Links to the Present: March 14, 2012
2012-03-14
“The Cavaliers might be standing at something of a crossroad right now. Chris Grant has a choice. He has paved the road the team is currently on. The plan is in place and you can see it working before our very eyes. On this road, the team continues adding draft picks, leaning on the strength of this scouting staff to infuse more young talent, when eventually the team will be good enough to make the playoffs and mean it.” [Andrew Schnitkey]
“[Kyrie Irving], who turns 20 in nine days, has been so good for so long this season fans aren’t accustomed to seeing him convert just 14 of his 44 attempts in a three-game span. Of course, two of those games ended in wins in which Irving contributed handsomely in the fourth quarters. But it does mark the first time Irving has shot less than 50 percent from the floor in three consecutive games.” [Tom Reed]
“[Jonny] Flynn has long been on the radar of the Cavaliers front office as the team attempted to acquire him in the summer of 2010. Helping matters is the fact the player and his contingent of representatives would love to get him out of Houston where he is buried behind Kyle Lowry and Goran Dragic. The beneficiary of a team option, one which Houston has already decided to not pick up, finding a team that would be willing to pay the $4 million option would be in the best interest of Flynn, averaging 3.1 points and 2.1 assists per game this season.” [Scott Sargent]
i would be surprised if he DOESN’T make that much on his next contract.
The one thing everyone forgets: 75% of NBA GMs are morons. I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see sessions make 5-7 million/year on his next contract.
3 pm tomorrow cant come soon enough.
Id trade boobie for a bag of chips.
I don’t know, James A…still think there’s no way they would trade Anderson. They’re going to try to re-sign him whether Howard comes back or not, i imagine. And i’m sure he realizes how favorable their system is to his play style. Now if SVG leaves, mayhaps i can see him leaving.
Anyways, this lineup of Sessions-Gibson-Casspi-Samuels-Thompson is getting utterly manhandled. Somebody tell Byron Scott that he’s allowed to make substitutions.
P.S. — By “substantialy more,” I don’t mean that someone will offer Sessions a massive raise in his annual salary, just that he’s young and good enough that he could get a 3-year guaranteed deal on a team that’s lacking in PG play. And it doesn’t make sense for the Cavs to pay him what it would probably cost to get him to agree to an extension, when he’s going to remain strictly a backup on this team.
I don’t see anything in the quotes attributed to Sessions above that suggests he’s going to pick up his option. I think the usual outcome in these sorts of situations is that, if a player is healthy, coming off a good year by their standards, and their value is relatively high, they will decline the player option so they can get a new multi-year deal. But if something goes catastrophically wrong — horrible season and/or serious injury that crushes their market value — then they’ll gladly pick up the player option and rehab their value for the next off-season. In… Read more »
This is just the point where philosophies differ. I think the players/wins now vs. draft picks debate is difficult and possibly irreconcilable. I obviously side with future picks debate. Does that trade above include picks or no? I’ll assume not. With that assumption and your point on Ryan Anderson being an RFA, why would the Cavs bust the bank to keep Anderson, especially if the Magic wouldn’t? He’s been their second best player this season and I’m not sure I believe they would want to trade him unless it was total rebuild time (especially with the whole “Look how hard… Read more »
Plus, the deal doesn’t even kill them in the short-term. Jamison steps in and fills Ryan’s role and they get a cheap, young wing to replace Turkoglu.
Orlando is willing to trade Ryan because he is a RFA this offseason and will be expensive to keep. Plus, they unload Hedo’s albatross of a contract. The Cavs could also take back another bad contract (Duhon, Richardson, etc.) to sweeten the deal.
Orlando would be willing to trade Anderson because he is a restricted free agent this offseason and will be expensive to keep.
Orlando would be willing to trade Anderson because he is a restricted free agent this offseason and will be expensive to keep. Plus, the Magic get out of Turkoglu’s albatross of a contract. The Cavs could even take on another bad contract (Duhon, Richardson, etc.) to sweeten the deal.
Apparently, comment monster will not let me post any more messages today…
COMMENT MONSTER!
I’ll break it up. Orlando would be willing to part with Anderson because he is a restricted free agent this summer and will be costly to keep. In exchange, the Cavs take on Turkoglu’s albatross of a contract and send back a cheap, young wing. The Cavs could even agree to take on another bad contract (Duhon, Richardson, etc.) to grease the wheels.
They trade him because he will be a restricted free agent this summer and costly to keep. Also, they get to unload the albatross of Turkoglu’s contract. The Cavs could even take back Duhon’s awful deal too if that greased the wheels. So, basically, they give up the right-of-first-refusal on Anderson this offseason in order to get one (or two) bad contracts off the books.
Plus, Jamison steps right in to fill Anderson’s role and the Magic don’t miss a beat.
The odds, i should say. you know what i meant….
The possibility of Orlando trading Ryan Anderson, let alone trading him for Jamison and Casspi, is slim to none. Why exactly would they trade a younger, better stretch 4 who is also a solid rebounder for an older, less efficient one who plays atrocious defense to boost? That would make zero sense whatsoever for them.
@Jason
I agree that, assuming the D12 rumors are true, the Cavs should try to take advantage of Orlando’s desperate need for cap space. However, I think a deal like this would be better for the Cavs:
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=7932joz
As a rule, and I think Mallory agrees, I much prefer current players to future draft picks. Too much can go wrong in scouting college players. We already know what Ryan Anderson brings to the table for an NBA team.
I’m fine with keeping Sessions but I think that doing something that will help us get a better draft pick is of utmost importance. The last thing we want as a team is that basketball purgatory of 8 seed playoffs teams. To me it’s not entirely the Lakers pick that is of interest but also the decline in performance that would likely result from Sessions’ departure. With that said, and if the recent rumors of Dwight opting in for next year are true, we should explore a trade that would send Antawn to the Magic for Hedo, cap fodder and… Read more »
If we are able to guarantee that Ramon returns AND we get a good number on his contract, I’d take him in a heartbeat over the Lakers pick! You’d have to be crazy not to. In Byron’s offense the PG position is essential, and with KI and Ramon taking turns, the offense never really drops off.
That trade makes zero sense. I wouldn’t put any stock in that rumor.
Finally, Sessions for Jonny Flynn would be the worst possible trade scenario:
http://www.fearthesword.com/2012/3/13/2868802/cavaliers-trade-rumors-jonny-flynn
Plus, it’s not like he isn’t playing important minutes. True, he may not be starting, but he has closed countless games playing alongside Kyrie. I think this is a good situation for him; it’s low-pressure, he’s respected by his teammates, and BScott has a lot of faith in him.
Therefore, I would not be that disappointed even if we did pass up on a late first round pick from the Lakers.
Also, I question his value on the open market in the offseason. None of the teams currently listed as being interested in acquiring him as a starter will have the cap space to do anything but offer the mid-level exception. The Lakers, as a tax paying team, won’t even be able to offer the full mid-level. As a result, I think he has to think long and hard about picking up his $4.55 million option.
@Mallory
In what is becoming a habit, I agree with you completely re: Sessions.
On Sunday, when asked if he wanted to remain with the Cavs, Sessions said: “Yeah, I like what we have going on. I like working with the Young Fella [Irving]. The guys in here respect me a lot. I definitely like what we have going on.”
Now that statement doesn’t speak to whether he would be willing to exercise his option in the offseason, but it sure doesn’t make him sound like a guy who desperate to leave either.
I can’t remember where I saw the report about him liking Cleveland and wanting to stay – I’ll do my best to find it and post it.
That being said, if he were to pick up his option, would anyone/everyone keep him over the 1st round pick from the Lakers?
As far as I know, Sessions has never said he wanted to opt into his contract and stay with the Cavs next year, only that he would like to remain with the team this year. He could probably obtain a similar salary on the open market, and there are several teams that would be interested in paying him to be their starter. Do you believe he honestly wants to be a backup his whole career while there are teams out there willing to make him a starter, on teams that are better, in cities that are more appealing? If we… Read more »
@Mallory I thought the working assumption was that Sessions was highly unlikely to pick up his option? Where are you getting he’d be happy backing up Kyrie? I’d love to have him in Cleveland if this is the case…but if he’s leaving, I say deal him for something. I don’t like the Flynn deal at all. I do like the Lakers pick.
I’ll add to my above statement by saying if we could get a guy who has actually played in the league this year, I’d find that a much more valuable trade. Marvin Williams for Sessions is a MUCH more appetizing trade in my mind. At least then we know what we’re getting.
Someone explain this to me – Sessions is on the record as saying he wants to play for the Cavs – it’s speculated he’d pick up his option to play with them next year (chances are he’s not getting better than, what, 4.5 mil?) Anyone we get with a later first rounder is almost definitely not going to be better than Sessions – statistically the odds are against us. Why the heck do we HAVE to trade him so badly? Why is a late first rounder worth so much more to everyone than Sessions is? Potentially is not great than… Read more »
Ah, well maybe the Spurs rumor came from the Rockets camp. Anyway, I really hope we hold out for a first rounder right now because I think we have a strong shot at getting it.
Didn’t take much digging to find this in the Rockets blog: “If the Rockets hope to stay in this race, they’ll need to seek an alternative backup point guard. If you watched tonight’s game, and his other appearances, you’ll understand what I mean when I describe Jonny Flynn as one of the worst basketball players I’ve ever seen…. Flynn dribbles for the mere sake of dribbling. It’s beyond painful to watch. The ‘crossover dribble’ is used to change direction and get past one’s defender. Flynn does it with no purpose, standing in place, almost as if having no plan of… Read more »
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO no no no no no! Flynn is trash, he is terrible, awful, undersized, can’t shoot, dribble or defend. I would rather roll the dice and try to resign Sessions, or even get nothing. Flynn from a salary perspective is just awful too. There is nothing good about this rumor, please make it stop, I have a headache. If they need to deal Sessions for a low end #1 so be it…snag Fab Melo or one of the Zeller boys to play C. Grab Beal, Lamb or best available wherever else they end up. Not a bad possible draft then.
Apparently there is a rumor that Flynn is on the Spurs radar as well, so maybe there is something there that could be salvaged. I’d still rather just get a pick back for Sessions, but maybe there are people who think Flynn can still be salvaged.
Also, I think I saw attached to this Flynn rumor that it’s the Lakers who are pursuing the 3-team deal, and the Cavs who are saying no.
Once again…if they seriously trade for Flynn, i’m going to flip the hell out. He is beyond terrible. I bet if you asked Rockets and Timberwolves fans who the absolute worst PG in the league is, they would almost unanimously say Flynn. Why the hell is he on their radar? Why is he even in the league? He is TERRIBLE.