| The Cavaliers and Ray Allen need each other Authored by Keith Berzanske - January 25, 2007 - 1:21 am
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However, this current incarnation of the Cavaliers is extremely vulnerable, and the blame falls mostly on the backcourt. The Cavaliers backcourt might be the worst in the league, an astonishing statement for one of the better teams. Each guard has 'contributed' to the group's shortcomings in their own way:
DAVID WESLEY
Wesley has given the Cavaliers nothing. However, this can't be blamed on him - he never should have been signed in the first place. It should have been obvious to Danny Ferry that Wesley would not be able to add much that the Cavs backcourt did not already have with their other players. Wesley makes Jeff McInnis and Flip Murray look like Frazier and Monroe. Wesley should retire in shame, given that he has an anemic 28.3% field goal percentage and a pathetic 53.3% free throw percentage.
SHANNON BROWN
In fairness to Brown, he has been injured the past month and unable to contribute. However, it's not like Brown was lighting it up. His shooting percentages were almost as bad as Wesley's. Still, Brown has gotten little besides garbage time, so it may not be fair to judge him at this juncture. Hopefully once he's healthy, Mike Brown will put him on the court. The Cavaliers need to find out if he can play; at the bare minimum he should give the team some energy.
DANIEL GIBSON
Gibson has fared a little better than his rookie counterpart, but I'm not too impressed with a point guard who plays 14 minutes per game and yet is averaging less than 1 assist. Gibson has at least been hitting from long range.
ERIC SNOW
Snow is only still playing because the other guards are so pathetic. Snow's free throw percentage is an awful 52.3%, and he cannot reliably provide any kind of offense, meaning the Cavaliers are always playing 4 on 5 at one end of the court. Also, his defense is good, but not what it once was - he's beginning to become a liability overall. Snow does have his good moments, setting the pace and running the offense, but the Cavaliers really need to upgrade this position.
DAMON JONES
Jones is the only one of the Cavaliers 6 guard to be shooting over 70% from the foul line, and he is only hitting 70.7%. Jones is doing the one main job he was hired for - to hit the three point shot. His conversion rate is over 40% from deep. However, he is non-existent on defense.
Now consider this fact:
Jones, Brown, Gibson, Wesley, and Snow, combined, are averaging 86.2 minutes per game! Even if we consider that only one of Brown or Wesley is playing and we remove one of them, it's still 75.8 minutes per game, almost 1/3 of the Cavaliers minutes each time out on the floor. That is a *lot* of unproductive minutes for a contending team.
And I haven't even addressed the team's most disappointing guard yet...
LARRY HUGHES
Hughes is a dilemma. He has all the tools, but he either can't put it together consistently, or just when he starts to, he finds that he can't stay healthy. Ironically, Hughes, known as a slasher and not a shooter, is faring best from long range, hitting nearly 40%. But his overall field goal percentage is low, 40.6%, meaning he is not converting near the hoop and not hitting his midrange jumpers. He is hitting less than 2/3 of his free throws, his rebound and assist numbers are down, and he's even slipping a bit defensively, as he's not quite the ballhawk he once was. Part of the drop in productivity can be attributed to the injuries, but this is the 2nd year now and Hughes just is not producing at the rate that he should be, especially considering the large portion of the salary cap he is taking up. I like Larry Hughes in general, but the team's performance has been lethargic, and I haven't really seen him energize this squad. There are times on the court that he seems to just be floating...
This lack of punch from the backcourt has contributed to a few of the Cavaliers deficiencies:
(1) They struggle in an uptempo style - the guards are not as athletic as a whole as other team's guards, and they can't score in bunches. They are decidedly average defensively. They don't shoot well enough from the line to be drawing a lot of fouls, and they are generally inconsistent from long range, which brings me to my next point
(2) The team needs a consistent deep threat.
When you throw in the struggles of Donyell Marshall, it's almost unbearable to watch the Cavaliers offense when LeBron or one of the big men kicks the ball out.
(3) The backcourt needs some leadership and a bit of an attitude. I'll give the two rookies a pass on this, but the veterans should be operating with a bit more urgency, especially Hughes, who should have something to prove being on his 4th team in 9 years.
(4) I've alluded to this several times, but it needs its own bullet point - the Cavaliers are the worst free throw shooting team in the NBA. This hurts them in close games, and when trying to protect leads. It leads to a general uneasiness overall. The Cavaliers have one player with a free throw percentage over 75% - and that's Zydrunas Ilgauskas at 78.2%. Contrast this to a team like the Pistons, who have the automatic foul shooters Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton in the backcourt.
Whether, we want to acquire backcourt help, or move LeBron to the backcourt and get a new small forward, the problem means that someone has to be traded, and unfortunate Larry Hughes is really our only marketable commodity. Hughes, for all his faults, can be a dynamic perfomer, and is still young enough to draw some interest.
The best way to solve as many of our problems as we can is to take a big risk, go for broke and try and work some kind of deal with the Supersonics to get Ray Allen. Allen would have been a perfect fit two years ago, but elected to resign with the Sonics, thus (and after Michael Redd resigned with the Bucks) leaving the Cavs to pursue Hughes instead.
Allen is still the perfect fit, even more so today
- Allen is a legitimate consistent scoring threat, someone opposing teams would have to pay attention to besides LeBron James. Allen can still fill it up, as evidenced by his 54 point game earlier this month.
- Allen might be the deadliest three point shooter in the history of the NBA not named Reggie Miller
- Allen can thrive in an uptempo style and knows how to move well without the ball
- Allen would provide veteran leadership, and would be a great influence on young guards Brown and Gibson
- Allen is rarely injured
- Allen is one of the league's best free throw shooters, always hovering around 90%
The Cavaliers could make the following deal (Trade Checker ID 3626208):
Cavaliers trade:
Larry Hughes
Shannon Brown
Sasha Pavlovic
Damon Jones
and a future 1st round pick (2009 or later)
to Sonics for:
Ray Allen
Earl Watson
Watson can also start - he is just as good defensively as Snow and better on offense. Snow would be well-suited to come off the bench, where his minutes could be determined by appropriate matchups.
The Sonics would be getting a younger player in Hughes (4 years younger than Allen), a better defender, a future draft pick, and would be getting a better contract in Jones than Watson, who has 3 year deal at almost 8 million per.
Pavlovic is a promising young player, but if he's not going to be playing then we should use him to acquire someone we will use. He and Brown are the only chips we have to trade that are somewhat expendable.
Allen needs the Cavaliers as much as the team needs him - he may have 4-5 good years left, and I doubt that he wants to spend it toiling in Seattle for a mediocre Sonics team that it doesn't look like will be making the playoffs anytime soon.
A team of:
STARTERS
Watson
Allen
James
Gooden
Ilgauskas
BENCH
Varejao
Snow
Marshall
as an 8 man rotation
with Newble, Pollard, Wesley, and Gibson rounding out the bench.
I'm not sure if Danny Ferry can pull this move off, but the Cavaliers do need to make some kind of move, or they risking blowing this golden window of opportunity to take control of the Eastern Conference. Their opposition is already making moves - the Pacers made that blockbuster deal with the Warriors, the Pistons signed Chris Webber, the Bucks picked up Earl Boykins and will be getting their injured players back soon...
The Cavaliers may stay pat and simply hope to pull together and solve these flaws from within, either by executing better, or tweaking the system. Or they may make several small moves. But this big move is what they really need - a shot in the arm. Bringing in a skilled veteran, a perennial All-Star who is desperate for a championship, and one that solves so many problems all at once - it just makes sense. If Danny Ferry hasn't thought of this yet, let's hope that's he reading this article and picking up the phone.
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This article was written by Keith Berzanske, who can be reached at nothingbutnet44@hotmail.com
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