Why choose Milwaukee and Andrew Bogut over Cleveland and LeBron James? $22 million. That’s why.
I don’t blame Michael Redd. There’s the $22 million difference between what Milwaukee can offer and what Cleveland can offer, and on top of that, I’m still not sold on the idea that the Cavaliers front office is a good one. Would you bet your house on the fact that they’ll do a good job surrounding LeBron with talent?
Let’s look at Milwaukee first. They’re looking at a starting line-up of TJ Ford, Michael Redd, Desmond Mason, and Joe Smith. If Ford can get back to his old self during the first half of next season, and Bogut isn’t a complete washout, that should be a playoff team in the East.
Now to Cleveland. They’re looking at a starting line-up of LeBron James and cap room. Their second best player right now is Thirst. Zydrunas Ilgauskus is a free agent, and a big soft, injury-prone defensive liability, even if he does stick around. The point guard situation is pretty brutal. The power forward situation is worse.
The good news is that there’s still a lot of summer left. Larry Hughes is still out there, unrestricted… and if the Cavs were willing to max out Michael Redd, they should be willing to do the same for Larry Hughes. I don’t think Larry Hughes is a max player, but… if Redd is, so is Hughes. The market dictates that he is. Yeah, he runs hot and cold as a shooter, and yeah, his only truly great year was in a contract year, something that always scares me… but still, I trust his overall game more than I do Michael Redd’s.
Joe Johnson is still out there as well, as a restricted free agent. If they’re not comfortable with Hughes, or can’t get him… max out Joe Johnson and see if the Suns can match. What have they got to lose? Johnson’s probably the best player of the big four free agent 2-guards… he’s not quite Ray Allen, but his age makes up for the difference. If the Suns wanted to give him max dollars, they’d have done so by now. At least put them to a decision.
On top of this, the Cavs still have to find a point guard and a big man or two. If Ilgauskas bolts for Atlanta, you’re looking at a frontcourt of Drew Gooden and DeSagana Diop. Ouch. And even if they do find a way to bring in a solid point, and a good 4 and 5… they’re still pretty thin in terms of depth.
I just don’t think it looks all that good in Cleveland right now. Playing with LeBron sounds great on paper, but Cleveland’s learning right now what the Hawks have been learning for a while now… Cap room isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and without a few small miracles, the Cavs could be in trouble. Of missing the playoffs again, and when his rookie deal runs out, of losing LeBron.
Sean
damn that thirst joke is good.
i think players care about money too much…i mean if i were an nba baller, i would be selfish too, but i would choose better teams if the money differential was only like 20mil and i had like 80mil already…but i guess they are trying to get everything they can before they burn out.
it’s just a shame, though.
July 7, 2005 at 3:09 pm
chuckdaddy2000
I agree about cap space being overated. It seems like it just gives your team a chance to overpay someone… and then spend the next year trying to trade them to get the coveted “cap space” back. When was the last good free agent steal- Shaq? The question I have is whether the Redd contract will turn out to be a Juwan Howard albatross or more like a Kenyon Martin (not worth the max, but good enough).
July 7, 2005 at 3:25 pm
Anonymous
yehhh
cap space is overrated
if these “plenty of cap” teams are smart, like hawks, cavs, et al., they’ll just bring solid role player type guys for 1, 2, and 3 year deals with their cap room, refuse to give long term deals of 4,5,6 years unless they can get a value deal for that length….get these teams better slowly, ull then attract the big name in the coming years, until then…dont fall for the banana in the tailpipe, dont overpay…like milwaukee just did
but thats what the isiah and the knicks are for, he’ll bail milwaukee out in a few years
look at the sonics, they filled their roster with solid role players, hustle guys, build like that, u’ll attract ppl eventually, as long u dont screw urself by overpaying, then ur stuck
for the cavs, time is not a luxury with lebron, so they will overpay, and then they still wont fill all their needs, and lebron will leave anyway…so just show lebron ull do it the right way, and maybe that will be good enuff, seems like teams can keep their own players anyway, as long as they show the front office isnt filled with dunderheads (which so far thats what cleveland has shown)
but build it right the next 2 years, they’ll be fine with lebron
July 7, 2005 at 10:35 pm
Herb Kohl for Prez
Remember a couple years ago Orlando traded away several servicable players for cap room because they thought they could get Tim Duncan. TD re-upped in the middle of that season and now the Magic suck. That was a rare case of a star being available, albeit briefly, and this year’s market does not have that. I agree the best free agent is Joe Johnson and even he isn’t worth the max. Besides the Jordan-Pippen Bulls I can’t think of one team that has won the title without a legitimate center. Zydrunas Ilgauskas is a terrible teammate for LeBron who will jump to the Knicks. People keep talking about playing with LeBron but there is no guarantee that he wants to play on a team with nobodies, no coach, in a town with Drew Carey as your biggest fan. The best thing to do with cap room is to not splurge on one player but fill needs like the Spurs have done. That being said Redd is the best shooter in the free agent pool with the exception of nearly unattainable Joe Johnson and he fills the Bucks’ biggest need. They’ve got a solid young lineup with only the bench as a glaring hole.
July 8, 2005 at 4:09 am
Jeff
Larry Hughes just signed a 5 year deal w/ Cleveland. This is gonna be a baaaaad duo! Contrary to what most people have been saying, I think Hughes was the best Free Agent out there this summer. It’s all about looking at per-minute statistical production….Hughes is in another class. Ray Allen was the only other Free Agent who came close. Of course Hughes is younger than Ray Ray. The only question mark is Larry’s health. He needs to stay on the court.
July 8, 2005 at 12:51 pm
JT
Herb Kohl for Prez said…
“Remember a couple years ago Orlando traded away several servicable players for cap room because they thought they could get Tim Duncan. TD re-upped in the middle of that season and now the Magic suck.”
Also remember that during the same offseason, Orlando signed Tracy McGrady and Grant Hill.
There were a decent number of star players available (this was before Grant Hill’s injury troubles and he was coming of one of his best seasons as a Piston).
I’m pretty sure that Duncan flirted with the Magic for a little while before re-signing with the Spurs. He didn’t re-sign during the season.
Bad luck with Grant Hill and a pouting Tracy McGrady ended that era for the Magic, but at the time they were on top of the world, landing two top free agents with bright futures.
July 8, 2005 at 7:07 pm