The Future of The Cleveland Cavs

Sorry for the hiatus on posting but I have a quick rant before getting to the meat of the article. I go to espn.com today and what is on the front page? Another article about the Miami Heat. Isn't it enough that Miami has great nightlife, weather, delicious Cuban women, but they had to steal my former favorite athlete and sports writer. Now ESPN is jamming the Heat down my throat. I understand that the interest in the Heat is incredibly high but I have personally vowed to avoid it as much as possible. However, I accidentally stumbled upon their highlights from a preseason the other night and I saw the unthinkable. LeBron is posting up. I have been waiting to see that for seven years. Now, the most unstoppable force in basketball is finally realizing that he can flat out abuse people in the post. Great. Thanks for developing that part of your game in Cleveland, LeBron.

That brings me to the true topic of this post: The Cleveland Cavs. They are stuck in NBA purgatory. NBA purgatory is the chance to make the playoffs but no realistic aspirations of winning a title. They have enough decent veteran players in Mo Williams, Antawn Jamison, Anderson Varejao, etc. to win 35-40 games. But, you know what that gets you? A crappy draft pick. The Cavs need to tank and tank badly.

The Cavs need to dump players that will get them inconsequential wins. Mo Williams and Jamison are guys that can get the Cavs enough wins that make them competitive. According to basketball-reference here are the wins shares over the last 3 years.

Mo Williams

07-08 - 4.5wins

08-09 - 9.8wins
09-10 - 6.7wins

Antawn Jamison

07-08 - 9.2wins

08-09 - 8.1wins

09-10 - 5.8wins

By getting rid of them the Cavs can "save" themselves from winning about 10-15 games. It's not even about great return on Mo and Jamison its about being able to lose more games.

So if the Cavs tank by trading away their veterans, what would be their plan. There are three was to improve via tanking.

1. Accumulate Draft Picks - The Cavs have accumulated some draft picks via the sign and trade with LeBron. If they were able to get some picks for Mo and Jamison that would be an added bonus. Talent can be found in the late first and early second rounds as recent years have proven. However, it can be somewhat blind luck in finding those diamond in the roughs. But, having more darts (draft picks) to throw at the board the more likely they are to find solid NBA players.

2. David Kahn on speed dial - The Cavs did a nice job of acquiring a potential starting point guard in Ramon Sessions from Minnesota for a guy they were going to waive in Delonte West. He's a guy that I have liked since he had a 20 assist game a few years back. But, the Cavs need to keep trading with David Kahn and they will be able to acquire some decent talent for next to nothing.

3. High Lottery Picks - The Cavs and Cleveland will never be able to attract free agents. Thus, the only hope to acquire a superstar is by getting a high lottery pick. Unless, the Cavs get incredibly fortunate, they wont be able to be in that position in the 2011 draft. However, the 2012 is brimming with elite NBA talent. Michael Gilchrist, Austin Rivers, Andre Drummond are just a few names that could come in and be franchise changers. In particular I'm really wanting Gilchrist. He is a long lean forward that can impact the game in every facet. He could fill the Cavs gaping hole on the wing and make people forget about their former SF.

If things break right for the Cavs, you hope by 2013 that they will have a core of Sessions, Hickson, Varejao, a superstar from the 2012 draft and hitting on at least two other picks in 2011, 2012 and 2013 draft. This plan for the Cavs isn't exactly a thing that will keep the fair weather fans interested. But, its really the only chance Cleveland has to be relevant in the NBA anytime soon.