Hope is not lost in Cleveland

[Eric_Suede]

After losing LeBron James and then Cleveland bringing in those players.  I would say all all hope is lost.  The Cavaliers should just blow it up now and start the rebuilding process.

You're right in that respect maybe I should change the name of the thread. Again we all know their days of being legit contenders are long gone, I'm speaking in terms of all the reports of how much Lebron being a cavalier meant to organization. (Ticket sales etc) So in terms of being a contender again... Yes hope is lost
 In terms of Having Bitter fans that #1 want to see Lebron fall flat on his face who are vulnerable right now to go for a "BAD BOY" squad #2 would love to play against him in the playoffs for "payback" (heat will be a top seed , so with my idea we're talking a 7th or 8th seed, Realistically a playoff matchup with the heat is possible) #3 Needing to put a product on the floor that dejected fans might at least raise an eyebrow and would want to see what happens....
I think my "Bad Boy Wasteland" plan accomplishes that and "hope" isn't lost.  

 Again the alternative is to blow it up and be a puppy squad. IE minnesota. Sure the cleveland fans are soooo willing to deal with that now that lebron is gone

[MMacOH]

Cleveland will be in the lottery. Mark it down. This team will completely suck. First of all, you can chalk up:

Boston
Miami
Orlando
Atlanta
Chicago
Milwaukee

for playoffs. Do you really think CLE will seize one of those final two spots? I don't see it.

So out of the following list of teams, who gets the final two spots?

Charlotte
Cleveland
Detroit
Indiana
New Jersey
New York
Philadelphia
Toronto
Washington

I think Cleveland has a decent shot at being one of those teams, depending on how the rest of the offseason plays out.

Absolutely.

Cavs have some cap space to play with. Rather than overpaying for FA scraps, they should use the space wisely via trades.

This.  The Cavs plan on either trading on enouncing Delonte (4 mil) which gives them 13 million in cap space.  They want to use that extra space for trades (brining in guys worth more than the player they ship out)

[blackbird]

Cleveland will be in the lottery. Mark it down. This team will completely suck. First of all, you can chalk up:

Boston
Miami
Orlando
Atlanta
Chicago
Milwaukee

for playoffs. Do you really think CLE will seize one of those final two spots? I don't see it.

So out of the following list of teams, who gets the final two spots?

Charlotte
Cleveland
Detroit
Indiana
New Jersey
New York
Philadelphia
Toronto
Washington

I think Cleveland has a decent shot at being one of those teams, depending on how the rest of the offseason plays out.

I'm going with Charlotte and New York. Cleveland will be awful.

[Who]

Cleveland will be in the lottery. Mark it down. This team will completely suck. First of all, you can chalk up:

Boston
Miami
Orlando
Atlanta
Chicago
Milwaukee

for playoffs. Do you really think CLE will seize one of those final two spots? I don't see it.

So out of the following list of teams, who gets the final two spots?

Charlotte
Cleveland
Detroit
Indiana
New Jersey
New York
Philadelphia
Toronto
Washington

I think Cleveland has a decent shot at being one of those teams, depending on how the rest of the offseason plays out.

Wow, that is one ugly list of teams.

I think Charlotte look pretty good relative to the rest. They should be able to claim one of those spots.

I hated Philadelphia giving away Sam Dalembert. I thought they were a lock for the playoffs prior to that but now they have one of the weakest big man rotations in the league and look very weak on the interior defensively. Jrue Holiday, Evan Turner and Andre Iguodala are impressive players though.

Indiana and Detroit will be quite similar to last year's editions of those teams. Washington are a train wreck. Not optimistic at all about Cleveland. Varejao is the only good player in their starting lineup at the moment.

That leaves New Jersey (no chance), New York (unlikely) and Toronto. Toronto could be okay. Amir Johnson and Ed Davis should be able to do a respectable job with Bosh's minutes (defense + rebounding should be comparable, half of Bosh's offense with half of his shot attempts/touches). Not sure that they'll be much worse than last year's squad.

I think I'll go with Phily in eight place and Toronto ninth place. Then Indiana or New York. Then Detroit, then Cleveland and finally New Jersey.

[Lucky17]

Cleveland will be in the lottery. Mark it down. This team will completely suck. First of all, you can chalk up:

Boston
Miami
Orlando
Atlanta
Chicago
Milwaukee

for playoffs. Do you really think CLE will seize one of those final two spots? I don't see it.

So out of the following list of teams, who gets the final two spots?

Charlotte
Cleveland
Detroit
Indiana
New Jersey
New York
Philadelphia
Toronto
Washington

I think Cleveland has a decent shot at being one of those teams, depending on how the rest of the offseason plays out.

I'm going with Charlotte and New York. Cleveland will be awful.

Why are we chalking up Atlanta? They were a mediocre team last year, made no significant roster improvements, and now are faced with the prospect of competing in a very tough SE division with Miami and Orlando (and Charlotte).

Cleveland has the benefit of playing in a very uneven division. Detroit and Indiana are still in holding patterns. Milwaukee and Chicago are good teams, but no one is head and shoulders above the rest. Cleveland could certainly beat up on the also-rans in the East, finish at .500, and still make the playoffs.

[Brendan]

They'll waive Delonte if they cannot find a way to trade and get something for him IMO. No need for a guy with his skills on a rebuilding team, and he'd be a great fit for any contender (as long as they are OK with his off court stuff.)

Since they are under the cap Mo for AJ works straight up.

[Who]

Cleveland will be in the lottery. Mark it down. This team will completely suck. First of all, you can chalk up:

Boston
Miami
Orlando
Atlanta
Chicago
Milwaukee

for playoffs. Do you really think CLE will seize one of those final two spots? I don't see it.

So out of the following list of teams, who gets the final two spots?

Charlotte
Cleveland
Detroit
Indiana
New Jersey
New York
Philadelphia
Toronto
Washington

I think Cleveland has a decent shot at being one of those teams, depending on how the rest of the offseason plays out.

I'm going with Charlotte and New York. Cleveland will be awful.

Why are we chalking up Atlanta? They were a mediocre team last year, made no significant roster improvements, and now are faced with the prospect of competing in a very tough SE division with Miami and Orlando (and Charlotte).

Cleveland has the benefit of playing in a very uneven division. Detroit and Indiana are still in holding patterns. Milwaukee and Chicago are good teams, but no one is head and shoulders above the rest. Cleveland could certainly beat up on the also-rans in the East, finish at .500, and still make the playoffs.

Atlanta won 53 games last season. They weren't mediocre. They were a good team.

[Mike-Dub]

After losing LeBron James and then Cleveland bringing in those players.  I would say all all hope is lost.  The Cavaliers should just blow it up now and start the rebuilding process.

#2 would love to play against him in the playoffs for "payback" (heat will be a top seed , so with my idea we're talking a 7th or 8th seed, Realistically a playoff matchup with the heat is possible)

Yeah getting swept by LeBron and the Heat would make Cavalier fans feel that much better.

[Brendan]

They'll waive Delonte if they cannot find a way to trade and get something for him IMO. No need for a guy with his skills on a rebuilding team, and he'd be a great fit for any contender (as long as they are OK with his off court stuff.)

Since they are under the cap Mo for AJ works straight up.

I should say they'll waive Delonte if they want to use the cap space (during the season for acquiring someone else's bad contract for example.)

[Cman]

Since they are under the cap Mo for AJ works straight up.

I forgot they were under the cap, so yes, that trade does work.
I think the Cavs have the ability to be decent next year, depending on how the rest of the offseason plays out.

[Lucky17]

Atlanta won 53 games last season. They weren't mediocre. They were a good team.

You're right, they did win 53 games. I think they overachieved.

Rookie coach, a thin roster (really only 7 or 8 deep), cheap ownership group, and a tepid fan base.

Unless they do something big in the next few weeks, I don't see how Atlanta wins much more than 40 games this coming season.

[Eja117]

In the words of Gandalf the White...."There never was any hope. Just a fool's hope."

[Bankshot]

Yuk

Keep in mind, I'm thinking from the owners mindset. Realistically despite the letter, we all know Cleveland is as far away from a ring as the timberwolves are. So i'm speaking in terms of "from what's left" what lineup is possible to put butts in seats next season now that "the king" is gone. Personally I can't think of anyone with Name recognition that will spark interest other than a resurgent AI or Mcgrady, Arenas & Jefferson. Again a Wasteland of Bad boys. Who knows it just might work. What's cleveland's alternative?
Oh wait, they can be like the Timberwolves and become a puppy squad. Yeah that'll go over well with fans agonizing over the loss of Lebron. A loser puppy squad. Like I said , I'd vote for a badboy wasteland. Again they have nothing to lose. Oh yeah you may be able to get Al Jefferson up front as well , although I would prefer al Harrington at least he stays healthy.

Well that's a team that nobody can root for.

[Who]

Atlanta won 53 games last season. They weren't mediocre. They were a good team.

You're right, they did win 53 games. I think they overachieved.

Rookie coach, a thin roster (really only 7 or 8 deep), cheap ownership group, and a tepid fan base.

Unless they do something big in the next few weeks, I don't see how Atlanta wins much more than 40 games this coming season.

Depth

Atlanta has a backup guard (Crawford), a backup wing (Mo Evans) and a backup big man (Zaza). That is a very good bench.

They also have a nice young backup PG in Jeff Teague and another backup wing in Jordan Crawford. Add in a minimum contract backup big or two, like they had with Joe Smith and Collins from last season, and their reserves are solid too.

I don't see depth being an issue here.

Rookie Coach

I like to wait and see what a rookie coach does rather than expecting failure or success. So I'm going to leave this one alone for the time being.

Atlanta's offense was rudimentary and their effort (defense) was far from where it should be. There is a lot of room for improvement ... a new coach could make a positive difference.

Starters

Mike Bibby is getting on a bit but he was already fairly lousy. The other four starters, I think they'll either maintain or improve (especially Marvin + Josh) their performances.

Overall

I don't see Atlanta dropping that far back from where they were last season.

[Brendan]

I wonder if they could get AIv2 from Philly. He's redundant with their draft pick and CLE could take back some extra salary, which would help Philly. If Philly could flip Brand for Gilbert, maybe they'd do AIv2 for Jamison + Moon. Then work a trade for Jefferson, with West, Gibson, Parker, plus eating salary, plus 2nd rounders. (Still hard for me to say if Minny goes for it - but they were  ready to take Zach Randolph at one point, so they must be low on Jefferson.)

Andy V, JJ, AIv2, Mo (need a starting wing still)
+ Jefferson as 6th man and then fill out the rest of the roster with one year contracts. You won't be great in 2011, and could stink, but you'll be able to showcase all your assets, and everyone under a long term deal, is the kind of guy a competing team might want to pickup:

Mo - 3 pt guard who can play either spot
Andy V - defensive/hustle big that can play either spot
Al Jefferson - inverse of Andy V
AI - can play either wing, can defend both spots, decent all around complimentary offensive player

They are probably all slightly over paid, but not terribly so. They'd be in a position to either build around that group, plus picks or trade those guys for longer term deals, and still have a shot at cap space in 2011 offseaon (add Melo?)