Wizop wrote:doesn't Cleveland have big cap room and lots of draft picks? I assume they have no interest in trading away their young prospects but they might want to exchange some of this years picks for picks in future drafts just to space their roster building. do they have a longer contract they hope to unload for an expiring one? Varajao? might Hansbrough interest them?
Scoot, what's going on in your home town?
Granger's been brought up an awful lot in the papers here. The general thought is that the Cavs have no interest in bringing in 4 rookies this year (with 4 picks in the first 33 of the draft), and would look for a veteran leader in the clubhouse as Varejao really isn't a leader in that regards. There's all kinds of discussions as to what trades they make though. Could they trade #1 in a package for a front-line kind of guy...(Cousins, Love, etc)? Could they trade 19 for another usable vet.....(Marion, Granger, Gasol, etc)? Or, could they try and package 19, 31, and 33 and other pieces (Zeller, the future Memphis or Sacramento 1sts?) and try and move up into the mid to high lotto to get a Bennett or Len (depending on what they do with #1)?
Granger is conceivable as a one year deal, even with his high salary. The Cavs also have a bit of a 2014 salary cap "hope" in keeping max space for the very low possibility of a return from Lebron, which Granger's salary wouldn't hamper in any way. Also, if they strike out on a max salary guy this year, they'll need help getting to the salary cap minimum this year. They wouldn't go higher than #19 or Zeller, depending on how they felt about a certain prospect in this draft.
Varejao still holds value to them, especially with the return of Mike Brown. Brown just loves Varejao. Tristan Thompson is pretty much holding down the PF spot there, and is a huge upgrade to Tyler. I don't see ANY interest from them in Tyler with Tristan, Varejao, Speights, and Kevin Jones all guys they like at the 4, with Varejao, Zeller, and likely Noel or Len coming in at the 5 as well. They've already got 5 bigs, and likely to draft a high level one this year, too.
Ultimately, the Cavs have 100 different ways they could go this year with their ample cap space, solid young talent (Kyrie, Dion, Tristan, Zeller) and plenty of picks (#1, #19, #31, #33, and future firsts from Sacramento, Miami, and Memphis, and future 2nds from Orlando and Memphis). They also have holes all over the bench, but a HUGE hole at SF. If Varejao isn't healthy, they also have a question mark at the 5. They also have to see if Kyrie and Dion can play together long-term at the 1 & 2 spots as well.
Ultimately, the Cavs want to make the playoffs this year. That's been made clear by all levels of their management. The question is how are they going to get there....
