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    Igotnext23
    Lifetime Points: 56

    Looking on to the offseason and next year....

    Sunday, May 31, 2009, 10:00 PM EST [General]

    I love all the immediate posts and comments by so called "experts" after the Cavs loss yesterday saying that the Cavs need to go out and get a "Pippen" type player to help Lebron next year.   As if this would be the only answer to fixing this team's current problems.  While this would help take pressure off of Lebron in the future.  This will not fix all of the problems the Cavs had this year

    The problem with the Cavs is that they do not have a legitimate post presence to take pressure off of the wing players to make tough shots.  So the wide open looks at the basket that our undersized gaurds were getting during the season and the earlier part of the playoffs were virtually eliminated by the taller and more athletic Magic squad.  Athleticism is also an area of issue for the Cavs.  Outside of Lebron and a few others they're not very athletic and don't seem to match up well against teams that have them i.e. the Lakers, Magic, Boston etc...

    So how do the Cavs go about fixing thier problems in the offseason?  The best scenario I think is through free agency.  By letting Szczerbiak's, Varejao, and Ilgauskas's contracts expire off of the books.  The Cavs would then have roughly 30 mil of cap space to play with in free agency.  Even though this years class isn't as hyped up as next years class there are still some pretty good players here that would help the cavs next year.  Players like Trevor Ariza, Lamar Odom, Hedo Turkolgu, Carlos Boozer, Shawn Marion, Memhet Okur, Jamal Crawford, Jermaine O'neal, Ben Gordon, Eddie House, "Flip" Murray, and more...

    With that much cap room to play with the Cavs could sign at least 2-3 of the players listed next year without trading any of their core players.  If the Cavs could sign someone like Ariza or Crawford for 10 mil per year, and then turn around and sign and Odom or Marion for like 12-14 mil per year.  That would leave them with at least another 6-8 mil to play with on another solid veteran.  Maybe someone up and coming   like a Brandon Bass whose making less than 1 mil per year or Kwame Brown who despite his offensive deficiencies, he's still a solid low post defender.  Kwame is only making 4 mil this year so maybe we could sign them both!

    Imagine the lineup you would have with Williams, Lebron, Ariza/or Crawford, Marion/or Odom, and lets say Kwame.  Then you would still have Delonte, Pavlovic, Gibson, Joe Smith, and Bass off the bench.  Not a bad lineup!  Can you imagine Lebron and Marion in the pick and roll?  Or what about Lebron and Odom? The bottom line is If you give Lebron some athletes to play with as well as a low post presence to dish off too then Lebron will truely become UNSTOPPABLE!!!

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    I am a Buckeye raised in Cleveland who lives is LA. With that said, I can assure you that 3 of the players mentioned in your dream list are Laker players and there is no way that they will be going to another team. ARIZA is a UCLA grad and there is no way the Lakers will NOT resign him. ODOM will also resign and I am certain the Lakers will also resign Kwame with all of his deficiencies. I also seriously doubt that HEDO TURKOGLU will want to play in Cleveland and I doubt that Orlando will let him go.
    YOUR CAP SPACE NUMBERS ARE OFF. The Cavs are already $20 million over the cap space. Their payroll was between $90-92 mil.
    Regarding BRANDON BASS he may be a potential up and commer, but after completing 3 years in the league...I do not see him as a better 'Potential' player than JJ Hickson. I think that JJ has close to equal size and in time he will only get better, He is only 20 years old and he has tremendous upside. With 3 more NBA years, I feel he will be better than Bass.
    According to your posting, the three players you offer to let go are the tallest players on the team. Another post said that Ben Wallace may retire. WHO IS GOING TO BE THE CENTER?
    I think that if you drastically change the team...you will greatly alter team chemistry which is extremely important. Letting Wally go is a no-brainer. If Ben retires this is another $14 mil saved. Maybe 1 or 2 others will go like Sasha or Andy. I would keep 'z' as the center or have him as a 6th man like the Celtics did with Bill Walton..provided you get a center or a forward/center.
    INTERESTING GUYS MAY BE...Chris Bosh, Antwan Jameson, Carlos Boozer, Ron Artest(chemistry issue) Michael Redd(injury issue) Shaq.
    Replacing several pieces and keeping the chemistry intactwill be better than redoing half the team as you suggest.

    DALE
    May 31, 2009
    11:26 PM EST