Cavs: The Podcast 0037 – Buyin’ Em!
2013-07-10
Whoa baby! We, as Cavs fans, wanted a splash, and boy oh boy did we get one.
After just a few days of speculation, the Cavaliers have successfully signed Andrew Bynum to a 2 year, $24M contract. Of course only $6M is guaranteed for year one, and the second year is a team option. Basically, Chris Grant rocked it.
On today’s podcast Colin and I discuss the Cavs’ signing of Andrew Bynum. We touch on his value to the team, new expectations for 2013-2014, and how this changes our perception of Chris Grant. It should be noted that we neglected to mention his injury history in concrete terms: he’s averaged less than 60 games a year over his career.
As always, we can be found on SoundCloud at: https://soundcloud.com/cavstheblog/0037-buyin-em
And on iTunes at: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/cavs-the-podcast/id528149843?mt=2
Just listened to the Pod. I don’t agree that our ceiling is a 4th-5th seed. I think we can be good as LAST YEAR’s 4th or 5th seed, but the conference has changed. The Heat will be a top 2 seed The Bulls have Rose back (top 3 seed) The Pacers will probably stagnate The Nets are better The Knicks (last year’s 2 seed) have no significant downgrades and will probably be fighting for a 4th-th seed. That’s 5 teams that, barring catastrophic injury, WILL make the playoffs. So there are 3 seeds left. We need to be better than… Read more »
I agree with Nate. I prefer to have Andy off the bench. That way you have Thompson or Andy on the court at all times. Their skills overlap. It wouldn’t be a bad thing to have a rebound Hoover on the court at all times. WIth the new found depth of the frontcourt, Zeller would probably get his primary run on the backend of back to backs to save Bynum/Andy some minutes. Keeping those two healthy for the end of the season is paramount. If they are both healthy having them combine for 48 minutes or so a night would… Read more »
This notion that Andy was better at the 4 is nuts. Andy posted the best numbers of his career starting at center, alongside Tristan Thompson. Andy will start the season at center and will probably come off the bench when/if Bynum is ready to start, and be the primary backup at center and power forward. Andy’s quickness, ability to play the pick and roll, and the ability to drive and shoot out of the high post make him a matchup nightmare for opposing centers, and he has the defensive fundamentals, rebounding, length, and strength to defend those players.
@ Cory and Ross
No, I get that we will still have assets to make a big trade. The problem is that any team (any team smarter than OKC at least) will probably want to attach an albatross contract to any star they move (for instance, Ainge would almost certainly add Gerald Wallace to any Rondo trade) – I just hope our sudden lack of cap space doesn’t prevent us from exploiting some team that needs to blow it up.
@Versus Grant still has assets to make a trade. Jack is the only contract on the team that runs past this season without an option. All of those could essentially be expiring deals. They still have young talent in Thompson, Bennett, Waiters, Karasev and Zeller and they still have an abundance of draft picks. They are still primed to make a Harden-liike trade. They just don’t have the cap room to absorb salary.
Very excited about this deal. Great upside, fills a need, and keeps great flexibility for 2014 and beyond. Hopefully, limiting playing time for both Varajao and Bynum will keep them both healthy.
I’ve read elsewhere that the cap hold will be $12M
is the cap number the max amount the contract can pay with incentives? Or is it the amount you end up paying in the end? If it’s the former, a 12 million dollar contract with a team option would be a lovely asset to have if potato chip knees doesn’t work out…
Signing Bynum will in no way impact our ability to swing a Harden-type deal if one comes along. we have young inexpensive assets to deal just like the Rockets did. and bynum himself will be a very movable asset if need be.
Didn’t we pay Luke Walton $6MM last year?
The thought of a healthy Andy and a healthy Bynum…and not having Andy extend himself at the 5 spot is amazing. Kyrie, Dion, AB, Andy, Bynum. Sergey, Jack, Gee, TT, Zeller.
Besides hoping for improved health from Bynum and Andy, my biggest hope now is that some other, better player doesn’t become available via trade between now and next offseason. Would be terrible to miss out on a Harden-type deal while Bynum languishes on the bench in street clothes.
Eric
I think you are incorrect. He played in all 82 games in ’06-’07 (albeit not as a starter) and then played in 65 games in ’09-’10.
“like Andrew Bynum gets Tristan Thompson addicted to something” – That’s the quote of the summer.
“If Bynum and Varejao can cobble together some health, this team has a really nice shot to make the playoffs.”
Loved this line by Colin. Naturally, I’m really excited by the Bynum signing but I think it’s still important to have realistic expectations about this season and about Bynum’s potential impact.
I would actually be pretty pleased if EITHER Bynum or Varejao were healthy at a time. That alone would be a big boost to the Cavs. Let’s hope they can “cobble together some health!”
And yes I know you can’t trade injured players.
Cory get real, if they traded anybody it would be Bynum because he’s still injured and is a valuable expiring contract.
They are shockingly deep in the frontcourt now. I love Thompson, but it appears that he or Varejao won’t be on the team next season. I’m assuming it will be Andy and I’m okay with that.
Great point by Colin on how much more the Bennett selection makes sense if he’s paired with Bynum.
Chris Grant is a shrewd business man on this contract and there is talk Hawks and Mavs were impressed with the design of incentative based benchmarks. After all the dust settled and medical experts weighed in; they said it was fair and wouldn’t offer anymore than 6 million guaranteed. It does seem to be unraveling that Bynum’s knees are worse than anyone thought which at moments I think then why are we signing him if they don’t really want him either? But Grant has the offer so tight that in a worst case scenario all the Cavs would be out… Read more »
Fair to note that the most games in a season he’s played was 60/66 in the strike-shortened season, which was the season before last.
This is my least favorite time of year. Fans & media talking about trades that will never happen, signings that we never imagined do happen, the ESPN trade machine, etc. I prefer NBA basketball on a court, NOT in ESPN headlines. Does this make sense? I’m just looking for some genuity in the game.
Dave –
Bynum is an unrestricted free agent – he can sign with whatever team he wants for whatever price he wants. It’s possible that he could resign with Philly and get traded to the Cavs in a sign-and-trade, but I doubt Philly would do it.
Question: Did Philly release Bynum, or is it possible for us to trade them a swap of future 2nd round picks to make this a sign and trade, so we would have Bynum’s bird rights in 2 years should he pan out and we want to resign him… (I shudder at the Salary Tax we could get into quickly…)