ESPN’s 5 questions on the Cavs
2011-08-29This summer, ESPN’s 5 on 5 panels have been answering questions on every team in the NBA. Last Friday, the Cavs were up.
The link is:
John and Colin were unable to participate, so Cavs:theblog was unrepresented. Here are my answers, in 30 words or less.
1. Baron Davis and Kyrie Irving as the starting backcourt. Both will have some PG responsibilities.
2. Casspi at SF. Jamison at PF and Thompson gets 20 – 25 minutes everynight somewhere in the frontcourt . Varejao starts at center.
3. The pick is very protected and could become 2nd round, so I’m on the fence. Bright side is the Cavs now have at least one young, legitimate NBA caliber wing.
4. Right Track. Irving, Thompson, 14 draft picks in 4 years. Only $9 million committed in 2013 – 2014. The team has alot of flexibility available.
5. Lebron who? If we’re talking about the NBA, we can talk about Lebron. If we’re talking about the Cavs, Lebron is part of history.
I also dread the NHL solution. It seems unfair because it punishes teams that are on the decline and rewards teams on the rise.
If the season is canceled and they use an NHL-style solution, here is the dream scenario:
-Cavaliers get pick #30
-Miam Heat gets pick #1
-We swap picks with Heat, per our right from LeBron trade
-Kings get pick #15, the first unprotected slot available
-Cavs have picsk #1 and #15 for 2012
My guess is that the lottery teams would re-enter the lottery with last years odds and they would re-do the lottery based on the previous year. We wouldn’t have the Clippers pick, but we would still have a great shot at winning the lottery anyway.
@ Bob: I’m actually terrified about the prospect of no season because it might not bode that well for us. There’s currently no precedent for what would happen, nor has the NBA hinted at what they’re thinking…but some of the ideas that I’ve heard floated around involve allowing every team in the league to enter the lottery while weighting the proceedings via combined record over the last 5 years (really bad for us), or something similar to what the NHL did when they lost their season, after which they held a convoluted draft where I believe the team that won… Read more »
So now I’m curious. If the season got cancelled, a longshot, what would that do to the coming year’s draft? Would all teams receive the same draft positions and would there be another lottery or would the NBA use an alternate method?
What a way to rebuild. The Cavs go undefeated (0 wins, 0 losses) and potentially another #1 pick, etc… And Miami & Co ages restlessly.
Jeremy Lamb or Austin Rivers (assuming he enters the draft) could also be good choices for 2012 draft. My guees we stay away from Andre Drummond as he’s really more a PF than anything else and we just got TT (although I’d love to have an offensive big veruss Andy/TT/Samardo etc). Depending on how well Casspi plays (if we have a season), will likely determine if our first priority is SF or SG. I hope/expect Casspi to be better than expected and to develop more in Cleveland than he showed in GS, IF this happens, then a SG may be… Read more »
@ Ben: Okay, that just got me excited for a draft-ish comment…
If we get a top-2 pick, we’re set for a long time.
1.) Anthony Davis
2.) Andre Drummond
And anything in the top-8, we can probably land the wing that we need so badly.
3.) Perry Jones
4.) Harrison Barnes
5.) Quincy Miller
6.) Michael Gilchrist
7.) James McAdoo
8.) Bradley Beal
Not starting Kyrie would be a mistake of epic proportions. It doesn’t matter how bad he is this year, we have to give him as many minutes as he can handle. That way, even if he plays bad we get a top 10 pick next year in a good draft, and have a sophomore #1 pick with legitimate NBA experience. I cannot stress how important it is to start Kyrie and play him starter’s minutes.
I really like Boobie (obviously as a Cleveland representative-type, but also as a player). He’s developed into a really tough and valuable piece…his only real issue being that he needs to stay healthy. I’d love to be able to hang on to either Boobie or Sessions to play that third guard role off the bench in a couple of years.
I may be alone in this, but I think that Boobie would be a great compliment to both Baron Davis and Kyrie Irving off the bench. He will stretch the court and open things up for drives and give them a legitimate person to kick out to. Plus it will allow Casspi to do more than shoot, and let Jamison not touch the ball as much. Even if he only puts up 10 a night he will do well. We all know that I’m a boobie apologist though so take it with a grain of salt maybe.