Fear The Sword

Report: Cavs sign Jemario Moon to offer sheet

2009-07-19T18:03:11Z

The Cleveland Cavaliers have reportedly signed Miami Heat F Jemario Moon to an offer sheet that sources say is for at least two seasons.

The 6-8, 200lb. Moon seems to fit exactly the type of player the Cavaliers have been trying to bring in this off-season - wing players with size that can play defense.

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
2008 - Jamario Moon	80	25.9	2.8	5.9	46.8	0.8	2.3	35.5	0.9	1.0	85.0	0.7	3.8	4.6	1.2	0.5	1.1	0.8	1.7	7.2

The Heat will have 7 days to match the offer, but with their sights set on Lemar Odom, as well as their attempt to maintain cap flexibility next season, it would appear that the Cavs would be is solid position to obtain Moon's services.

According to Brian Windhorst, timing of the offer sheet, the first of Danny Ferry's tenure as Cleveland's G.M. is interesting -

Usually Cavs General Manager Danny Ferry avoids players who are restricted and this is the first offer sheet he's given in his four years as GM. However, the Cavs may be acting with some gamesmanship here as the Heat twist a bit while waiting to see if Los Angeles Lakers free agent Lamar Odom accepts an offer they have given him. Locking up Moon to an offer sheet prevents him to be used in sign-and-trades, which the Heat may have been looking at as well.

Whatever the case, the Cavaliers will now wait to see if the Heat match.

Wally-World turns down offer to play in Spain

2009-07-17T16:55:07Z

Wally-World turns down offer to play in Spain

A Spanish web site has reported that Wally Szczerbiak has turned down a contract offer from the Euroleague's Real Madrid.

LeBron James does some 'Entourage'. Via Jeremy Piven's Twitter

2009-07-17T10:37:01Z

LeBron James does some 'Entourage'. Via Jeremy Piven's Twitter

Fear The Links - 7/16 -- Cavaliers selling the tickets at rapid pace

2009-07-16T14:45:27Z

Good Morning! A new logo for FTS, what do you think? Let me know in the poll. We'll have more a bit later in regards to Summer League action, but here are some stories floating around today regarding the Wine and Gold!

Cleveland Plain Dealer

Fan frenzy: Season-ticket sales soaring for Cleveland Cavaliers - cleveland.com
Despite the sour economy, the Cavaliers are proving, once again, that if you put a quality product on the field or court Clevelanders will support it.
Reporter predicts LeBron James is in Cleveland to stay - cleveland.com
Detroit reporters give their take on LeBron James contract situation. Ummm....ok
Shaquille O'Neal apparently wants to attack UFC champ Brock Lesnar; Cleveland Cavaliers shudder at the thought - cleveland.com
No matter what this season brings, it is going to be entertaining to say the least!!
Cleveland Cavaliers' Shaquille O'Neal merchandise selling out in Cleveland - Cleveland.com
Cleveland fans can't get enough of Shaq merchandise...

Ohio.com

Ohio.com - Cavs call new free agent Parker a chameleon
Anthony Parker calls himself the Danny DeVito of the Parker clan. With superstar sister Candace making her mark in the WNBA, you can understand why Parker, the newest free agent addition to the Cavaliers roster, might feel that way.

Around the Web

LeBron James 2010 Blog " 2009 ESPY’s LeBron Named Best NBA Player
Lebron added another ESPY Award last night. The Awards dhow will be broadcast on Sunday, July 19th.

Poll

What do you think of the new FTS Logo?

Fear The Links - Monday 7/13

2009-07-13T22:08:26Z

Cleveland Plain Dealer

Brian Windhorst breaks down the Cavs' depth chart after their offseason moves so far and looks at the performance of Danny Green and Christian Eyenga in the first two NBA Summer League games.
Mary Schmitt Boyer writes about the Cavs' newest addition, Anthony Parker.
Terry Pluto says that Mike Brown is on the hot seat for the coming season and talks about the Varejao signing in his Sunday notes column.

Akron Beacon-Journal

Patrick McManamon says that the salary cap drop could cost LeBron James millions of dollars.

The News-Herald

Bob Finnan writes his Sunday notes column.

Around The Internet

Sam Amico at TheClevelandFan breaks down the Cavs' Summer League roster.
Rick at WaitingForNextYear looks at an article, written by a Knicks fan, which claims that ESPN is biased because they want LeBron to stay in Cleveland and not go to New York. Yes, we all know how ESPN has always had a huge bias in favor of Cleveland while usually ignoring anything that goes on in New York. Seriously, what planet does that guy live on?
At Cavalier Attitude, Amar Panchmatia recaps the Cavs' first Summer League game while Smooth recaps the second game.
John Krolik at Cavs: The Blog writes his notes on Summer League action.
SI.com has a roundtable discussion about the big moves in free agency and the teams to beat this season.
At ESPN, David Thorpe "tweets" about the Summer League here and here with some notes about the Cavs. He's been impressed with Danny Green so far.
Jason Fleming at HoopsWorld talks to Danny Green about his Summer League play and being drafted by the Cavs.

Cavaliers release Summer League roster

2009-07-10T18:57:25Z

The Cleveland Cavaliers released their Summer League 2009 roster earlier today as they get set to play 5 games over the next 10 days or so. The roster consists of -

2009 cavaliers Summer League Roster
Num	Player	Position	Height	Weight	From
26	Leo Lyons	F	6-9	244	Missouri
15	Christian Eyenga	G-F	6-5	210	Congo (Zaire)
5	Jamont Gordon	G	6-4	225	Grand Valley State
14	Danny Green	G-F	6-6	210	North Carolina
35	David Harrison	C	7-0	280	Colorado
0	Darnell Jackson	F	6-9	253	Kansas
8	Tarence Kinsey	G	6-6	189	South Carolina
6	Maureece Rice	G	6-1	225	George Washington
31	Jawad Williams	F	6-9	220	North Carolina

Cavaliers Assistant Coach Chris Jent will lead the team.

The team's first game from Las Vegas is tomorrow at 6PM est. All Summer League games can be watched live on the Web(for a fee of $14.99) HERE.

Fear The Links - Friday 7/10

2009-07-10T16:13:05Z

I'm sorry that it's been a while since I've posted some links but after the distractions we've had the past couple days I think it's time we started talking about some REAL basketball news again. Hope you enjoy!

Cleveland Plain Dealer

Brian Windhorst goes in to great detail about how the lower cap in 2010 may help the Cavs keep LeBron James. He also writes about the signings of Varejao and Parker.
Michael Curry gives his thoughts about those signings in his Cavs HQ blog.

Akron Beacon-Journal

Patrick McManamon gives his thoughts on the Varejao deal and talks about the salary cap impacting LeBron's future.

The News-Herald

Bob Finnan writes about the signing of Anthony Parker and Varejao. He also discusses John Kuester in his NBA notes column.

Around The Internet

At TheClevelandFan, John Hnat explains why it makes sense that LeBron would NOT sign an extension this offseason. Everyone who thinks LeBron not signing an extension means he's going to leave Cleveland (in others words, most of the national media) should definitely read this article.
At WaitingForNextYear, RockKing says that Anthony Parker is a good fit for the Cavs while Rick explains why resigning Varejao was a good idea. Scott also discusses a rumor about the Cavs trading for Gerald Wallace.
John Krolik at Cavs: The Blog analyzes the Cavs' depth chart after the moves they've made this month.
At Cavalier Attitude, Amar Panchmatia analyzes the Cavs' recent signings and discusses another possible option for LeBron.
Kevin Pelton at the Basketball Prospectus, looked at the top 20 players in free agency at position and ended today with the centers (the other positions can also be found in that link). He listed Varejao as a center (because that's where he says his future lies after 2010 when Shaq and Z leave) and rates him as the best of the available centers thanks to his defense.
At the Bleacher Report, Brad Frank says the Cavs made a mistake with the Varejao contract and Casey Drottar says with an improved roster the pressure is on LeBron and the Cavs.

For everyone that needs to see LeBron get dunked on, this is for you. It's happened before, it...

2009-07-09T18:53:00Z

For everyone that needs to see LeBron get dunked on, this is for you. It's happened before, it will happen again. Moving on.....

LeBron 'Dunk-Gate' being blown out of proportion

2009-07-09T15:52:03Z

Being the fan of an ultra-mega-super-star athlete on your favorite team can be hard at times. Every little thing, every comment, every action, gets scrutinized. Need proof? How about 'Dunk-Gate'.

I'm sure you have heard by now that LeBron James was "dunked on" by Jordan Crawford of Xavier University during his skills competition at the University of Akron. The pick-up game, which occurred in the evening after a day of drills, was being ILLEGALLY RECORDED by a couple of videographers trying to make a name for themselves.

When noticed, Nike confiscated the tapes, based on the rules violation, not the dunk!

"Nike has been operating basketball camps for the benefit of young athletes for decades and has long-standing policies as to what events are open and closed to media coverage. Unfortunately, for the first time in four years, two journalists did not respect our no videotaping policy at an after-hours pickup game following the LeBron James Skills Academy," said Nike spokesman Derek Kent on Wednesday.

Of course, the cameramen had another tale to tell.

Ryan Miller, who videotaped the dunk and had his tape confiscated, detailed the events to CBSSports.com.

"[Nike Basketball Senior Director Lynn Merritt] just said, 'We have to take your tape,'" Miller said. "They took it from other guys, too."

Miller, who is a freelancer, was at the camp in part for ESPNU. He also was getting material for Syracuse.com. Miller, who attended Syracuse, had been part of ESPNU's Campus Connection program, which uses college students to report on various sports events at their campuses. The tape that was confiscated belonged to Miller and not ESPN and he is not an ESPN employee.

Miller said he had been filming all day and only had his tapes confiscated after Crawford's dunk over James.

"LeBron called Lynn over and told him something," Miller told CBSSports.com. "That's how I knew his name was Lynn. LeBron said, 'Hey, Lynn. Come here.'"

Minutes later, Miller said Merritt demanded his tape.

"There's nothing I can think of besides LeBron just not wanting it online," Miller told CBSSports.com. "It's a good story to tell people, I guess. But then again, I'm kind of pissed. I lost my tape."

Of course, ESPN defending one of its own.

Listen, if LeBron James is that concerned about his image, then shame on him. However, if what Nike says is true, if there are rules about when and where video can be taken during the camp, and Miller broke the rules, than he's wrong, case closed.

Cavaliers agree to terms with Anderson Varejao

2009-07-09T11:11:35Z

More photos » by John Raoux - AP

about 1 month ago: Cleveland Cavaliers forward Anderson Varejao (17), of Brazil, makes a plea to an official after committing his fifth foul in the second half of Game 3 of the NBA Eastern Conference basketball finals against the Orlando Magic in Orlando, Fla., Sunday, May 24, 2009. Varejao fouled out of the game moments later and Orlando won 99-89. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Browse more photos »

The Cleveland Cavaliers kept one of their own late yesterday, coming to terms with C/PF Anderson Varejao on a 6-year deal that could be worth $50 million. For Varejao and the team, the rapid pace at which a deal was agreed upon was in stark contrast to what happened in 2007 when it took 5 months and most of Training Camp to get Varejao signed, and that was only after the Bobcats signed Andy to a deal, which the Cavs matched.

This time, both sides knew they wanted to get something done, and fast.

"Andy wanted to stay in Cleveland," Fegan said. "He feels there is unfinished business -- to win an NBA championship."

There were likely teams out there that would have paid Varejao more - Fegan stated several teams would have went over $10 million per season - but both sides were able to get something down that in the end is probably fair, to both the Cavs and Varejao and keeps a key piece of the roster in place for the foreseeable future.

Stats and links after the jump -

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
2008 - Anderson Varejao	81	28.5	3.3	6.2	53.6	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.9	3.1	61.6	2.0	5.1	7.2	1.0	1.0	0.9	0.8	3.0	8.6

NBA free agents: Free agent Anderson comes to an agreement with Cleveland Cavaliers - ESPN

Anderson Varejao agrees to 6-year deal with Cleveland Cavaliers, who add 6-6 free-agent guard Anthony Parker - cleveland.com

Cavs Close to Deal with Swingman Anthony Parker.

2009-07-09T01:21:00Z

Cavs Close to Deal with Swingman Anthony Parker.

The 6-6 wing averaged 10.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game while shooting 43 percent from the floor and 39 percent from 3-point range.

ESPN reports Pistons to hire Cavs assistant John Kuester as head coach

2009-07-07T19:12:14Z

ESPN reports Pistons to hire Cavs assistant John Kuester as head coach

The Detroit Pistons, who couldn't work out a contract with Avery Johnson to be their next head coach, appear to be turning to Cavs assistant coach John Kuester as their man. Kuester was as assistant coach for the Pistons in 2004 when they won the NBA championship and has been with the Cavs for the past two years. He served as "offensive coordinator" last year and was credited with the improvements in the Cavs' offense this past season. The Cavs don't want to lose Kuester, especially to a division rival, but won't stand in the way of his first head coaching opportunity.

LeBron commits to Cleveland?

2009-07-07T13:09:07Z

LeBron James is apparently pulling out all the stops in attempts to get Free Agents to come to the Cavaliers. Sources close to Free Agent Trevor Ariza have said that James told Ariza he would be in Cleveland after next season.

"Trevor asked LeBron if he would be in Cleveland after next season," the source said. "And LeBron said, 'I'll be there. Of course, I'll be there.'"

Whether or not that was simply James trying to make a sales pitch to Ariza remains to be seen, and remember, while most people believe it is a given that LeBron will opt out of his contract after next season, CBA uncertainty, along with the economy could give James reason to pause, if only for one second.

There is also the possibility that LeBron could accept an extension this summer, say, for 3 seasons. The Cavaliers are expected to offer James the extension.

According the the report, Ariza was a bit skepticle about LeBron's guarantee to remain a Cavalier -

Ariza, who had accepted a five-year, $33.5 million offer from the Rockets last Thursday, also received telephone calls from James and Shaquille O'Neal. When James told Ariza he'd be a Cavalier past next season, Ariza was less than convinced.

"He thought it was just a recruiting tool," the source said. "LeBron definitely said it, but until he signs the contract it doesn't mean much."

Again, only time will tell, but like most of us have said all along, what reason is there for James to leave Cleveland when the Cavaliers are doing anything and everything possible to make him happy?

Offseason Moves Favor Cavs Thus Far (Updated through 7/14/09; Magic looking better)

2009-07-06T06:28:03Z

So the Cavs missed out on Ron Artest, Trevor Ariza, and Charlie Villanueva. Well, so buttons. Let's take a look at what the team's (Boston and Orlando) the Cavs should be competing with for the East have done. There are many variables to be considered in evaluating how these off-season moves are going to affect the teams involved (playing time given to new players, playing time taken away from established players, adaptability to offense and defensive schemes, etc.), I'm not going to claim this to be an exhaustive cumulative end all be all of evaluation. The measure I'm going to use is Wins Above Replacement Player (WARP). I'm going to include the players Player Efficiency Rating (PER) and Offensive and Defensive Ratings from basketball-reference.com, which estimates how many points scored and allowed would a team made up of five starting versions of x player would score in 100 possessions, to add more depth, but it's the WARP that I'm going to fall back on in comparing what these teams really accomplished thus far.

What I want to bring to attention to is the end results, the net gain/loss for these teams thus far. The Lakers for example have made the headlines in bringing in Ron Artest, a big name in the free agent market for sure, but the cost of bringing him in was the loss of Trevor Ariza, who then signed with Artest's former team the Houston Rockets. So what will this mean if Artest now is replacing Ariza's minutes next season? Does this end up as an improvement or a loss in production and even more importantly (because it is too often lost in the media hype) how much of an improvement or loss will this be?

The Boston Celtics

Received: Rasheed Wallace

Rasheed Wallace: 3.9 WARP, 14.9 PER, 107 ORtg 103 DRtg.

If the core of the team remains and is healthy (not a given) this is, in my opinion, the top competition in the East for the Cavs. (Orlando is right there next to them though). Adding Wallace and not losing a player yet (Glen Davis may go) has the Celtics looking pretty good so far.

3.9 WARP value gained.

Orlando Magic

Recieved: Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson through trade, signed Brandon Bass through free agency.

Lost: Rafer Alson, Tony Battie, and Courtney Lee through trade; lost Hedo Turkoglu and ~~Marcin Gortat~~ ~~through free agency.~~

Vince Carter: 9.0 WARP, 19.3 PER, 112 ORtg 112 DRtg.

Ryan Anderson: 1.9 WARP, 13.6 PER, 108 ORtg 109 DRtg.

Brandon Bass: 3.1 WARP, 16.4 PER 113 ORtg 108 DRtg.

Anderson is a non-factor here as far as next season goes, he's a young (20 yrs old last season) forward who is at least above replacement level, but his PER is below average and his defense isn't that good yet. Vince Carter is a very valuable player, but all of his value rests in his offense as his 112 DRtg is bad. Bass effectively replaces Gortat's production although he's a more traditional power forward rather than center.

Rafer Alston: 4.3 WARP, 13.8 PER, 105 ORtg 104 DRtg.

Tony Battie: 0.3 WARP, 11.9 PER, 106 ORtg 102 DRtg.

Courtney Lee: 0.9 WARP, 10.8 PER, 107 ORtg 104 DRtg.

Hedo Turkoglu: 5.0 WARP, 14.8 PER, 107 ORtg 104 DRtg.

~~Marcin Gortat: 3.1 WARP, 17.2 PER, 121 ORtg 97 DRtg.~~

Alston's loss is mitigated by the return of a healthy Jameer Nelson (5.8 WARP last season) to run the point. The big loss of course is Turkoglu, who's defense (which has a lot to do with his size for his position) is simply not going to be replaced by Carter, but a point earned is about as valuable as a point allowed, so I'd expect to see more offense out of this team with a full season of Nelson and Carter. This won't be the top defensive team in the league (which Orlando was in team DRtg.) again. Each of the players they lost contributed on the defensive end, Battie and Lee are both good defenders, and although Alston gives a step to Nelson on the offensive end, he is his equal defensively. ~~Gortat is simply not going to be replaced, he was a very good back up last season that will see his role expand in Dallas this year.~~ Well that was a little unexpected the Magic reportedly matched the offer sheet for Gortat, this is going to give the Magic a formidable frontcourt, but is going to cost the team lots and lots of $$$ in the short term due to the salary cap and luxary tax.

14.0 WARP - 10.5 WARP= 3.5 WARP value gained

I'd like to point out here another reason why I chose to use WARP, a replacement level player (a player that is easily available to acquire but isn't all that good) is a 0.0 rated player in WARP, so even though Orlando is losing four players and only gained two thus far, this allows us to still compare the gains/losses by simply plugging in two replacement players in the roster and not having to worry about it effecting the results. The point isn't to argue over who the Magic eventually fill those roster spots with because we simply don't know for sure and I'm not interested in opinions or guesses here. All we know is if those spots need to be filled by the beginning of the year they will be filled with replacement players at the least.

The Cleveland Cavaliers

Received: Shaquille O'Neal by trade, Anthony Parker by free agency

Lost: Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic

Shaquille O'Neal: 10.7 WARP, 22.3 PER, 117 ORtg, 109 DRtg.

Anthony Parker: 0.7 WARP, 12.1 PER, 105 ORtg, 111 DRtg.

Shaquille is a major upgrade on the offensive end over the players he was traded for. His defensive rating last season was the highest he's had in his career; this could either be a fluke season or quick regression of his defensive skills because of his age. In terms of WARP he's the most valuable player acquired thus far this offseason. I think the Cavs think higher of Parker's ability to defend in their defensive system than his numbers indicate about his defense from last season. Well he's going to be better than Pavlovic and Szczerbiak, which isn't saying much but is an improvement.

Ben Wallace: 3.4 WARP, 12.2 PER, 111 ORtg 98 DRtg.

Sasha Pavlovic: -1.4 WARP, 8.6 PER, 102 ORtg 105 DRtg.

Ben Wallace was very productive on the defensive end despite being unable to show much in the Orlando series in this regard. But he's a very limited player at this point in his career and offers almost nothing on offense. Pavlovic was just a disappointment in that he never developed his game despite having the size to really solve the Cavs' need for a tall perimeter defender. He actually performed under replacement level on the year. ~~What happens to Andy Varejao (5.5 WARP) will impact the team's end results for the offseason, but picking up a guy like Antonio Mcdyess (5.3 WARP) would mitigate that loss.~~ Keeping Varejao helps limit the team's free agent losses to minimal value lost. Joe Smith figures to be the player with most value (1.7 WARP) that may not rejoin the team, but I wouldn't rule him out just yet, depending on what they think of Hickson's return from an injury they may need to bolster the PF position.

11.4 WARP - 2.0 WARP = 9.4 WARP value gained.

So we have Cleveland with a substantial gain thus far, Boston with its recent acquisition of Rasheed Wallace improve as well, and Orlando's move for Vince Carter and signing of Brandon Bass helps them come out about as good as Boston. I'll try to update this as the offseason progresses. At this point the Cavs are looking strong to repeat with the best record in the Eastern Conference, which I want to point out should be the goal result for this team from a roster composition standpoint, a lot of things can happen between now and the playoffs next season, the best accomplishment for the regular season is to secure home court advantage through the playoffs.

Yahoo! Sports: The L.A. Times and CBS Sports are reporting that Ron Artest is close to agreeing to...

2009-07-03T00:13:58Z

Yahoo! Sports:
The L.A. Times and CBS Sports are reporting that Ron Artest is close to agreeing to terms with the Lakers.

What's this mean for Trevor Ariza and the Cavs?

Shaq talks to the Four-letter network about becoming a Cavaliers

2009-07-02T22:02:44Z

Shaq talks to the Four-letter network about becoming a Cavaliers

Welcome to Cleveland, Shaq!

2009-07-02T21:57:13Z

Welcome to Cleveland, Shaq!

Cavaliers schedule 1PM press conference to welcome Shaq

2009-07-02T02:13:30Z

Cavaliers schedule 1PM press conference to welcome Shaq

Shaq is in town, ready to meet with the media for the first time since he was traded to Cleveland last week.

Cross him off the list, then. Pistons snag Charlie Villanueva

2009-07-02T02:08:53Z

The Detroit Pistons struck first in Free Agency, reportedly coming to terms with Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva this afternoon, the first day teams could talk to available players.

While Gordon had been expected for awhile, the Pistons quick strike on Villanueva was a bit of a surprise, coming about most likely when Carlos Boozer decided to stay in Utah.

While the team cannot make the signings official until next week, the deals for Gordon and Villanueva look to be quite lucrative.

Former Bulls guard Gordon will receive a five-year, $55 million deal, while former Bucks forward Villanueva gets a five-year deal for $40 million, sources told ESPN.com's Chris Broussard.

The Cavs, who were thought to be interested in Villanueva, have reportedly reached out to Ron Artest, with LeBron James making a pitch to the Rockets Forward while both players were in Los Angeles. While it remains to be seen if Artest could be had with a mid-level deal, it can't be overlooked that a Shaq/LeBron/Artest locker room would be quite fun to follow on a daily basis.

Fear The Links - Wednesday 7/1

2009-07-01T16:16:56Z

Cleveland Plain Dealer

Brian Windhorst writes about the Cavs' interest in free agent Charlie Villanueva and says the Cavs will be buyers in free agency which begins today.
Their Cavs HQ blog, by Micheal Curry, discusses the two V's and Ron Artest.

Akron Beacon-Journal

George Thomas also looks at possible free agent targets for the Cavs.

The News-Herald

Bob Finnan discusses the Cavs interest in Varejao and Villanueva and has other Cavs notes.

Around The Internet

At TheClevelandFan, Jesse Lamovsky looks at the free agents available while Sam Amico looks at the needs for every team in the Eastern Conference.
Scott at WaitingForNextYear discusses the recent rumblings on the top free agents.
Marc Stein at ESPN.com discusses the latest free agency news and think the Pistons will go hard after Villanueva and could offer him more money than the Cavs.
John Schuhmann at NBA.com gives his list of the top 10 free agents this year.
As always, Cavs The Blog and Cavalier Attitude have plenty of great stuff about the Cavs' free agency plans. They both have too many good articles to link to seperately so just check them out.