This trade may make sense if the plan is to dump Shaq after this year and use Amare to get Lebron to stay (which I think he will).

For the past few years it's been "LeBron doesn't have any talent around him! He cant win"

The next few years after Amare is there its going to be "LeBron isn't getting the ball as much with Amare there and the Cavs can't win with LeBron not getting that many touches."


Amare just plain out sucks on defense and that will weaken the Cavs top 5 defense. Atleast with Z and Shaq, finesse centers around the league had trouble scoring in the post, but with Amare there, centers will have no trouble scoring.

I think you're right on this. Varejao can do it, but pretty inconsistently and he has a pretty limited range of shots.

As to the first point, what Williams does vs. what he can do are two separate animals. Williams can create off the dribble, but his offense doesn't encourage it.

As to the second - who is LeBron going to play hi-lo with?

That's not his game, never will be. Hi-lo serves to crash the defense in low where he wants to operate. He is the lo, with Williams, etc... being the high. So getting another big for LeBron to play hi-lo with isn't going to work.

Do you mean the Cavs should be looking for an alternative to LeBron? Another inside presence to play hi-lo with Williams/Gibson/Parker? If so, I guess I see what you're saying. When he's not hitting, it'd be nice to have a 2nd option.

But if I had a guy like James on my squad, I'd recognize that the odds of him going cold for an entire playoff series are pretty slim. As such, I'd work on finding a way to maximize him, rather than try to find a fallback to him.

Jamison or Granger are the best ways to maximize your best weapon. If LeBron ices up for a series, the Cavs are boned no matter who they add. So go with the guys that will make your team play its best when it's at full throttle. That's how you win a title and that's how you keep LeBron in Cleveland.

I do agree with this. For the kickout guys, we'll see. I didn't see anyone step up against the Magic. Jordan had Paxson and Kerr. When you needed a big shot, they'd hit it.

We'll definitely see. Gibson's been pretty red hot of late, but I've always viewed him as a streak shooter until recently. Mo Williams definitely isn't that guy, when it comes to the playoffs. And Parker might step it up, but I just haven't been overly impressed with him so far.

But I think you're right that they have some guys who could fill that role. I do agree that they need a guy who can set up some shots.

Maybe the Cavs can steal Brandon Jennings from the Bucks. Just like how they stole Moe Williams.

It's not that LeBron will go cold for seven games. But he will go cold for a game, or for a quarter, or a half, and when that happens, they have absolutely no one who can pick up the slack.

The best kind of guy for that team would have been a guy like Randolph, who can crash the boards, get points w/o having plays run for him while LeBron is in, and if you want to give LBJ a blow, you can run plays for him in the low post.

Cleveland has an alpha dog an energy guy (Varejao) and role players. But they don't have a second banana who can emulate a first when needed (McHale, Pippen, early Kobe, Shaq in Miami, even Ginobili to a lesser extent)

Amare Stoudemire - #1 player in the state of FL coming out of HS in 2002

Who was the #2????

MU's Kevin Young.

ROFL To say that's a huge gap in talent is an understatement.

Ilgauskas isn't the best post defender in the world either and Cleveland was doing fine defensively. Really Verajo is the only good defending big the Cavs have.

Amare is still one of if not the most athletic big guy in the NBA. Cleveland has excellent perimeter defenders and they will make Amare's job a lot easier.

Cleveland is a tremendous regular season team, but I think that their inadequacies will manifest themselves in the playoffs far beyond what they appear to be now.

Are you talking about Zach Randolph who plays for the Grizzlies or Anthony Randolph?

Zach Randolph is one of the biggest ball hogs in the NBA. If he gets the ball he is going to shoot it no matter what. NBA people were calling him the black hole when he was in New York because once the ball goes inside to him it doesn't come back out.

Maybe so. The Cavs haven't had a lot of talent the past 3 or 4 years but if they get a guy like Stoudemire they are going to be very tough to beat.

They will be able to get a lot of opposing Centers and PF's into foul trouble with LeBron, Shaq, and Amare.

He's actually matured quite a bit. He's a good player, and would work as a second guy who knew his role. Again, he's a physical rebounder who gets a lot of points on putbacks, and he can score from the low block.

The only other guy who would be a better fit for that Cavs team (realistically), IMO, would be a guy like Stephen Jackson (who is both a great and awful teammate).

GO LAKERS!!!! That is all.

A'm'a'r'e' os constantly in foul trouble

I just want the suns to get a1st or 2nd and 3rd for him
and then it's bye-bye

no d
no boards
can't create

hell I'ld rather play Looooouuu Admunsen and lopez