Point guard Williams is rumored to be on the trading block as Thursday's NBA draft approaches. Another candidate to be moved is guard Delonte West.
Cavaliers guard Mo Williams is rumored to be on the trading block, but Williams tweets that he wants to stay in Cleveland.Cleveland, Ohio -- The Cleveland Cavaliers do not have a pick in Thursday's NBA draft, but are known to have interest in acquiring one.
Plain Dealer Cavaliers beat writer Brian Windhorst reports on the possibility of the Cavs buying or trading for a pick.
Cavaliers guard Mo Williams has been mentioned in trade rumors. He's just tweeted his feelings on twitter.com.
Mo, or "Mogotti2," tweets:
Pls don't trade me, I'm not ready to go. I'm begging. My work ain't done yet. I'm on both knees....pls. I'm serious
No 1-2
Rick Noland of the Medina County Gazette and Elyria Chronicle-Telegram writes about the Cavaliers' draft status. He explains why they don't have their first- and second-round picks:
Cleveland sent its first-round pick, which will be the 30th and last choice in the opening round, to Washington in the February trade-deadline deal that brought power forward Antawn Jamison to the Cavaliers.
Jamison, who is under contract for two more seasons, ended up costing the Cavaliers nothing more than that pick, as Zydrunas Ilgauskas, also sent to Washington in that deal, was re-signed by Cleveland after being bought out of his contract by the Wizards.
The Cavaliers traded their second-round pick, the 60th and last choice in the draft, to Phoenix in the summer deal that brought Shaquille O’Neal to Cleveland.
Ilgauskas and O’Neal are both now unrestricted free agents.
Backcourt could change
Mo Williams and Delonte West were the Cavs' starting guards during the 2008-09 season. Last season, Williams again started but West, plagued by personal problems, came off the bench.
Bob Finnan writes for the News Herald and Lorain Morning Journal that West and/or Williams could be headed elsewhere:
Their guard play was one of the reasons for the Cavs' demise in the postseason last May. That's why some changes probably need to be made in the backcourt.
It's not a secret around the league the Cavs have been listening to offers for point guard Mo Williams. Trading Williams could be a way to get back into the NBA draft on Thursday.
And, writes Finnan:
The Cavs are testing the market for not only Williams but point guard Delonte West.
If West is on the roster on Aug. 3, the Cavs are on the hook to pay his entire $4.7 million salary next season. If he's waived before that date, he's guaranteed just $500,000. That might prove to be attractive to teams trying to cut payroll.
Maybe, maybe not
Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal chronicles some of the questions facing the Cavs, including:
What we know: Shaquille O'Neal and Zydrunas Ilgauskas, like James, are free agents in about a week.
What we don't know: Who among them, if any, will return. Even if James, O'Neal and Ilgauskas depart, the Cavs still won't be far enough under the salary cap to offer a max contract (which shows just how far Gilbert went to win a championship last season). O'Neal is almost assuredly gone, his one-year experiment deemed a failure. It would've been interesting, though, to see how much more effective he'd have been in the playoffs had he not fractured his thumb late in the season. Ilgauskas was overwhelmed by the amount of interest in him when he became a free agent for a month last season. Despite Z discussing retirement before the start of the year, there is now a good chance some team will offer him another multiyear deal — even at age 35. It just most likely won't come from the Cavs.
The coaching front
Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News makes some NBA predictions, including:
Byron Scott gets the Cleveland job:
Scott wants the Laker job - who wouldn't, when you know that you'd be inheriting a championship team with Kobe Bryant? But where is Phil Jackson going? He's almost got to come back for a try at a fourth three-peat, and Bryant is going to continue to make sure that Jackson returns. The Cavs talked to Chris Paul and Jason Kidd about Scott. Unlike what he did to Scott in New Jersey, Kidd did not sabotage his former coach's candidacy with the Cavs.