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Cleveland Cavs (2016 NBA Champions)

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and the tanking is in full go mode

The Cavs could shut down Kyrie Irving (knee) after he complained of soreness following Wednesday's game.

Irving played 38 minutes and had a massive stat line with 20 points, 10 dimes seven rebounds, two steals, a block and two 3-pointers on Wednesday, but his knee is still an issue. The fact that the Cavs are considering shutting him down is not exactly the most promising sign, and we shouldn't have to wait long for more info. If Irving is sidelined for an extended period, Shaun Livingston would likely step into a starter's role with Dion Waiters seeing increased ballhandling duties as well.
Source: Jason Lloyd on Twitter
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Bucks21;2312395; said:
As long as Kyrie can play 3/4 the games next year, this team will make the playoffs.
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I don't have a problem except that Kyrie seems to be pretty fragile. They need to spend the off-season bulking him up so that he can play complete seasons. It isn't like they can shut him down in March next year to rest up for a playoff run.

I'm sure last year and this year it is more about the tank than a serious injury, but the kid hasn't been able to make it through a season since HS.

If they do shut down Kyrie I take back my 28 win comment.
 
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I guess alot of talk for next season depends on team health. If Andy were to stay healthy for most of the season, we'd have a starting 5 of Andy, Kyrie, Dion, Tristan and (unfortunately) Gee.

Speights, Zeller and probably a rookie would be bigs off the bench. Ellington, maybe Livingston and maybe the second rookie would be guards off the bench. I think Livingston likes Scott and likes it here, even if Kyrie and Dion take most of the minutes.

Contract-wise, they're most likely under 30 Mil next season, then add in another 6/7 Mil if they draft a couple rookies and re-sign Livingston.

As far as long term contracts, Dion and Zeller are under contract (with qo's) until the end of the 16/17 season. Kyrie and TT are covered until the end
of the 15/16 season.

For the all important 14/15 free agent year, they only have 31.7 Mil committed to the six players and they're all team option contracts. If Andy and Gee were gone, that would only 18.6 Mil. Plus, add in rookie contracts from the 2013 and 2014 drafts to get back up to around 30 Mil. Really, though, does it matter? By that time, will good free agents want to come to Cleveland ? I'm not so sure. I'm sure some players would love to play with Kyrie, but would max players want to do it? Aside from LBJ, who are expected to be available at that time? I'm sure they'd take him back but they certainly can't be counting on it. Either way, Grant has shown me enough that he has
a pretty good idea how to shape the roster.
 
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Brutus1;2312406; said:
I guess alot of talk for next season depends on team health. If Andy were to stay healthy for most of the season, we'd have a starting 5 of Andy, Kyrie, Dion, Tristan and (unfortunately) Gee.

Speights, Zeller and probably a rookie would be bigs off the bench. Ellington, maybe Livingston and maybe the second rookie would be guards off the bench. I think Livingston likes Scott and likes it here, even if Kyrie and Dion take most of the minutes.

Contract-wise, they're most likely under 30 Mil next season, then add in another 6/7 Mil if they draft a couple rookies and re-sign Livingston.

As far as long term contracts, Dion and Zeller are under contract (with qo's) until the end of the 16/17 season. Kyrie and TT are covered until the end
of the 15/16 season.

For the all important 14/15 free agent year, they only have 31.7 Mil committed to the six players and they're all team option contracts. If Andy and Gee were gone, that would only 18.6 Mil. Plus, add in rookie contracts from the 2013 and 2014 drafts to get back up to around 30 Mil. Really, though, does it matter? By that time, will good free agents want to come to Cleveland ? I'm not so sure. I'm sure some players would love to play with Kyrie, but would max players want to do it? Aside from LBJ, who are expected to be available at that time? I'm sure they'd take him back but they certainly can't be counting on it. Either way, Grant has shown me enough that he has
a pretty good idea how to shape the roster.
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That better not be our starting 5 lol
 
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BUCK3YE5;2312414; said:
That better not be our starting 5 lol
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That's why I think the highest pick needs to be a SF. I like Gee better off the bench. I would go with Kyrie, Waiters, draft pick(Porter?), Thompson, and Zeller starting with Livingston, Ellington, Gee, Speights, and Andy off the bench to start the game. Might replace Gee or Ellington with the second rookie. I'd split Zeller and Andy's minutes right down the middle and hopefully keep Andy healthy. Throw Oden in the mix if he signs with the Cavs. The only reason I would start Zeller over Andy is because Andy and Thompson are best playing around the basket. Speights and Zeller are able to spot up a little better to keep the lane clear.
 
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http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/5-on-5-130307/breaking-futures-nba-losing-teams

1. Which East team with a losing record has the best long-term outlook?

Henry Abbott, ESPN.com: Cleveland Cavaliers. They have Kyrie Irving, young bigs and cap space, which could quickly become an interesting combination. Honorable mention to the Sixers, who are a healthy Andrew Bynum away from having real potential.

Andrew Han, Clipper Blog: Cleveland Cavaliers. In Kyrie Irving, the Cavs have a prospect many would deem to be knocking on the doors of stardom, if he isn't already there. And because he's only in the second year of his rookie contract, Cleveland will likely be enjoying Uncle Drew for at least the rest of this decade.

Danny Nowell, Portland Roundball: Cleveland Cavaliers. With Tristan Thompson and Dion Waiters looking like long-term rotation fixtures and not the busts they were initially assumed to be, it's hard not to say Cleveland. When you've got Kyrie Irving on your team, it doesn't take much to make the future bright.

Benjamin Polk, A Wolf Among Wolves: Cleveland Cavaliers. Cleveland's got a good coach, a great salary situation and, most importantly, Kyrie Irving, the best player of any of the losing teams in the East. Plus, they're bad enough to land some more talent in this upcoming draft.

Tom Sunnergren, Hoop 76: Detroit Pistons. Among the rarest commodities in sports is a young, dominant NBA big man. In Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond, the Pistons have two of them. Add Jose Calderon and "Exciting Young Lottery Pick X" to the mix, and suddenly you have a team that could make waves as soon as next season.
 
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Brutus1;2312406; said:
I guess alot of talk for next season depends on team health. If Andy were to stay healthy for most of the season, we'd have a starting 5 of Andy, Kyrie, Dion, Tristan and (unfortunately) Gee.

Speights, Zeller and probably a rookie would be bigs off the bench. Ellington, maybe Livingston and maybe the second rookie would be guards off the bench. I think Livingston likes Scott and likes it here, even if Kyrie and Dion take most of the minutes.

Contract-wise, they're most likely under 30 Mil next season, then add in another 6/7 Mil if they draft a couple rookies and re-sign Livingston.

As far as long term contracts, Dion and Zeller are under contract (with qo's) until the end of the 16/17 season. Kyrie and TT are covered until the end
of the 15/16 season.

For the all important 14/15 free agent year, they only have 31.7 Mil committed to the six players and they're all team option contracts. If Andy and Gee were gone, that would only 18.6 Mil. Plus, add in rookie contracts from the 2013 and 2014 drafts to get back up to around 30 Mil. Really, though, does it matter? By that time, will good free agents want to come to Cleveland ? I'm not so sure. I'm sure some players would love to play with Kyrie, but would max players want to do it? Aside from LBJ, who are expected to be available at that time? I'm sure they'd take him back but they certainly can't be counting on it. Either way, Grant has shown me enough that he has
a pretty good idea how to shape the roster.
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I posted this on another site and it is similar to what your are saying. IMO, the Cavs need to continue to do what they are doing:

Build through the draft and make smart trades (the Memphis trade this year for example). IMO, the Cavs are eyeing the 2014 FA class like some posters have stated and won't focus much on anyone other than position fillers to manage cap space for 2013/2014 season with the exception of Speights. At this moment, the draft is too fluid to determine where and who the Cavs will pick. IMO, it depends on whether they get the Lakers pick or not. However, both 2nd round picks will be used to help the Cavs move up in the 1st round.

For the 2013/2014 season the Cavs have $28,652,902M committed to 7 players with Ellington and Casspi being RFAs making it 9 and making it approximately $35M. It would not surprise me to see Casspi released or traded before or during the draft making the number 8. So knock that amount down to $33M. Which means the Cavs MUST spend $19M to round out their roster to reach the projected team cap (85%) should be around $52M with luxary tax rules projecting aroung $71 - 72M.

Here is how the roster will probably look after the season and before FA and the Draft:

PG- Irving; SG- Dion and Ellington; SF - Gee and Miles; PF - TT and Zeller; C- Andy

So that tells me the Cavs will go after in order of preference: C, SF, and PG in FA and the draft.

In FA, I hope they re-sign Livingston at PG with a two year / 3M deal (1.5M per) and Speights (PF/C) three-year / 16M (5.3M). Speights could get a $6M per year contract and I think the Cavs could do it for 3 years but no more than 3. He'll probably demand a min of 4 years though. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, let?s assume we can get him at 3/16M. Thanks exhawg, you reminded me about Oden. If they sign Oden this summer, I do not think they will attempt to resign Speights and go after best PF/C with their 2nd pick in the 1st round in the draft.

That puts the team at 10 players and approximately 39M in salary going into the draft which leaves $13-14M (min) to sign 2-3 draft picks.
Let?s say the Cavs get the Lakers pick which would be around 18 (which I think happens) and the Cavs draft position remains steady (approximately 6). This is what I would like to see happen. Personally, I believe one or both 2nd round picks will be traded. Just not sure what combination.


6 ? Porter/SF/Georgetown
18 ?Rudy Gobert/C/France
32 ? Brown/P/SG/NCST
34 ?Muscala/PF/C/Bucknell
 
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Too bad they can't do funky salary things in the NBA like they do in the NFL. I'd love to sign Livingston and Speights to huge front loaded contracts and then pay them the league min for 3-4 years after the first year.
 
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