Saturday, May 24, 2008

Trade Rumor Watch Part I

From Chad Ford:
Trade rumors keep coming hot and heavy, though most of them aren't worth repeating.

But here's one intriguing one I heard today: The Cleveland Cavaliers could trade Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Anderson Varejao and the No. 19 pick to Indiana for Jermaine O'Neal.

It's an interesting idea, but when I called team sources to find out if there was any truth to it, they shot it down as bogus.

Still, I'd watch both teams closely. I think the Pacers will move O'Neal this summer if they can, and I think the Cavs are definitely going to try to strengthen the supporting cast this summer for LeBron's sake. A healthy O'Neal could be a big boon for the Cavs, and head coach Mike Brown, formerly with the Pacers, should know how to get the best out of him.

I'd be willing to take on Jermaine O'Neal if the circumstances are right. Giving up two bigs and a pick for one injury prone big is not the right circumstance. Only a Cleveland team could trade a guy with a billion foot surgeries and find a away to get both older and more injury prone.

If the Cavs added another piece like Michael Redd and THEN traded for O'Neal (without giving up Z) I'd be OK. O'Neal can't be someone that they absolutely depend on, simply due to his injury past. I'm OK with throwing Varejao in an expiring contract based deal, but there's no way I'm taking on O'Neal's salary AND giving up that much.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

O'Neal is aging rapidly and makes tons of money. He's done.

No, No, No.

Anonymous said...

Agreed. Horrible trade. Horrible message to send to LeBron.

In no way, shape or form would this trade make the Cavs a better team. I don't know who's feeding Ford info, but it can't be someone close to the Cavs. If Ferry made that deal, he'd be on the fast track out of town with about a 1 percent chance of ever landing another NBA GM job.

Anonymous said...

Having said that, I think the possibility of the Cavs making a draft night trade is significant.

Anonymous said...

What do you guys think about Josh Howard? I'm not sure if Dallas is looking to deal him, but there are rumors they could be looking to rebuild. He's got a pretty nice all around game and he's young.

I'd rather have them target someone younger, who could be slightly risky (due to the pot thing, but honestly, it's not a big deal), than a proving but aging player like O'Neal - or even Redd.

Ben said...

Howard would be nice, but part of me thinks that Dirk could be the one that ends up on the block next year. Especially if they come out slow. Dallas is a team I'd keep an eye on, for both Howard and Dirk.

Anonymous said...

I think the cavs will make some kind of trade. The problem is there is no ONE trade that will solve all the problems and fill all the needs. So Ferry has to be pretty busy trying to make 2 or 3 deals that bring us what we need. If we wound up with say Jermaine O'Neal, Zack Randolph, Ben Wallace, and Joe Smith to be our center/power forward rotation I think it has some potential.