This is my first blog on this website, but I am not new to blogging about Cleveland sports. I am also a member of the Sporting News community, where I blog frequently. My member name is browns_4_life. Look me up if you're on there!
On to business.....
I hope this offseason proves to be a very busy and eventful one for our Cavaliers. There sure is plenty of hype coming from several trade rumors, including trades for Michael Redd and Jermaine O'Neal. While I am in favor of improving the team in any way possible, I really think that the Cavs hurt themselves by not having any draft picks in 2007. Every team needs an influx of young talent each year, especially a team with some aging veterans (Z, Ben, Smith). I hope that if any trades are made, Danny Ferry will be able to somehow save a few draft picks, or maybe even acquire new ones. Daniel Gibson is still our most recent draft pick, and he was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2006 Draft, after we missed badly on Shannon Brown. Drafting Brown instead of a true point guard also probably set the franchise back a little bit.
Here are my thoughts regarding who the Cavs should try to acquire....
I wasn't at first, but I am slowly finding myself a fan of trading for Redd. At first I thought, "all the guy can do is shoot." And then I realized that "all the guy can do is shoot" and that is exactly what we need right now. Redd can create his own shot off the dribble and he can still get to the rim, but he wouldn't need to do that here. All he would have to do is get open and knock down open shots (see Damon Jones, Donyell Marshall and Wally).
Redd is used to being "the man" for the Bucks, as he has been their #1 option for several years. He's at the point in his career where he would be much better off being the #2 option playing along side LeBron James. I still think he should have signed with Cleveland in 2005 instead of staying with the Bucks. I can't blame him for taking the max contract, but he knew that team was going nowhere and getting there fast.
Anybody who doesn't think that Redd can still shoot the ball well should go to a little website called You Tube and pull up some of his games against the Cavs. He has become known as "The Cavalier Killer", as he always comes up huge against Cleveland. Look no further than the absolute dagger that he hit from a few steps inside the halfcourt line at the buzzer last year to beat the Cavs.
Teams got off easy this year against an injury depleted team that was hurt early when two mediocre-at-best players inexplicably decided to hold out for bigger contracts. Sasha and Andy were possibly the worst players in the history of the NBA to holdout for bigger contracts. Don't get me wrong, they played important roles in our first ever trip to the Finals in 2007, but neither of those players are good enough to start for 95% of the teams in the NBA. With another weapon like Redd wearing Wine & Gold, teams would have to spend a little bit less time worrying about LeBron, which could set him up for his first MVP Award in 2008. It wouldn't be his first MVP-caliber season, as wel all know that LeBron should have been the MVP last season, but the league gave it to Nash by default.
It would be very impressive if the Cavs could somehow find a way to acquire Michael Redd without losing any significant draft picks in the process. That acquisition, along with a full training camp to get everybody on the same page, could make Cleveland serious contenders again heading into next season.
GO CAVS!!