Wednesday, August 15, 2007

This and That

In an effort to get me to stop ragging on them, the Plain Dealer signed Terry Pluto (who is leaving the Akron Beacon Journal after 22 years). This is probably for the best (well, not for the ABJ, they better hold on to Brian Windhorst or they got nothin'), the more people who read Pluto the better and the Plain Dealer could use a sports columnist that actually enjoys watching the NBA.

RIP the ducktail 2006-2007.

This Alan Houston business.... I'm torn here. On one hand, the Cavs could use a veteran lights out shooter at the 2. On the other hand, I'd prefer one with two working knees. He's 'only' 36, but again, he retired because of injuries. Houston would be a great fit for LeBron... seven years ago. But now? I dunno (though this could be another Chris Webber type scenario. When he was making $20 million a year in Philly, Webber was regarded as trash. But making the veteran minimum in Detroit? A very nice player. My views on Houston could be tainted by his bloated salary from his latter days as a Knick). If he plays 15-20 minutes a game, that is fine, but who is he taking minutes away from? Boobie? Pavlovic? Hughes? Shannon Brown? Though, I'm not gonna lie, I do love the idea of crunch time back court of Gibson and Houston... double team LeBron now assholes!

Oh, Charles Oakley is also trying to make a comeback. He's another player I would LOVE to pair with LeBron... ten years ago (I mean, come on? With Oakley on the team who knocks down LeBron... ever? Drew Gooden and Anderson Varejao just don't bring that same intimidation and toughness- I know, understatement of the year). That's the problem here, the Cavs don't actually need the 2007 version of Alan Houston and Charles Oakley- they need the 1997 versions. Put those guy with LeBron and you'd have something special. But the 2007 versions... I just don't know

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I think there is something to the Webber theory in all of this.

Ferry isn't dense. He knows he's not getting Dan Gilbert's money's worth out of Larry Hughes. Yet he had to pay Hughes -- a prime of career player supposedly -- way more than he was worth to get him to jump ship in Washington.

The other solution is to bargain-hunt and get players for below market value. Bargain-hunting always makes me nervous because Mark Shapiro has made it a supporting pillar of the Indians roster. But there is a sizeable difference between signing Trot Nixon to be your everyday right fielder and signing Allan Houston for the veterans minimum (hopefully non-guaranteed) to provide 10-15 minutes off the bench and a sharpshooting presence in the backcourt.

There is a defninite school of thought that says it would be better to pay someone like Allan Houston a non-guaranteed veterans minimum than to pay someone like James Posey a guaranteed portion of the midlevel exception.

There is no reason to sign more free agents who are just going to turn out to be another round of David Wesleys and Scot Pollards keeping the end of the bench warm. If Houston survives a full-scale tryout and proves he's in shape and his knee has healed, he could be a Webber-type for the Cavs.