LA - Cleveland Alternative

I thought of this trade on my way to Cleveland today and I think it would be a good way to maximize Mike Brown and his coaching style that can be a mixture of the guys he had in Cleveland and our core guys here in LA.

Trade:
Pau / Caracter / 2 2nd round picks for Varejao / Gibson / 1st round # 4 overall / Parker (get to him later)

You could throw in Blake or FIsher and have the Cavs buy out Fisher if we trade him.

Cleveland would be getting an elite player that they can build their team around and Pau would fit in with the # 1 pick the Cavs have and they can start building their team around them two guys. A highly touted rookie and elite player is better than two highly touted rookies on a rebuilding team.

LA gets what they lack most and that is perimeter defense and shooting. Gibson can shoot the 3 and guard the quicker guards that give us problems. Varejao might not have the offensive game of Pau, but he makes up for it and then some on the defensive end and he would not need touches on the offensive end bc he is a hustle guy like Barnes. This lets Kobe be number 1 and Bynum be number 2 and Bynum can have free control of the paint. With the number 4 overall we can pick up Kemba, Knight or Jimmer and be set at the PG with athletes and our perimeter defense improves dramatically.

To make the salaries match, Parker would have to come in a sign and trade and with this we get a reliable back up at the 2, that can shoot and plays within the system. Gibson, Varejao and Parker were the top role players on Mike Brown's teams that were good and mix them with our core guys and we got a pretty solid team.

We can now use the MLE to sign a backup Center since the PG position is set and Barnes and Parker can take minutes at the backup 2 so Ebanks can get some run at the 3. We can use the vet. minimum to resign Joe Smith and sign a shooter to be our Peja.


Our new lineup would look like:

Gibson / (Kemba, Knight or Jimmer) / Fisher
Kobe / Parker / Vet. Minimum shooter
Artest / Barnes / Ebanks
Varejao / Odom / Smith
Bynum / MLE Center


We give up Pau, but I feel like we are getting the better end of the deal even though we are giving up our second best player.

Alternative trade: Pau / Walton / Blake / 2nd round pick for Varejao / Gibson / BDiddy / 1st round # 4 overall

NOO we dont need Anthony Parker; the dude is like 35 years old.

Cleve wants to go young. They'd counter with Bynum instead of Pau. The Dude would hang up as soon as Byn came out of Cleve's mouth. Talks over.

Cavs won't even trade the #4 for Pau Gasol.

You lost me at Jimmer for the #4 pick.

I doubt Cleveland would do that.

i think whe are much better off with a orlando deal there i see 3 players that whe could use and they are hungry and higly skilled just what whe need.

JordanL24 wrote:NOO we dont need Anthony Parker; the dude is like 35 years old.

Great job at looking at the trade overall, instead of picking out a player that is a throw in to match salaries.

Phil XI wrote:Cleve wants to go young. They'd counter with Bynum instead of Pau. The Dude would hang up as soon as Byn came out of Cleve's mouth. Talks over.

Cleveland wants to win now. Ever since Gilbert put his foot in his mouth about winning a ring before the King, they would take a Pau Gasol to pair with Irving, in an effort to show their fan base they are making moves. Pau Gasol for the most part is a big name guy in the league that can attract free agents to Cleveland better than a lottery team with rookies could ever do. With the trade the Cavs go from lottery bound next season again to fighting for an 8th spot in the weak Eastern Conference.

Don't forget the Cavs have that big trade exemption (I think its up around 14-15 million) to use to try and get another guy brought in to contend.

Bottom Line - Cavs are win now, they dont want to be a lottery team again next season.

Fly Like A Mosquito Bite wrote:Cavs won't even trade the #4 for Pau Gasol.

Look at what JSM posted over in the Draft forum Cavs are looking to move the pick. Maybe a Pau Gasol would do it for them.

TheHoopsReport: Yes. Minnesota/Utah/Cleveland are all exploring trade possibilities. RT @LakeEffectBro Do you expect anyone to trade up into the top 4?

PiNOYLaKERSFaN wrote:You lost me at Jimmer for the #4 pick.

Come on man. It was a throw in name, its the number 4 pick. With Irving, Williams, Kanter probably the top 3 going, its easy to figure out that Knight or Kemba are going to be there and we could get a top point guard. You lost me at your inability to notice that.

captainhoop wrote:I doubt Cleveland would do that.

See above @ Phil XI. Its Cleveland were talking about, Im from the area and been here for over 20 years, the Cavs do trades like this, its what Cleveland does.

RingBringer wrote:i think whe are much better off with a orlando deal there i see 3 players that whe could use and they are hungry and higly skilled just what whe need.

Orlando is not taking Pau Gasol so, I dont really get this comment. I didnt use any players from the Lakers in this trade that Orlando would want anyway. All Orlando deals are centered around Bynum and Odom and maybe are eventual 1st round picks.



On a side note, if this trade went down hypothetically, I would change my original notion of getting a MLE center and change that to a MLE backup for Kobe. I think we can get a serviceable big man for the LLE or are TPE and get a better backup for Kobe. Varejao can also play center went Odom comes in and Bynum goes out.


Gibson / Kemba or Knight / Fisher

Kobe / MLE Backup / Parker (LLE)

Artest / Barnes / Ebanks

Varejao / Odom / Smith

Bynum / Varejao / LLE center