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Keep An Eye On This One
Posted on | November 12, 2009 | 2 Comments
A very interesting matchup tonight. Watch it if you can. LeBron and the Cavs are playing Wade and the Heat. Obviously the marquee matchup will be LeBron and Wade, and rightly so. Both players might finish in the top three in MVP voting this year. What makes it even more noteworthy is that the Heat are actually playing above expectations (6-1) whereas the Cavs are still struggling (5-3) to find their groove after so many new additions in the offseason. They are two very different franchises with very different strategies, but with similar problems.
Both LeBron and Wade are free agents this season (if they opt out, which they are expected to do), and will be the two most prized free agents. Their teams, though, have employed two very different means of how they will entice them to re-sign. Cleveland has decided that it will do anything it takes to try and win a Championship this year, hoping that LeBron can’t leave a Championship team. They are well over the luxury tax threshold and have surrounded LeBron with veterans who know how to win. They are in a win now mentality, and only thinking as far ahead as the playoffs, even forgoing any cap room next summer to sign additional free agents.
Miami, on the other hand, has decided that they don’t want to do anything to jeopardize their future, and although they did attempt to sign a free agent with their MLE, when ones they wanted signed elsewhere, they decided to stand pat instead of grabbing a player who might help them a bit this season, but hurt their cap room next summer.
I’ve stated previously that I have not been a big fan of Ferry’s strategy. The trade for Shaq felt like a knee jerk reaction and, considering his play so far, has not paid off. Maybe it will in the future, and the win against Orlando last night certainly showed why they got him, but it worries me that they have $31.5 million worth of expiring contract and they still won’t be under the cap. Surrounding LeBron with veterans who will help him win is one thing, but both Shaq and Parker are nearing the end of their productive parts of their careers. And Ilgauskus has been declining for years now. What is Cleveland going to do to show LeBron that he has a future in Cleveland?
And while I was critical of Pat Riley not improving this past summer, especially after Wade’s comments about wanting better players, their future is certainly brighter. Unlike Cleveland, they’ll have loads of cap room this summer, in fact enough to sign another top tier free agent (Bosh is apparently a target). Even better for the Heat is that they have some half decent players that will be around after next summer in Beasley, Chalmers and Halsem.
Now, the matchup I will be watching the closest is not the marquee matchup, but the center one. Shaquille O’Neal was brought on board to try and give LeBron his first ring. So far, the team, and Shaq, have struggled. In fact, Shaq is averaging career lows in most categories, but a lot of that is due to his averaging a career low 24.8 mpg. Now an optimist might say that they are simply saving him for the playoffs, but the problem is that Cleveland has generally not played well when he’s been on the floor. Their spacing has been off and their defense has suffered.
When The Raptors traded away Jermaine O’Neal, I went on record saying that Miami got the best deal in the trade. At first it didn’t look that way because Jermaine struggled and Toronto played so much better with Marion, but Marion is now in Dallas and Miami is 6-1, with Jermaine playing better than he did in Toronto. He’s actually getting more points and rebounds per game than than Shaq, because he’s able to stay on the floor longer. Plus, Jermaine looks like he might still have enough gas in his tank for Miami to re-sign him at a much reduced rate, and still have enough to make a big impact on the free agent market.
2 Responses to “Keep An Eye On This One”
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November 12th, 2009 @ 5:28 PM
“The trade for Bosh felt like a knee jerk reaction and, considering his play so far, has not paid off.”
I assume that Bosh is a (Freudian) slip, who are you talking about here?
November 12th, 2009 @ 5:33 PM
Oops. I meant Shaq. Fixed. Thanks.
Actually, trading for Bosh would have been WAY better for the Cavs, I think.