Brian Windhorst has talked a little bit recently about the Cavs’ trade possibilities using Wally Szczerbiak’s expiring contract. He mentioned specifically that the Cavs are interested in Bobcats SG Jason Richardson.
I think, and Cavs management obviously agrees, that Richardson would be a great fit on this team. He is a great scorer, and actually (and maybe more importantly) a very good outside shooter. He’s also a big guard who can rebound well and backup the SF position. However, this team finally has some scorers and good outside shooters, and Wally is big enough to play the 3 as well.
What really excites me about Richardson is that he would give the Cavs their only other exceptional athlete outside of LeBron. Ever since last year’s all-star game, I’ve been fantasizing about LeBron throwing up alley-oops on the break to a super-athletic Cavaliers teammate. Who can LeBron throw lobs to on this team? That’s a rhetorical question, of course. Richardson would make my fantasy a reality.
J-Rich would super-charge this team’s transition offense, and give the Cavs a totally unguardable perimeter trio with LeBron and Mo Williams. Of course, it’s a waste of time to talk about completely implausible trade proposals. Could a deal for Richardson actually happen?
Even though the Bobcats aren’t offering him at the moment, I really think it could. For one, the ‘Cats are off to a disappointing start without any obvious answers for the future. This is the situation that usually drives teams to make rebuilding moves such as shedding salary.
Secondly, they have been losing money for a while and are a mess financially, with the ownership rumored to be looking for opportunities to cut costs and sell the team. They’re already reported to be shopping Gerald Wallace, arguably their best player. Wallace is younger than Richardson and has a longer tenure with the organization. He has the longer deal, but the salary is reasonable and Richardson makes more money per year. He has the ‘Cats biggest contract and a trade for Szczerbiak would save them from paying the last two years of it–not a small benefit for them.
Third, it seems to me that Richardson hasn’t been the best fit for them. His perimeter scoring is arguably superfluous with Wallace already on the team. I thought his addition last year would make them a playoff team. Instead they got worse. And their record at this point is the team’s worst since its first season (although Richardson has sat out games). It seems to me that the Bobcats would be better off playing a sharpshooting role-player (like Matt Carroll) alongside Wallace on the wing, while focusing on finding the interior scorer they need. And given that Richardson is the oldest of their standout players, I don’t see why they wouldn’t at least offer him before Wallace in trade discussions.
It’s possible they could find a better deal for J-Rich, but given the 2010 free agency frenzy, there is not a huge market right now for long-term contracts. And I don’t see the Bobcats getting a player who could make them truly competitive in the short term. A deal for Szczerbiak would be practically ideal for them in the long term, easing financial problems while giving them more options in free agency (and also not hurting their draft position).
I believe it would be worth it for the Cavs to make a deal for Richardson, but it would come with some complications. The team would not be worse off for losing Szczerbiak, but they would be adding a long-term salary commitment. This is the reason why a trade like this has to be for the right player. As it stands, the Cavs are in a position to be able to offer a max-contract to an all-star free agent in 2010 while re-signing LeBron. That class famously includes Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, among other standouts. Adding Richardson would preclude most of those amazing free agent possibilities. So this really has to be a championship move, and there would be opportunity costs.
Also, they would be adding an all-star caliber player to an already deep backcourt rotation without any important subtractions. As Marlo Stanfield might say, “this seems like one of those good problems.” It would be an issue that the team would have to address, however. And I would never want to trade away any of our quality backcourt players to solve the problem, because players will get injured. When that happens we’ll be thrilled to have guys like Delonte and Boobie waiting in the wings.
So I was thinking about some ways the Cavs could solve the minutes issue if this deal were to happen. First, I think they could shorten the minutes of their veteran bigs, bringing LeBron up to backup the 4 spot for more minutes each game. This would hopefully not bruise any egos and allow the old guys to get more rest and stay productive. Especially with Richardson, this would really allow the team to explore how they can use small-ball lineups to their advantage, which they’ve been trying to do more this year anyway. However, the team would have to really focus on getting LeBron comfortable with playing the post (where, to my eyes, he still looks pretty uncomfortable) and the 4 spot in general.
Also, they would have to cut some end-of-the-bench guys out of the rotation, for the most part. Unfortunately, that includes some young guys, and hopefully the team wouldn’t have to stick to this method too strictly.
Adding Richardson would also make it possible for the Cavs to allow LeBron to rest more, which is something they’ve said they wanted to do. However, I don’t think they can go too far with this. Rest him in blowouts, but the guy is the best player in the world and still under 24 years old. You’ve got to give him at least 38 minutes a night, which is about where he’s at right now.
So just to clarify how this all could work, I decided to make a little chart of the minutes distribution for this hypothetical roster.
| PG | SG | SF | PF | C |
| Mo (34) | JRich (14) | Lebron (28) | Big Ben (28) | Big Z (28) |
| Boobie (14) | Delonte (28) | JRich (20) | LeBron (10) | AV (20) |
| Boobie (6) | AV (10) |
Totals:
Lebron – 38 mins.
J. Rich - 34 mins.
Mo – 34 mins.
Anderson – 30 mins.
Delonte - 28 mins.
Big Z – 28 mins.
Big Ben - 28 mins.
Boobie – 20 mins.
[cuts out: Sasha, J.J., Lorenzen, Kinsey]
This type of distribution would give a pretty appropriate role to all the team’s quality players, and allow guys to step up whenever injuries occur. The really unfortunate part is that it leaves no playing time for the young guys, but hopefully between injuries and maybe resting the big guys more, the team could work them in sometimes. For all its drawbacks, I think this trade could make the Cavs a powerhouse.
However, there are other options out there. Another guy who would fulfill my super-athletic wingman fantasy would be Vince Carter. I would actually prefer Vince, except for the issue of his age combined with the length of his contract. He’s 4 years older than J-Rich and turns 32 this season. He’s still as good as ever, and is the better player of the two right now. I’m sure a trade to Cleveland would stimulate his appetite for major playoff success and motivate him to play selflessly (which I think he already does for the most part) and go all out. But he couldn’t remain that super-athletic partner for very long, and his deal goes through 2012. That would hurt the Cavs in the long term, and the Cavs should be thinking long term because they’re building around a star who is still 23. Besides, given how badly the Nets want to sign LeBron, I think they would avoid at all costs a deal that might help LeBron win a championship with his current team. So I think this deal has more drawbacks and is less likely than a deal for Jason Richardson.
Although it is worth mentioning that the Nets are also going through some financial hard times, and there has already been some talk about this trade scenario in the media.
There is another deal that I would love to see, however. Mike Miller. The actual deal (as I tested it on the RealGM Trade Checker) would probably also include Brian Cardinal, which would be fine for the Cavs. Miller is a fantastic shooter, which is a valuable skill for a LeBron sidekick. He wouldn’t do much for my fantasy of flashy alley-oops, but he is also a great all-around player who will play unselfishly, rebound, and make good passes. He is about the same age as Richardson, and might age better due to less dependence on athleticism. What might make this deal even better than the Richardson deal, however, is that it would preserve the Cavs’ 2010 cap flexibility, as both incoming deals expire after next season. Considering stature and ego, Miller probably demands slightly fewer minutes than a player like Richardson or Carter, which would ease the adjustment. This trade would have virtually no downside for the Cavs.
I would guess that this deal is less likely to happen, however. The T-Wolves just traded for Miller, so they probably like him. Also, since the Miller/Cardinal contracts expire within 2 years, the Wolves would not be saving that much money. I don’t see what good it does them to have these guys around given that they are still building for the future, but these deals aren’t killing their cap flexibility either. They will be tradeable expiring contracts by next season, and they allow for cap room in 2010.
If I were in charge in Minnesota, I would definitely consider it though. They would have more free agent options next summer–when there might not be much competition in the bidding. They would be sending Miller to a team outside of their conference. Miller’s age does not really fit with their timetable, so losing him would not hurt them at all in the long term, which is what they should really care about. And they would save about $15 million. It is something they should consider, and hopefully they will.
Having said all that, I will also say that I think holding onto Szczerbiak and the cap space is a good option as well. If it can retain LeBron’s loyalty, Cleveland will be a very attractive free agent destination for championship-minded stars in 2010. A lot of the potential free agents are friends of LeBron from the same draft class, which also can’t hurt. As I said before, only the very best deals would be worth giving up those future possibilities, however remote they may seem right now.
And most importantly, the Cavs can win a championship, this season, with this team. Certain players might help, but there is no urgent need for a shakeup. Right after a loss, the Cavs are still sitting in third place in league standings. So if no home-run deal materializes, we can still enjoy this team and have confidence for this season and the future.
