SBNation.com User Blog: vottomatic

Possible Small Forwards for the Cavs

vottomatic — Sat, 25 May 2013 15:56:24 -0000

Alright so now with Nerlens in fold (yeah I'm already assuming it, get at me, bro), the Cavs now have one glaring hole in the roster: Small Forward. I'll break down what we've got and who's available.

Current Roster

Currently the only real SF on the roster is Alonzo Gee. While Gee is a good defender, he leaves a lot to be desired on the offensive end. His only real strength is dunking and he usually drops the ball or kicks it out of bounds before he even gets the opportunity to show off his one offensive skill. CJ Miles I think could also be effective backup SF. He has good size and personally, I'd prefer him as the backup SF over Gee.

Free Agency

The easiest group to name is the crop of free agents. I'll have two groups of guys here that I'll be looking at. The first is the expensive guys:

Josh Smith, Andre Iguodala, Andrei Kirilenko

Out of this group, I'd be fine with either Andre/i. Josh Smith would make us so dynamic defensively but I just can't justify giving him near max with his offensive game. Smith took 1182 shots last year. 522 (44%) were from three or 16-23 feet. Almost half his shots are long twos or threes. He shot 31.6% on these shots. If that isn't the model of offensive inefficiency I don't know what is. Now if you could convince him to lay off all these terrible shots, then sure sign me up but otherwise, no thanks.

The Andre/i's provide similar skill sets, imo. Both are good defenders, not great shooters, but effective offensively. Both would probably require 3-4 year deals at 9-12 million a year with Iggy being slightly more expensive than Kirilenko. I think both would be excellent bridges until we find our young SF in the draft in upcoming years.

The other group is the cheaper guys. Here you've got veterans Matt Barnes, DeMarre Carroll, Corey Brewer, Kyle Korver, and Dorrell Wright and young sleeper Al-Farouq Aminu. All the veteran guys would be upgrades and pretty good fits while not breaking the bank financially. Aminu is intriguing physically, but is still raw offensively. Ultimately, I think he's be worth the gamble.

Trades

There are a couple obvious trade candidates and others that I think are more of a long shot. The first guy I'll mention is Nic Batum. IMO, he'd be a great fit on this team and I'd love to have him. I don't really think he's available, but he could probably be had for a pretty decent price. I'd think an offer would have to start with Andy, Gee, and picks and even that probably isn't enough. Ultimately the price is probably too high, but its still worth exploring.

Next are guys that are veterans on expiring deals. Danny Granger, Shawn Marion, Caron Butler, and to a lesser extent Luol Deng. The first three mentioned I think are very available. Deng would cost more as I don't really think the Bulls want to give him up. All would be good fits. My preference would be Deng, Granger, Marion, Butler.

Draft

This is the least intriguing option in my opinion. I want someone who's going to help win now and rookies aren't usually that guy. People like Reggie Bullock, but while he can shoot he probably won't be able to do much else right away. If you could trade up to get Otto Porter, then do it but I don't think that's possible. Shabazz Muhammad is another possibility if you want to trade up, but I am personally not a fan. If you are going to take a SF in the draft, I'd rather see a stash player combined with a trade/signing of a veteran. My personal favorite is Giannis Adetokunbo. Other possibilities are Sergey Karasev and Dario Saric. Possible second round guys include Glen Rice Jr, Tony Snell, and 3/4 tweener CJ Leslie. All would most likely have minimal impact with Leslie being the most intriguing.

My Preference

So to wrap this up I'll say what my preference would be. Included with all my options is drafting Adetokunbo. My first option would be trading for Batum. That's unlikely though, so I'd attempt to sign AK47 or Iggy. If you can't sign either Andre/i, I'd attempt to trade for Deng, Granger, or Marion. If none of these work out, I'd try to sign Aminu, and if that doesn't work out, I'd go after one of the veteran FAs. If all these options are exhausted, I'd stick with the draft as the potential of one of the rookies outweighs the cost of Josh Smith or Caron Butler.

Thanks for reading and let me know what you prefer and who I missed.

Current Roster

Free Agency

The easiest group to name is the crop of free agents. I'll have two groups of guys here that I'll be looking at. The first is the expensive guys:

Josh Smith, Andre Iguodala, Andrei Kirilenko

Trades

Draft

My Preference

Thanks for reading and let me know what you prefer and who I missed.

Mainstream Media HATES the Cavs

vottomatic — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 07:31:34 -0000

Adrian Wojnarowski is a great NBA writer with great NBA sources, but his latest piece of work is a BIG middle finger to Cleveland. Here is the link: Cavaliers need to give up dream of 2014 reunion with LeBron James.

Just from the title you can tell this isn't going to be good. Some of the things he says are basically a big f*** you to the Cavs. There is literally something every paragraph. The first half of the article is basically "Move on. LeBron isn't coming back," which is fine. Whatever, we all have moved on, but you just think we haven't because there's rumors that LBJ might consider a reunion. I don't really want him to come back, but if he does, fine.

But what really gets me, and kinda pisses me off, is the rest of the article is basically non-stop bashing of the Cavs young players, while taking some shots at the city and the front office. I'll highlight some of the most egregious:

To trade Pat Riley and Erik Spoelstra for Cavs general manager Chris Grant and Brown is unfathomable.

Outside of Irving, there's still little infrastructure to these Cavaliers.

Privately, the Cleveland front office has pitched a fantasy of trading young players and picks to Portland for All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge, sources said. Only, that's never going to happen. Cleveland is far higher on its two top-five picks, Tristan Thompson and Dion Waiters, than the rest of the NBA.

And all the Shane Battiers and Ray Allens who had come into James' life with the Heat wouldn't join him in Cleveland.

If you're living and playing on the shores of Biscayne Bay, Cleveland is Anchorage.

(Disclaimer: There were 2 and a half (short) sentences about how this doesn't mean Cleveland is a terrible city)

These next couple really get me:

Outside of winning the lottery for Irving, it's hard to make the case for one thing the Cavaliers have gotten right in the wake of James' departure.

They have a franchise player, and they've squandered chances to surround him with the best available talent. Thompson over Jonas Valanciunas made no sense on draft day, and makes even less now.

(Except, you know, that TT was a better player offensively and defensively last year, but that doesn't matter)

Three years later, Brown is back and the Cavaliers no longer need to live in make-believe land.

And that's basically the jist of the entire article. Blah, blah, blah. Cleveland sucks. LeBron isn't coming back. Get over it and move on. Un-freakin-believable.

To trade Pat Riley and Erik Spoelstra for Cavs general manager Chris Grant and Brown is unfathomable.

Outside of Irving, there's still little infrastructure to these Cavaliers.

Privately, the Cleveland front office has pitched a fantasy of trading young players and picks to Portland for All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge, sources said. Only, that's never going to happen. Cleveland is far higher on its two top-five picks, Tristan Thompson and Dion Waiters, than the rest of the NBA.

And all the Shane Battiers and Ray Allens who had come into James' life with the Heat wouldn't join him in Cleveland.

If you're living and playing on the shores of Biscayne Bay, Cleveland is Anchorage.

(Disclaimer: There were 2 and a half (short) sentences about how this doesn't mean Cleveland is a terrible city)

These next couple really get me:

Outside of winning the lottery for Irving, it's hard to make the case for one thing the Cavaliers have gotten right in the wake of James' departure.

They have a franchise player, and they've squandered chances to surround him with the best available talent. Thompson over Jonas Valanciunas made no sense on draft day, and makes even less now.

(Except, you know, that TT was a better player offensively and defensively last year, but that doesn't matter)

Three years later, Brown is back and the Cavaliers no longer need to live in make-believe land.

And that's basically the jist of the entire article. Blah, blah, blah. Cleveland sucks. LeBron isn't coming back. Get over it and move on. Un-freakin-believable.

Bengals Salary Cap Breakdown

vottomatic — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 18:03:10 -0000

Hey guys, I've created a spreadsheet detailing the Bengals' current salary cap situation. Here is the link: Bengals Salary Cap.

It includes a positional breakdown compared to last years NFL averages as well. The spreadsheet is broken down into three individual sheets. The first is the Bengals' current players (with possible needs and cut candidates indicated) with positional totals and possible positional cap space (an idea I got from Joe Goodberry) included. The second is the overall salary cap numbers for the Bengals. And the third sheet is an analysis of the positional breakdown for the Bengals and last year's NFL average numbers.

Now that I've got the basic format to where I like it, it should be easy to keep updated and hopefully it won't be too hard to maintain on a yearly basis. Any feedback and suggestions are welcome. If you've got any questions, feel free to ask, and I'll try to answer as best as I can.

Hey guys, I've created a spreadsheet detailing the Bengals' current salary cap situation. Here is the link: Bengals Salary Cap.

FearTheSword pickup basketball?

vottomatic — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 00:25:47 -0000

Alright fellow junkies. I know over at RedReporter, they have an annual wiffle ball tournament, and I was thinking something similar would be cool to do with you peeps. Would anybody be interested in a few hours of pickup games? I don't know if its even possible to get enough people that are able to play and if so to get us all to a certain location that isn't too difficult?

If you are able to list location, age, highest level of basketball played, and availability. So if you are able to possibly drive a few hours to play basketball for a couple hours with people you've probably never met before, speak up. I'll start. I'm from the Columbus area, am 21, was a starter in high school, and would more than likely would only be able to do a weekend sometime.

Hell maybe if we get enough people, everybody could give there own scouting report of themselves and we could have a draft/lottery type of thing.

The Cavs defense is bad. But why?

vottomatic — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 07:32:12 -0000

Alright, everybody here knows the Cavs are a pretty piss poor defensive team. But the why is somewhat questionable. Is it the backcourt? Frontcourt? Coaching? Just youth and inexperience? I'll be dissecting some numbers from Hoopdata.com to try and answer these questions.

Overall Numbers

The Cavs currently have the 4th highest defensive efficiency. This is not good. They are giving up 106.9 points per 100 possessions only behind the Kings, Bobcats, and Hornets. They have the worst opponent TS% and eFG%, second worst block rate, and fourth worst defensive rebounding rate and opponent free throw rate. The only thing stopping me from calling them the worst defensive team in the NBA is their ability to create turnovers, currently third best.

Shot Locations

Distance: Makes (rank), Attempts (rank), % (rank) [rankings from highest to lowest, i.e. worst to best, so 1st is bad]

At rim: 16.4 (15th), 24.5 (23rd), 66.7% (3rd)

3-9 ft: 3.7 (10th), 8.8 (20th), 42.5% (4th)

10-15 ft: 2.7 (11th), 5.9 (20th), 45.5% (3rd)

16-23 ft: 7.1 (17th), 17.3 (24th), 41.1 (1st)

3 pointers: 7.4 (13th), 19.7 (17th), 37.6% (4th)

Analysis

At first glance, wow. That's ugly. The Cavs are literally in the bottom four defenses of every spot on the court in terms of percentages. The overall distribution doesn't seem bad. The one thing I would say would be to try and force more attempts in the 10-15 ft and 16-23 ft areas. Having a low number of attempts in these areas isn't necessarily a good thing, as you want teams shooting more from the least efficient spots on the floor. Indiana and Chicago force the 1st and 2nd most 16-23 ft shots, and the 2nd and 3rd most 10-15 ft shots, respectively, and are two of the top defenses in the league.

Combining the numbers together, the Cavs have an expected opponents FG% (XOeFG%) of 48.9%, which actually isn't too bad (12th best). This does not match up with their league worst OeFG% of 52.4%, giving them a league worst 0.93 Defensive Ratio (XOeFG%/OeFG%). This tells me that its not coaching or the system. The Cavs seem to doing an okay job of getting opponents to shoot where they want them to, but they just seem to be making the shots. Bad luck? Maybe. Bad defensive players? More likely.

The numbers at all distances are pretty equally disastrous, so I don't think you can pin this on one specific player/position. Simply put: Everybody/everywhere needs to defend/be defended better. Would a shot blocker help? At the rim, probably. From 16 ft to 3 pointers, probably not nearly enough to significantly change these percentages. The Cavs are very young, and there is an extremely high correlation between the youngest teams and the worst OeFG% (four youngest teams are in bottom five), so I expect a decent amount of growth and improvement in this area as Kyrie/Dion/TT/Zeller get more accustomed to the NBA.

The other thing I wanted to talk about was the defensive rebounding. It surprised me the Cavs were 4th worst. Obviously losing Andy hurt. I wasn't expecting them to be good, but I figured they were about average. Tristan is good, Speights is good, Andy was amazing, Dion is bad, Zeller is bad, everybody else was about average so I figured it probably evened out. So I'll go through each (main) player in terms of rebounding.

Player: DREB% (rank among position) vs personal expectations

Kyrie: 10.8 (14th) a little better

Livingston: 10.4 (18th) same

Dion: 8.5 (45th) same

Ellington: 9.8 (33rd) same

Gee: 11.1 (53rd) much worse

Miles: 13.4 (7th) better

Walton: 15.5 (27th) better

TT: 21.6 (20th) slightly worse

Speights: 23.4 (11th) slightly better

Andy: 30.4 (2nd) same

Zeller: 16.5 (47th) same

The only player who really broke expectations was Gee. SF is someone who has to rebound and Gee simply does not. Now this could be because he guards PGs and primary ball handlers a lot taking him away from the basket and he is slightly undersized, but still. A lot of people think we need a 3 and D SF to round out the team. Defensive rebounding might be something we seriously need to consider for the position as well. A team with Zeller, Dion (or Ellington), and Gee on the court at the same time could be ugly in the future when it comes to rebounding (which is why I'm leaning more and more towards wanting Zeller gone and keeping Speights and Andy).

Quick draft note: These rebounding numbers make me want Nerlens (21.7 DREB%) and Porter (18.9) more, and Shabazz (8.6!?!) a lot less come draft time.

Overall Numbers

Shot Locations

Distance: Makes (rank), Attempts (rank), % (rank) [rankings from highest to lowest, i.e. worst to best, so 1st is bad]

At rim: 16.4 (15th), 24.5 (23rd), 66.7% (3rd)

3-9 ft: 3.7 (10th), 8.8 (20th), 42.5% (4th)

10-15 ft: 2.7 (11th), 5.9 (20th), 45.5% (3rd)

16-23 ft: 7.1 (17th), 17.3 (24th), 41.1 (1st)

3 pointers: 7.4 (13th), 19.7 (17th), 37.6% (4th)

Analysis

Player: DREB% (rank among position) vs personal expectations

Kyrie: 10.8 (14th) a little better

Livingston: 10.4 (18th) same

Dion: 8.5 (45th) same

Ellington: 9.8 (33rd) same

Gee: 11.1 (53rd) much worse

Miles: 13.4 (7th) better

Walton: 15.5 (27th) better

TT: 21.6 (20th) slightly worse

Speights: 23.4 (11th) slightly better

Andy: 30.4 (2nd) same

Zeller: 16.5 (47th) same

Quick draft note: These rebounding numbers make me want Nerlens (21.7 DREB%) and Porter (18.9) more, and Shabazz (8.6!?!) a lot less come draft time.

Nerlens Noel Scouting Report

vottomatic — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 20:12:27 -0000

(I'd like to apologize in advance for the length. I completely understand if you wanna say TL:DR and jump straight to comments)

Alright, since the trade deadline is over, and the Cavs have no real shot at the playoffs, I figured it's time to get focused on the draft. I wanted to do quite a few of these, but the only team whose full games seem to be on the internet is Kentucky. So instead of a series, consisting of centers Noel, Len, Austin, and Zeller, and SFs Porter, Muhammad, Poythress, and Robinson, I may be limited to just Noel and maybe Poythress. Anyway, on to the main topic: Nerlens Noel.

When I first started this, I hadn't really ever watched Noel play, but I had heard a few things:

1. Defensively, he's a machine. Nothing he can't do.

2. Offensively, he's extremely raw.

So after collecting some information and watching 6(Maryland, Baylor, Louisville, Duke, Notre Dame, and Ole Miss) games, here is what I came away with:

Physicals

Noel is 6'11'' in shoes with a 7'4 wingspan and a 9'1.5'' standing reach. He has a slender frame, only weighing roughly 220 lbs. Athletically, Noel is about as gifted as they come. His quickness is absolutely amazing for someone his size. His vert probably comes close to 40'', and he gets off the ground incredibly quickly.

Stats

Nerlens shoots 59% overall, with 10.5 points per game. He struggles at the FT line, shooting just 52.9%. Defensively, the kid is a stat sheet stuffer. Per game numbers: 4.4 blocks, 9.5 boards, 2.1 steals, all while averaging only 2.6 fouls per game. His advanced stats are pretty encouraging, as well, giving him a 26.7 PER. Click here for full set of statistics.

Offense

Strengths

Noel can dunk. And with authority. His length and athleticism make him a great guy to throw lobs to. He is also, a very good roller off of screens. He rolls extremely hard on almost every screen he sets and is looking for the lob (even if Kentucky's guards didn't always give it up). It's pretty safe to say Noel's future in the NBA on offense is primarily as a finisher off the pick and roll, a la DeAndre Jordan.

However, there were other areas where Noel was impressive. He has a knack for finding the open space in the defense. He is also above average around the rim. He has shown the ability to finish with either hand (actually seemed to almost prefer using his left). Also, when he doesn't rush himself, he is above average in the post as well. Similar to TT, Noel flashes above average hook shots with both hands. As an offensive rebounder Noel attacks missed shots well, and has a number of out-of-nowhere putback dunks. One of the most surprising things I noticed about Noel offensively, was his ability to drive from the free throw line. He always (I mean always) went left, but his quickness allowed him to get to the rim pretty effectively.

Weaknesses

The most obvious weakness is his shot. He didn't attempt any jumpers in the games I watched, and was not good from the stripe. It starts with his form. One of his main problems is that is elbow is way out. He also lacks fluidity in his shot, and his arm seems to never fully extend on his follow through. It will be interesting to see how his form changes in the NBA. Another thing I noticed was his hands. They aren't good. While it wasn't all the time, there were a decent number of passes or rebounds that he couldn't grab or hold on to. His strength also hurt him while in the post, finishing, or on the offensive glass.

Another major weakness of Noel's is his passing ability and decision making. Quite a few times, he would try to pass to a cutter or another big who just wasn't open. Other times he passed to open teammates, and the pass was completely off target or bad enough that they had to adjust to it and were no longer open. Nerlens also seemed to rush everything on offense. The difference is very noticeable when Noel slows things down versus when he rushes and forces things. When he is rushing, he becomes a bad finisher, bad in the post, and turnover prone (especially when double teamed). But when he slows it down he flashes all kinds of abilities. It would have been interesting to watch how this progressed as the season went on, and he would have had the chance to become accustomed to the college game a bit more.

Defense

Strengths

Everything. Okay, not everything, but close enough. He has terrific instincts blocking shots and getting in passing lanes. He boxes out. I was stunned to see a kid with his athleticism turn around and find his man every time a shot went up. He doesn't foul. He has amazingly quick hands. During the 6 games I watched, there were probably 20-25 times when he knocked the ball away from his man, or a guard on a fastbreak. It's honestly incredible. I've never seen a man his size have the ability to knock the ball away from anyone at anytime. The number of ways he can impact a game simply on the defensive end is astonishing.

Weaknesses

Two main things I noticed. One, strength, and two, discipline. His lack of strength shows up quite a bit. Even though he boxes out his man, he often gets pushed too far underneath the rim and is unable to hold his position. The same holds true in the post. He often had poor position because his man would be able to get to wherever he wanted. His discipline is the other thing that shows up on film. He is often in a poor position when off the ball, which leads to him being easily screened. He also tends to over rotate and leave his man and his feet for an attempt at a blocked shot. Something else that was odd that I noticed was that he almost never seemed to aggressively hedge a screen. With his ability, I would think he would be an extremely effective hedger, but it just seemed to never happen. All of these things are correctable, though, and quite understandable given that he is only 18 years old.

Other

As we all know, Noel recently tore his ACL. While this is a setback, I don't expect it to majorly affect anything the he is able to do. It may actually allow him to focus on getting his upper body stronger, and to work on his shot. So while obviously a torn ACL is not what you want, I don't think its the most damaging thing in the world either. Nerlens also seems like a great kid. By all accounts, he is a hard worker and isn't a dumbass.

Overall

Overall, I walk away thinking the sky is the limit. Offensively, he's not as bad as you think, and defensively, he's probably better. And he's got room to grow in both areas. If he truly is a hard worker and good kid, I see no reason (barring injuries) that he doesn't become a future all-star and DPOY.

Feel free to share any thoughts, concerns or questions in the comments.

(I'd like to apologize in advance for the length. I completely understand if you wanna say TL:DR and jump straight to comments)

When I first started this, I hadn't really ever watched Noel play, but I had heard a few things:

1. Defensively, he's a machine. Nothing he can't do.

2. Offensively, he's extremely raw.

So after collecting some information and watching 6(Maryland, Baylor, Louisville, Duke, Notre Dame, and Ole Miss) games, here is what I came away with:

Physicals

Stats

Offense

Strengths

Weaknesses

Defense

Strengths

Weaknesses

Other

Overall

Feel free to share any thoughts, concerns or questions in the comments.

Fake NBA Trade Rumors Thread

vottomatic — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 19:15:26 -0000

Is anybody else extremely disappointed/bored at the lack of trade rumors thus far? i mean the top story on HoopsRumors.com right now is that the Sixers signed Jeremy Pargo for the rest of the season, extremely exciting I know. Anyway, in order to deal with this issue I'm gonna start a fake rumors thread. I'll go ahead and start it off.

The Cleveland Cavaliers and Milwaukee Bucks are in talks centered around C Larry Sanders. A possible third team is involved. The Cavs are also in search of a young SF to round out their roster. Chandler Parsons, Kwahi Leonard, and Paul George have been discussed as possible targets.

Alright fellow commenters. Now its your turn. And don't restrict it to Cavs only. I'm bored and NBA GM's apparently aren't leaking info to reporters such as Sam Amico (can you blame 'em?).

Also, one final note: Kyrie Irving is the shizz.

Alright fellow commenters. Now its your turn. And don't restrict it to Cavs only. I'm bored and NBA GM's apparently aren't leaking info to reporters such as Sam Amico (can you blame 'em?).

Also, one final note: Kyrie Irving is the shizz.

New technology that will significantly change basketball analytics

vottomatic — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 07:28:05 -0000

Someone mentioned this technology in a thread a while back and I apologize for not remembering who it was. But after seeing that comment I looked into it a bit, and what I ended up finding was really interesting.

The technology is called SportVu, from Stats, and Vantage, from Competitive Analytics Company and currently half the teams in the NBA are using it (the Cavs are one). Its a great concept. I won't go too in depth here of how it works, but basically it tracks the movement of the ball and every player on the court, including shots, rebounds, assits, etc, with cameras in the rafters 25 times per second. It yields information like who shoots from where and how much. And who passed to who after how many dribbles. If you wanted to know how many times Kyrie took 2 dribbles and shot a three, this could tell you. You want TT's shooting % on post touches? Yep, got that, too.

The most promising part of this to me is defensively. Let's be honest. Offensively, we pretty much know who's good and why. Sure, there are a few things that could be ironed out, and this will help, but, to me, this will only reaffirm our opinions of most players offensively, while giving us more detail of precisely how players are most effective. Perhaps where the game and analytics (no, not that Analytics) will benefit the most from this technology is defensively. Right now, to put if frankly, defensive metrics suck. Sure, blocked shots and steals can tell you if a player has a certain ability, but how many times does a player gamble and lose to take a chance to stuff his stat card. Currently, there isn't really a good way to measure overall defense other than watching the game, and let's be realistic, you can't watch each possession 5 times to watch every possession of every player. This is where this technology can help, especially for perimeter players. This technology can tell us how often a player is within a certain number of feet from an opposing player. So if you wanted to know truly how bad Kyrie is at D (he's really not THAT bad guys), you could just ask what % of the time is Kyrie within 3 ft or 5 ft of his man, and this could potentially tell you! How awesome is that!?!?

It can give other great info such as how often a player has a hand up during a shot, or how many rebounds a player gets that is in or outside of their "zone", or how many times a player (Alonzo Gee) drives to the hoop (too many) and turns it over (a lot). The potential is really limitless. With continued advancement and refinement of the cameras/computers there is really nothing about a game/player that can't be known. I just hope it gets released it to the public, or I get a job where I can use it (I prefer the latter).

I'll try to link to as many pages about the technology that I can so if you wanna know more you can find it:

SportVu Article Part I, Part II, and Part III

I really want to get your guy's thoughts on this. What do you think is potentially the most beneficial aspect to this technology?

I'll try to link to as many pages about the technology that I can so if you wanna know more you can find it:

SportVu Article Part I, Part II, and Part III

I really want to get your guy's thoughts on this. What do you think is potentially the most beneficial aspect to this technology?

If I were GM of the Cavs...

vottomatic — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 08:23:33 -0000

After toying around on the Trade Machine for days, I think I may have finally found my favorite idea (and it doesn't seem to unrealistic, to me at least). Alright, here it is.

First off, a trade. I had been in the don't trade Andy camp for a while now, but if this was an actually possibility, I'd do it. http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=d4hjkqw (I don't see much need for a pick to be thrown in, but if there is Dallas could give up a lottery protected first rounder to the Bucks)

Cavs - Get a young defensive enforcer at C that can develop along with the rest of the crew, veteran leader at SF, and good backup PG.

Bucks - Get one of the best centers in the game at the moment, a decent bench player, can dump a bad contract, and maybe get a pick too

Mavs - Get a nice young PG that they've been searching for

Next, free agent signings. Just one. Paul Millsap or David West. I'll let Chris Grant make this decision.

Finally, the draft. Get a SF that can develop behind Marion for a year (my choice would be Porter).

That would leave you with a 2013 Cavs roster of:

PG: KI, Collison

SG: DW, Gee, Miles

SF: Marion, Porter

PF: West or Millsap, TT

C: Sanders, Zeller

One final thought: Just imagine the defense of a lineup that had Collison, Gee, Marion, TT, and Sanders. Alright that's all I got. Feel free to tell me what you think, and give your own wishes and desires.

After toying around on the Trade Machine for days, I think I may have finally found my favorite idea (and it doesn't seem to unrealistic, to me at least). Alright, here it is.

Cavs - Get a young defensive enforcer at C that can develop along with the rest of the crew, veteran leader at SF, and good backup PG.

Bucks - Get one of the best centers in the game at the moment, a decent bench player, can dump a bad contract, and maybe get a pick too

Mavs - Get a nice young PG that they've been searching for

Next, free agent signings. Just one. Paul Millsap or David West. I'll let Chris Grant make this decision.

Finally, the draft. Get a SF that can develop behind Marion for a year (my choice would be Porter).

That would leave you with a 2013 Cavs roster of:

PG: KI, Collison

SG: DW, Gee, Miles

SF: Marion, Porter

PF: West or Millsap, TT

C: Sanders, Zeller

The Final Case For Nic Batum

vottomatic — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 21:22:16 -0000

I've gone back and forth on this for a couple of days now, but I think today after really going over the numbers I've firmly cemented my position in favor of going hard after Nic Batum.

First off consider the player. Batum is 23 years old and fits this team perfectly (Chad Ford said as much in his chat today). Who else is out there that is a better option not considering the contract (I'll get to that in a second)? Free agent this year or next? Go check em out there's not a lot of intriguing options. Trade? Are any available SF's better than Batum? Not really. 2013 Draft? Pick wouldn't be all that younger than Batum and would need a lot more time to develop. Not to mention the risk that we make a bad pick.

I don't think it's in question whether Batum would be a good fit here as a player. The question has been the contract. So time to get hypothetical. Let's say the Cavs offered him the max 4 year $58 million. This breaks down to roughly $13.5 mil this year, with roughly $600,000 raises, for a final salary in '15/'16 of right around $15.5 million.

I've gone back and forth on this for a couple of days now, but I think today after really going over the numbers I've firmly cemented my position in favor of going hard after Nic Batum.

This year the Cavs have a committed salary of about $45 million to 13 players so far once you account for our RFA's and rookies. If you add in Batum that gets you to a couple million under $60 million, which would still leave room for the Cavs to sign a backup PG for a mil or two.

Next year the Cavs have only $30 million committed to 7 players. Add in two mid first round picks and you're at roughly $33-35 million to 9 players. Add in Batum and we've got under $50 million for 10 players (KI, Waiters, Gee, Batum, TT, Zeller, Andy, Jones, two first round picks). All those players could/should be contributors and we still have more than $10 million in cap space to fill out the rest of the roster.

The year after that (14/15) the Cavs would have roughly $55 million committed to the core previously mentioned plus another two first rounders (their own and Sactown's). 12 total players with $5-$8 million in cap space (depending on actual cap number). This is the last year of Andy's deal and the last year of Kyrie and TT's rookie contracts.

So this is where the situation would get interesting. In 2015/16 Kyrie and TT would be eligible for extensions. Let's say Kyrie gets the max deal and TT starts out at $10 million (if you object, just let me know). This puts the Cavs at just over $60 million when accounting for the loss of Andy and yet another two 1st rounders. (KI, DW, NB, TT, TZ, Gee and 6(!) first round picks). That's 12 total spots and the Cavs would still be under, or at worst slightly over, the cap. And tell me that's not a championship roster. Even if some picks don't develop, you've got 6(!) mid to late first round. You're bound to hit on a couple.

After this Batum and Gee come off the books, freeing up about 20 million to go towards extensions of DW and/or Zeller. To me its THE absolute perfect player, at the perfect time. It is set up too good to actually happen though and that is what disappoints me. So this goes to Chris Grant. If you're reading this, and I know you are, make it happen. If you disagree let me know and tell me why.

(Note: Contract information regarding draft picks comes from Larry Coon's FAQ page on the new CBA. And if anyone know how I could post a picture of a screen shot, I could post the Excel file I used to help make this a little more clear.)

Brandon Roy

vottomatic — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 05:38:27 -0000

First, let's reflect on the terrible luck of the Portland Trailblazers. Without debilitating injuries to potential stars Brandon Roy and Greg Oden, the Blazers may have been the team everyone would be talking about as the next dynasty in the NBA.

However, injuries (unfortunately) happen, some worse than others. Roy has had issues with both knees dating all the way back to his college days at Washington. He has never had a major injury, such as an ACL tear, with the most severe being a slight meniscus tear. After a few years in the NBA, the overall lack of cartilage in his knees forced Roy to take medical retirement.

Roy apparently isn't taking retirement all that fondly as he has announced that he plans to return to the NBA. Brandon is apparently feeling, and looking, pretty good and, more importantly, healthy. He allegedly underwent surgery similar to what Kobe and A-Rod had done to their knees, and both of those players have praised the success of their surgeries. Roy has been linked to the Lakers, Heat, and Mavs, among others. But I ask you, what about the Cavs?

If you are Brandon Roy, why on Earth would you want to come to Cleveland to come to play for a team not close to championship contention? Well, Cleveland may be more attractive than you think. One obvious reason is cash. The Cavs have the cap space to offer Roy more money than just about anyone else. Another encouraging fact is that Roy does not appear to have fallen victim to the "Big City" dreams. He already signed an extension with Portland, which he expressed nothing but love and admiration for, so he does not seem to have that need to do what ever he wants on the biggest stage possible.

Another possible reason the Cavs may be an intriguing option is playing time and team fit. With degenerative knees playing more than 30 minutes every night would probably not be the smartest thing. And unlike other non-playoff teams, Roy wouldn't be asked to carry such a heavy load. The Cavs have a strong backcourt to build on with Kyrie Irving, and with all indications pointing to drafting a SG (Beal maybe) sometime in the upcoming draft. This would allow Roy to come off the bench. To me, if he could be even a glimpse of what he was in Portland, Roy is the perfect guy to have coming off the bench behing Kyrie and Beal (just using him for example). Brandon's greatest strength is his playmaking and decision making. He could easily fit beside Kyrie and take over ball-handling duties if Kyrie is on the bench.

For the Cavs, this opens up their lineup. Boobie Gibson would no longer be an undersized SG. Instead Boobie could be moved to backup PG. He could play and guard point with Roy handling a majority the ball handling duties while in the game. With Gee and a possible rookie at SF as well, 3/5ths of the Cavs lineup and rotation would potentially be set for a while (4/5ths if you like TT and consider Andy a PF).

Now this obviously doesn't come without its risks, but I believe its a risk at least worth exploring. What are your thoughts?

Headed to the Windy City

vottomatic — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 15:27:13 -0000

Headed to the Windy City

I will be heading up to Chicago for a mini vacation with the family (mom, dad, and brother). We are going to the Reds game on Sunday, so i will finally get to see the historic Wrigley field, although there will be a pole in the way because my mom went cheap and bought the obstructed view tickets. Oh well. We are taking a bus up and back, so I have 8-9 hours of uncomfortable sitting in my near future. Anywho, on to the reason I wrote this. I was just wondering if anybody has any tips/advice/ideas of places to go or not go or along those lines. Thanks in advance for all your insightful thoughts.

That JohnnySmith28 guy might actually know something

vottomatic — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 05:36:58 -0000

That JohnnySmith28 guy might actually know something

All his tweets have been removed so I can't link it directly, but roughly half way down the page CoreyA quotes Johnny saying "UJ will not happen quickly. It started well, looked to be quick deal, now CO acting like children. Won't happen unless CO reasonable." And he predicted the west coast deal a couple days earlier. Walt must have found the leak and laid down the law.

Rangers and Reds in on Webb

vottomatic — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 20:42:39 -0000

Rangers and Reds in on Webb

Would be great IF he can return to form, but will he? If he is acquired does this mean a trade of one or more of the young guys is on the horizon? I kinda saw this coming when it was reported there was a mystery NL Central team.