SB Nation User Blog: pookeyguru

Hedo Turkoglu rejects Portlands offer

pookeyguru — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:14:03 -0000

Hedo Turkoglu rejects Portlands offer

Also news that the Raptors would sign him now.

My thoughts on the "new" Orlando Magic

pookeyguru — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 21:42:12 -0000

I had so many new thoughts on the team that I thought I would share them here as opposed to posting bits & fragments in the various threads that Ben Q & ER have already started on the main page.

On the Vinsanity trade. This is difficult. On one hand, there is the potential that it might not work. After all, Vinsanity is a certain kind of player, and he can't do everything that Turkoglu can. But, he can do much of what Turkoglu does do. He's a better shooter, and better passer than Turkoglu is. Truthfuly, I think they're ability to handle is about equal. I think the ability of Vinsanity to need the ball less may be the most important "fit" factor after it's all said & done.

I also think, while losing Courtney Lee is tough, it's also a way to move forward with a different type of need. This Magic team has a pretty unusual weakness overall when you consider Dwight Howard and his high rebounding numbers: The team is well below average everywhere, with regards to rebounding, on the team when you take out Howard or Gortat.

Vince Carter is a better boardman than Turk as well. So, while you're the Magic and you can get 80-90% of that production from Vinsanity (from last season say), you're likely to be better. Especially, as Ben Q noted earlier today, that you can expect a reasonable improvement from Ryan Anderson as well. (He's a local kid from the east suburbs of Sacramento. So, he's another reason for me to root for the Magic even though I'll always root for C-Lee too.)

So, it's very easy to see how not re-signing Turk could be a wise decision for the Magic here.

But, what about other deals?

One I would propose the Magic should consider is trading Hedo in a Sign & Trade to Portland for Travis Outlaw, and the rights to Victor Claver and Joel Freeland. It would be one way for Portland to get Hedo at a reduced cost without giving up all their cap room to sign another player. (It would also eliminate the cap holds that both those picks would have on their cap as well.)

For those who aren't aware of Freeland, he's a PF that Portland took with the 30th overall pick in 2006. He's coming along, but he's somewhere between a project and nearly as good as Fran Vazquez already. (Vazquez is one of the best bigs in the ACB right now.) And, he might be much more willing to come over for a smaller price than Vazquez currently is. Claver is a guy the Magic could afford to wait on as he's all upside and potential. It's not like Rashard Lewis can play forever, and it never hurts a franchise over the cap to worry about having a cap hold on a player oversea's developing for free.

What would it cost? Probably buying out Travis Outlaw (at a cheap price), or simply trading him away to a team with cap room. Memphis, for instance, is one of those teams. (They have coveted him, reportedly, in the past.) Any S&T that Portland does will mean they have to trade something away, and that could mean Outlaw and the rights to both players.

One way to settle the deal for Portland is to make this a 3 way deal with Memphis and trade them Outlaw and the rights to Petteri Koponen, along with doing the S&T for Hedo and giving Orlando the rights to both Claver and Freeland.

Will Blazer fans squawk? Absolutely. It's what they do. Some of them are convinced the Blazers have 12 All-Stars and 16 coming in the next 2 seasons. I think we all know better, and so do many of the more "honest" fans of any team. It's the way the NBA works.

The better question is can the Blazers sign Turkoglu by himself. Looking at their salary it's easy to see how you can be misled into believing why would the Blazers even do that? Because, after all, they have so many roster spots, and only so many players they can play. They don't lose a lot to do these deal's to get a player that could help them get closer to a championship.

Would the Magic do it? Would the Grizzlies? It's hard to say. It's a complicated maneuver that Portland has to work out because of being screwed by Darius Miles in that whole deal. The only reason for Portland to do it because they want to bring in another veteran (maybe Mike Bibby) and do so by offering him a small deal to come back to the West Coast. (I doubt Bibby is returning to Atlanta now.) This could allow them to offer several small deals to a few players out there. Plus, they have 3 draft picks they can put on the roster that they could allow to develop. (They like young players right?)

It probably won't happen because it would take the Blazers be willing to give up all those prospects to get Hedo, and it may take convincing Kevin Pritchard that it's worth giving up all these guys to get Hedo and settle their own roster. (Apparently Nate McMillan and Tom Penn had to convince Pritchard and Paul Allen to be less aggressive in acquiring young players.) Memphis might want more to acquire Outlaw, and because they have so much cap room, they can afford to be stingy. Orlando might not want to bother unless they can get some kind of guarantee that they won't be taking on salary for this season when they have so much already committed to the rest of the roster elsewhere.

But, like anything, we'll see. If not for the Magic, or any other team, it will be at the least a very interesting summer.

Brockman headed to Sacramento

pookeyguru — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 03:54:05 -0000

Brockman headed to Sacramento

Can't say I like the pick, but at least I know who Brockman is. And, at least we spent some time near the UW campus.....

As a Kings fan, I hate the pick. Which of course has nothing to do with Brockman. I hope he does well despite my objections though.

Tom Ziller also offers his thoughts here on Brockman's potential value.

My salary cap thoughts (and analysis on the trade itself)

pookeyguru — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:27:36 -0000

Hey yall. I'm going to set this to music to make this a bit more palatable. (That, and I heard a song I really like just a min ago on my IPod.)

Just listen to this while reading. It will make the time fly by.

(It's just music I swear.)

Anyway, after talking to ATS (and I can't believe I even considered writing this as a comment), it's clear there is some questions about why this deal went down today. So, in essence, I thought I'd lecture for a moment (or 10) about the salary cap, and then give you all my thoughts on the deal in one fell swoop. It's all after the jump.

The beginning of this nonsense

First, one must accept what limitations you have. As far as salary is concerned, I usually use the following sites: ShamSports, Draft Express, Storytellers, Wyn from Canis Hoopus has a great spreadsheet as well (although I can't find the one he uses for all 30 teams right now), and I'll use newspapers info as well.

For pure fan simplicity, and less confusion, I like Sham Sports the best because it's simple and easy for anyone to understand. If you know more about the cap. Wyn's spreadsheet is great. But, if you don't know what all the terms mean, or how Wyn has formatted it, it can be confusing.

I can't stress this enough: Don't ever use hoopshype for any reason. It's filled with so many factual and dumb errors, I don't even know where to began. I just know it's not helpful in judging where a team's salary is most likely. ESPN has accurate information as well, but their trade checker doesn't forecast salary other than how many years are left on a contract. So, in a way, it's limited. Plus, at this time of year with player options, and what not, you can't make a deal on June 23rd that you can on July 9th. It's just one of the nature's of this beast. Anyway, back on track here. (Sorry, I do get sidetracked from time to time.)

The first issue I see with ATS' column is that the Spurs will be paying luxury tax this season with Jefferson. After all, he makes more money than the 3 guys the Spurs gave up to do this deal. But, the Spurs weren't likely to field a roster without paying luxury tax. A closer look at Sham's salary site reveals that the Spurs already had 66 million in guaranteed salary to begin with. So, in a way, all this does from a salary perspective (forget basketball for a moment) is that the Spurs are pushing their limited chips in now to get a player who fits in with them basketball wise. (I'll talk about this at the bottom.)

Anyway, the point I'm trying to get at is that the Spurs were likely paying tax, but with Jefferson that just means they're paying more. And, as ATS said, the Spurs probably should thinking about rolling the dice on a player like Sheed. If you're going to go all in for a season, you might as well go all the way right?

The most common belief is that the salary cap is going to go down for the upcoming season. I've heard figures ranging from 57 to 57.5 million, and I believe the Spurs have a very good idea what it will be already. I'll explain why below.

The technical part of this whole thing

First, the best thing for anyone learning the salary cap is reading Larry Coon's FAQ. I know he's a Laker fan, but in my several years of reading this FAQ, I've never found any team bias let alone a Laker one. Ignore that, and you'll be fine. (I kid, I kid. He's a Lakers fan, but if he didn't have that free FAQ without bias, it wouldn't be considered such a resource.)

As far as what ATS said regarding the Bucks, you don't need much knowledge of the cap to really understand why the Bucks wanted to move Jefferson. He cost a lot of money, and saving even 6 million of that money is worth it to them. That's why they did this. Simple.

But, why now?

Well, it really depends I suppose on when Bowen's and Oberto's contract become fully guaranteed. That I don't know. I imagine the Express-News or some Milwaukee paper will be able to speculate on that. (They usually do.) That's why, though, I think the deal was done now as opposed to July because Milwaukee could waive them (there's a date set to the contract that a team has to waive a player before a certain day or their money does become guaranteed--I'm willing to bet for Oberto/Bowen it's after July, but I don't think it makes a difference to the Bucks as the best time to make a non-draft day trade is whenever you can make it).

However, there is one caveat to this. You can't trade a player with an option on his contract--like an ETO or Player Opt out-- (unless it's a team option or a partially guaranteed contract like Bowen/Oberto have) before July at the earliest. You also can't trade a Free Agent unless it's in a Sign & Trade. (That only makes things more complicated because a player becomes BYC. I ain't explaining that. If you want to know how those types of things goes, just read the 2 links I put in here. It will fully explain them. Coon's FAQ is not in legalese--thank god.)

I just found something on StoryTellers that could explain why the trade was done now, and as opposed to later. The first is 2 contract notes in StoryTellers that you should take stock of:

2009-10 is partially guaranteed for $2,000,000 if waived before 8/1/09, fully guaranteed after that (Bowen)

and

2009-10 is partially guaranteed for $1,900,000 if waived before 7/1/09 (Oberto)

The other note is Bowen's trade kicker, but rather than explaining that, I don't know how the trade kicker would be included here given that Bowen was not traded until the end of his contract. So, I don't know if that trade kicker is applicable or not. (Until I see something otherwise, I'm going to assume that it is not applicable at this time. The truth is that i think that's included in the contract language when it was written originally written up, and, for several reasons, I'm not a contract lawyer, Bowen, or his agent, I have no idea what that language is. Usually trade kickers can go up to 15% of the contract, and they are figured into the contract at the time of the trade. Still, at the amount Bowen is making, it's not likely to be a disincentive of Milwaukee to do this anyway. I just want you all to know that these deals aren't as simple as some franchises would love to tell you that they are.)

The last part of this is the salary cap itself. Don't let the media push you into believing the 57 million (or whatever figure they cite) is a hard fast rule on how the salary cap is calculated.

It's simple how the Salary Cap and Luxury Tax figures are calculated: The salary cap is set at 57% of BRI, and the Luxury Tax 61% of BRI.

For the explanation of BRI, just read the link.

What happens is simple. If revenues go up, the salary cap goes up. If it goes down, the salary cap goes down. The luxury tax won't ever be much different of a gap than it is in any other year. As long as the luxury tax is set at 61%, and the Salary Cap 57%, it just probably means for the Spurs, or any other NBA team, that the keeping of revenues is the most important deal here.

Essentially, with Jefferson making 14.2 million dollars, you have a certain level of savings for the Bucks. If you add in the 2 million Oberto will get, and the 1.9 million Bowen will get (plus if he gets any of that trade kicker, and the 3.8 million Thomas would most likely get (assuming he doesn't take a buyout), the Bucks are roughly looking at 7.7 million for next season as opposed to that 14.2 million. With the draft, and having to re-sign Villaneuva or Sessions (I would guess it's Villaneuva but that's me), I think the Bucks can pull it off.

Saving 6.5 million dollars is why they did this. It also means they can play Joe Alexander now too.

To answer this question:

The buyout money, all $3.9 million, would count against the Bucks salary cap for next year, but it still would give them extra room for resigning some of their players. I don't think they could buy them out now and have it count against their '09 numbers. That would be interesting, wouldn't it?

First, that 3.9 million would likely have some set off depending on what contract Bowen and Oberto get elsewhere besides their buyout's with the Bucks. How the setoff is done is complicated, but TZ awhile back explained this with regards to Mikki Moore, and it certainly applies here to Oberto/Bowen as well. But, as TZ pointed out, it's not likely to be much for the Kings in whatever contract Moore signs (if he signs). That's true of the Bucks as well. But, saving 200K where and how you can is better than not. I suppose.

Now, to the when contracts count towards what year. Via Mr Coon:

When determining the amount of tax a team owes, the league uses its team salary (see question number 14) on the date of their last regular season game (i.e., if a player is traded away before the end of the season, then none of his salary is taxed)

There are also adjustments to all this, but click the link to find out what they are. I don't want to explain them, and I've tortured you all enough already.

I think that pretty much does it. I probably over-explained everything, but some of this stuff is tricky, and I didn't want any confusion.

*****

Now to my basketball analysis. Do I think it's a good deal? Yeah, I think it's a pretty good deal for both sides. Bill Simmons made a point in his February trade column that Tim Duncan was still playing at a high level. I think it somewhat was an underrated high point of Duncan's career, and equal part curse. Unfortunately.

That being said unless the Spurs could have A) find another player who can score consistently taking that pressure off Duncan and Ginobili (nevertheless to play either high minutes consistently) and B) find a player who could handle the pressure of big time basketball, none of what Simmons said would have mattered. At some point Duncan would have worn down.

Over a 8 year career, Jefferson has averaged 71 games a season. The Spurs desperately need that for several reasons.

The Lakers ain't going nowhere
Duncan and Ginobili aren't likely to have another shot as strong as the upcoming season
There isn't a clear favorite in the West, other than LA unless Denver Houston or Portland replicate their seasons completely (and without Yao going down), to get to the WCF next year

But, the best part of Jefferson is that you can play him a lot of minutes, and he won't be worse off for it. He does well with more minutes even.

I also think this will make the strain of Tony Parker to create shots for the Spurs ease somewhat with Jefferson constantly being a threat to score in transistion, inside, and outside. The Spurs desperately need that.

And, the cost of it all? Bruce Bowen? Fabricio Oberto? Kurt Thomas? Uh, yeah, you do that every time. The only reason you hesitate is when money is involved.

Frankly, and unless there is a major franchise altering superstar going to another team, I doubt we'll see a better trade of a potential impact player on a contender in the West or the East. The Spurs, in many ways, seem to be pushing their chips completely into the middle where in previous years they played it safe and made the simple, reasonable bet every time. And, that worked.

But with Duncan at 31 years of age, and with Ginobili maybe having a season or two left at this point due to his own physical issue's, the Spurs have little time left. Any trade that makes you more versatile, dangerous, and viable is always one you do. Even if it costs money. My hats off to RC Buford for doing this.

Thank You for all the fun

pookeyguru — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 02:56:37 -0000

I wanted to say a few things.

Normally, I'm an obsessed Kings fan who finds other teams, and some fans, difficult to root for, and with. I can't say that about 3QC or Magic fans (although they probably aren't any different than any other fanbase in that respect--this is probably my bias showing).

I did want to say this is a great community to watch Magic basketball games with. Win or lose, this community is unique, and enjoyable.

(I am sorry about the Beno Udrih thing though. I have to admit that i do feel bad about that. Have all post-season actually. Guess Otis Smith is smarter than me, right?)

However, this is the first time that rooting for another team was appealing. It was appealing when they lost on Thaddeus Young in game 3 of the Philly series. (As crappy as that was.)

This team perservered through Dwight Howard's suspension for game 6, and beat Philly, and advanced to face off with Boston to boot.

This team lost Rafer Alston to a stupid suspension for slapping Eddie House. (I can't blame him. I'd want to slap House too.)

This team lost it's starting All-Star PG to a shoulder surgery only to have him return amidst scandal and hoopla. (Ha!)

The team's rookie SG who had returned from having a shattered beak returned early to make a difference in the pivotal (and the game that defined this team) Boston series.

It swept Cleveland at home in the Eastern Conference Finals.

It was a Courtney Lee missed layup, and some Dwight Howard missed Free Throws from being up 3-2 going back to LA.

It was tough, fun, hard, frustrating, and surprising.

It was a team that went from surprising everyone to surprising no-one. They survived a young athletic run n gun team in Philly. They survived a tough veteran battle tested squad facing even more adversity than they were in a Boston squad. They outlasted the LeBron's.

Losing in 5 games is bitter, no doubt. Losing in 5 games, 2 of which come on your home floor, 1 in absolutely demoralizing fashion, is bitter.

Between the pizza eating Turk, the Polish ~~Hammer~~ Rocket, the God fearing goof, the soft spoken Texan kid humbled many times over, the cocky street baller, the unsung small college kid, and the coach who got more jokes than Ron Jeremy's porn mates, they stuck around. They toughed it out. They beat you inside, and out. They just refused to quit.

These playoffs? This team? This run? None of it's bitter, none of this is awful, and none of it has gone for naught.

Want a piece of advice? Kick a dog, shoot a baby, and wake up tomorrow. Tomorrow has promise. Tomorrow will be better. Tomorrow, you might even celebrate on the Lakers court your first championship. That's why tomorrow exists.

Every moment, in good, bad, frustrating, and everything else, was well spent. Thanks for all the fun.

Before Paul Westphal thinks I no longer care, congratulations for getting the Kings job. Hopefully,...

pookeyguru — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 18:46:30 -0000

Before Paul Westphal thinks I no longer care, congratulations for getting the Kings job. Hopefully, he can use it as a steppingstone to return to the NBA.

We missed ya too, Pete.

Dwight Howard talking to Bill Russell. Via Basketball Fiend and H/T to CelticsBlog for linking it.

pookeyguru — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 18:03:10 -0000

Dwight Howard talking to Bill Russell. Via Basketball Fiend and H/T to CelticsBlog for linking it.

The Kings appear to have been the only team shopping in the Clippers price range. In fact, most...

pookeyguru — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:40:31 -0000

The Kings appear to have been the only team shopping in the Clippers price range. In fact, most reports indicate that Rambis was their first choice, and it's unclear whether they moved on because (a) he wasn't willing to commit to their 2 year, $3M offer or (b) he simply wanted to wait until after the NBA Finals to decide. It doesn't seem like an unreasonable request, to wait about one more week at most, when the guy is a little busy with his current job right now. So that makes me suspicious that Rambis wasn't thrilled with the job for that money. (There's also a chance that Phil Jackson will retire if he gets his 10th ring, at which point Rambis would be a candidate for the Lakers job. So yeah, seems like he might want to wait and see how that plays out.)

If the Clippers had fired their coach and conducted a similar coaching search this summer, I would have been happy with either Saunders or Jordan, though neither would have been likely given the price tag. I would have been happy with Rambis, who I mentioned as a candidate back in December. I would have been happy with Thibodeau. Westphal? Not so much.

Clipper Steve on the value of coaching changes.

His physique and athleticism are mind boggling. There are precious few humans who can get that...

pookeyguru — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 16:39:50 -0000

His physique and athleticism are mind boggling. There are precious few humans who can get that much body that high in the air. His jump shot, on the other hand, was incredibly ineffective today. In a one-on-zero drill, there are plenty of 40 something schlubs playing pick up ball at the local gym who would make more shots. And it's not just that the ball wasn't going into the hoop. He's got a hitch in his free throw stroke, he shoots his jumper on the way down, and he tends to jump backwards. All of this can be fixed - but the fact is that it's a little broken right now.

But I want to point out that this guy averaged almost 23 points per game at Oklahoma last season, shooting 65% from the field. He shoots how he shoots currently and he's shot a lot better than he did today in plenty of workouts. Regardless, he was a dominant force on offense in college. So let's be clear - he's going to be a great pro even if he doesn't get a jump shot. If he DOES get a jump shot, he's going to be unstoppable. And he seems pretty determined to work hard and improve.

Clipper Steve reporting from Griffapalooza.

Feeling Cavalier about Wheeling & Dealing

pookeyguru — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:03:17 -0000

Okay, so the title is cute. I get it.

I realize I'm a Kings fan, and this may not matter to any of you. I don't care as it doesn't keep from spouting off my nonsense in other places anyway.

So here goes. If you need to stop for a drink, I wouldn't blame you, or in the case of Turk, a diet coke.

Next year, the Cleveland Cavaliers have a 73 million and change committed in salary before options. (Which is one reason why I can understand why they are so hesitant despite the argument that Nate Jones made.)

However, that 73 million is only before options which means that the Cavs have some playing around room. Just as importantly for them (other than some guy named James), they will have a ton of cap space to play with in 2010. It's not likely to be 45 million dollars to play with, but if the Cavs don't resign Varejao, it could be somewhere near 35 million.

Let's rock this after the jump.

The Draft Part

Okay, there are only 3 ways to improve your team. Free Agency, Trades or the Draft. The Cavaliers have the 30th overall pick, and no 2nd round pick.

Will that 30th overall pick be a major asset? That's really the question. Would a team be willing to buy the pick? Would the Cavaliers be willing to sell it? Meh, who knows.

I would suggest Cleveland would be better off keeping the pick if a player they could get to back up Mo Williams is available. Patty Mills, who is playing at the Reebok Treviso camp in Italy this week, along with Ricky Rubio and Brandon Jennings, is a quick shoot first PG who can add depth to the PG.

Of the 11 players that are currently possibly under contract for next season, I can see 3 (Jawad Williams, Tarence Kinsey and Darnell Jackson) not returning. That leaves James, Ilgauskas, Williams, Gibson, Wallace, Hickson and West.

What the Cavs do with Szczerbiak, Pavlovic and Smith is anyone's guess. I would bet that of the 3, Joe Smith is more likely to return. But, that's me.

The LeBron bashing portion

I get that people here don't think it's a big deal he didn't shake hands. I do. I think it's disrespectful to players before him, and his teammates who had to cover for him. All it did was show he was a churlish brat. That interview he did with the Yankees hat on only makes that perception much easier to tag him with. Do I care? No, but anyone who wants to argue the guy is so obviously wonderful will have a more difficult time now. That's his fault.

This is similar to his insistence on not doing a slam dunk contest. He thinks it's beneath him. He makes his own rules. Okay, whatever. Just one more reason for me to ignore him. (Not that I'd buy anything LeBron sells anyway.)

Good now that's over.

The Trade propsoal that is bound to piss you off

The Shaq rumor is all the rage right now. And, the Shaq rumor is stupid. It makes little sense for a guy who can't defend anybody in the half court let alone the open court to become the open court Center. And, it's not like you can play him in a variety of ways either. He's going to park his fat 380 lbs ass 3 feet away from the hoop for however many minutes Mike Brown could play him. That means LeBron will have less room to operate inside consistently. Just ask Amare Stoudemire.

Which is why I present that loveable, Zach Randolph. I'm well aware of his warts. So, let's go through them.

He went to a strip club on the way to an airport after the Blazers told him it was okay to go to a family member's funeral. He punched Ruben Patterson in the face. (Actually, I happen to like that myself.) He got a DUI a few months ago. Still, probably not the best decision. Unless, you factor this in.

He's been traded twice in the last 2 years. He didn't fit in with New York, and now the Clippers would probably gladly move him out of the way for Blake Griffin.

So how in the world could a ball hog, fat, lazy, knucklehead punk like Zach Randolph ever help the Cavs?

Matchup. Problems.

He can do something that Shaq can't. He can hit jump shots. When he's right, he can't be stopped in the post. Yes, he's a black hole. Yes, he's an asshole. Yes, he hit Ruben Patterson in the face. (I list that as an asset. Can you tell I don't care for Patterson?) Yes, Brandon Roy got him traded and got Portland reamed in the process. (And Portland was glad to do it. When you have LaMarcus Aldridge, you can do that.) Yes, the Clippers traded for him because the Knicks had absolutely no use for him once D'Antoni got there.

Guess what? D'Antoni's teams don't require post presences. The Clippers are better off with Griffin at the 4. But, as good as Griffin is athletically in the open court, and in terms of actual hustle, he is better for them.

The Cavs still need a guy who can score in the low post. If you can get 20 points out of Zach Randolph vs the Magic, you beat them easily. It's a matchup they can't matchup with. Yes, he would have to pass far better than he has out of double team's. Yes, he would have to come in with a good attitude and be committed to playing better defense.

Do you think he wouldn't mind that chance? You know, besides shaking hands, I hear LeBron James is a pretty good player. Zach Randolph will get paid by some team next year. Cleveland should seriously think about acquiring him. Like anything it's a risk, and like anything, it could go wrong. You know, like Cleveland's championship banner being raised after winning 66 games during the regular season.

Nothing is guaranteed. Just ask the Seattle SuperSonics after they managed to be the 1st seed to lose to an eigth. (And, they lost in the 1st round in 1995 too. The Sonics won 63 games in 1994, and 57 games in 1995.)

Then they changed their player mix. Check out the difference between the roster's in 1995 and 1996. You wanna know why the Sonics made it out of the 1st round? Because the Kings were one of the worst, if not the worst, 8th seeds if you factored out the Clippers improbable run to the 8th seed in 1997 (with that mind boggling total of 35 no less). And, the Kings could have done it. Because Gary Payton wasn't anywhere near himself.

They changed the mix of their players. That's all I'm saying. They didn't need an extra star level player, but they needed the right mix of role players. (And not get upset in the 1st round.)

I think the deal the Cavs should look at is Zach Randolph for Daniel Gibson and Zydrunas Ilgauskas. (I would not give up Hickson or Wallace. They can both do things that Randolph won't ever do.)

Salary Cap Note: Due to Ilgauskas' player option (that he would be foolish to ignore), he can't be traded until after the July Moratorium.

If the idea that that the Cavs can get a better player I'd like to hear it. The Cavs have role players. The whole roster is filled with role players. Role players don't get All-Stars unless they have issue's. Zach Randolph has, and I suspect always will, have warts. No question.

But if Cleveland wants to contend, and let's just ignore the whether "he will stay or go" nonsense, like Guru said yesterday, they're going to need to figure out a way to complete their team. They have outside shooting, and they have role players who play defense. (If you ignore some of the shameful flopping that Anderson Varejao does. Which I blame the NBA for. Any player will do anything to gain an advantage at any time.)

If Cleveland wants to make the opponents fear them more than they already do, they need something else. Zach Randolph is available. Is he ideal? No, if he was, he wouldn't be available.

Cleveland's biggest problems are, to my unreasonable eye, other than matchup issue's which they present for no one who is a legit championship contender, but as Adrian Wojnarowski pointed out, when Delonte West is posting up players and is probably your most reliable post up player, you got problems. The Cavs get a lot of points inside from LeBron James, and there's no doubt about that.

But, there needs to be better scoring options than Mo Williams. LeBron solves every real problem any franchise has from the get-go. (Other than the other stuff which happens.) But, to not take a risk because the fans will revolt is dumb.

Expiring contracts have so much value on the market. Like teams that want to dump players and not be stuck with the player coming back for too long. It's unwise to believe that Zydrunas Ilgauskas has much value on the market to other teams. He's very high paid, doesn't play great inside defense, and other than his offense, he doesn't bring much. But, he doesn't have a low post game. I know Cleveland fans love him, and there is a lot to like there, but at some point, being unemotional is the way to go. (This is what kills me about Kings fans with Mike Bibby. There are still some that want to swear it was a dumb trade. Fans, I swear.)

Either way, I've rambled on enough. Now, shoot me. If you even bothered to read all of this.