Cavaliers Got Fleeced

[wayray@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

http://www.medina-gazette.com/Articles.asp?num=57604673

Paxson strikes again 

C avaliers general manager Jim Paxson just outdid himself. He took a talent-challenged, 6-18 team and actually made it worse.
We shouldn't be surprised, though. Paxson is one of the few people  maybe the only person  who could land LeBron James in the draft lottery and still not improve a team that went 17-65 the previous season.
But back to the fleecing that occured Monday. Ricky Davis for Eric Williams, Tony Battie and Kedrick Brown would have been bad enough completely on its own. That Cleveland also parted with Chris Mihm, the second-best player in this six-player trade, is laughable.
For good measure, the Cavaliers also sent Michael Stewart and a second-round pick to Boston.
Rumors persist that if Paxson doesn't say "Uncle" to Celtics GM Danny Ainge real soon, Cleveland might have to send a few more players to Boston this afternoon.
OK, that last paragraph is a joke.
But this trade is a bigger one.
The enigmatic Davis may have been a problem child, head case and ball hog, but other than James he was also Cleveland's most-talented player, by far.
Though totally lost in coach Paul Silas' system, the guy was still scoring almost 16 points a night.
Davis also could rebound, pass and play defense, though there's no denying the 6-foot-7, 195-pounder's efforts in the latter two categories were frequently lacking.
Still, even the spin-doctoring Paxson admitted Davis was "the most talented player in this trade." Then, in the next breath, the GM said trading Davis was not "a knee-jerk reaction to, 'Hey, we've got to make a deal that involves Ricky."'
It sure comes off that way, because absolutely no one Cleveland got in this trade will be in the team's long-term plans.
Or at least they shouldn't be. With Paxson, one never knows. One day he's clearing veterans for youth, the next he's trading young players for vets. One day he's clearing salary, the next he's dishing out contracts to marginal players.
"We felt we needed to make a move right now," the GM said. "I don't expect us to win at a 25 percent clip the rest of the way. That wouldn't be improvement. This group will continue to get better."
That will happen because the Cavaliers' record is so bad it can't help but get better, not because of what Paxson did Monday.
And define better, anyway. Twenty-five wins instead of 20? Twenty-eight instead of 25?
Williams, who at 31 becomes Cleveland's oldest player, is an extremely hard worker and is currently averaging 11.6 points, but he doesn't really have a position and he's earning $5.5 million in the final year of his contract.
(Don't rule out Paxson signing the nine-year veteran for five more seasons, 
however. After all, if Kevin Ollie and Ira Newble can get five-year, $15 million deals, anyone can.)
The 6-11 Battie is a shot blocker, but he's not as good as Mihm and he may not be as good as DeSagana Diop. Worse, he will make $4.4 million this season, $4.8 million next year and $5.2 million the season after that.
Brown didn't play much for the Celtics and doesn't figure to play a whole lot for the Cavaliers, so the best that can be said about this trade is it's change for the sake of change.
"Players get used to losing," Paxson said. "You've got to shake it up and try to bring in some players who have won."
Williams and Battie won because they played with Paul Pierce and, prior to this season, Antoine Walker. It's that simple.
It's equally clear that, no matter how many ways the Cavaliers spin it, their primary motivation in this deal was ridding themselves of Davis, who argued with opponents, teammates and coaches during his stay in Cleveland.
"I'm not going to sit here and say there weren't some challenges," Paxson said. "I think it had more to do with Ricky's play on the floor. It didn't always fit in a way Paul felt good about, so he sat him down."
Previous coaches John Lucas and Keith Smart did the same, so Silas and Paxson can't be faulted for having an ever-shortening fuse when it came to Davis.
"Ricky's a real strong personality," Paxson said. "That's just who he is. He competes every night.
"At the same time, the general manager, working with the coach, has to make some tough decisions. We just feel getting this experience and letting LeBron and some of our young players develop will make us a good team sooner rather than later."
Davis, 24, was supposed to be one of those young players when he signed a six-year, $34 million deal prior to last season, then went on to average 20.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 5.5 assists.
Those numbers were somewhat inflated because Davis was a good player on a lousy team, but the Cavaliers still should have been able to get a lot more for him, especially if they were going to involve Mihm in the deal.
Instead, Paxson had to resort to saying that trading Davis would create more playing time for second-year guard Dajuan Wagner.
If only the oft-injured Wagner, who has played in just 47 games in his two-year career, possessed such a quality spin move.
"We hit the bottom last year," Paxson said. "We got lucky in the lottery (and got James), but we need to start getting better."
One would think a team that went 17-65 the previous season and added an immense talent in the draft would have already gotten better.
It did, but that team is playing in Denver, where Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe added Andre Miller, Jon Barry and Earl Boykins in the offseason.
Cleveland?
Cleveland added guys like Ollie, Newble and J.R. Bremer. The only good news is, those acquisitions didn't cost the Cavaliers Davis and Mihm.
This fleecing did.
Noland may be reached at 330-721-4061 or rickn@xxxxxxxxx