Something good for Cavs fans to hear: The versatile guard acquired from Minnesota thinks he's going to a "good situation," agent says. Also, more warning for Chris Paul to ignore LeBron James.
Ramon Sessions' agent says the talented guard is happy to join the Cleveland Cavaliers.Cleveland, Ohio -- It's about time that the Cleveland Cavaliers and their fans get to hear that someone appreciates them.
The Cavs have traded talented but troubled guard Delonte West and backup point guard Sebastian Telfair to the Minnesota Timberwolves for quick, versatile guard Ramon Sessions, 7-0 reserve center Ryan Hollins and a 2013 second-round draft pick.
Chris Tomasson writes for NBA FanHouse, quoting Sessions' agent, Chubby Wells:
"I talked to Ramon and he's ecstatic,'' Wells said in an interview with FanHouse. "He's really, really excited about going to what he thinks is a good situation."
Minnesota, which signed Sessions to a four-year, $16 million contract last summer as a free agent, was not a particularly good one for Sessions, a combo guard. He wasn't able to play effectively alongside point guard Jonny Flynn, and averaged 8.2 points and 3.1 assists over 21.1 minutes.
"I don't want to say anything bad about them,'' Wells said of the Timberwolves. "But it just wasn't a good fit. I'm happy they were able to move Ramon.''
The trade is the first made by the Cavaliers since LeBron James left them on July 8 to sign as a free agent with the Miami Heat. Since then, the Cavaliers have signed their 2009 first-round draft pick, guard-forward Christian Eyenga, and signed undrafted free agent power forward Samardo Samuels of Louisville.
Cavs covered
Plain Dealer Cavaliers coverage includes beat writer Brian Windhorst's report on the Cavaliers-Timberwolves trade; and a Starting Blocks poll on the trade.
Problems
West was one of the Cavaliers' best players when focused on the game. Bob Finnan of the News Herald and Lorain Morning Journal writes about some of West's problems:
The 6-foot-3, 180-pounder dragged the Cavs through much drama during the 2009-10 season.
It started with his arrest in September 2009 on six weapons charges, which included a loaded shotgun in a guitar case, an 8 1/2-inch Bowie knife and .357 Magnum strapped to his leg, according to reports.
A Prince George's County (Md.) Circuit Court judge last week sentenced West to eight months of home detention, two years of unsupervised probation, 40 hours of community service and psychological counseling.
By then, however, the Cavs were dead set on moving him. He missed practices, games and flights this season, much of it stemming from being bipolar.
What a guy
Cavaliers fans remain unhappy with the insulting, egotistical way in which James conducted his departure from the Cavaliers. James, from Akron's St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, has lived his entire life in the Akron area, including his current home in Bath Township.
Stephanie Warsmith writes for the Akron Beacon Journal that the Akron City Council has passed a resolution in support of James:
Council unanimously passed a resolution Monday night thanking James for ''his extraordinary basketball accomplishments and his continuing involvement in the Akron community.''
Council President Marco Sommerville said he thought the gesture was important because some have the impression that Akron no longer supports James.
''No matter what his decision was, he's still from Akron, Ohio,'' he said. ''He's a hometown person who we need to support.''
Influence
One of James' pals, star New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul, has indicated his concerns about the direction of his team, and reportedly wants to be traded.
Paul met with Hornets officials on Monday. He and the team both made positive remarks after the session, but Ken Berger writes for CBSSports.com that the spin was, for one thing, meant to maintain Paul's market value, and that Paul would still like to be traded.
Paul is known to be heavily influenced by James and his associates. Gregg Doyel writes for CBSSports.com that following James' advice and example would tarnish Paul's reputation:
With James' help, he is trying to one-up James for the biggest horse's ass in the NBA. And it's a crying shame, because Chris Paul is better than this. Or he was. He was the classiest young college athlete I've ever spoken to, and I spoke quite a bit to Shane Battier when Battier was at Duke. Since college, Paul has been a godsend to New Orleans, working with Drew Brees of the Saints to give that city, post-Katrina, some sports heroes they can believe in.
And now LeBron James is screwing it up. This isn't all on LeBron, though, because Chris Paul is letting it happen. He's a natural-born follower, like I said, but that doesn't absolve him of responsibility. He's 25. He's smart, he's financially independent and he's athletically wondrous. He doesn't hold as many cards in NBA circles as James, but he's in the top five. He's a power broker unto himself, but rather than use his power for good -- forcing the Hornets into surrounding him with talent -- he's using his power to force himself onto another team where he can win easier.
Step forward
Former Cavaliers great and current television analyst Austin Carr made some interesting observations about the Cavaliers offseason -- just hours before the trade -- for the CavFanatic blog. Carr wrote that it will be interesting to see what player(s) assumes a leadership role:
Naturally, you’d think it’s going to be Antawn Jamison, Mo Williams and Anthony Parker – although Jamison’s kind of a laid-back guy. Right now, they don’t have a vocal leader. They have guys who are going to lead through example. A lot of the maturity level hasn’t been recognized because of LeBron. So now we’ll see who steps up and becomes the vocal leader.
LeBron squashed so much of that because of his dominance, so we’ll see who has the ability and who wants it. (Because a lot of guys don’t want it.) We’ll see who wants that role because that’s a lot of pressure to perform on a nightly basis and be consistent with your actions on and off the court.
Along the baseline
Rick Noland writes about the Cavaliers-Timberwolves trade for the Medina County Gazette and Elyria Chronicle-Telegram.
Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal details the trade.
Jerry Zgoda writes about the trade from a Timberwolves perspective for the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune.