, only of his contributing to bad situations. Those are two completely different personality types.
LeBron could get him in line, right? We've seen Lamar Odom turn things around in the right situation, and that was in the same damn city where the bad reputation was built. Randolph just turned 27, his final story hasn't been written yet. And he fills a serious need for them, right? He makes the Williams-Pavlovic-James-Randolph-Ilgauskas Cavs instantly credible.
In return, the Knicks would unload a player who doesn't really fit into their short-term or long-term plans. On the court, his presence stunts the growth of Eddy Curry, who's only 25 and one lousy season removed from a pretty loud, if unrealistic, campaign to make the All-Star team.
Any of the packages that the Knicks got back would have some use in the next two years. Wallace does everything Curry does not, Wally can still shoot the rock a bit and sell tickets, Snow gets paid to attend the Mike D'Antoni Academy for Assistant Coaches and West fights for minutes in an already crowded backcourt.
Most importantly, they'd save a big chunk of money for the 2010-11 season, clearing their own path to try to steal LeBron. Cleveland could have a hand in its own demise, and if he were to leave, it would be one of those unsolvable riddles and people will always wonder if the Cavs ever had a chance. And that's a great Catch 22.
