Free Agency Update – 7-8-09
July 8th, 2009 | by Ward Peterson |
Waiting To Land #1
Though the “official” day is today, for free agents to sign with their new teams, the 2009 free agency period in the NBA has already been a very active one for the last couple weeks. Thus far, the Cavs have done a lot of courting, but no player has seemed to be as attracted to playing for the Cavaliers, as the Cavaliers were in adding that player.
The list of potential players that were pursued by the Cavaliers brass, and then either chose to or are widely speculated to be signing with other clubs is already rather long. That list includes Trevor Ariza, Ron Artest, Charlie Villanueva, and Shawn Marion.
The Cavs also have interest in a couple other players, one of which has already visited Cleveland. Josh Childress played overseas last year but could come back to the NBA even though he has a couple years left on this contract, because the verbiage allows him an “out” to play in the NBA. Channing Frye was in Cleveland earlier this week, touring the Cavaliers state-of-the-art practice facility and seems like a good fit for the Cavs as they search for a big man who can defend taller opponents and still stretch the floor with their shooting ability.
The Cavaliers still hope to be able to re-sign Anderson Varejao, but with 2010 coming up and a robust level of quality potential free agents (including of course, King James) awaiting those with healthy cap space, Varejao will have to come at a fair price. The last thing the Cavs need to do is over-spend on a high energy player who is limited on the offensive end of the floor. Over-spending would also limit the Cavs cap space for the important 2010 signing period when the need to lock in LeBron James.
Close, but no Cigar
One still has to wonder why the Cavaliers have come up short in their failed pursuit of some of the aforementioned players.
One reason could be the large shadow that is soon to be cast as LeBron James is joined by Shaquille O’Neal. Any player not willing to accept a supporting role, rather than a starring one, would quickly see that Cleveland would not be the place for them. Shaq and LeBron will be seated at the head table for the inevitable media frenzy, and everyone else will be left with only a few crumbs of media attention and highlight reels.
Personally, I am not that disappointed that the older veterans decided not to do anything. After even suggesting that it would make sense to add of Rasheed Wallace, I am now leaning toward some younger options who will remain as factor for the Cavs for more than just this year and possibly the next. Rumor has it that the Cavs are in the running for the services of Anthony Parker who became expendable from Toronto with the Raptors signing of former Magic stand-out Hedo Turkoglu. Parker is a 6’6” guard who can score from multiple places on the floor and has averaged just over 10 points per game while in Toronto. His defensive abilities will need to improve, but Mike Brown has proven to be a great coach for developing defensive skills.
The next couple days should be interesting. The Cavs are allegedly close to locking in Varejao and it would be good to add one more piece to what they hope is a championship puzzle.
Key Loss on Coaching Staff
Cavaliers assistant coach, John Kuester, will be the next coach for the Detroit Pistons. Normally, the loss of an assistant coach in the NBA ranks is not that big of a deal. This one is different though. Kuester was credited with helping develop and run the Cavaliers offense, after it became clear that the “Watch LeBron dribble at the top of the key” offense had quickly become easy to defend. Many times, in critical times of the game, it was Kuester….rather than Mike Brown….who ran the huddle during a time-out. The Cavs need to bring in another strong offensive coach to replace Kuester, and do so quickly because the old playbook will need a big overhaul with the addition of Shaq to the lineup.
Tags: Anthony Parker, Free Agency, John Kuester, Josh Childress
