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The Cleveland Cavaliers have been heralded by many as the next NBA champions after the signings of Larry Hughes, Donyell Marshall, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas. In fact, they should be much better, but the question is how much better. Last year Lebron James did it all, racking up 27 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists per game. This is absolutely ridiculous, and Lebron James alone should have turned Cleveland into a playoff team. However, the terrible staff that surrounded James last year proved otherwise, guiding Cleveland to a 42-40 record, narrowly missing the playoffs.
Enter Danny Ferry’s offseason makeover. His first move was to give up Zydrunas Ilgauskas, a man with an incredibly hard-to-spell name who became a star center in the East by default (behind Shaq). In fact, he put up decent stats with 17 points and 9 rebounds per game, but he’s not a game changer. He is too soft and too passive defensively. However, there were no other decent centers on the market and the Cavaliers want to win now, so this was a move they had to make. It would still have been nice to see them try to land Stromile Swift, who would have saved them money and maybe put up better numbers than Ilgauskas. Last year, Swift had 10 points and 5 boards in just 21 minutes. Outside of Memphis’ rotation, he could put up All-Star numbers (at least in the East). Overall, giving up Ilgauskas was a move the Cavaliers had to make, and it was a decent, if expensive, signing.
Ferry then signed Larry Hughes, who played very well in Washington last year, doing a little bit of everything. He put up a 19-6-5 stat line last year, which was absolutely incredible considering he’s never done better than 18-5-2 before. He apparently decided to “get ahead” when he was 26 years old and was on a contract year. He also turned a bit of a thief last year, racking up 3 steals per game and a spot on the NBA All-Defensive Team. Despite this, he is not a good defender at all. Dwayne Wade scored on him almost at will in the Heat-Wizards playoff series. He plays for steals, which can leave him out of position. He also won’t be a great one-on-one defender like Bruce Bowen or Ron Artest. He is good at stealing, but not on defense. In the end, the Cavaliers overpaid for him, giving him $12 million a year, nearly the top dollar. He’s too much money for a guy who may or may not fit in with Lebron James, he’s an injury risk (he’s never played more than 73 games in his career) and he played his best basketball in a contract year. He will make the team better, but not as much as Ferry hoped.
Now Donyell Marshall is a solid signing. He’s a great guy who’s a very good 3-point shooter and he can do it offensively. Unfortunately, he is not a very good defender. He should probably back Drew Gooden, but he can start in his place. He’ll take the pressure off Lebron James with his outside shot and make this team better in the short term.
The Cavaliers’ starting lineup will include Eric Snow at PG, Hughes at SG, James at SF, Marshall/Gooden at PF and Ilgauskas at C. Eric Snow was a good player with Philly, but he didn’t get many opportunities last year behind Jeff. McInnis. He is a solid point guard who provides toughness and leadership. Unfortunately, he couldn’t shoot a 3 if his life depended on it. The Cavaliers’ biggest need last year was the outside shot to keep the defense honest, but outside of Donyell Marshall, they didn’t really address it. A great signing to cap off this team’s offseason would be Damon Jones, a 43 percent 3-point shooter last year. The Cavaliers improved offensively with Marshall and Hughes (anyone is better than Ira Newble), but they took a step back defensively. Gooden and Newble are better defenders than Hughes and Marshall. The Cavaliers will be the Kansas City Chiefs of basketball next season.
This offseason seems to have propelled the Cavaliers into the top 4 in the East, along with Miami, Detroit and Indiana. Their signings weren’t a piece of cake though, and Ilgauskas and Hughes won’t be as good as advertised. However, with Lebron and his recent signings, the Cavaliers should improve a lot, they just aren’t the best in the East.