Meanwhile, check out the trade that has Cavs fans buzzing:
They're still trying desperately to upgrade the team. One league source told ESPN.com that the Cavs are making one last push to try to acquire Mike Miller and Kyle Lowry from the Grizzlies. They don't have much to offer, so to sweeten the pot, they are willing to take back Brian Cardinal as part of a deal. Memphis has been trying to push him in a deal for a while, but hasn't found any takers on the remaining $13 million left on his contract after this season.Yes. The Cavs wouldn't be giving up any of their top 7 guys and they'd be getting back an upgrade at shooting guard and a young point guard to come off the bench. Plus, the Cavs would still have the expiring contracts of Drew Gooden ($7 million), Eric Snow ($7 million) and Damon Jones ($4.5 million) to work with in the coming offseason.The deal, as described to me by a player agent, would send Miller, Cardinal and Lowry to the Cavaliers for Ira Newble, Donyell Marshall, Shannon Brown, Cedric Simmons and Dwayne Jones along with cash and at least one first-round pick from Cleveland. If the Cavs can pull that off, it would be an immediate upgrade of their roster. But they face stiff competition from a number of teams for the services of Miller and Lowry.
If this deal happens, it won't go through until the deadline. The Grizzlies will be trying to field better offers, but if nothing comes up...
I really hope the Cavs just deal one first round pick. That's my only concern... if you're taking Brian Cardinal's deal, only give up one first round pick. Pau Gasol is worth two firsts and Jason Kidd is worth two firsts but Mike Miller is not. worth. two. firsts.
4 comments:
No way is Miller worth two picks, but maybe a one pick and a couple expiring contracts. While there is some justifiable concern about taking on Cardinal and, to a lesser extent, Miller's deal, I think the Cavs need to do this if the Grizzlies are willing to pull the trigger.
I have this completely unfounded feeling that LeBron would be pretty deflated if they failed to make ANY deal for two years in a row at the deadline - not that it would be the front office's fault if they couldn't pull it off.
If only Mike Conley could be part of this deal. If we got Conley and Miller in the trade, Id be willing to give up 2 picks as long as we could get a 2008 2nd round from the Memphis. Hopefully this deal with go through as both Miller and Lowry could immediately contribute.
This deal would be good if Larry Hughes can continue to produce and stay injury free, allowing the Cavs to trade him this summer.
No way I'd want the Cavs to have to lug around Hughes' deal and Cardinal's deal for the next two years.
This deal would also make Sasha redundant, likely paving his way out of town this summer.
But, hey, they'd have a fairly nice roster for the remainder of this season. Cardinal might be one of the most overpaid players in the league, but he has to be an upgrade over Marshall and Dwayne Jones.
So you'd have a starting lineup of:
PG Hughes
SG Miller
SF LBJ
PF Gooden
C Z
With a bench of:
Varejao
Gibson
Lowry
Cardinal
Jones
Devin Brown
Snow
Would this trade necessarily put the Cavs in the talent class of the Pistons and Celtics? Probably not. But LB doesn't need a ton of help. Just a little more than what he's getting right now.
I must admit I wouldn't be terribly pleased to give up Ira Newble after he's finally producing. But at this point, there is absolutely no way Newble should stand in the way of getting a deal like this done.
The only way they get Miller is if they take on Brian Cardinal. Which I'm ok with (he expires the same time Z and Hughes do) as long as they only give up one first round pick.
They'll need another pick to use as bait this coming season when they try to unload Snow/Jones/Gooden for another big name (Elton Brand? Zach Randolph?).
There's no way Mike Conley is going to be moved... anywhere... in a world...
Again, if this goes through, it probably won't happen til 3pm Thursday (unless the Heat unload their expirings for Eddy Curry before then).
Post a Comment