Cedric Simmons is Hurt

The Cavs were already lacking one big man (Anderson Varejao) before Simmons reinjured his ankle against the Wizards on Tuesday:

Simmons, who suffered a left high-ankle sprain in July, reinjured the ankle during the preseason loss Tuesday to the Washington Wizards. He was scheduled to have an MRI exam late Wednesday to determine if there is any more damage. His status for the games with the Detroit Pistons and Seattle SuperSonics this week, and beyond, is up in the air.

Regardless, the athletic but spindly Simmons is more suited to play forward than center, where the Cavs are devoid of a reputable backup. Dwayne Jones played Tuesday behind starter Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and not all that well. Jones, who played just 18 minutes all of last season and is with the team on a nonguaranteed contract, has not shown that he can be a viable backup.

I know I haven't written anything about Simmons, but I really liked the pick up. The Cavs have had mostly quality big men since LeBron's arrival, but none of them have been especially athletic; Drew Gooden is the most athletic of the bunch, but he's never been a leaper/shot blocker, Varejao runs the floor the best, but isn't all that quick and saying that Z and Donyell Marshall are slow is being kind. I've really wanted to what LeBron would do with a really athletic big man- a leaper, a shot blocker, a raw dunker if you will. I want to see LeBron play with a guy who can grab alley-oops from LeBron all night. Some one who can just 'go get it'.

Simmons fills that athletic big man description quite nicely, its a shame that he already has the Larry Hughes bug.

I hope this injury and lack of depth doesn't make the Cavs do anything stupid, like sign Varejao to a contract worth $11 million a season. I'm all for the Cavs getting him into camp and starting the season strong, but they can't afford to tie up even more money long term.