Was listening to Bryan Calangelo talk about the Cavs.

He really liked the Hawes deal. Mostly because he "opens up driving lanes" for the Kyries and Dions of the world.

He makes a great point. As much as we like Andy, he's an offensive liability who does not necessarily complement the other personnel on the Cavs.

Wouldn't surprise me to see Andy come off the bench, like he used to, when he comes back. Still playing good minutes though - and at the same time protecting his body by limiting those minutes.

Calangelo also reminded people that now comes the "buyout" season. Guys who didn't get dealt, or are unhappy for other reasons (like Andre Miller would have been if he hadn't been dealt) are going to be interested in being released/bought out.

His point was that there are still ways to upgrade teams.

Here's a list of trades. Among those dealt were former Cavs Andre Miller (to Washington), Antwan Jamison and Ramon Sessions (he's traded every year on trade deadline isn't he? must be in his contract)

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/10299 ... acker-2014

OK, Jamison is a scrub, but here is an example:


Antawn Jamison - F - Hawks

Antawn Jamison is a candidate to be bought out by the Hawks.

Jamison is 37 years old and appeared in just one of the Clippers' last 17 games before Thursday's trade. He'd be unlikely to play ahead of Mike Scott or Elton Brand, so a buyout would make some sense

The plan all along this season was for Andy to play less minutes. Bynum was supposed to be the starter eventually. Not really as much of an offensive liability if he was playing with better front court players. He has played out of position for a long time.

Agreed! I like (hell, love) him as backup power forward AND center. On a championship level team, that's a great role for him.

This is good news ! Cavs traded their own 2nd round pick and Memphis's 2nd round pick pick. They kept Orlando's 2nd round pick for this season which will be better then their own.


CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Cavaliers have acquired center Spencer Hawes from the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for forward Earl Clark, center Henry Sims and two second round draft picks, Cavaliers Acting General Manager David Griffin announced tonight from Cleveland Clinic Courts.

"We felt adding a player of Spencer's caliber and experience will complement our frontcourt rotation well and we are very excited to have him in Cleveland,” said Griffin. “Spencer is a very skilled big man, who was having a career year in Philadelphia this season. We look for his ability to both shoot from the perimeter and defend the basket to help us, and at 25 years of age his game is still growing on both ends of the floor. In acquiring Spencer, we had to move Earl and Henry and we thank them for their contributions to the Cavaliers.” In exchange for Hawes, the Cavs send Clark, Sims, the Cavs 2014 second round pick and the Memphis Grizzlies 2014 second round pick acquired in July 25, 2012 trade with the Grizzlies to the 76ers.

This season, Hawes has appeared in 53 games (all starts) for Philadelphia, averaging career highs of 13.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists (most among all NBA centers) in 31.4 minutes per game. The 7-1, 245-pound center is also shooting .399 from the three-point line and .782 from the foul line, both career highs. Hawes ranks fifth among all NBA power forwards and centers in three-point shooting percentage this season (minimum 100 attempts). He also ranks eighth in the Eastern Conference in blocks per game at 1.3 and is tied for ninth in double-doubles with 19 on the season. Hawes is one of four players (Tim Duncan, Pau Gasol and Paul Millsap) in the NBA this season with averages of at least 13.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.0 block.

Hawes was originally drafted by Sacramento in the 2007 NBA Draft as the No. 10 overall selection. The six-year veteran owns career averages of 9.4 points on .465 shooting, 6.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.1 blocks in 24.6 minutes over 473 games (321 starts). He has also played in 18 playoff games (17 starts) with averages of 8.2 points on .440 shooting and 5.8 rebounds in 23.9 minutes per game. He has the third-most career three-point field goals made (194) among any player listed 7-0 or taller in NBA history, trailing only Dirk Nowitzki (1,425) and Andrea Bargnani (609).

http://www.nba.com/cavaliers/live

If you get a chance to watch Griffin's PC you will see a very confident, happy guy. You can see why he would be a breath of fresh air for the organization.

I like Hawes a lot.

Here's the thing. As good as his numbers are (leads all NBA centers in assists, not a surprise, and can shoot 3s), those numbers are tainted by the last 2 weeks. I am going to assume his trade deadline situation affected his play.

Before that, he was TEARING it up.

So much for the team consulting with Kobe on their moves:

Kobe Bryant ‏@kobebryant

Not cool with @SteveBlake5 being gone AT ALL One of my closest teammates and psycho competitor GS picked up gem #smartmove

Not that we want this guy, but here's an example of buyout options:


Glen Davis - F/C - Magic

Orlando is working on a contract buyout of Glen Davis, according to Yahoo! Sports.
There have been rumors of the Magic wanting to buy out Davis and not pulling any deals off today certainly increased the chances of that happening. He also suffered an Achilles injury on Wednesday, but that likely has little to do with this decision.

As far as future destinations go, the Clippers are the first team to come to mind after dumping two of their backup bigs for salary and the Nets still have their Disabled Player Exception.

David Griffin (acting GM) said the Cavs got numerous calls about Hawes after they acquired him hoping that they would be willing to redirect him.

http://www.nba.com/cavaliers/?tmd=1

David Griffin press conference.........

What a positive person and very good speaker.

Wow..... I suggest listening to this PC. This guy is as sharp as anyone I have ever heard in sports.

http://youtu.be/bT1eyD1IICg

This is a video of Jalen Rose doing a podcast yesterday where he talks about the Cavs and Hawes.

Fast forward the video to 4:15.

Earl Clark - F/C - 76ers

Sixers waive F/C Earl Clark.

The team had to cut someone after making their moves today and they chose to keep their young guy.

Clark was not a good fit the Sixers with his jumper falling apart lately and not being able to integrate himself in the two-man game. He can be cut in all leagues.