NBA Free Agency

• wildcats20

  

  Financially, I don't know if it's a good move to keep him, but as far as the team goes; I would keep him.
  
  I know he's old and fat and has a bad back, but Kyrie Irving is going to need some sort of a mentor. And I'm sorry but Ramon Sessions is NOT that guy.
• wildcats20

  

  And now Howard is saying if he stays, he wants Chauncey too.
• Mulva

  

  Baron Davis is the last guy I want mentoring Kyrie Irving.
• Pick6

  

  Mulva;1012568 wrote:Baron Davis is the last guy I want mentoring Kyrie Irving.

  why? Whether you like it or not, its the best the Cavs have to offer right now, lol.
• Mulva

  

  Pick6;1012576 wrote:why? Whether you like it or not, its the best the Cavs have to offer right now, lol.

  Because he has some of the worst work ethic in the NBA in the past decade and a very questionable attitude and locker room presence. Sorry, I'm not buying that he's suddenly going to become a great leader and mentor. Why don't we just build a time machine and try to get future Michael Beasley to mentor Tristan Thompson too?
  
  I'm sure Irving is already connected with plenty of good NBA players that he could turn to and learn from, plus that's sort of what the coaching staff is there for. All Baron would do is eat up meaningless minutes that could be used to develop and evaluate the younger guys.
• jordo212000

  

  Agreed. As a Cavs fan, you shouldn't want Davis anywhere near Irving
• wildcats20

  

  Billups has been claimed by the Clippers.
• dave

  Glad Davis is gone, now they just need to move Jamison at the deadline. Hopefully they get luckily in the lotto again and will be ready to roll in 2012-13. A top 10 pick will be about as good as the #2 pick this past year.
• dave

  wildcats20;1012635 wrote:Billups has been claimed by the Clippers.

  Anything to keep him from the Heat is fine by me. I bet he's pissed though.
• Midstate01

  

  Aren't the heat looking to sign arenas then?
• wildcats20

  

  dave;1012687 wrote:Anything to keep him from the Heat is fine by me. I bet he's pissed though.

  Yeah but he gets NO money if he pulls the retirement card like he has threatened. He'll show up.
• hoops23

  

  Mo Williams may end up in Miami, according to a couple of rumors.
• wildcats20

  

  And now the CP3 to Clippers talks are back on according to Broussard and Stein...
• hoops23

  

  wildcats20;1012774 wrote:And now the CP3 to Clippers talks are back on according to Broussard and Stein...

  Seems like Billups will be used in that trade then.
• dave

  What good would it do for NO to take Billups? That's a terrible match for both sides. I think he's just a backup plan in case then can't land CP3.
• Laley23

  

  The Clippers really shouldnt overreact to try and land Paul. They have a really solid team who should compete for the playoffs. If they can sign Blake and EJ long term, and match Jordans offer. Than is a top of the NBA frontcourt and a SG who will be in the top 3-5 when he hits his prime and is already very solid. They need a PG, but I wouldnt give up too much for it. Id rather try to nab one with a pick this year and keep Gordon.
• Commander of Awesome

  

  They're pretty high on Eric Bledsoe, who has some solid PG ability.
• Hb31187

  

  Davis might nto be the best mentor or locker room presence, but he was a damn good point guard for a long time. Kyrie could learn a thing or two from him.
  
  And Bledsoe I think has a very high ceiling, I only got to see him play a handful of times, but he impressed me when I did
• wildcats20

  

  I think I saw that the Clippers did match Jordan's offer.
• lhslep134

  

  I don't see a reason for the Clippers to overreach either. A core of Billups/Bledsoe, Gordon, Caron Butler, Aminu, Griffin, and Jordan is solid and then add in the Timberwolves lottery pick in a loaded draft next year? I don't see the necessity of Paul if you have to give up a ton.
• ts1227

  

  Steve Kerr essentially calls Dan Gilbert a bitch over whining about the proposed Lakers trade that was inexplicably blocked
  
  http://deadspin.com/5867424/steve-kerr-unloads-on-nba-owners-calls-dan-gilbert-a-baby
• Mulva

  

  lhslep134;1013117 wrote:I don't see a reason for the Clippers to overreach either. A core of Billups/Bledsoe, Gordon, Caron Butler, Aminu, Griffin, and Jordan is solid and then add in the Timberwolves lottery pick in a loaded draft next year? I don't see the necessity of Paul if you have to give up a ton.

  Not to mention Kaman and Mo Williams. If Billups shows up to play and isn't a bitch and Butler and Kaman are healthy, the Clips should be a playoff team.
  
  Billups/Williams/Bledsoe
  Gordon/Foye
  Butler/Gomes/Aminu
  Griffin
  Kaman/Jordan
  
  I personally think Aminu kind of sucks, but that's a pretty legit collection of talent. I'd think Billups and Mo would be able to coexist on the court as well, with one of them moving off of the ball. I wouldn't personally mess with that team, let alone blow it up just to get CP3.
• sportswizuhrd

  Delonte West signed with the Mavs(1/1.1 million). I am really hoping he becomes close with Odom and somehow ends up on the Kardashians reality show. He reaaaaallly needs his own reality show. The dude is comedy gold! :laugh:
  
  Mavs...
  
  PG-Kidd/West/Beaubois
  SG-Carter/Terry
  SF-Marion/Fernandez/Brewer
  PF-Dirk/Odom
  C-Haywood/Mahinmi
  
  Back-up center spot....Really need to work on that.
• Midstate01

  

  Hot sauce in my bag!!!
  
  Love delonte, and very underrated.
• Commander of Awesome

  

  Gives me a bit of excitement. His development is something to actually get me to watch the games again.
  
  web page
  
  Filed by Rick Noland
  
  Cavaliers coach Byron Scott was talking rather generically about top draft picks Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson, but a quick comment within his answer spoke volumes.
  
  “Kyrie,” Scott said Monday at the team’s annual media day, “has a chance to be a superstar.”
  
  The Cavs have only practiced five times over the last four days and don’t play their first preseason game until Friday in Detroit, but the
  
  19-year-old Irving, taken with the No. 1 pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, has made a great first impression.
  
  “He can play — simple, point blank,” veteran guard Daniel Gibson said. “I just like his pace and his tempo.”
  
  “Kyrie is very talented,” said center Anderson Varejao. “He can go to the basket, he can shoot and he’s athletic. He’s got moves. He’s a smart point guard.
  
  “It’s never easy to come into the league and do it all your first year, but he can really help us. I believe he is going to do a good job for us.”
  
  Irving, who played in just 11 games as a Duke freshman because of an injury to his big toe, has been thrust to the forefront even more due to the absence of fellow point guard Baron Davis.
  
  Davis, who is expected to be waived through the amnesty clause by the Friday deadline, has yet to practice and is not even with the team, as he left town with the organization’s permission to seek a second opinion on his ailing lower back.
  
  “If B.D. is not here or not playing in the preseason or regular season, it obviously gives (Irving) more responsibility,” Scott said. “But I’m still not quite sure if I’m just going to hand him the ball as of right now.”
  
  It will be surprising if Scott doesn’t do that sooner rather than later — if not immediately.
  
  The rebuilding Cavs went 19-63 a season ago, Irving is the future of the franchise and the 66-game 2011-12 season will be all about development and improvement.
  
  “If they do say that, it will be a great experience just knowing they have trust in me to be the point guard,” Irving said of starting right off the bat. “But also, we have a lot of other guards on the team who can contribute on the court. Right now, it’s only training camp. We’ll see how it goes on Friday (in Detroit).”
  
  Despite his age, Irving is already a fairly polished young man, on and off the court. In interviews, he almost always uses a reporter’s question within his response so as to speak in complete sentences. On the court, he can shoot, penetrate and create and has looked fairly solid on defense in practices.
  
  “He’s pretty good,” Scott said. “One thing about Kyrie right now, each day he gets a little more comfortable with what we’re doing. Each day he shows me a little something special. The first day, it might have been one thing. (Sunday) night, it was five or six things. He’s progressing very nicely.”
  
  Irving, though, is levelheaded enough not to get too far ahead of himself. Right now, he’s focusing on the next practice, with an eye toward the exhibition game against the Pistons. Next will be the regular season, which opens Dec. 26 against Toronto at Quicken Loans Arena. Everything after that will take care of itself.
  
  “The biggest adjustment for me will be the pace of the game,” the 6-foot-3, 191-pounder said. “I have to get used to it as much as possible.
  
  “What I’ve learned from Coach Scott in the first few days of camp is how to be a professional as much as possible. I’m used to the long practices because of Coach K (Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski), but right now it’s a little different because they expect so much more at this level.”
  
  Irving said there are “a lot of similarities” between Duke’s sets and the Princeton offense the Cavs are running, including a number of pick-and-roll plays.
  
  He’s also familiar with pressure and high expectations, having been one of the most prominently recruited players in the nation while in high school.
  
  “The pressure of being the No. 1 pick is inevitable,” he said. “That’s something I’m going to have to embrace, which I’m doing.”
  
  The big differences now are that Irving is playing at the highest level and getting paid millions of dollars, but he seems to be keeping everything in perspective, including what he plans to do with his first NBA paycheck.
  “I’ll probably present it to my father,” he said. “I’ll give him a big hug and yell, ‘We made it.’”