Cleveland Sports Forum

Remember the Lakers have Dallas's first round pick this year from the Odom trade.

Lakers are also interested in Boobie Gibson.

The Lakers sent forward Lamar Odom to Dallas for the Mavericks' first-round pick in the 2012 amateur draft.

From Bill Simmons latest column:

7. Will "Cleveland will regret taking Kyrie Irving over Derrick Williams" supplant "Orlando will regret taking Dwight Howard over Emeka Okafor" as the single dumbest thing I've ever written?

Irving is an absolute gem, so it's definitely in play. (The lesson, as always: Don't have a strong opinion heading into an NBA draft about someone you didn't see enough.) I wouldn't go so far as to call him "Kevin Johnson 2.0," if only because Kevin Johnson was really good. But Irving has three distinct K.J.-ish qualities: He's always going faster than it seems like he's going; when he drives to the basket bigger guys seem to bounce off him; and there's something about the way Irving dribbles that makes defenders instinctively back up, as if they're saying, "I don't know what's about to happen, but I don't want to get my ankles broken." He's also better in the clutch already than K.J. ever was. And he's only 19! It can't be forgotten how great it is to win the lottery sometimes.

8. Where does "What if the Clippers never traded Baron Davis?" rank among the all-time NBA What Ifs?

Definitely top 50. And climbing. It was already one of the dumbest NBA trades6 of the past 10 years before the amnesty clause became part of the new labor agreement … at that point, it became one of the dumber trades in sports history. Should the Clippers be criticized for not guessing in January, with a labor stoppage looming, that the amnesty clause would potentially be in play? Yes and no — yes, they should have known, and no, they couldn't have known (because they're owned by a slum lord who has no idea what's going on).

Let's say they kept Baron, kept that no. 1 pick and won the lottery. Well …

• The Clips would have drafted Irving, teamed him with Eric Gordon and Blake Griffin, then had enough assets left over (DeAndre Jordan, Al-Farouq Aminu, Minnesota's no. 1 pick, Eric Bledsoe) to swipe Dwight Howard from Orlando this month. Would you rather have a Griffin/Howard/Gordon/Irving/Free Agent X nucleus, or Chris Paul's Lob City squad that just thrashed Oklahoma City last night in the single most entertaining game of the year? It's a great question. (I can't believe I'm saying this … but I think I'd rather have Lob City.)

• Chris Paul probably ends up on the Lakers (for Bynum) or Celtics (for Rondo and a couple no. 1 picks). Either way, an inferior basketball situation to the one he's enjoying now.

• Instead of building around Irving, the Cavs would be building around Tristan Thompson and I'd be writing "The lesson, as always: Tebow hates Cleveland" jokes.

• Baron would get amnesthized,7 sign with the Knicks, then become their potential savior even though he's overweight and has a herniated disc. Oh, wait, that happened anyway.

My final verdict: If Howard ends up on the Lakers (and not the Clippers), the Baron nontrade becomes a Hall of Fame "What If" because the actual trade created new identities for two contenders (the Lakers and Clippers) and saved the most depressed franchise in the league (the Cavs).

Knicks interested in Sessions as 'Plan B'?
February, 1, 2012
Feb 1
4:47
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By Ian Begley
The status of Baron Davis' back is unclear at this point.

So Mike D'Antoni was asked on Wednesday if there is a Plan B in place if Davis can't make it all the way back from a back injury that's sidelined him since the beginning of the season.

"My hair will go up and I'll start screaming, that's plan B," the coach said with a laugh. "Obviously, go the way we're going. That's plan B as far as we can tell right now."

The way the Knicks are going isn't working very well right now. With Toney Douglas, Iman Shumpert and Mike Bibby (and recently, Jeremy Lin) all getting minutes at the point, the Knicks have struggled to find continuity on offense. They entered play Wednesday ranked 24th in offensive efficiency.

So D'Antoni was asked about the Knicks looking into acquiring Ramon Sessions if things don't work out with Davis. He didn't dismiss the possibility.

New York doesn't appear to have enough tradable assets to entice Cleveland to send Sessions here (they were lost in the Carmelo Anthony deal), But D'Antoni said that, while nothing's imminent, interim GM Glen Grunwald is doing his 'due diligence.'

"I'm sure [Grunwald's] sitting there going, 'Well, what can we do if Plan A doesn't work? Plan B, Plan C -- he's looking at every possibility," the coach said.

"Whether there's possibilities now or not, I have heard any. I don't think so. But I'm sure that it will be thoroughly discussed and looked at and whatever will make our team better, we'll do it."

Yahoo Sports reported recently that the Cavs have discussed dealing him to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Cavs have rookie Kyrie Irving at the point, so Sessions may be deemed expendable.

Sessions can opt out of the final year of his contract next season, which has a $4.6 million option. Or he could become a free agent.

According to a Yahoo! report, the Lakers are in interested in Sesssions to help their depleted backcourt. They could offer Cleveland a first-round selection and a top-20 protected pick from Dallas. They also have an $8.9 million trade exception.

PHILADELPHIA -- The trainers, security and other support staffers were kicked out and doors slammed shut. For well over an hour the Miami Heat player and coaches met Thursday afternoon at the Philadephia 76ers practice facility. And, apparently, had it out with each other.

It was one of those meetings that happen periodically throughout any season in any sport. This one, though, apparently had some edge. There were some strong words used and some players singled out. Some star players, it sounds like.

The night before in Milwaukee the Heat had embarrassingly blown an 18-point lead in what turned out to be a chemistry-shaking loss. What looked like a healthy dose of swagger contributed to them becoming lethargic. Then, what looked like some borderline selfish -- or call it hero ball if that’s more politically correct -- offensive play from LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. Plus some lazy defensive play from everyone else down the stretch that killed any chance of surviving it.

The Heat had rolled into Philly at 16-6, a good record with a handful of nice victories already. But it had them in a pack of five teams at the top of the Eastern Conference, not where they thought they should be.

Sensing there were some issues -- there was some grumbling the previous night and it perhaps was growing worse -- Erik Spoelstra cleared the room and it was put-it-on-the-table time.

When it was over there weren’t tears or hugs, in fact the team had a businesslike and rather emotionless practice. Then everyone went to their separate corners to caucus. It wasn’t immediately clear if the exercise was going to have positive results on negative.

The answer revealed itself Friday night as the Heat played a strong team-oriented game and slammed the 76ers, 99-79. It was the end of a seven-game homestand for Philly and they’d been hot, winning five of those games including a trouncing of the Chicago Bulls Wednesday night. Overall, they’d been 12-2 at home.

But the Heat handed them their worst loss of the season as six different players scored 11 points or more. They had good focus throughout the game, turning it over just nine times, the fewest of the season. They got stronger as the game went along. Basically, they looked like a title-contending team.

Wade had 26 points and took only eight shots in the second half. James took just 16 for the game and was masterful playing point guard in the fourth quarter, racking up six assists. The Heat went to the strongest playoff lineup from a year ago with James, Wade and Chris Bosh plus Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem.

That group had barely played together this season but shut down the Sixers, holding them to 37 percent shooting, while going on a 15-0 run to close the door in the fourth.

How did this intense meeting lead to this? What was it all about? Let the players and Spoelstra tell it in their own words as they did afterward in the locker room.

Spoelstra: “Not all of all of our moments on this ride are going to be good. Yesterday was certainly a tough day. But everybody was pure about it. Everybody’s intention was to find a way to get better and correct some of the things that ailed us against Milwaukee. It was a long day and we improved. It was a very good team win against a team that was playing very well. We were there about two and a half or three hours. We had to speak the truth. We had to correct some things that we did wrong. Everybody was pure about it. It was a very important team win.”

James: “It was a little bit of everything. It was no holds barred, honestly. There were no tongues being held. If we are going to hold ourselves to a championship standard then we have to go out there and play like it. No one can take things personal if someone says something to him. You have to take constructive criticism. We have to go out there and play at the highest level we are capable of.”

Wade: “It was a very important day. Every team, especially good teams, you have to sit and reflect and see what you can do better. It was a wake up day for us. We came in and did what we talked about. The biggest thing was the lines of communication opening between players and coaches. It should be that way but sometimes you get lost and there’s a separation.”

“We opened up the lines of communication yesterday, which became greater today especially down in the stretch. We were able to communicate with coaches and they were able to communicate with us on what we feel comfortable with and what we wanted and what lineup we wanted in there as well. That is the kind of team we should be. Not saying we’re always going to play that way, not saying we’re always going to make the right decisions. But we should always been in control of our own destiny.”

Bosh: “It was extremely important. Just to get some feelings out there and talk about what was going on. We talked about the elephant in the room, which is we’re not giving the effort we’re capable of. We want to win a championship and in order to do that we have to take small steps in the regular season. We have to get better and we have to keep it up.”

“We took some huge strides today but that’s over now. We have to really keep it up. We showed what we can do when we really put our minds together. It was not about our record, it was about the way we were playing and the way we were giving up some leads. We should’ve been getting separation. But that is over now. We have to work on getting better and that is what the last two days have been about.”

Shane Battier: “The player meetings, they can go one of two ways. You can say things in those meetings that can be destructive or constructive. I thought it was good to just allow people to vent a little bit. In this game, communication is the most important thing. I don’t care how talented you are. If you don’t have that trust and can’t communicate that talent is going to go to waste. It was indicative of our season. If we communicate and we’re more together, we’re a really good team. We seem to struggle when we become individual.”

“If you polled the guys, they wouldn’t say we were playing at the highest level and that has been disappointing. We need to have these sort of efforts two or three times in a row.”

I caught the end of the Cavs-Mavs game tonight. Kyrie with an amazing drive past Delonte West to ut the Cavs up by 3 in the final seconds. The kids is something special.

David (Illinois)

Does Kyrie Irving have a chance of ever becoming a top 10 player in the league?


John Hollinger ESPN (12:50 PM)

Without question, yes.

Kyrie Irving isn't a secret anymore around the league: NBA Insider
Published: Saturday, February 04, 2012, 10:43 PM
By Tom Reed, The Plain Dealer
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View full sizeAmy Sancetta, Associated Press
Kyrie Irving's emergence in the first half of the NBA season is catching the attention of national media. He's a "very good player who's going to be fun to watch for years to come," says former Cavaliers coach and TV analyst Mike Fratello.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Kyrie Irving believes the dry humor of ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy might make him the funniest person he has met.
Van Gundy takes issue with the 19-year-old point guard's assessment.
"Clearly, he has not met enough people," the former NBA coach said.
Van Gundy was part of the "NBA on ESPN" commercial that featured Irving being exhumed from between RV seat cushions like lost money. Although the rookie has yet to record his first double-double, the ad's punch line, "I think we just found Kyrie Irving" supplies a double entendre.
The joke behind the joke: Irving and the Cavaliers are not scheduled to appear on ESPN, ABC or TNT telecasts this season. But Irving's terrific start is beginning to generate national attention for himself and the Cavaliers. On the night the spot originally aired, Jan. 27, the point guard scored 21 fourth-quarter points against New Jersey, the first of three consecutive fantastic finishes from Irving.
This past week, Sports Illustrated was in Cleveland gathering material for an upcoming article on the heels of his first game-winning shot against the Celtics in Boston on Jan. 29. What America will learn about Irving, said Van Gundy, is he's not just a point guard on the come, but a player who possesses the character and humility of a Derrick Rose and Kevin Durant.
"He has that similar mindset and it's refreshing," Van Gundy said. "Sometimes when guys go through AAU basketball and have early success they don't retain it. I think that bodes very well for Cleveland and the league in general."

CNBC sports business reporter Darren Rovell said Irving's visibility was seriously impacted by the five-month lockout which virtually shut down the league days after the No. 1 overall draft pick shook hands with NBA Commissioner David Stern on June 23.
It didn't help that Irving played just 11 times at Duke due to a foot injury. Former Cavaliers coach and TNT analyst Mike Fratello believes the league no longer has the built-in marketing of the college game for its rookies because players often declare for the draft so early.
Inside the number
20.3: Average points for Cavaliers in the second quarter (through Friday) -- the lowest in the NBA.
The last word
“Now, that's what we call a win-win and stop whining,” -- a shot at Cleveland and Toronto fans from the Miami Heat marketing department in an ad hyping games against the Cavaliers and Raptors, the former teams of LeBron James and Chris Bosh.

Fratello has seen Irving twice while broadcasting New Jersey Nets' games for the YES Network and described him as a "very good player who's going to be fun to watch for years to come." He added, however, that Irving's play alone won't make the Cavaliers a lock to return to national television.
"In his second year if the team is terrible, I'm not sure," said Fratello, who understandably didn't want to speak for the networks.
The Cavaliers were the NBA's worst road draw among 30 teams a season after LeBron James left for the Miami Heat. They rank 11th this season, averaging 17,284 fans -- an improvement of more than 1,000 spectators. While Irving's appeal might be a factor, the club has played in cities such as Los Angeles, Boston and Portland, where the home teams attract sellouts regardless of the opponent.
The Cavaliers acknowledge they are starting to get more requests for Irving, although nothing approaching the James years. This season has been a fresh start for a franchise that even a season ago endured its share of autopsies from the national media.
Van Gundy believes the press can create too much hype for a player based on a super-sized personality. He doesn't see this as an issue for Irving.
Fans are drawn to Rose and Durant, Van Gundy said, in part because they share the burden of being their team's best players without lobbying management for more help. He thinks Irving will take a similar approach in Cleveland.
"These kind of players are humble enough to prepare and confident enough to perform," Van Gundy said.
Irving said he's comfortable with the growing attention, especially if it reflects well on the city and organization.
"I don't care about all the extra accolades," he said. "At the end of the day all I care about is winning and continuing to grow with these guys. The attitude going forward is to continue to prove [the critics] wrong."
Plucked from between the seat cushions, Irving likely will see more of Van Gundy, Fratello and their networks as the Cavaliers improve.
On Twitter: @pdcavsinsider

Two amazing drives down the stretch. And here's another article that lauds Kyrie from a strictly numbers perspective.

Keeping Score
Fewer Slams, but Rookie Makes Mark With Efficiency
By JUSTIN KUBATKO
Published: February 4, 2012



The Los Angeles Clippers’ Blake Griffin was the breakout rookie star of the 2010-11 N.B.A. season; clips showing him rising for a thunderous dunk or an emphatic block can still be seen regularly on “SportsCenter” and YouTube.

So far this season, no rookie has made a splash quite like Griffin’s, but a close look at the statistical résumé of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Kyrie Irving reveals a player whose substance more than makes up for his lack of style.

Through Friday’s games, Irving was averaging 18 points, the best among this rookie class, and 29.5 points per 48 minutes, the highest total for a rookie since Ben Gordon in 2004-5.

Although points per game and points per 48 minutes can overstate a player’s value as a scorer, Irving had compiled those figures honestly, shooting .498 from the field, .404 from 3-point range and .829 from the free-throw line. He is in range of becoming the first rookie in league history (among qualified players) to join the .500/.400/.800 club.

One simple way to gauge a player’s scoring efficiency is to look at his true shooting percentage, a measure of shooting efficiency that takes into account 2-point field goals, 3-point field goals and free throws. Irving’s true shooting percentage is .583, well above the league average, .522.

In fact, only nine N.B.A. rookies have averaged at least 15 points per game with a higher true shooting percentage: Bill Cartwright, Buck Williams , Magic Johnson, Adrian Dantley, David Robinson, Eric Gordon, Michael Jordan, Alonzo Mourning and Shaquille O’Neal.

Irving’s ability to score points in volume while maintaining a high efficiency rate is exceedingly valuable, but he is also helping Cleveland’s offense in other ways. He had assisted on an estimated 34.7 percent of his teammates’ field goals while he was on the floor, tops on the Cavaliers and the 12th-highest rate in the league. This fact is even more remarkable when you consider that Irving’s teammates were shooting a combined .419 from the field, well below the N.B.A. average, .443.

No analysis of Irving would be complete without mentioning that he is still a teenager. (He turns 20 on March 23.) The only other teenagers to average at least 15 points per game in the N.B.A. were Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Stephon Marbury, and Irving is by far the most efficient player in that group.

Win Shares is an estimate of the number of wins contributed by a player through his offense and his defense. Irving is averaging .155 Win Shares per 48 minutes this season, by far the best rate among that group. (James is next at .098.)

Last season, as a 21-year old rookie, Griffin had a true shooting percentage of .549 and averaged .152 Win Shares per 48 minutes, figures that Irving had eclipsed.

Irving may not end up on a nightly highlight show, but his rookie season has been, in many ways, superior to Griffin’s.

One error in that story:

Irving may not end up on a nightly highlight show

Updated: February 9, 2012, 12:31 pm ETNBA PM: Kyrie Irving Living Up to Hype


By Alex Kennedy
NBA Writer


Kyrie Irving has only played 23 games with the Cleveland Cavaliers and he’s already receiving consideration as an All-Star reserve. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, considering he solidified himself as the top overall pick in this year’s draft after playing just 11 games at Duke University.

It doesn’t take very long to see that Irving is a special player.

In NBA history, only five players – Steve Nash, Larry Bird, Mark Price, Reggie Miller and Dirk Nowitzki – have ever finished a season shooting 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from three-point range and 90 percent from the free throw line. This is known as the 50-40-90 club.

Right now, Irving is shooting 49 percent from the field, 41 percent from three and 83 percent from the charity stripe. At 19 years old, he’s just a few percentage points away from joining one of the game’s most exclusive groups.

While Irving’s shooting has been phenomenal, he is also a top-notch distributor. He has excellent court vision and makes the players around him better. He is currently averaging 5.1 assists, a number that will continue to increase over Irving’s career. There are many instances when Irving throws a perfect pass, but one of his teammates drops the ball or misses the shot.

Irving isn’t an athletic freak, breaking the mold of recent point guards selected top overall such as Derrick Rose and John Wall, but his game is extremely well-rounded and he’s a great decision maker. Opposing head coaches who watch him play often come away stunned. Orlando Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy recently raved about Irving’s game.

“Oh my God,” Van Gundy said when asked about Irving. “I see no reason he wouldn’t be at the same level as the Chris Pauls and the Derrick Roses and those guys. He’s got size, he’s quick, he takes the ball to the basket, he makes good decisions, he’s shooting over 40 percent from three, and he defends. Even now, he’s in the top seven or eight point guards in the league and that’s being conservative. He’s outstanding. I was a little bit astounded. He is very, very good and I don’t say that much about rookies. He’s the real deal.”

Not only is Irving experiencing individual success, he has the Cleveland Cavaliers in the playoff hunt. After winning just 19 games last season and suffering through a record 26­-game losing streak, the Cavaliers are 9-14 and just a half game out of the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. Cleveland has had big wins against the Dallas Mavericks, Boston Celtics and New York Knicks.

As a teenager, Irving has made an immediate impact in Cleveland and has the Cavaliers battling for a playoff spot. As he further develops his game and gets comfortable, he’ll only continue to get better, which is scary for the rest of the league.

Rising Star Challenge Pool Announced: This year, the NBA is introducing the Rising Stars Challenge. Rather than having a game that features rookies versus sophomores, the league has decided to try a new format. For the first time, rookies and sophomores will be mixed together on teams.

The sophomore class includes Blake Griffin (Los Angeles Clippers), DeMarcus Cousins (Sacramento Kings), Landry Fields (New York Knicks), Paul George (Indiana Pacers), Gordon Hayward (Utah Jazz), Greg Monroe (Detroit Pistons), Tiago Splitter (San Antonio Spurs), Evan Turner (Philadelphia 76ers), and John Wall (Washington Wizards).

The freshman class includes Kyrie Irving (Cleveland Cavaliers), Ricky Rubio (Minnesota Timberwolves), MarShon Brooks (New Jersey Nets), Brandon Knight (Detroit Pistons), Kawhi Leonard (San Antonio Spurs), Markieff Morris (Phoenix Suns), Tristan Thompson (Cleveland Cavaliers), Kemba Walker (Charlotte Bobcats), and Derrick Williams (Minnesota Timberwolves).

The participants in the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge were selected by the NBA’s assistant coaches, with each team submitting one ballot.

TNT analysts Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal will serve as the general managers of the two opposing teams – Team Chuck and Team Shaq – each with nine man rosters, drafted from the aforementioned pool. TNT’s Kenny Smith will serve as the honorary Commissioner and Ernie Johnson will host the live BBVA Rising Stars Challenge Draft on Thursday, Feb. 16, on NBA TV at 7 p.m. ET.

Fellow TNT analysts Mike Fratello and Steve Kerr will be part of the coaching staffs for the teams, with Fratello joining Team Chuck and Kerr joining Team Shaq. The head coaches for both teams will be the lead assistant coaches from the 2012 NBA All-Star Game coaching staffs. The East and West coaching staffs will be determined by the best record in each conference through games played Feb. 15.

Chandler and Brooks May Be Stuck: This is a must-read article by our very own Larry Coon. Because Wilson Chandler and Aaron Brooks are restricted free agents, they may not have many options when they return from China.

http://www.ridiculousupside.com/2012/1/ ... ba-dleague

Ben Uzoh Has Been Outstanding In NBA D-League
by Scott Schroeder on Jan 24, 2012 9:30 AM EST in NBA Free Agent News


7 COMMENTS EMAIL PRINT

Ben Uzoh was named last week's NBA D-League Performer of the week. It wouldn't be surprising if the former New Jersey Nets guard finds himself on an NBA roster once again before the season is complete.
It was just a couple of days ago when your's truly sent out a message on Twitter saying that Rio Grande Valley Vipers guard Ben Uzoh deserves to be on an NBA roster. I apparently wasn't alone in that assessment, though, as the NBA Development League announced on Monday afternoon that the former New Jersey Net was named the most recent D-League Performer of the Week.

Uzoh, a 6-foot-3 guard that's probably best described as a combo at this point in his career, averaged 22.3 points, 8.3 assists and 7.3 rebounds while shooting a blistering 66 percent from the field in three games last week. Since joining the D-League just five games ago, Uzoh is averaging an impresive 20.8 points, 7.6 rebounds and 6.0 assists while shooting 57 percent from the field.

Those numbers aren't all that unexpected considering the former Tulsa guard was known to fill up the box score in college, but his season with the New Jersey Nets last year -- as an undrafted rookie free agent -- didn't indicate that Uzoh would be able to shoot anywhere close to 57 percent from the floor, small sample size be damned considering he's already attempted one-third as many shots he put in the NBA all of last season.



Uzoh's true shooting percentage was a meager 46 percent in 42 games with the Nets last season, meaning it was pretty difficult to foresee a nearly 20 percent jump as far as his shooting efficiency was concerned, even if there are just five games to judge him on. To wit, Basketball Prospectus (BUY IT!) had the following included in its blurb about our Ben:

His issues, such as they were, came as a scorer. Despite an impressive-looking usage rate, at times Uzoh was reluctant to shoot, which jammed up the entire New Jersey offense. He's not a three-point shooter, having attempted just eight all year, and shot a poor percentage inside the arc. Uzoh showed some promise as a distributor and rarely turned the ball over, though, so SCHOENE is confident he's got a future in the league.

Uzoh certainly seems to be less reluctant in shooting this season, but the biggest key thus far has been his ability to get out and go while playing in head coach Nick Nurse's high-paced offense. Nurse, an assistant with the Great Britain National Team, allows his team to get out in transition quite a bit in a unique offense that often substitutes complete line changes as it isn't uncommon to see five players waiting to sub in along the sideline.

Uzoh probably isn't a pure point quite yet, but he's the type of player that could be called-up to fill a fifth guard spot while handling point guard duties in limited stretches. He isn't going to offer much on the offensive end as far as supplying his own offense is concerned, but he seems to make the right decisions more often than not as he's averaging just two turnovers in 38 minutes per game while playing the one at the D-League level.

Defense should probably be Uzoh's calling card considering he's long enough and athletic enough to guard either backcourt position, but it doesn't seem his fundamentals are quite up to par and his lateral quickness -- or ability to react -- can be just a step slow sometimes.

The biggest strike against him, however, might be his track record over the past six months. Uzoh was cut by teams in Italy and Russia as he tried to catch on overseas during the NBA lockout before returning stateside to attend training camp with the Charlotte Bobcats (where he was effectively cut to make room for the president of basketball operation's son).

All of that being said, however, Uzoh seems to have another NBA opportunity in his future because he has the right attitude, excels at something other than scoring and, perhaps more important to this report, has what we call Ridiculous Upside.

@PDcavsinsider: Anderson Varejao has a non-displaced wrist fracture. Very bad news for #Cavs. Team will update recovery timetable next week.

Anderson Varejao has been diagnosed with a non-displaced fracture in his right wrist and will be out indefinitely.
Sam Amico reports that Varejao will miss "at least a week," but that seems like a very optimistic timetable -- Brian Windhorst writes that Varejao is "likely to return this year." It's a crippling blow for the Cavaliers, as Varejao was indispensable for their frontcourt. In his absence Tristan Thompson or Semih Erden are the likely candidates to start at center, with Samardo Samuels and Ryan Hollins also in the mix, but Thompson jumps out as the guy to grab if you need a boost at PF/C.


Related: Samardo Samuels, Tristan Thompson, Ryan Hollins, Semih Erden

Pluto

1. Can Ben Uzoh play? Who knows? But the Cavs have a goal each year to find someone from the NBA Development League who can become a role player. Last year, that guy was Alonzo Gee, and he may become much more than that. The Cavs wisely believe there are players in the D-League who can be assets, you just have to find the right ones and put them in the right roles.

2. Ten-day contracts are a way to conduct these tryouts. Uzoh played 42 games with New Jersey last season, averaging 3.8 points and shooting 42 percent from the field. Underwhelming. But the Cavs know Gee struggled in his first tryouts with Washington and San Antonio. It's not easy for an undrafted free agent to immediately stick in the NBA.

3. The Cavs sent two scouts to the D-League to find backcourt help, especially a physical athlete who can play some point. They found the 6-3, 210-pound Uzoh, who had played only five games in the D-League, scoring 21 points, shooting 57 percent and averaging 7.6 rebounds and 5.0 assists. He rarely made turnovers. He was a four-year starter and 15-point scorer as a senior at Tulsa.

4. The Cavs are looking for backcourt help, because several teams are calling about point guard Ramon Sessions. The Lakers seem to have a real interest, and they have two first-rounders (their own and one from Dallas). So they can trade a first-rounder, and even take Sessions back on their $8.3 million trade exception -- without forcing the Cavs to take a player back in return for salary-cap purposes.

5. The Lakers are one of several teams waiting on Dwight Howard, as most in the NBA expect him to be traded by March 15. They may need one (or both) of those first-rounders to make a deal for Howard.

6. If Christian Eyenga could master some basketball skills, the door is wide open for him to grab minutes at small forward. Eyenga is wildly athletic, but it's hard to know if he'll ever be able to survive in the league. He recently completed nine games at Canton in the D-League, and averaged 8.9 points in 24 minutes per game. He shot only 40 percent, was 1-of-11 on 3-pointers and only went to the foul line 17 times (making 11).

7. Compare that to Manny Harris, who is averaging 18.6 points and 7.4 rebounds in Canton. He's shooting 44 percent from the field, and the Cavs may bring him up if they need a shooting guard. They went with Uzoh rather than Harris because their scouts had Uzoh's point guard skills rated higher.