| Auditing Cleveland's 2007-08 Season Authored by Christopher Reina - September 5, 2008 - 8:19 pm
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They have arguably the best player in the game, inarguably one of the best three players in the game and for that reason and that reason alone, the playoffs is always probable and going even further into the postseason is possible.
Player: Overall Rank, Season FIC, Per 40 FIC, Reina Value
- LeBron James: 2nd, 1627, 21.5, +61%
LeBron James was as outstanding as we've come to expect him to be once again during the 07-08 season. The Cavaliers were 0-7 in games James missed and 45-30 when he was available. Cleveland's eFG% was just 43.4% without James as the surrounding scoring options were as meager as always during his time with the club. His on court net point per 100 possessions was 11.3, better than Kobe's +7.5 and even Chris Paul's +9.3. I believe Chris Paul deserved to win the MVP award, but it's almost impossible to argue that anyone did more with less than LeBron.
He also increased his shooting percentage, rebounding, blocks and assists per game totals from previous career highs.
- Zydrunas Ilgauskas: 55th, 858, 15.4, -5%
Ilgauskas, who is still plagued by an injury reputation from the early part of his career, playing in at least 70 games for the sixth consecutive season. With 9.3 rebounds per game, it was a new career high and though his percentage dropped to 47.4%, he was a bigger part of the Cavs' offense than he was during their Finals run.
- Ben Wallace: 93rd, 718, 13.0, -58%
Wallace continued his rapid downward trend in both Chicago and Cleveland during the 07-08 season, though he began blocking shots again for the Cavaliers. The impact he had during his most productive Detroit seasons is rarely found anymore and though he still played 20-30 minutes a night, his value is tremendously poor.
- Joe Smith: 138th, 536, 12.4, -5%
Smith was as consistently average as he's been for the last decade while becoming a more consistent shooter after the trade to Cleveland as he was able to be more of a peripheral scorer, a role that suits him better than was he was asked to do for the Bulls due to their rash of injuries.
- Wally Szczerbiak: 176th, 438, 10.1, -70%
I was expecting Wally to be a valuable spot up shooter for Cleveland, taking advantage of defenses collapsing on LeBron, but he shot a disappointing 35.9% from the floor and 36.5% from beyond the arc.
- Delonte West: 180th 419, 10.9, +85%
The West RFA contract summer is still ongoing and it's hard to argue with Cleveland's firm stance. He 'deserved' to make $3.63 million last year, though the number is a little light considering he played in just 61 games. But West played 11 more minutes a night for Cleveland than he did Seattle and was far more productive, shooting 44% from the floor while upping his assist rate.
- Devin Brown: 185th 411, 9.3, +179%
Brown played a lot of minutes for Cleveland, more than he was probably expected to due to injuries to Gibson and Pavlovic. His shooting dipped to 40.9% and just 30.8% from beyond the arc, but he was just shy of the league's per 40 median.
- Anderson Varejao: 194th, 393, 11.9, -42%
Varejao's RFA summer was extremely prolonged and lingered over his season in a certain way and he missed a good chunk of the second half. His numbers were about the same though for the season, down just slightly from 12.5 during the 06-07 season.
- Daniel Gibson 204 374 8.5 336
Gibson's ankle injury cut his season short, but he proved his medal as a perimeter shooter well enough to get a nice extension. He shot 44.0% from beyond the arc to give the Cavs their most reliable perimeter scorer after LBJ.
- Damon Jones 233 309 9.1 -42
Though he was a more effective shooter in 07-08, he still was a long ways away from being as effective as he was during his year as Miami's starting point guard.
- Sasha Pavlovic 287 156 5.2 -65
Like Varejao, Pavolovic's prolonged contract status last summer got the season off to a rough start and he never really recovered. His FG% dipped from 45.3% to 36.2% and his 3-point shooting drop was even more dramatic as it went from 40.5% to 29.8%.
- Eric Snow 389 32 4.2 -90
Eric Snow's career came to a close on February 23rd in a 90-89 win against the Wizards in which he played 32 minutes and scored just 3 points and had 1 assist. His per 40 FIC was one of the lowest in the NBA and a career of relative overachievement was ready to end. |
