If they want to improve the team, they need Ben Wallace to not walk away so they can use his expiring contract! Of course, his contract’s probably even more appealing to GMs looking to save $$ now, since he’s said he’s willing to leave some $$ on the table if need be.

It is amazing how quickly the story shifts from the improvement in Cleveland’s supporting cast to the role players’ failure in such a short period of time. They need to be kicking themselves now for not using Wally’s contract at the deadline to bring aboard a legit #2 guy; seems like someone like Vince Carter was available if they were willing to absorb the contract, wouldn’t have been a perfect fit but would have been more useful down the stretch than World. New Orleans would have given them Chandler (not sure if he would have been healthy enough to help in the playoffs, but a better option than Sideshow Bob for next year). They had one of the most-desired contracts during a period everyone was looking to shed salary, and just wasted it. Meh, they deserved to lose.

Cavs will probably go “all in” (or as much as they can do so with what they can offer) to take another run at a title next year before they figure to lose Bron.

The Magic exposed the Cavs for what they were—-a 1-man team that desperately needs to upgrade the supporting cast.

Not moving Wally at the deadline didn’t help but he’s now in the past. Look for them to move Wallace one way or the other for support. Perhaps Bosh or Amare, preferably with the ability to sign them longterm to get Bron to think staying put for his next contract. I would expect them to use their MLE on the same set of bigs we’re looking at to get Z some backup. With Bosh/Amare, Z, Smith and an MLE big, Varejao isn’t needed.

If West, Gibson and Williams get it together next year, this team will be in good shape. Add Hickson and a decent backup wing pickup (LLE or vet min), this team is still a contender.

If he doesn’t agree to a contract extension on 7/18, should the Cavs trade him? I think so! They could get a very good package of young players to build their team around while another team gets a chance to get one of the best players in the (history of the?) league and a potential chance at a championship and keeping him past the one year.

Why wouldn’t the Knicks trade some young talent to Cleveland now? Assuming they couldn’t make a good enough offer, what about the Nets? The Clippers? The Bulls? These are all big market teams that could reasonably expect LeBron to be happy there if they put the requisite pieces around him and make their team competitive.

From Cleveland’s perspective, it is trade him now for real value, try a sign-and-trade a year from now and hope you get something more than a 40-year old overpaid veteran and a benchwarming corpse, or watch LeBron leave for nothing in return.

Joe Smith was a non factor which was still better than Z who was a negative factor. Perk and Big Baby were much more effective keeping Howard from his can’t-stop-him spots. Z looked hopeless. There were many bloggers here who pined for Joe Smith but as usual the girl you don’t have wasn’t any better than the ones we did have. Another case-in-point where “experience” gets way over-rated on this blog. Experienced starters, yes. Experienced bench players, yes, but only if the guy hasn’t lost his game. PJ still had it. Joe Smith didn’t. Danny knew. Danny will know this summer.

I would say that Cleveland’s search for point-guard-of-future is not over. Mo Williams was only so-so when it mattered most.

Losing Varejao would be a killer for them. He was pretty damn good even if you wanted to punch him. I don’t know why Wally was no help. Could he have lost his game that fast? He should have been an instant offense guy off bench.

Maybe they could do a sign + trade with Utah for Boozer….

Oh, wait. Guess not.

What about BBD, he’d help their front line and is available for MLE money. For the matter they should consider signing a guy like Powe – he’d absolutely thrive playing next to ‘Bron, and I believe he played AAU team with Lebron (and Perk?.) Sure they don’t get him back till after the All star break, but we’ve already seen Lebron can get his team to a top playoff spot on his own.

I don’t see CLE having the pieces to get Amare or Bosh, without a third team stepping in.

BTW signing Gibson for five years 21 million was a waste of money if it prevents them from doing work this offseason. I wonder if they find a guy to play SG next to Lebron if West is available.

them signing BBD wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world for the C’s.

It sucks up their budget for a player that isn’t worth that much and has limited abilities. KG/Powe/Perk vs BBD next year doesn’t scare me.

Don’t get me wrong. I like BBD and think he can contribute if he were with the C’s but seeing him play for the Cavs doesn’t exactly strike any fear in me for the C’s ability to beat that team.

I think the cav’s will sign him but he will only sign after they do some tinkering with there players. I am a Celtic fan but I grew up in Cleveland. We would go to Akron to party some weekends. Akron is a one horse town, the people are proud of it. He is not going to leave that little town. He can take a jet and be in NY in one hour. Please do not forget Lebron made 120 mil before he played a NBA game. Money is not the issue, winning is the issue. The Net are not ready to contend for a title nor the Knicks.

Nike is the catalist behind all this.(which is wrong), Nike should not be able to dictate where a player goes…..that’s where the 120mil came from.

The Cav’s management needs to apparently appease the arrogant messiah and retool the arrogant messiah’s group of “my guys”. I want to puke every time the messiah gets in front of of a microphone and spouts out this “my guys” nonsense. The messiah needs a Pippen but even with a Pippen the messiah doesn’t have Jordan’s character.

Maybe the arrogant messiah won’t have to leave his “my guys” out to answer reporter’s questions then.

What an arrogant coward.

They’ll try their best to make a trade with their expiring assets, while trying to avoid missing out on their 2010 opportunities. I don’t know if they’ll manage to pull that off though, looks unlikely.

I think we’ll see the same team next season. They can only really afford one year contracts if they re-sign Varejao (which looks very likely), so that limits their options in free agency.

GET A ROOM!!!!

They will resign AV and try to trade the expirings.

Why is it a bombshell that Varejão is opting out? Wallace wanting a retirement is very good news for them; it makes his contract more valuable, as he’s going to agree with a buy-out and offer some immediate savings to a potential trade partner.