INDEPENDENCE: Throw the supposed rules and conservative rationale out. The Cavaliers are in for an extreme makeover.
Finally finding some trading partners after months of looking and
just barely beating the clock, the Cavs were at the epicenter of a
three-team, 11-player swap Thursday in one of the largest trades in
league history.
In one swoop, the Cavs shipped out six players, three of them
current starters, brought back a wealth of experienced and
playoff-tested veterans, and shot their payroll up to more than $80
million.
Out are Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, Ira Newble, Donyell Marshall,
Shannon Brown and Cedric Simmons. In are former NBA Defensive Player of
the Year Ben Wallace and 12-year veteran forward Joe Smith from the
Chicago Bulls and guards Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West from the
Seattle SuperSonics, plus a 2009 second-round draft pick from the
Bulls. Hughes, Gooden, Simmons and Brown are now Bulls. Marshall and
Newble, along with former Bull Adrian Griffin, are now Sonics.
Such complex deals usually take days to put together, and divisional
rivals like the Bulls and Cavs rarely do trade business with one
another. But everything aligned, as three teams with three different
agendas found unlikely common ground and got everything together at
2:59 p.m., one minute ahead of the NBA's trade deadline.
The Cavs had been in trade talks for weeks, but came up short in
offers for players like Jason Kidd, Mike Bibby and Pau Gasol, to name a
few.
''I didn't think we had a
team that could win a championship,''
Cavs General Manager Danny Ferry said. ''I thought we had a good team,
but I do believe if we could make ourselves better we should try. We
took some risks today but I think they are good risks.''
Wallace might be the greatest risk. In the second year of a
four-year, $60 million deal, he has been underachieving in Chicago.
He's averaging 5.1 points and 8.8 rebounds, his lowest numbers in seven
seasons, for the lackluster Bulls.
The Cavs are hoping a change of scenery will energize him and get
him to play like he did when he was an All-Star with the Detroit
Pistons, mostly as a lane-clogging defensive specialist.
''I think he'll bring an energy, a toughness and a championship experience to us,'' Ferry said.
But it was a tradeoff for Hughes, whom the Cavs have been trying to
trade for two seasons after he's struggled with injuries and
underachieved himself after signing a five-year, $60 million,
free-agent deal with the Cavs in 2005.
Those two were the centerpiece of the entire trade, with everything
else growing out of it. In an effort to replace Hughes in the starting
lineup, the Cavs went looking for a shooter who could help spread the
floor for star LeBron James.
Szczerbiak is a career 41 percent 3-point shooter and was averaging
13.1 points for the Sonics. The Cavs will be his fourth team in the
last three seasons as he's struggled to find a home after playing seven
years with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
West, in his fourth season, is a player Ferry has coveted for more
than two years. He's a hard-nosed point guard who has struggled this
season in Seattle after having his playing time slashed following a
trade from the Boston Celtics.
Smith might be the sleeper in the deal. The 6-foot-10 former No. 1
overall pick in the 1995 draft was having an excellent season with the
Bulls, averaging 11.2 points, his most in six seasons.
''It is exciting. These guys bring different things to the table,''
Cavs coach Mike Brown said. ''We are going to keep it simple enough and
these guys are hard workers, and with a leader like LeBron James, we
are hoping for an easy transition with these guys.''
''All of these guys are established pros,'' Ferry said. ''We brought
in guys who fit what we think is important to us, guys with a defensive
mentality and shooters.''
Skeleton crew
The Cavs are going to have some hardship when hosting the Washington
Wizards tonight. They will not have any of their new players available,
because they must all take and pass physicals.
For the moment, the Cavs have just six healthy players and two open roster spots.
Ferry said the Cavs will likely sign two players to 10-day contracts
today. The greatest need will be at forward, where the Cavs have just
two healthy bodies in Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Dwayne Jones.
At this point, the players might be call-ups from the NBA Development League.
Gibson update
Lost in all the trade hubbub was the injury to Daniel Gibson, and the news is not good.
An MRI Gibson had Thursday showed a high left ankle sprain after his
collision with Indiana Pacers guard Travis Diener Wednesday night.
The team said he'll be out from four to six weeks.
Money matters
The trade added about $4.7 million to the Cavs' payroll for this
season, which will cost them more than $9 million because the team is
in the luxury tax.
The Cavs now have four players who make in excess of $12 million and the third-highest payroll in the NBA.
The extra expenditures were cleared by Cavs owner Dan Gilbert
. Relax man they will be fine. You think just cuz they some O that they did not pick up the inside help much needed in a shot blocker then obviously you have not been watching...Cleveland was a soft team man and with Wallace to do some dirty work teams will think twice about trying to come hard to the hole with Big Ben there to block, alter or give a foul that will make them not come back into the middle then your crazy. Personally I like the trade(had to do something to show LBJ that they want to at least try and win man and if you think for one minute he did not know about this or was not in listening on the conference calls and giving his approval then your nuts)......no more comments from me man I just want to see how this works out in the next week or two(not counting tonight) 
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