Quote:
Originally Posted by St. Pats
I don't think they had any intention of moving the Brooklyn pick. This was some very shrewd moves by the Cavs. They shed a lot of aging vets and malcontents. They got back younger players and more defensive minded players. This unit should be enough to get them back to the finals. Meanwhile they are younger and have a top pick for the rebuild if Lebron leaves. Masterful job I'd say. No guarantees for either this season or for the rebuild but they certainly put themselves into position to possibly succeed.
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Eh, I wouldn't say masterful. Clarkson's contract is bad and on the books for two more seasons after this. Hill is not even close to what he was in his prime, defensively this season he ranks marginally better than Isaiah. Yes we can expect him to up the effort level, but he's a mild upgrade and his shooting stats are skewed by low volume. Hood is decent, but his injury history/soft reputation doesn't bode well for playoff basketball. And if it is Perkins who ends up filling the buyout spot, that's a nothing add. They also have no rim protection, and are set up to get destroyed on the glass. If they draw the Pistons in round one, they could easily lose that series watching Drummond average 10 offensive boards a game (and something stupid like 25 total).
The Cavs are better than they were yesterday, but they've been playing .400 basketball the past two months. It doesn't take much to improve. They're still banking on LeBron going mental and having the greatest postseason ever....and even then, the Celtics and Raptors are much deeper and have actual teams together. Oh and it doesn't change Lue being a terrible coach either. Frankly if they fire him and hire Fizdale, then they're a lot more intriguing than anything these trades did.