Fixin' Up Dem Cavs

Bottom Line: We have to win now.

I've never been the "Lebron James is leaving" chicken little type, but from everything I've seen and read, he probably is gonna go. And then again he might not. But here is what I do know for sure. We have the best player in the NBA on our team for two more seasons. He needs a bit of help to get over the hump he needs some guys who can make plays and make baskets.

It's obvious we aren't going to make a major splash in free agency with our trade exemption, so we are going to have to get Lebron help via the trade.

Here's the sad part though, we don't even really have many trade-able assets. We have a few expiring contracts, Sasha Pavlovic, AV and that's pretty much it. So I don't expect us to pull off any Kevin Garnett like trade miracles, we'll have to be creative and get good undervalued players.

So without any further ado, if I'm the GM of the Cleveland Cavaliers, here is what I do:

First trade:
Cleveland Trades: Anderson Varejao and Eric Snow (or Damon Jones)
Chicago Trades: Kirk Hinrich and Jameson Curry

Cleveland does it because they get a quality PG whose value is down after having a rough year, Hinrich though, actually works better in Cleveland's offensive sets of self-creating, clock wasting ands Lebron finding than he does in Chicago's everybody can score offense. Chicago does it, because they just drafted their PG of the future, they need a hustle C-PF, and Eric Snow gives them cap space next year or even this year if he does indeed retire.

Second Trade:
Cleveland Trades: Wally Sczerbiak
New York Trades: Zach Randolph and 2010 1st round draft pick

I know this isn't going to be popular but why not? First of all, many of you are probably thinking to yourselves, why the hell would the Knicks do this? The latest rumor I've been hearing is that the Knicks have entertained the thought of trading Z-Bo for a second round draft pick. Just to get rid of him and his hefty salary (14.4 million a year like Big Ben).

First of all, the case for Randolph- He's a legit PF who averages 20 and 10 for the past 4 seasons. He's a good rebounder and a solid inside presence and nobody questions his on court attitude or ability. Everybody's problem with him is that he is nuts when he is off the court. Maybe I'm crazy, but I'll take my chances. We also get a 2010 first round pick which along with our own first round pick could turn into some pretty solid players and a fresh start if Lebron does in fact leave Cleveland.


The problems with these deals:
Both Z-Bo and Hinrich are locked up for a good sum of money for a long time (4 more seasons for Hinrich and 3 more for Randolph) along with Big Ben for 2 more seasons, we have alot of money invested and not much flexibility in the future.


The goodsies with these deals:
We now have an NBA team that can beat anybody. With a starting lineup of:
PG- Hinrich (14 PPG, 8 assists)
SG- Pavlovic (10 ppg, Good D)
SF- Lebron (27 ppg, 8, 8)
PF- Randolph (20 ppg, 11 rebounds)
C- Ilgauskas (15 ppg, 9 rebs)
6th man- Boobie
Bench- Delonte, JJ Hickson, Ben Wallace, Curry, Damon Jones, Joe Smith, Darnell Jackson, etc.

We don't give up alot of talent (not like we had much to give anyway) and we have a good young core signed long term.