State of the Cleveland Cavaliers

State of the Cleveland Cavaliers

By: Yannis Koutroupis Last Updated: 7/31/09 11:46 AM ET | 1365 times read

The Cleveland Cavaliers losing in the Eastern Conference Finals was a bigger story than the Orlando Magic advancing to the NBA Finals. After winning 66 games during the regular season and going 8-0 through the first two rounds it looked like LeBron James and his Cavs had no equal until their weaknesses were exploited by the Magic. The series went six games, but the Magic were clearly the better team and would have wrapped up things sooner if it wasn't for a game-saving three-pointer by LeBron in Game 2.

With the offseason starting earlier than anticipated Danny Ferry felt the need to make a big splash since this could be LeBron's last year in Cleveland. At season's end LeBron will field offers from just about half the league, but as for right now he's a Cavalier and they have the next year to prove to him that there's no reason to go elsewhere. To help make this upcoming season as successful as possible the Cavaliers traded for center Shaquille O'Neal, sending big man Ben Wallace and wing Sasha Pavlovic to the Phoenix Suns.

It's hard to argue about whether or not O'Neal makes the Cavaliers a better team. Even at 37 years old O'Neal has something left in the tank, evident by his averages of 17 points and eight rebounds last season. He'll provide another player for the Cavaliers to run through offensively in halfcourt sets, which they desperately needed. He's going to provide a presence defensively with his shot-blocking ability, but O'Neal has never been able to defend the pick-and-roll.

In the past O'Neal had no equal inside the paint outside of the San Antonio Spurs' Tim Duncan. As Shaq has aged, though, the rest of the league has improved. In the East O'Neal will face the likes of Orlando's Dwight Howard, Boston's Rasheed Wallace and Kevin Garnett, who can more than hold their own against the Big Aristotle now. Knowing that Shaq alone wasn't enough the Cavs looked towards free agency with the hopes of acquiring another impact player or two.

The draft was fairly uneventful for the Cavs as they stood pat with the 30th and 46th picks, investing in Christian Eyenga and Danny Green. Eyenga signed a three-year contract with DKV Joventut shortly after summer league, but Green will be with the team next year and could actually be a contributor. Green is coming off of a stellar four-year career at North Carolina and is willing to play whatever role is asked of him.

With the draft completed the Cavs looked to improve at the small forward position, going after Ron Artest and Trevor Ariza. Both forwards elected against signing with the Cavaliers, with LeBron's impending free agency playing as a major factor in their decisions. As they missed out on their top two targets in free agency the Cavs moved on to locking up one of their own long-term, signing Anderson Varejao to a six-year, $42.5 million deal (which could be worth even more with incentives). That may be a high price to pay for Varejao, but he's proven to be a vital part of the team over the past three seasons and his effort can never be questioned.

The spending continued with the addition of two athletic wing players in Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon. Both players possess good size and are defensive-minded, fitting in perfectly with Coach Brown's system. They'll see lots of time defending the East's best perimeter players like Boston's Ray Allen, Orlando's Vince Carter, and Atlanta's Joe Johnson. They also made Tarence Kinsey expendable as he was waived shortly after summer league.

Most of the major work in Cleveland is done now that the team has spent most of their mid-level exception. They're still active though, looking at forwards Hakim Warrick, Joe Smith, Rob Kurz, and Leon Powe with their bi-annual exception worth around $1.9 million. The addition of another forward will likely conclude the Cavaliers' summer.

In a world where everything goes perfect for the Cavaliers LeBron would sign an extension in the upcoming weeks and avoid free agency next summer all together, but the chances of that happening are likely slim. The Cavs are going to be forced to make it through this trying season with constant questions about the upcoming offseason while trying to win a championship. It won't be easy, but they have enough talent to get the job done and if they can their work will be much easier at the end of the season.