Cleveland Management "Spins" Big Z/Dallas Rumor

[XERXES]

THE BEACON JOURNAL

Posted on Sun, Jan. 04, 2004

The View from Pluto: Cavs, Art Modell, Browns
Cavs in no rush to trade Ilgauskas despite defensive habits
By Terry Pluto

Here's the latest on Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas:

• Cavaliers general manager Jim Paxson told me, ``We're in no rush to trade him. We want to see how he fits in with the new guys. He's trying harder on defense. He's still 7-foot-3 and can score. He's a valuable player.''

• NBA sources tell me that Dallas has been trying desperately trying to add Ilgauskas, with the Mavericks offering Antawn Jamison. He's a year into a six-year, $79 million deal. The Cavs don't think he's worth that kind of long-term commitment.

• Ideally, the Cavs would like to add a starting point guard who can shoot, an upgrade over Kevin Ollie. One insider said they'd like ``a Chauncey Billups-type,'' but the Pistons love Billups and not many guards available fit that model.

• Jamison is a career 20-point scorer, but he's a 6-9 forward. That really doesn't give the Cavs what they need.

• Ilgauskas is being paid $13.5 million this season and $14.6 million next year. So there is no rush to take on another mega-contract just to make a deal.

• Ilgauskas has had five foot operations. He also developed some very bad defensive habits over the last year with all the losing, coaching changes and selfish play on the team. Coach Paul Silas expects his big men to defend, and Ilgauskas has struggled.

• Silas has a solid defensive center in Tony Battie, and DeSagana Diop is expected to be activated this week. Silas loves Diop's willingness to block shots, crash the boards for rebounds and exert a physical presence when teams try to drive inside. He knows Diop is foul-prone and a liability on offense, but figures the 15 to 20 minutes of defensive energy that he provides makes him valuable.

• Can the Cavs go with Battie and Diop as their centers? Can Diop stay healthy? He's had two knee operations. He'll be 22 at the end of the month. The good news is that in the four weeks he missed while recovering from knee surgery, his weight only went from 280 to 282. The 7-footer has learned to keep in shape, and he respects Silas.

• A team needs an inside scoring threat to win consistently. Ilgauskas does have some effective post moves, and no one else does. He has been bothered by the sagging defenses and zones that the Cavs have faced. Teams know the Cavs have few outside shooters, so there is no reason to open up the defense. They just pack people under the basket.

• The Cavs believed Ricky Davis had to go because he wasn't going to play team basketball and was distracted by what he told friends was ``The LeBron Show.'' That is not the case with Ilgauskas, who doesn't want the spotlight and is not a problem in the clubhouse.

• Ilgauskas does seem frustrated because he often doesn't see the ball as much as he'd like, and he wishes Silas would play him more. But this is not at a crisis stage.

• For all the gnashing of teeth about Ilgauskas, he's averaging 14.4 points, 7.3 rebounds and shooting 50 percent in 30 minutes a game. Those are good numbers, and would ordinarily silence some of the criticism except his salary is so high.

• The Cavs do believe that eventually they have to make a trade, getting James some help in scoring and handling the ball. They have placed a huge burden on him. He's fourth in the NBA in minutes played, and he probably will wear down unless someone else can carry some of the load.

• As one Cavs insider said, ``We need a Scottie Pippen-type to play alongside LeBron.'' Good luck finding that guy. Without Walker

[kg_veteran]

This just means that the Cavs want us to take on a bad contract or somesuch to make the deal complete.

[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[LRB]

• Ilgauskas has had five foot operations. He also developed some very bad defensive habits over the last year with all the losing, coaching changes and selfish play on the team. Coach Paul Silas expects his big men to defend, and Ilgauskas has struggled.

I'm sure Nellie could cure him of this. Replace "some" with "a lot". [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[ddh33]

I posted in a different thread that I believe that both teams are positioning themselves publicly. I think both would like to make a trade, but both want to be the big winners of any deal. I won't be surprised if a deal gets done; I won't be surprised if it doesn't.

Even if it does, I think it might be a while because both teams will want to find out what is available and for how much. For instance, would Cleveland rather have Shareef Abdur-Rahim than Jamison? If Atlanta offered that, would Dallas counter with Walker?

Would Dallas rather have Rasheed Wallace than Z? Would we rather make slight changes, than bigger ones?

All of these questions have to get answered. Right now, I don't think either side really knows what they have or where they're going. That's why I think this may go right down to the deadline or not happen at all. It feels like we're just in a wait and see mode.

[MightyToine]

THE BEACON JOURNAL

Posted on Sun, Jan. 04, 2004

The View from Pluto: Cavs, Art Modell, Browns
Cavs in no rush to trade Ilgauskas despite defensive habits
By Terry Pluto

Here's the latest on Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas:

• Cavaliers general manager Jim Paxson told me, ``We're in no rush to trade him. We want to see how he fits in with the new guys. He's trying harder on defense. He's still 7-foot-3 and can score. He's a valuable player.''

• NBA sources tell me that Dallas has been trying desperately trying to add Ilgauskas, with the Mavericks offering Antawn Jamison. He's a year into a six-year, $79 million deal. The Cavs don't think he's worth that kind of long-term commitment.

• Ideally, the Cavs would like to add a starting point guard who can shoot, an upgrade over Kevin Ollie. One insider said they'd like ``a Chauncey Billups-type,'' but the Pistons love Billups and not many guards available fit that model.

• Jamison is a career 20-point scorer, but he's a 6-9 forward. That really doesn't give the Cavs what they need.

• Ilgauskas is being paid $13.5 million this season and $14.6 million next year. So there is no rush to take on another mega-contract just to make a deal.

• Ilgauskas has had five foot operations. He also developed some very bad defensive habits over the last year with all the losing, coaching changes and selfish play on the team. Coach Paul Silas expects his big men to defend, and Ilgauskas has struggled.

• Silas has a solid defensive center in Tony Battie, and DeSagana Diop is expected to be activated this week. Silas loves Diop's willingness to block shots, crash the boards for rebounds and exert a physical presence when teams try to drive inside. He knows Diop is foul-prone and a liability on offense, but figures the 15 to 20 minutes of defensive energy that he provides makes him valuable.

• Can the Cavs go with Battie and Diop as their centers? Can Diop stay healthy? He's had two knee operations. He'll be 22 at the end of the month. The good news is that in the four weeks he missed while recovering from knee surgery, his weight only went from 280 to 282. The 7-footer has learned to keep in shape, and he respects Silas.

• A team needs an inside scoring threat to win consistently. Ilgauskas does have some effective post moves, and no one else does. He has been bothered by the sagging defenses and zones that the Cavs have faced. Teams know the Cavs have few outside shooters, so there is no reason to open up the defense. They just pack people under the basket.

• The Cavs believed Ricky Davis had to go because he wasn't going to play team basketball and was distracted by what he told friends was ``The LeBron Show.'' That is not the case with Ilgauskas, who doesn't want the spotlight and is not a problem in the clubhouse.

• Ilgauskas does seem frustrated because he often doesn't see the ball as much as he'd like, and he wishes Silas would play him more. But this is not at a crisis stage.

• For all the gnashing of teeth about Ilgauskas, he's averaging 14.4 points, 7.3 rebounds and shooting 50 percent in 30 minutes a game. Those are good numbers, and would ordinarily silence some of the criticism except his salary is so high.

• The Cavs do believe that eventually they have to make a trade, getting James some help in scoring and handling the ball. They have placed a huge burden on him. He's fourth in the NBA in minutes played, and he probably will wear down unless someone else can carry some of the load.

• As one Cavs insider said, ``We need a Scottie Pippen-type to play alongside LeBron.'' Good luck finding that guy. Without Jamison





Thank you, xerxes.

[Dirkenstien]

it'll be interesting to see if anything comes out of this

[XERXES]

• As one Cavs insider said, ``We need a Scottie Pippen-type to play alongside LeBron.'' Good luck finding that guy. Without Jamison

I was beginning to think noone noticed...

[MightyToine]

Originally posted by: XERXES

I was beginning to think noone noticed...

lol. Come on, Xerxes. OutletPass tried the same thing last time.

I've caught on since then. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

[ReDIRKulous]

Would anyone trade Josh Howard and change for Z and change? Do you think Silas would do this deal? I think he might.

[Dirkenstien]

thats a toughy redirkulous because we dont want to give up a defensive player in Howard for a below average defensive player in Z but at the same time we need size and some type of presence down low..in the end I think we would have to do it but grimmacely.