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Tag Archives: Cavaliers
RISKY BUSINESS – CAVS GM DEALS KYRIE TO CELTICS
by Kenny Roda
Was new Cavaliers General Manager Koby Altman channeling his inner Joel Goodson from the hit movie “Risky Business”? More on that later. Let’s get right to the surprising trade of Kyrie Irving to the Cavs biggest threat in the East, the Boston Celtics.
This is a very risky trade for the Cavs considering that they gave up a four-time all-star in Kyrie Irving who they controlled for two more years even if he was unhappy, for Isaiah Thomas, an undersized, currently injured point guard, who’s terrible on defense and in the final year of his contract. And oh yeah, they made this deal with their Eastern Conference rival, the Boston Celtics!
Yes the Cavs got a decent role player, who’s calling card is defense, in Jae Crowder, plus an unproven rookie center, in Ante Zizic. But I’m not sure how much they will really help the Cavaliers this season, which possibly could be the final season for LeBron James in Cleveland.
If the Cavaliers are in a must win now mode, I feel, especially with the uncertainty of the hip injury Isaiah Thomas is dealing with, that this trade does not help them for this year, with the exception of owner Dan Gilbert reportedly saving $29 million in the luxury tax.
However, if Isaiah Thomas and his seriously injured hip, that forced him to miss games 3, 4 and 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Cavs, is able to get back to being 100% healthy, and Derrick Rose does the same, the Cavaliers will continue to be the best the Eastern Conference has to offer. But as they are constructed right now, I don’t think that the Cavaliers will be good enough to defeat the defending champion Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals.
Maybe the most exciting thing about this trade is the draft pick the Cavs got from the Celtics. It is actually the Brooklyn Nets draft pick, and Brooklyn could be the worst team in the NBA the season. That would mean the Cavaliers could end up with the most ping pong balls in the hopper (#APPBITH) with a chance to get the number one overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. Or the Cavaliers could take this Nets draft pick and potentially flip it for a big-time player which could mean a whole another story.
I was hoping that somehow someway new GM Koby Altman would find a way to trade for Eric Bledsoe, Josh Jackson and a draft pick from the Suns, or if Phoenix continued to be steadfast on not giving up Jackson, I might’ve taken TJ Warren and Jared Dudley and a draft pick along with Bledsoe. But the Suns wouldn’t budge, so Altman took, I guess, the next best deal.
Could he have done worse? Sure! Could he, or maybe David Griffin, if he were still the Cavaliers GM have done more? I think so! Now I’ve been wrong before on trades, but I’ve also been right.
But Altman is the man in charge and it looks like he took the mental approach of Joel Goodson, Tom Cruise’s character in the movie “Risky Business” and went with, “Sometimes you gotta say, what the f***, make your move”! And boy did he ever!
Is this the end of the “Soap Opera” that is the 2017-18 Cleveland Cavaliers? I highly doubt it. I’m sure there’s plenty more drama to come.
Stay tuned!
CAVS OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE ON THE KYRIE IRVING TRADE
CAVALIERS ACQUIRE NBA ALL-STAR GUARD ISAIAH THOMAS, JAE CROWDER, ANTE ZIZIC AS WELL AS THE 2018 BROOKLYN NETS UNPROTECTED 1ST ROUND DRAFT PICK
CLEVELAND, OH – The Cleveland Cavaliers have acquired guard Isaiah Thomas, forward Jae Crowder, center Ante Zizic and the Brooklyn Nets’ 2018 unprotected first round pick from the Boston Celtics in exchange for guard Kyrie Irving, Cavaliers General Manager Koby Altman announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts.
“This trade needed to include both players and assets that we felt strongly could help us continue to compete for championships and we believe it does,” said Altman. “We look forward to Isaiah, Jae and Ante joining us and also felt that the unprotected first round pick in the deal was very important for us and our future as well.”
“On behalf of the entire franchise, I want to thank Kyrie Irving for the six impressive years he spent in Cleveland wearing the Cavaliers uniform,” said Cavaliers Chairman Dan Gilbert. “From the moment we won the 2011 NBA lottery that put us in position to draft Kyrie to the ‘The Shot’ that sealed our first NBA championship and all of the electrifying play that made him a joy to watch, ‘excitement’ was always in the air when it came to Kyrie Irving. We wish him and his family well as he moves on to the next phase of his NBA career.”
Thomas (5-9, 185) appeared in 76 games (all starts) for the Celtics in 2016-17, averaging a career-high 28.9 points, 2.7 rebounds and 5.9 assists in 33.8 minutes. He finished as the third-leading scorer in the NBA and had the second highest scoring average in Celtics history, trailing only Larry Bird’s 1987-88 mark of 29.9 points. Thomas also set career highs in field goal percentage (.463), three-point percentage (.379) and free throw percentage (.909, 2nd in NBA) this past season, while setting the team record with 245 three-pointers. An NBA All-Star in each of the last two seasons, Thomas was an All-NBA Second Team selection in 2016-17. He scored at least 20 points or more on 71 occasions, which includes a stretch of 43 consecutive contests hitting that mark (11/19/16-2/26/17), the longest in Celtics history. The six-year NBA veteran out of the University of Washington was originally drafted by Sacramento as the 60th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft and has gone on to hold career averages of 19.1 points, 2.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists over 441 games (309 starts) with the Kings, Phoenix and Boston.
Crowder (6-6, 235) played in 72 games (all starts) for Boston this past season and averaged 13.9 points on a career-high .463 shooting from the field, including a career-best .398 from three-point range, 5.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.0 steal in 32.4 minutes. He also went .811 from the charity stripe, while scoring in double figures on 54 occasions and posting seven double-doubles. The five-year forward from Marquette was the 34th overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft by Cleveland before being traded on draft night to the Mavericks. In 383 career games (186 starts) with the Mavericks and Celtics, Crowder has averaged 8.9 points and 3.8 rebounds in 23.2 minutes.
Zizic (7-0, 250), who was selected 23rd overall by the Celtics in the 2016 NBA draft, competed internationally with Darussafaka Dogus Istanbul in Turkey and KK Cibona Zagreb in Croatia last season. He took park in five different competitions in 2016-17, which include the Euroleague, Basketball Champions League, Adriatic League, the Turkish BSL and the Croatian A-1 league and played a total of 65 games. In 21 contests for Darussafaka Dogus in the Turkish BSL, Zizic averaged 8.9 points on .688 shooting from the field and 4.3 rebounds in 17.8 minutes per game. Zizic also played in 20 games for Darussafaka Dogus in the Euroleague, helping them reach the quarterfinals after averaging 9.0 points on .649 shooting from the field and 6.7 rebounds in 21.9 minutes. He had his highest scoring average in the Adriatic League for KK Cibona where he averaged 20.0 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.23 blocks in 29.8 minutes per game. Zizic was named as the 2015-16 Adriatic League Top Prospect which is given to the league’s best young player, aged 22 or under. Previous winners of this award include current NBA players Nikola Jokic and Dario Saric.
Irving (6-3, 193) played in 72 games (all starts) for the Cavaliers in 2016-17, averaging a career-high 25.2 points (11th in NBA) on .472 shooting, including .401 from beyond the arc, 3.2 rebounds and 5.8 assists in 35.1 minutes. He also shot .905 from the free throw line (3rd in NBA). Irving has spent his entire six-year professional career with Cleveland, appearing in 381 games (all starts) with averages of 21.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.32 steals in 34.2 minutes.
OFFICIAL CAVS PRESS RELEASE ON KYRIE IRVING OUT FOR THE YEAR AND NEEDS SURGERY ON A FRACTURED LEFT KNEE CAP
Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving left last night’s NBA Finals game one in the overtime period with a left knee injury. He received an MRI today at Stanford Sports Medicine Clinic, which revealed a fractured left knee cap. He will have surgery to repair the knee in the coming days at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland by Cavaliers head team physician Dr. Richard Parker. His recovery time is projected to be three to four months and his status will be updated as appropriate.
WHAT’S NEW WITH LEBRON?
As a lot of us await the new-look Cavaliers with LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving teaming up for the first time on October 30th against the Knicks at Quicken Loans Arena, a few other new things have been revealed, or will be soon with “King James”.
Check out James new Nike shoe, the “LeBron 12” right here – http://es.pn/1Dh0rcM via @espnnba
And it sounds like a new LBJ banner could be hanging in an old spot in downtown Cleveland – read here – http://es.pn/1BKmcQA via @espnnba
THE 2014 NBA PRE-SEASON RODA RATINGS – “ THE FINE FIFTEEN”
THE TOP FIVE
1 San Antonio Spurs – Defending champs, Tim Duncan comes back at a discount price to help keep Boris Diaw and Patty Mills and the team stays intact. The favorites to start the season for sure.
2 Oklahoma City Thunder – While they lost veterans Sefalosha and Butler, they added shooting guard Anthony Morrow in free agency who is a career 43% shooter from beyond the arc and picked up a big in Mitch McGary and a defensive minded wing in Josh Huestis in the draft. Oh yeah K.D. and Russell Westbrook are still there too.
3 Los Angeles Clippers – With Doc Rivers fully in charge, the Clippers have had a quiet, but productive off-season so far. In free agency they’ve added stretch-5 Spencer Hawes and point guard Jordan Farmar to help with their depth and offense. In the draft L.A. selected shooting guard C.J. Wilcox who can knock it down from long range and cash in at the free throw line, and is a solid defender already.
4 Chicago Bulls – Even though they didn’t get Carmelo Anthony, the Bulls did add Pau Gasol in free agency and will be getting former league MVP Derrick Rose back. Adding those two All-Stars to a team that made the playoffs last year and the Bulls are going to be a force to be reckoned with in the Eastern Conference.
5 Cleveland Cavaliers – Bringing LeBron James back in free agency not only makes the Cavs a playoff contender, but a lot people feel an NBA Championship contender. I’m not ready to go there yet. Let’s wait and see what happens with all of these Kevin Love rumors. But even if they don’t deal for Love, with James, number #1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins and Kyrie Irving serving as the Cavs big three, David Blatt’s team is one to watch out for in the East, which is now up for grabs.
THE BEST OF THE REST
6 Portland Trail Blazers
7 Indiana Pacers
8 Houston Rockets
9 Golden State Warriors
10 Memphis Grizzlies
11 Washington Wizards
12 Miami Heat
13 Dallas Mavericks
14 Phoenix Suns
15 Toronto Raptors