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Cleveland Cavaliers (Last Year: 66-16)
Depth Chart:
C: Shaquille O’Neal/Zydrunas Ilgauskas
PF: Anderson Varejao/J.J. Hickson/Darnell Jackson/Leon Powe
SF: LeBron James/Jamario Moon/Jawad Williams
SG: Anthony Parker/Delonte West/Danny Green/Coby Karl
PG: Mo Williams/Daniel Gibson
Head Coach: Mike Brown (5th
year)
2009-2010 Team Salary: $81.6 million
Projected 2010-2011 Team
Salary: approximately $35.1 million
Off-Season Grade: Aced
Trading Ben Wallace and Sasha
Pavlovic for Shaq made a whole lot of sense. I mean, why not?
Both former Cavs were not going to play vital roles in Cleveland this
season and Shaq could be the force inside the Cavs need to take the
next step of winning the NBA title. If it does not work out, Shaq
is a free agent after this season, so it was worth rolling the dice.
The Cavs also did a nice job
of bringing in complementary players. Anthony Parker will bring
his three-point prowess to Cleveland while Jamario Moon is a nice addition
to the bench. When Leon Powe gets healthy, he could be an absolute
bargain and a huge spark off the bench during the postseason like he
was last year in Boston.
2009-2010 Outlook:
With the pending free agency
of King James, it may be now or never in Cleveland. Orlando and
Boston both improved in the offseason, so claiming the Eastern Conference
crown will be no easy task. But LeBron continues to develop into
an all-around dominating player and is running with the best talent
he has played with in his tenure in Cleveland. As Shaq said, “The
goal is to get the King a ring.” Anything less will be considered
a disappointment.
Looking Ahead to the Summer of 2010:
Minus that whole “LeBron
opting out of his contract and possibly abandoning the Cavs franchise”
thing, there isn’t much going on in Cleveland this summer. Oh,
except for the fact that both of their aging centers are free agents.
I am not going to beat a dead
horse. LeBron is very likely to test the free-agent waters and
could sign with the Knicks, Nets or Clippers, but he’ll probably stay in
Cleveland. Shaq and Big Z hit the market as well. The only
way the Diesel is returning is if LeBron re-signs. Otherwise,
he is gone. Ilgauskas is rumored to be considering retirement
after this season.
If Cleveland loses all three, they will still be about $17 million under the cap and could pursue one of the many big-named free agents. Translating it all – it is going to be an insanely interesting offseason for the Cavs.
2009-10 NBA Power Ranking: 4th
Written by Paul Banks of NBC Chicago and the Washington Times, and David Kay of the The Sports Bank.
Send Paul an e-mail here: paulb05 AT hotmail DOT com.
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