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Teams have come out real aggressive. I don't think that Ferry has been as aggressive, but I'm not sure we could have offered anything that the other guys are offering. We now know that CV, Artest, Turkoglu, and Turkoglu are off the board. The Artest signing in LA opens up the door for the Cavs to potentially land Odom or Ariza. Rasheed Wallace and Antonio Davis remain possibilities, but Wallace seems imminent to Boston. There is somewhat of an arms race taking place between the top teams in the league. No one can no dispute the fact that Cleveland must add pieces to compete. Detroit, San Antonio, LA, and Orlando have added pieces to improve their roster greatly.

The best options available in free agency appear to be Trevor Ariza, Lamar Odom, Rasheed Wallace, Antonio McDyess, Matt Barnes, Grant Hill, and Dahntay Jones. The only negative with the Odom and Ariza being from LA is that they will probably not be willing to do a sign and trade. There is still a question if either would take the MLE straight up. Both Ariza and Odom are my top two prospects. IF Ariza is off the board, I would still like us to sign a Matt Barnes or Dahntay Jones with a Grant Hill and McDyess.

Even if Cleveland misses out on some of the free agents, I think the Cavs have a great opportunity to get involved in a sign and trade with Detroit and Utah. The basic pieces to the deal would be Z's expiring contract going to Utah, Boozer heading for Detroit, and Rip Hamilton and Kwame going to Cleveland. Utah does this to save some cap space to resign Milsap, Detroit clears up their back court and adds the post player they covet, and Cleveland adds another scorer and an ok backup center. Perhaps we still end up with a lineup like this:

PG Delonte West/Maurice Williams/Boobie Gibson
SG Richard Hamilton/Maurice Williams
SF Lebron James/Danny Green
PF Antonio McDyess/JJ Hickson
C Shaq O'Neal/Kwame Brown

Not a bad trade, but when will you admit that Mo is our starting PG? No matter what you think about Delonte being the better starter its just not going to happen. And we still need to address our PF situation. Mcdyess is old, so is Andy in your plans? And he wouldnt be a good match with Kwame or Shaq. Whoever the backup is would have to play with stone hands Brown so he would have to be able to shoot.

West will not start over Williams.

whats with the rip love by certain posters around here? no thanks

I am just putting the best player in the starting lineup. I think Mo plays a ton off the bench in a role similar to Odom in LA. A lot of times, Mo might be the better match-up down the stretch for the Cavs. The better fit would be Tayshaun Prince, but how could you pass up a scorer like Rip Hamilton. Especially since the deal makes sense for all 3 teams involved. The Cavs would still need to land a PF. It would be a dream off-season to land Rip Hamilton via trade and then sign a Lamar Odom.

The versatility of this team would be off the charts and the weapons would allow Lebron James to go off. I also think that in the playoffs, the move takes the pressure off of Mo Williams and allows him to relax as a backup. You love a player like Rip for his consistency and his ability to get his own shot while Odom is great because he can play pretty much any position on the court. It may not happen, but Cavs fans should realize that we still have a lot of good options.

The Cavs should NOT come close to thinking they need to resign Varejao. He has had his chance to prove his worth and he just did not get the job done against the guys we need him to. He is so vastly overrated that I would not even pay him the full mid-level exception. Let other teams make the mistake.

I'm not sure there is a realistic move we could make at this point to build a team with the talent LA has.

They are getting top 10 guys basically for free - Gasol, Artest - they are paying Artest like $6MM a year for the next 3 seasons...

Being a big market team they can get the top targets in FA in addition to taking on salary in trades. The only way it seems we can get anyone decent in here is to ridiculously overpay them (Hughes) or trade for them (Shaq).

I don't have any great ideas but we might have to consider moving Z's contract if we are serious about contending this year..

Why not Shawn Marion for the MLE?

Talent does not always win championships. For instance, the Orlando Magic has the most talent of any team in the NBA last year, but they were not able to get it done against the smarter Laker team. It is really hard to tell when you change your chemistry how it will work out. Will the Lakers really be improving that much with Artest? On paper the answer is yes. However, Artest is still a volatile personality and there is no guarantee that he will not implode. The Lakers still need to get back Odom and Shannon Brown to say that they have gotten better.

Orlando is in a similar situation. How will Vince Carter mix with the team. He is certainly a better defensive presence, but there has always been questions about his late game performances. The loss of Courtney Lee is pretty significant. I don't see a replacement for Courtney Lee on the Magic right now. It looks like Brandon Bass will be inserted for Gortat. You have now drastically changed the chemistry on a team that was the best in terms of talent.

The Cavs were poised to land CV when Boozer was supposed to opt out. Now they must look for other options. The chance for improvement is still there. There are still teams out there looking to cut payroll that are interested in an expiring contract. I think there are moves the Cavs can still make to position themselves for a title run. No matter what happens in free agency or via trade, the level of competition will be ridiculous for any team looking to win a championship.

On Marion:
I like what Marion brings defensively, however, I only wish he was more consistent when shooting the 3. He would certainly improve the roster and afford us versatility against the quicker 4s.

Wow Danny has some work to do. Ron Ron to LA. Ariza to the Rox. Sheed possibly to Boston. Who is left? Marion?? No way he comes for the MLE......

Im not counting Danny out.

Toronto Board reporting that Cavs want to do a sign and trade for Anthony Parker

isnt parker a unrestricted free agent? why would we want to trade for him when we could sign him and what would we give up

Yes, Parker is unrstricted. Maybe after the Cavs use the mle on somebody and the lle on somebody, then a s&t for wally or something along those lines if the rumors are correct. Who knows at this point, the verbal agreements are coming fast and furious.

Yes, Parker is unrstricted. Maybe after the Cavs use the mle on somebody and the lle on somebody, then a s&t for wally or something along those lines if the rumors are correct. Who knows at this point, the verbal agreements are coming fast and furious.

S&T for Parker is OK if can secure McDyess or Sheed with the MLE

That is probably enough to win the EAST, not enough to beat LA. We would have to consider trading Z's expiring for that (which almost seems sacrilegious) unless Shaq has more in the tank than we think.

Assume we would fill out the roster with the BAE and Vet min.

Based on who is still out there to get Anthony Parker is not a good sign. At 35, we are not really upgrading in terms of defensively or athleticism. I guess it would be another shooter. I am surprised with how passive the Cavs have been thus far in free agency and in trades. Even if the Cavs get Parker, they are still 2 players away from contending with the moves other teams are making.

The reset seems to be Lamar Odom, Antonio McDyess, Glen Davis, Leon Powe, Matt Barnes, Shawn Marion, Dahntay Jones, and Grant Hill. I'm not sure if there is really any other options out there in terms of free agency. I think there are still several trade possibilities with Rip Hamilton, Antawn Jamison, Mehmet Okur, and Carlos Boozer perhaps being available in the right deal. I wonder if Raja bell might be available for trade if the Bobcats are still interested in Varejao?