Talking Cavs fans off the ledges, post-trade

Chicago gets: Larry Hughes
Drew Gooden

Seattle gets: Shannon Brown
Donyell Marshall
Ira Newble
Cedric Simmons

Cleveland gets: Ben Wallace
Wally Szcerbiak
Delonte West
Joe Smith
Second round draft pick in 2009




The normally low-key Cavs made quite a splash as the 2008 NBA trading deadline arrived, trading away over half their team with two swift moves. This makes the Cavs a much better playoff team; however, they will look worse rather than better in the impending games. As of last night, the Cavs area 1-2 after this trade: beating down a cellar-dweller, a last-second loss, and a flat display last night against the Celtics. I figured that there would be some Cavs fans ready to throw it all away, at this point. So let's take a breath, and re-examine the trade. Here are the main players in the two trades.

Hughes: HomeSkillet came in as a big-$$ FA a few years back to play Robin to LBJ's Batman, only because we couldn't get local boy Michael Redd from the Buck's death grip. Our loss. Hughes has missed A TON of games, and has really fallen flat on being the #2 scorer we needed/still need. He can still D it up, and did so last year in the playoffs for us; however, he just isn't a consistent enough performer. Plus, that contract....

Gooden: A legit scorer in the paint, pretty good rebounder, and a huge talent coming out of Kansas. I got to see him quite often when he was in Orlando, before the trade to Cleveland. Great guy, he does a lot of stuff to help out underprivelged kids in the towns that he plays in. Hopefully he will continue his work in Chicago, as it will be needed. As you can tell, I really like Drew, I hope he doesn't get lost in the sea of unproven big men in Chicago. He is very often prone to brain farts, and not only on the defensive side of the floor. Terrible lapses in judgement, which make one project objects into the TV. He probably won't get better, will probably never be an all-star, and probably shouldn't be a starter on a Championship-level team. But I still like the guy, his contract.

Marshall: Every once in a while, he could give some hard minutes at the 4 spot. Lately his 3-point shooting has gone the way of the drummer from Def Leppard. I liked him as an end-of-the-bench type player, and not much more.

Newble: A Miami U guy, and another good guy at the end of a bench. I was really impressed how he was playing right before the All-star break, starting at the shooting guard, and playing tough on both sides of the court. Mainly traded for his salary, and I'd love to see him back with us next year.

Brown: Yet another Cavs draft pick that didn't pan out-this is my shocked face. I don't know why he didn't play out, and I knew he was gone after the season. Let's hope he doesn't come back to lead the Sonics to the Promised Land...

Simmons: filler

Wallace: People in Cleveland are asking themselves "how did we get rid of Hughes' contract?" People in Chicago are asking "how did we get rid of Wallace's contract?" If Big Ben can find motivation, and start owning the defensive side of the court, then the Cavs will be happy. So far, he has been rebounding better, and playing within the team's D will come.

Wally: An Ohio legend comes home. Seriously, without me taking Wally completely into my mouth, this move makes sense. He is the long-range shooter that we've needed since Jason Kapono left, even though we never played him. He will be a liability on D, hopefully coach Mike Brown will be able to hide him amongst our other players. In his second game, he had more minutes than LBJ. He has been shooting quite poorly, but that should work itself out.

West: I haven't heard much about this guy, but every article about this trade has raved about this guy. I saw him play last night against Boston, and I really liked what I saw from this kid. No he is not Jason Kidd or Mike Bibby; however, he is a smart young kid. Someone that won't go 2-19, and someone that WILL move over and play more 2 when LBJ is in the zone. Bonus points if he can shoot the three.

Smith: What's not to like about this guy? Points in the paint, smart, tries on D, plays within himself. Good pickup as the fourth guy in a trade.

Try to picture this lineup in the playoffs. Smith, Z, Varajeo, Wallace. That's 24 fouls that can be spent punishing Kevin Garnett, Rasheed Wallace, or any other Eastern conference big. This move was clearly made by GM Danny Ferry for our run in the playoffs, and is a win-now trade that might give us our PG of the future. So come off that ledge, fellow Cavs fans, and let's watch this team gel together. If we lose to the Magic in the first round, I'll be the one leading the ledge party.....

First Blog

Hooray, I'm viral.....er, something like that.

I am going to be flipping between this and my myspace blog, but I'll put better stuff over on this one.