| Redd to decide his own legacy Authored by Keith Berzanske - July 5, 2005 - 1:56 pm
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Forget the talk of the Bucks being able to offer Redd more money. That extra money is due to the fact that Milwaukee can give Redd an extra year on the back end. But Redd is likely to get another contract when this one is up, so he'll make that money back anyway. The real question is - how bad does he want to play with LeBron James?
With LeBron and the Cavaliers, Redd can play the role of sidekick and will get many more open looks. He probably will not average as many points. But the team will be successful, likely a championship contender. There will be more playoff games, more recognition. More of an opportunity to make a real impact.
With Milwaukee, Redd would be the go to guy on a decent team. He'd average a LOT of points, and probably get a couple of All-Star appearances. They may even get into the playoffs every so often and now and then win a series. But for Milwaukee's ceiling to even approach the Cavaliers, TJ Ford would have to remain healthy, Andrew Bogut would have to become better than Zydrunas Ilgauskas AND the team would still probably need another piece. Plus, this is a work in progress, whereas the Cavaliers are prepped to make their move in the East.
Byron Scott is bst remembered as Magic's sidekick, sticking open jumpers in big games. But ask yourself, was he really any better than Walter Davis? Davis toiled for the Suns and Nuggets, teams that were not as good as the Lakers, mainly because they did not have anyone like Magic. Davis threw up a lot of points and made several All-Star appearances. But who now remembers Walter Davis? Only true diehard fans.
Now imagine that the Lakers, back in 1983 had traded rookie guard Scott for Davis. It's not hard to imagine that Davis would have provided the same scoring punch and intangibles that Scott did. Davis could have come up big in crucial playoff games, given the opportunity. If that had been the case, he would be the one we remember taking kick out passes from Magic, while Byron Scott would be dismissed with thoughts of 'hey pretty good shooter, played with the Suns for a few years.
Davis was drafted by the Suns and Scott was acquired on draft day. They were mapped into their situations and did not have much of a choice. Redd, however, does have a choice. He gets to decide which of these players he wants to be, how he wants to be remembered? This is the opportunity that Carlos B$$zer blew last year, when he took the extra money to go to basketball purgatory in Utah, passing up years of playoff appearances and probable endorsements that would have come from his association with King James.
Let's hope, as Cavaliers fans, that Michael Redd has the long term vision to avoid a similar mistake. Because in the end, a player's legacy is determined by his performance in big games, championship games. Well, in order to perform in these games, you have to get achance to play in them. And it's a lot easier to guarantee that when you've got a superstar on your side.
FREE AGENT NOTES
The new collective bargaining agreement has probably helped the Cavaliers more than any other team. In addition to being able to woo Redd, they will probably be able to resign Zydrunas Ilgauskas AND pick up another free agent guard for the exception. This is outstanding. I had previously suggested a scenario where we let Ilgauskas go and give Anderson Varejao the starting center job, the reason being that acquiring a shooter was more important than having Ilgauskas, and that we didn't have enough money for both. Now we do, and Varejao can continue to develop by backing up both Gooden and Ilgauskas. He'll probably get a good 30 minutes in this role.
Antonio Daniels would be an excellent option in the backcourt. He knows his role, has been part of winning teams, is from the area so he's got the local connection (went to school at Bowling Green), and he's a good defender who can also score in a variety of ways. He's more of a combo guard than a legitimate lead guard, but I think he would be a great addition alongside Eric Snow. With Luke Jackson's return, and LeBron's ability to play the point as well, that would give us James, Snow, Redd, Daniels, Jackson and Newble to cover 144 minutes at the 1, 2, and 3 positions. Since Redd and James will probably take 40 apiece, the other 4 guys only have to combine for 64 minutes. Note, however, that whichever point guard the avaliers go far will be dictated by what happens with their pursuit of Redd and Ilgauskas. If those guys aren't on board, the team needs may be different, and you may see the Cavaliers targeting a point guard like Dan Dickau instead.
Here is the list of all free agents available (R-restricted):
POINT GUARD
Gary Payton
Brevin Knight
Earl Watson
Chris Duhon (R)
Dan Dickau
Antonio Daniels
Marko Jaric (R)
Jeff McInnis
Damon Stoudamire
Tyronn Lue
Devin Brown (R)
Steve Blake
Travis Best
Jannero Pargo (R)
Darrell Armstrong
Rick Brunson
Erick Strickland
Frank Williams
Anthony Carter
SHOOTING GUARD
Ray Allen
Michael Redd
Larry Hughes
Joe Johnson (R)
Bonzi Wells
Cuttino Mobley
Latrell Sprewell
Kareem Rush
Juan Dixon
DerMarr Johnson
Ronald Murray (R)
Jon Barry
Greg Buckner
Raja Bell
Casey Jacobsen
Eddie House
DaJuan Wagner
Anthony Peeler
Kerry Kittles
Keith Bogans (R)
Rodney Buford
Steve Smith
Wesley Person
SMALL FORWARD
Antoine Walker
Bobby Simmons
Kyle Korver (R)
Donyell Marshall
Gerald Wallace (R)
Vladimir Radmanovic (R)
Lee Nailon
Luke Walton (R)
Devean George
Cliff Robinson
Toni Kukoc
Glenn Robinson
Scott Padgett
Jason Kapono (R)
Nikoloz Tskitishvili
Bostjan Nachbar
Darvin Ham
Adrian Griffin
POWER FORWARD
Tyson Chandler (R)
Stromile Swift
Udonis Haslem (R)
Shareef Abdur-Rahim
Reggie Evans(R)
Eddie Griffin
Kwame Brown (R)
Christian Laettner
Dale Davis
Darius Songalia
Matt Bonner (R)
Brian Scalabrine
Aaron Williams
Othella Harrington
Tractor Traylor
Rodney Rogers
Tom Gugliotta
Mark Madsen
Bo Outlaw
Ryan Bowen
Alan Henderson
Ryan Humphrey
Malik Allen
CENTER
Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Eddy Curry (R)
Samuel Dalembert (R)
Jerome James
Chris Andersen
Dan Gadzuric (R)
Dikembe Mutombo
DeSagana Diop (R)
Zeljko Rebraca
Zaza Pachulia (R)
Ervin Johnson
Elden Campbell
Michael Stewart
As far as shooters go, some other interesting options are young guys like DerMarr Johnson and Kareem Rush. Each of these guys might look good in a system that revolves around LeBron James and an inside threat like Ilgauskas. Even Scott Padgett could be valuable in spot duty. Any offer to Korver will probably be matched.
Cheap bench pickups that might be good options are guys like Darvin Ham or Brian Scalabrine, energy players who have good intangibles.
If the Cavaliers go looking for a forward, Stomile Swift is the best bet. This is assuming that the Bulls will match any offer to Tyson Chandler. I also like guys like Reggie Evans and Darius Songalia, who may come a bit cheaper than Swift, but who also lack the potential stud factor.
Again, note that Redd and Ilgauskas will be first priority. Every other decision after that will be the result of the domino effect, as their choices will dictate how much the Cavaliers will have left to spend and what their needs will be.
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