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Proof-Positive that Danny Ferry and the Cavaliers are Insane

The Cleveland Cavaliers have done absolutely nothing since they surprised the NBA in getting the the NBA finals.  There have been no signings, including their two restricted free agents, Sasha Pavlovic and Anderson Varejao.  There have been no trades, with Mike Bibby’s name at the top of nearly every list of possible deals the Cavs have thought of.

There have been rumblings, including New Jersey, Washington and Golden State, but they all have proved to be just that….rumblings.  We’ve gone through the gambit of wanting the Cavs to do something…ANYTHING…just to make the game of basketball relevant again.  More importantly, the Cavs have watched their contemporaries improve, some dramatically (see Boston and Orlando).  Still, Cleveland does nothing.

The question becomes why.  Last we heard, Dan Gilbert had given the okay to go over the cap, if it would bring the players needed to win the title.  Of course…depending on your version of what is going on, that may or may not be the truth.

Why have the Cavs not made a move?

1.  The most bantered about reasoning has the Cavs owner Dan Gilbert in financial ruin, with his company, Quicken Loans, taking major hits with the mortgage crises.  Because of this, some believe that Gilbert doesn’t have the money to pay the current salaries…let alone anything new.  It may be true that Gilbert is taking a hit, but not to the extent that has been discussed.  If you can’t go over the cap, you can’t go over the cap.  Life goes on, and I believe that Gilbert is the type of owner who would address it publically.  He didn’t, so I don’t buy this excuse.

2.  The most likely scenario is that the Cavs can’t do anything until they get a team to take on some unwieldy contracts (Snow, Hughes, DMarsh, DJones, etc) or get Sasha and Andy to sign a deal.  Without knowing how much money they have of their exceptions after signing Varejao and Pavs, it’s impossible to take on more salary.  If they take on too much, they would either go over the cap, or be forced to let the restriced free agents go.  Of course, they haven’t received any offers, so it remains to be seen where all of this leads.  I do think this reasoning is part of the issue.

3.  The Cavaliers are the ones waiting it all out.  Over the past two years, Danny Ferry has proved to be a patient man when it comes to signing a deal.  Is this what is holding up the Pavs and Varejao deals?  Is it a combination of two sides that are extremely patient?  Again, both are likely scenarios.

4.  Ferry has a deal in place already, and is waiting for the cards to fall before pulling the deal.  Sacramento wants to deal Bibby.  They haven’t.  It is distinctly possible that the deal is in place, and both sides are waiting for things to settle before pulling the deal.  I don’t find this likely…but you just never know.  Bibby’s contract is so large…it would take some major concessions on the Kings part to get a deal just to work.  Gooden would go, but who else?

5.  Danny Ferry is on vacation.

Now, with all of that said, there are two rumors that just won’t go away, and they really bother me.  The first one involves Allan Houston.  Allan Houston heard Reggie Miller talking comeback, and decided it was his turn to throw his hat in the ring at the age of 36.  Now Houston was villified because the Knicks were stupid enough to pay him a deal that ultimately gave him 20 million a year.  Combine that with a rash of injuries that ultimately cost him his career, and you have a guy that many people don’t think to highly of.  In his prime, he was a 20 points per game scorer.  In the end, he was a 10 points a game scorer, that missed more than half of two seasons before calling it a career.  He hasn’t played in three years.  Are his injuries healed, and if they are, how does an old, beat-up, 36-year-old body respond to three years off?  You want to talk about a gamble…there’s one right there.

It gets worse.  Dikembe Mutombo is still trying to figure out what to do.  Does he want to play one more season at the ripe old age of 41?  Does he want to play a half of a season, a la Roger Clemens, to limit the wear and tear of another season?  He will play, as he makes money for his hospital in the Congo, but where and for how long is a mystery.  Houston has already offered him a one year deal.  Cleveland remains interested.  What do you get?  You get fifteen minutes, three points, six boards and a block a game.  You get some defensive presence as well.  I suppose that would be okay, if you were trying to limit your bench, and if you can’t do anything else.  I don’t know that the Cavs

After hearing the last bit of possibilities, I’m at a loss for words at what must be going through the heads of Cavs GM Danny Ferry, and Cavs owner, Dan Gilbert.

It sure does smell of insanity…and more scary than that…desperation.

Last I knew, desperation doesn’t win titles.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 2nd, 2007 at 2:09 pm and is filed under James Pete, Cavaliers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.