The Cavaliers traded for Shaquille O'Neal a week ago, but his introductory press conference didn't happen until Thursday afternoon. And for the most part, it was worth the wait. As we've come to expect when Shaq gets in front of a microphone, there were plenty of interesting and entertaining quotes that came out of his first meeting with the Cleveland media.
Shaq kicked things off by flashing the picture to your right, claiming that when he received the initial call from Cavs' GM Danny Ferry, he had to Google him, and when he did, this was the one of the first things to pop up.
Nice way to break the ice, Big Fella. Here are some more highlights from Shaq's first official day as a Cavalier.
We turned the 10-minute cooling off period after the Magic-Cavaliers Eastern Conference finals into a 10-hour cooling off period. But there was some mulling to be done.
Which is what the Cavs will be doing all offseason, by the way.
I've been reading GQ since I was 16 years old, and I still remember the first issue I ever bought. It was April 1995, and the cover asked a question I hadn't yet realized needed to be answered: Can Grant Hill Save Sports?
In hindsight, Hill could barely manage to save his own ankles, and yet somehow, some way, sports has persevered. (14 years and counting!)
This month, LeBron James graces GQ's cover, but instead of burdening him with the fate of athletics as a whole, they asked a simpler question: could a team of writers and editors beat LeBron James in a game of five-on-one?
It's hard to believe now, but once upon a time the Central Division was a powerhouse. As recent as 2006 it sent all five of its teams to the playoffs, and in 2007 it featured the top three records in the East. But last year? Only two made it to the postseason, including the disappointing Cavs, who followed up their NBA Finals appearance by winning five fewer games than the season before and failing to score as many points as they gave up.
Can the Central regain its luster in 2008-09? Well, the Pistons are still the Pistons, which means their ticket to the postseason is already punched, and the Cavs are tagging along for the ride so long as LeBron James is around. The Bulls, Pacers and Bucks will still bring up the rear, but at least there's honest-to-goodness hope they're headed in the right direction after making a series of offseason moves. Let's take a look at the most compelling storylines.
As rumored, Cleveland plundered point guard Mo Williams from Milwaukee, losing only 33-year-old Joe Smith and 32-year-old Damon Jones in the process. Jones and OKC alum Luke Ridnour head to the Bucks; Smith and former Sonic Desmond Mason pack for Oklahoma. As I wrote a bit ago, it's a good pull for Cleveland -- Williams shores up a pitiful position and adds some offensive punch to a defensive-minded team.
There's another consideration, though: what's it do to Cleveland's pending cap space? Danny Ferry's public position on all prospective trades has been that the team didn't want to surrender its projected cap space for the summer of 2009. With Smith, Jones, Eric Snow and Wally Szczerbiak definitely off the payroll next offseason, the idea become such that the Cavs would be in good position to either trade for a disgruntled superstar at the deadline or reach out to a top-level free agent in July. (In actuality, once Daniel Gibson was extended, the team still needed to shred one more long contract to be serious players in free agency. The trade avenue would be alive regardless.)
Let's say you think the whole idea of NBA players bolting overseas in droves is a bunch of poppycock. Ballyhoo. Perhaps hijinx with a dash of hogwash. A rather large portion of manure. You may not be far off. But what's interesting is that this whole overblown message may have a very real effect on an age old tradition: agents making up stuff to get their clients more money.
I submit to you now the curious case of Delonte West, starting point guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Following a drawn out contract dispute that looked like it would be no big deal and has since turned into quite the ugly affair, rumors began to circulate the intrepid Mr. West was considering an offer from Russian team Dynamo Moscow (which also sounds like a 1950s proletariat superhero from Communist propaganda). Tonight, however, terrific blog for all things Cleveland, Waiting for Next Year informs us that the rumor is more than likely a negotiation tactic, via the Morning Journal's Bob Finnan.
Only time will obviously tell on this particular issue (I know, that's kind of obvious. But my sources in Dynamo Moscow are out saving the world from the evil Comrade Capitalism). But this is likely to be the real ramification of all this foreign ball bluster: contract negotiation leverage.
There has been lots of debate about Elton Brand"stiffing" the LA Clippers this past week. Some say he owed nothing to the team (or Baron Davis, if he did coax him to signing there); some feel he's a first class jerk.
Many people bring up what Carlos Boozer did to the Cavaliers a few years ago. Boozer had a *wink wink* deal with them to let him become an unrestricted free agent and then he'd resign with them (they could have kept him for $695K that season, but the Cavs were generously going to lock him up for $39M over six seasons). Once Boozer lost his restricted tag, he bolted to Utah.
And what do these two have in common? They both went to Duke.
Coincidence? Maybe. However, that fact isn't lost on a lot of people ... including those at the Hardwood Paroxysm who goes as far as calling these two "a-holes". And before you get your panties twisted, the guy who wrote that is a Duke die-hard.
In Jennings' case, he may not be able to qualify to get into 'Zona. Back in the day, that was either a sign that the kid would go into the NBA or head to a JUCO for two years, get his grades up, then head to a Division I program.
The problem now is that the NBA won't let high schoolers enter the draft and the NCAA is cracking down (a bit) on JUCO schools and grade point averages. This could be the best deal for a guy that can't get into an elite college program to show off his wares.
But is it really? Jennings is the anti-point guard in Europe. They like guys who facilitate a team, work the ball, play good defense and not be a scorer. While Jennings is an awesome passer, he is flashier than they tend to like and he's that scoring-type of lead guard.
Also, European teams aren't as down with playing youth that much. The Charlotte Bobcats just drafted Alexis Ajinca with the 20th pick in the draft a few nights ago ... and he doesn't get much playing time with his French team. NBA teams could be scared off by his lack of development and he plummets down the 2009 Draft.
The roster around LeBron James is, for the most part, lamentable. The Global Icon carried his team almost single-handedly to the Finals in 2006-07 and to a seventh game against the would-be NBA Champions this season. He's basically a two-time defending MVP without any trophies. He desperately needs some help.
Danny Ferry takes plenty of lumps for the minor disaster around LeBron, but at least he tries. He has spent plenty of Dan Gilbert's money to put guys who at one point could play a little around James, and he pulled off a major trade at the deadline (though the return package remains circumspect). And apparently, he's off to an active start this offseason, according to the Newark Star-Ledger's Dave D'Alessandro.
As they were putting some of the finishing touches on the Richard Jefferson-Yi Jianlian deal, the Nets received a call from the Cleveland Cavaliers, who offered them Wally Szczerbiak and his expiring, $13.2 million salary for Vince Carter.
According to two Eastern Conference executives, who asked for anonymity so as not to spill Rod Thorn's secrets, the Nets considered it -- but not for very long.
The one thing Ferry has in his favor: he can take all the bad contracts he wants, because the single goal going forward is proving to LeBron this team can take him back to The Finals repeatedly. Teams will always been pawning off stars for expiring contracts, and so long as you employ LeBron you wouldn't be slipping into that Knickerbocker despair.
The funny thing about this trade offer, of course: Ferry wants Carter to help LeBron win a title and resolve to stay in Cleveland. Thorn would want to trade Carter to help free up the cap space to sign LeBron. I imagine these two teams will be hesitant to work with each other in the next few seasons.
Crystal Ballin'takes a team-by-team look at what should, could, and probably will happen in the June 26th NBA Draft.
Clearly, the Cavs have not only the talent but the need to try and to win now. If Danny Ferry decides to wait, he might end up trying to win without LeBron James (or without a job) and that ain't gonna happen.
Picks: #19 Needs: In order to win now, Cleveland needs legit (sorry Wally) scoring from the perimeter or some backcourt help. Say what you want for their interior offensive needs, but they have three centers who are going to play. And seriously, think about how Wally and Delonte got loose in the playoffs -- that's a direct result of James being on the same team, not their talents. Now let's add someone who isn't washed up.
Best case scenario: Mario Chalmers somehow falls down to them at 19, which seemed a lot more likely a few weeks, or even days, ago. Instead, how about Courtney Lee, who easily could fall here? Either one would be good (Lee being the better scorer but Chalmers can run the Cleveland "offense")but yet, seems somehow unlikely ...
The Cavaliers traded for Shaquille O'Neal a week ago, but his introductory press conference didn't happen until Thursday afternoon. And for the most part, it was worth the wait. As we've come to expect when Shaq gets in front of a microphone, there were plenty of interesting and entertaining quotes that came out of his first meeting with the Cleveland media.
We turned the 10-minute cooling off period after the Magic-Cavaliers Eastern Conference finals into a 10-hour cooling off period. But there was some mulling to be done.
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Let's say you think the whole idea of NBA players bolting overseas in droves is a bunch of poppycock. Ballyhoo. Perhaps hijinx with a dash of hogwash. A rather large portion of manure. You may not be far off. But what's interesting is that this whole overblown message may have a very real effect on an age old tradition: agents making up stuff to get their clients more money.
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