Gooden to Dallas?

[jacktruth]

This is thin, but was in the Willoughby News-Herald (Cleveland). Wierd too, same rumors were swirling last year in July.


CLEVELAND -- If the Cavaliers are close to agreeing to a contract with Sarunas Jasikevicius, then why are they going through with their scheduled visit with Marko Jaric?


Jaric's agent, Bill Duffy, said his client is scheduled to meet with the Cavaliers tomorrow.

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The Cavaliers might not have the salary cap space to sign the 6-foot-7, 217-pound Jaric, who is expected to command around $5 million a season.

There are two ways around that road block. One would be to carve out more cap space by trading a player and taking back only a future draft pick.

Another would be for the salary cap to increase to $51 million or $52 million, which is unlikely, according to sources.

The Cavaliers do have the cap space to sign Jasikevicius to a contract starting at $3.5 million. A league source said he thought that would happen soon. The source said the Cavaliers wouldn't have agreed to a contract with forward Donyell Marshall on Tuesday without leaving enough space to sign a point guard.

Jasikevicius' agent, Doug Neustadt, was unavailable for comment yesterday.

It appears the Cavaliers are close to getting something done with the veteran guard, who played for Maccabi Tel Aviv last year and is perhaps the top player in Europe.

They have the cap space available because the first-year contracts of both Larry Hughes and Zydrunas Ilgauskas are lower than originally thought. Hughes will play for around $10.3 million next year and Ilgauskas about $9.2 million.

Indiana is also interested in Jasikevicius, but he would be a bench player for the Pacers. They are committed to starting Jamaal Tinsley at the point. They only have the mid-level exception to spend and want to re-sign Dale Davis and James Jones. Fitting in Jasikevicius as well would be difficult.

One point guard who won't be signing with the Cavaliers is former Bowling Green product Antonio Daniels, who reportedly agreed to a five-year, $30 million deal with Washington. The Cavaliers had showed some interest in him early in the free-agent process.

Meanwhile, the 6-9 Marshall could be a bench player, like he has been the last few years, or the Cavaliers' starting power forward. His addition has fueled speculation that the Cavaliers would trade starter Drew Gooden.

One source said Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry has initiated trade talks about Gooden with the Mavericks. Dallas does have two starting-quality point guards on its roster -- Jason Terry and Devin Harris.

Ferry has supposedly spoken to three other Western Conference teams about the 6-10, 242-pounder.

If Gooden is retained, finding minutes for him, Marshall and 6-10 Anderson Varejao might be difficult for coach Mike Brown.

Gooden has just one year left on his contract, and his agent is undoubtedly already thinking about a lucrative extension. Giving Gooden away makes no sense, especially when he might be a better overall player than Marshall.

Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, they won't be announcing their free agents tomorrow after all. The league sent out a memo to teams yesterday saying that the moratorium has been extended to at least July 29.

A league spokesman said the NBA's lawyers cannot get everything done by tomorrow, which caused the league to push back the date.

''We continue to make progress going through the issues,'' NBA players union spokesman Dan Wasserman told the Associated Press. ''The goal is to have everything agreed to by (tomorrow), then to draft the documents.''

[DubOverdose]

It would be illegal to have Dirk, KVH and Gooden at PF and have only one of them starting. Gooden would be nice to have, but I think he wants to start, and we won't offer him that.

[Lebanese_Fan]

Gooden is another forward that will force dirk to play center. He will be a very good player in this league, but not with the mavs.

[kg_veteran]

Gooden doesn't fit in Dallas. He can only play the PF spot, and there are only about 10-12 minutes available there, max, even if you trade Van Horn.

[Eman]

Can he play some center, he's bigger than our backup center last year!

He's 23 years old

14.4 points and 9.3 rebounds last year!!!!!!!!!!

And he's still getting better!!!

Can Dirk play small forward and give Van horn and Gooden some time at Power forward????

Getting a young 6 foot 10" guy that is 240 pounds and can score and rebound is very tempting.

If we can give him enough minutes at PF and C and Avery thinks that his rebounding and size and scoring ability can help our team.........and he thinks he can teach him to play better defense, we may want to go for this guy. .......

Van Horn would then be expendable and his expiring contract could get us some very nice players at the trading deadline.

[Eman]

also, before we get walker comparisons

He doesn't shoot three pointers

He doesn't turn the ball over that much and........

HE shoots free throws at over 80%!


KG....Why do you say he can't play center???????

[kg_veteran]

I'm just curious. Why are teams that have Gooden (3 of them now) so eager to get rid of him?

[Nash13]

Eman, it's b/c he can't play center. When he first came in the league, he was really a 3/4 player.

But if the Mavs and Johnson are serious about giving Dirk some time at the 3, then this might be the move to make. Just as long as it doesn't cost us Terry.

[jayC]

Gooden is an athletic 4 however. Gooden doesn't have to have the ball when on the floor. All the top offensive players in the league are at the pf. Walker didn't fit because he needed the ball to be effective.

[alby]

then maybe we can move KVH for another quality guy..

but we would quickly be losing quality shooters

[Eman]

Our current backup center is KVH............can gooden at 6 foot 10, 240 play better center (with a little help from Mbenga) than KVH.......KVH could be shipped off for a two guard or a better pg or backup center......

With a 14 million contract, KVH could be shipped off for TWO quality players.........

And did I mention that Gooden is 23??????

[DevinHarriswillstart]

We tried to get gooden before too. For some reason management loves this guy. If he comes, Van Horn goes bye bye.

[Stressboy]

I saw this and started thinking about how this would work and I got this one to work with the new 25% rule, but wait and see the one after:

Out Going: Finley/Harris
Incoming: Snow/Newble/Gooden/Jackson

It worked and would be a good deal for both parties since we would be taking their two worst contracts in Snow/Newble and getting them a starting PG and and the veteran leader to help lead them into the playoffs. A team with Harris/Hughes/Lebron/Donyell/Z with a bench of Finley/Brazilian kid/Big Lituanian Project would be pretty cool, but they would need a couple of good vet minimum signings for depth.

Then it got me to thinking and the guy I always wanted from them before we got Terry was McGinnis. Do they have the rights to this guy? If they do you could add a S&T of McGinnis at MLE money and you get this trade:

Out Going: Finley/Terry
Incoming: McGinnis(S&T)/Snow/Newble/Gooden/Luke Jackson

We would then have the pieces to then go get Pierce. KVH/Harris/Jackson/Newble for Pierce/Blount

McGinnis/Snow
Pierce/Danials
Josh/Stack
Dirk/Gooden
Damp/Blount/Benga/PPod

I know I get carried away. Oh we would still have our MLE for speculation.

[rakesh.s]

god no..

we'd have the softest power forward rotation, possibly EVER.

[Eman]

Only problem is that would give us a definite downgrade at the point unless Marquis can play point a little better.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

I don't think Terry is going anywhere. Could be Harris. So maybe soon I'll have to change my name with Cleveland at the end?

[SeriousSummer]

You do that deal, and then maybe Cleveland doesn't need Jasikevicius--in fact, better to trade Terry and then add Jasikevicious and hope Harris is ready by the time Saras's time is done.

Assuming you could sign Jasikevicius, then Terry for Gooden & Jackson works.

Jasikevicius/Harris
Daniels/Stackhouse/Jackson
Howard/KVH
Dirk/Gooden
Damp/MBenga--with help from Dirk, Gooden & KVH

Pavel, Josh Powell, vet minimum fill out the roster

[akaarod03]

SeriousSummer...I agree...

Let's go sign Sarunas Jasikevicius with our MLE (not all of it...but at least 3-3.5 million of it)...if not Jasikevicius...then Marko Jaric...I dont know how Cleveland can go after both of those guys. We need to keep Devin...and trade them Terry for Gooden and Jackson...

In addition...trade Finley for Pollard and Reggie Miller's contract

Love the rotation...

Nowitzki Gooden
Howard KVB
Dampier Pollard
Daniels Stackhouse
Jasikevicius Harris

with Jackson, Benga, P-Pod, Pavel, etc rounding out the bench

That's a deep, talented, and young rotation

[alby]

i thought ppod was pavel =p

and that is an incredibly young, unproven group of 6, 7, 8 guys =\

[jacktruth]

Jasikevicius/Harris

Do you really thing Jasikevicius can start at point? His team is shopping for a point guard! Why would we trade for him and start him?

[SeriousSummer]

Jasikevicius's team is Maccabi Tel Aviv, who he's led to two straight Euroleague championships. If they are shopping for a point guard, it's only because he's leaving them for the NBA.

[SeriousSummer]

i thought ppod was pavel =p

At his size maybe you count him twice?

[alby]

haha =]

on a serious note, pavel is still a year or two away from being someone who can produce at the nba level for the mavs..

[foglemann]

to me, I hate Drew. Just say no to Drew. I watched him in Memphis and Orlando, he stunk it up, with a huge attitude problem. Then only reason he put up good stats in cleveland is because that PF spot between Z and Lebron gets no attention, Drew was free to do whatever he wanted. There was a reason why Tractor played alot of his minutes under Silas in critical times, cause Drew is dumber than a box of rocks. If he was 7'0 and played center, I could take the bad with the good, but since he plays the same position as Dirk, no thanks.

That being said, if we somehow get him with Sara and/or Jaric, I do it in a heartbeat. Don't know who we get rid of, but that would bolster our back court for sure, and at least give us a player down low. He's not the ideal size, but he would work, and that would free up KVH to get traded, although I'm for him coming off the books to save a little cash, same with Terry.

[Speedy]

"Everybody knows Drew Gooden is a beast on the block and he's going to get you a double-double," Gooden said. "I don't know when I'm going to get that respect. I don't know when a team is going to say, 'We need this cat and we need to put some players around him.' I would like to be a part of something like that."

No thanks, unless it's a three way trade and he doesn't end up here.

[kg_veteran]

I'll play along just for the heck of it, because I'm bored...

Trade Terry for Gooden and Jackson.

Sign Earl Watson with some or all of the MLE (3-4 year deal).


Dampier - M'Benga - Pavel
Nowitzki - Gooden
Howard - Van Horn
Stackhouse - Daniels - Jackson
Watson - Harris

Rotation:

Dampier 30
Nowitzki 36
Howard 30
Stackhouse 28
Watson 28
Gooden 28
Van Horn 20
Daniels 20
Harris 20

You'd have the ability to move Van Horn and Stack or Daniels at the deadline to get a star at the SG spot, if you wanted.

[EricaLubarsky]

that would be one of the worst teams in the league at spreading the floor.

[kg_veteran]

Like I said, I was bored. I'm not really sold on the idea.

[bcrav4]

save the MLE for Benga next year

[ddh33]

Anyone else encouraged by the fact that the Mavs have "TWO starting quality" point guards on their roster. And I heard there were some fans who didn't even think there was one.

[alby]

A part of me really wants to keep KVH, i feel that KVH/Dirk on the floor at the same time is a very good forward combination.. if only Josh Howard didn't improve so much, he would be in with the names on the trading block haha =P

Jho4Life

[DevinHarriswillstart]

CAVALIERS
Trade rumors again start swirling around Gooden
Thursday, July 21, 2005
Branson Wright
Plain Dealer Reporter
The Drew Gooden trade rumors have begun three months into the NBA off-season. Gooden has been in the league for only three years, but he has already played for three different teams.

Number four could be on the horizon.

"Me being part of a trade rumor comes with the territory," Gooden said. "That's the way it has been for me every year. But I'm to the point where I don't worry about [a trade] anymore. I just know wherever I'm playing, I'm going to play hard and do whatever I have to do, and I want to do that in Cleveland."

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Speculation about a Gooden trade surfaced this week when the Cavs received a verbal agreement from free-agent power forward Donyell Marshall, who is expected to sign a four-year deal.

The earliest free agents could sign with teams was set for 6 p.m. Friday but that has changed. The NBA and the players union will not complete the new Collective Bargaining Agreement in time. Therefore, the deadline will be extended. The new deadline will not have any effect on teams. It will only extend the process.

The addition of Marshall, who shot 41 percent from 3-point range last season, means the Cavs could make him a starter. And with the emergence of Andy Varejao, the Cavs could trade Gooden for someone less offensive-minded.

Gooden nearly averaged a double-double last season (14.4 points and 9.2 rebounds). But with LeBron James, the addition of free agent Larry Hughes and the re-signing of Zydrunas Ilgauskas, the Cavs will need less offense from Gooden. That could mean another player would provide a better fit, but Gooden is prepared to do whatever the Cavs need at his position.

"I'm not a general manager, I'm not a scout and I'm not a coach," Gooden said. "It's not up to me what pieces of the puzzle the organization wants to put together. I just go out and play my role. I have to step up to the plate and carry things out [no matter what role] I'm asked to be in."

General Manager Danny Ferry said that currently no Cavs player is on the trading block, and he is looking forward to working with Gooden this fall.

"Drew is a tenacious rebounder that will be a big part of things this fall," Ferry said. "We need a guy [like Gooden] that can rebound and score some. Drew is relentless going to the basket for rebounds. He's capable of having a positive impact in a game."

If Gooden remains with the Cavs, he'll have the chance to play with a team that is expected to sign several more free agents.

"I haven't been thinking about trades," Gooden said. "I've been thinking about Donyell becoming a great outside threat for us and the great transition game we'll have with LeBron and Hughes. There's no reason why Hughes and LeBron shouldn't be 1-2 in steals in the league. Z returning is big for us because you don't want to play against him."

The Cavs were in the driver's seat to make the playoffs late last season, but they collapsed at the end. Gooden said making the playoffs will not be a question this season.

"It should be a rule with the players that we don't talk about making the playoffs," Gooden said. "It should be what are we going to do when we get there. This time, there shouldn't be any excuses. We shouldn't ask if we're going to make the playoffs. This time, it's how far are we going?"

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

bwright@plaind.com, 216-999-6136

[DubOverdose]

I have a strong feeling lately that KVH will stay a Maverick. We will let his contract expire then resign him next season as a great backup for Dirk at a good price and we'll have cap relief. Atleast, if Finley is being waived for 'cap relief' we better be going all in, and not half assing it to just use it as an excuse. Thus, I doubt Gooden will be a Maverick anytime soon.

[alby]

I hope you are right

[jthig32]

Finley is not being released for cap relief. He's being waived for Luxury Tax relief. Actually, if we waived Fin and then let KVH's contract expire, I would be rather upset. The whole point of waiving Fin is to increase our flexibility to take on contracts. The only way we can take on contracts right now is through trades. So KVH better be on his way out by the trading deadline in a big deal to bring us a big name with a big contract.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Big names? LIke what big names? What for? Champions are built when keeping players together.

[DubOverdose]

Originally posted by: jthig32
Finley is not being released for cap relief. He's being waived for Luxury Tax relief. Actually, if we waived Fin and then let KVH's contract expire, I would be rather upset. The whole point of waiving Fin is to increase our flexibility to take on contracts. The only way we can take on contracts right now is through trades. So KVH better be on his way out by the trading deadline in a big deal to bring us a big name with a big contract.

Actually, I believe Cuban might be targeting to be under the cap, so that we can go out and sign FAs whenever there's one we think would be a valuable addition. Yes, waiving Finley gives luxury tax relief, but also gets us closer to being under the cap. If we are under the cap, we will be able to take on whatever contracts we want and have significantly more flexibility. I really don't know where you are getting your argument. We only have less flexibility if we are over the cap, thus there's an incentive to be under the cap. If we are under the cap, we can trade a pick away for a player, and give the team immediate cap relief.

[Lebanese_Fan]

That will take years to get under cap. We need another all-star to play with dirk, and KVH gives us the ability to trade for one. Why would dirk wait for at least two years to get under cap and wast those seasons. Fins contract will still count on the cap space for the next 3 years. If we want to free up space, we should trade him for expiring contracts.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally posted by: Lebanese_FanFins contract will still count on the cap space for the next 3 years. If we want to free up space, we should trade him for expiring contracts.

Bingo.

[alby]

and if/when we cant trade him, we waive him..

which is what we're doing