NoYork

"Who wants to buy some DVDs?"

Say hello to our first NoYork.com exclusive! This piece of paper was found in a Washington DC airport. It’s only speculation of course, but we believe this is Big Z’s itinerary for his trip to Washington. We’ve taken the time to piece together the puzzle of Z’s short visit and here’s what we’ve found…

- Execute DVD Plan As soon as Z stepped off the plane he started getting the feel of the local DVD market. Big Z checked out local DVD hotspots and recruited young, ambitious, business minded high schoolers to set up DVD stands on every corner. Then he personally visited every barber shop in the DC area selling his DVDs.

- Physical Next up Z breezed through his physical. As his rehabilitated feet were examined he sent text messages to all of his new employees, motivating them to sell as many DVDs as possible in the next couple hours.

- Meet with Grunfeld Z was twenty minutes late to meet with Ernie Grunfeld. He ran into Grunfeld’s office huffing and puffing with the pockets of his hoodie bulging. Before Grunfeld had a chance to speak Z started pulling wads of cash from his pockets and piled it on Ernie’s desk. When he was done Grunfeld could barely see the 7′3 man over the pile of money. “It’s all there, 1.5 Million.” Grunfeld looked up at Z puzzled, wondering how he got the money. Z smiled and said, “DC loves them some DVDs.”

Z turned to walk out and Grunfeld told him he’d have to stay for a couple days. Angered by the comment Z spun around and pulled out two cap guns. “Get me back to Cleveland Grunfeld,” Z snarled as he pointed the orange tipped guns at the startled man. With that Z placed the toy guns back in his pockets and walked out of office and started dialing a familiar number.

- Call Agent The conversation went something like this…
“I need out of this town”
“I know big fella, we’ll get you back in Cleveland”
“Tell the media that I’m thinking of going to the Nuggets,” laughter on both ends.
“You’d need to get some ink if you went there”
“Just make sure to get me back to Cleveland,” Z said as he contemplated a Chosen 11 tat on his back.

- Call Nike The next order of business was the MVP puppet commercial that Z had recently been featured in. As a Nike representative picked up Z asked if his barber shop commercial would be picked back up when oops if I go back to the Cavs?

- Take Care of Wizards Gear As Z was being reassured that his commercial would air if he went back to Cleveland, he opened the door to his hotel room. He grabbed the two large duffel bags of Wizards gear he had received earlier in the day and took them into the bathroom. He rummaged through both bags until he found his #97 jersey that he requested to signify his first year in the League. He took the home and away jerseys and burnt them in the hotel bathtub. The sight of his name on a Washington jersey brought a tear to his eye.

- Fly Home As Z’s taxi moved towards the airport he asked the driver to pull over multiple times throughout the city. Z distributed the rest of his gear to the young entrepreneurs that helped him raise the money to pay for his buyout. With that Z left behind a day of bad memories and in his wake a slew of baggy clothed kids.

WELCOME HOME Z! Can’t wait for the 21st!

Send this trade to the moon please...

The Cavs are considering a number of different players right now, but I’m hoping that we focus less on one in particular. His name is Troy Murphy and his problem is that he’s not our solution. Despite the Cavs being the hottest team in basketball right now, we are looking to make improvements in order to build a champion. I can’t fault the Cavs for this, on the contrary I’m happy that we’re exploring all the available options.

However, Troy Murphy is not our answer now and he’s definitely not the answer in the future. Our goal for making a trade before Thursday has to look into the future, and I’m not talking June. If we win a title in June we could still lose LeBron in July.

JJ Hickson is a potential all star in this league. He’s shown improvement on both ends of the floor and it’s obvious that he’s still very young and very raw. I can’t stand the thought of losing JJ for Troy Murphy, only to watch JJ mature into an all star caliber player who could be teaming up with LeBron in the not so distant future.

I’m okay with Jamison, Maggette, or Stoudemire for Hickson, but Troy Murphy seems like a Cleveland sized mistake. A plea to the Cavs front office: Please do not trade for Troy Murphy unless we get him for a draft pick ONLY! He’s not worth the risk that comes with trading JJ and you guys have to see that.

"Cut Andy, c'mon I'm about to travel here, ANDY CUT!!!!"

So the Cavs are down a couple guards and they’re depending on Boobie Gibson, who is arguably not one of the top five ball handlers on this own team, to bring the ball down the court. You’re a bit worried, but you have faith in the Cavs as a team. Then you start to be honest with yourself, you have LeBron James on your team so you have no worries.

In my mind LeBron has always been more like Magic Johnson than Michael Jordan. Tonight against the Grizzlies some Magic showed through as LeBron had 15 assists. No the Cavs aren’t the Showtime Lakers, but they are a team with plenty of talented players supporting LeBron.

The King has a knack for finding open teammates and adjusting his own game to make them more successful. Soon we’ll have Delonte back and then Mo will return, enabling LeBron to move back into his usual role on the team. For now, he’ll play point forward and dish out dimes to open teammates. If you’re a Cavs fan you have to love the versatility and willingness of our superstar. The only question is, God forbid Shaq goes down, will LeBron play the 5 for us?

Listen to me LeBron, I beat up aliens for God's sake

Jim Brown was on hand for the Cavs game against the Raptors yesterday and he took the opportunity to speak on LeBron’s future. “Looking at the fact that it is a business, I put that first, but having said that, I would love to see him be here,” Brown said. He continued to express his hope that LeBron would stay as he went on to say, “I think it’s a terrific marriage. He does so much for this city and I think he has an owner that tries to do everything he can. When you have a owner who is trying to do the best he can do and a player, it’s a terrific set of circumstances”

It’s great to hear Jim Brown, a man who spent his entire NFL career in Cleveland, hoping that LeBron will stay with the Cavs. I believe LeBron’s sense of history will at least make him appreciate Jim Brown’s opinion, if not take it to heart.

The next person to share their opinion about LeBron was none other than Bill Simmons, The Sports Guy himself. After LeBron’s trip to LA, Bill who is a huge Clippers fan, shared his thoughts on LeBron. “There is no better teammate. And after watching this point get hammered home for three hours, it suddenly seemed far-fetched that LeBron James would willingly walk away from his guys — and his fans, and his city, and his legacy in Cleveland — just to play for someone else.”

Keep in mind that Simmons has been building a strong case for LeBron to leave Cleveland for the Clippers for quite some time now. After watching LeBron in person, he sees what all of Cleveland has seen for years…he belongs with us!

If you have some time check out Bill’s column about LeBron’s trip to LA, it’s a great read.

I don't feel like you really wanted this board Troy

Lately the Cavs have been dodging bullets when it comes to possible trade options. First the Cavs show interest in Anthony Randolph and he’s sidelined for two months with an ankle injury. Next there are rumors about Michael Redd returning to Ohio and he’s now had a season, and possibly career ending, knee injury.

With Randolph hurt our next trade target is Troy Murphy. Troy has had a bunch of bumps and bruises throughout his career but only one major injury (right foot/ankle in the 03-04 season). Having said that, lace those ankle braces up tight Troy, you could be next. Believe me I don’t want to see anyone else fall victim to the Cavs reign of terror. So I’m warning you right now Troy, be careful out there.

I felt it was only right to warn Troy, but I don’t feel like he’s the missing piece to the championship puzzle. I would much rather see Antawn Jamison come to the Cavaliers. He’s a very steady player with a good attitude. He may be a defensive liability at times, but he makes up for that weakness with his ability to shoot the long ball and play inside. He would fit perfectly on the Cavs, but there’s still the issue of who Cleveland would have to give up in exchange for his services.

I hope that Cleveland makes a move that improves the team before the trade deadline. We made a huge mistake last year by not using our expiring contracts to our advantage. I’m praying we don’t make similar mistakes this year.

And if you’re wondering why I’m not worried about Antawn, he’s already dodged enough bullets in the locker room this season. He’ll be just fine.

This quick comparison that I’ve just made has nothing to do with this post, but I found the picture of Dunleavy while searching for a Troy Murphy pic. Is it just me or is that straight out of Avatar?

Apparently Dunleavy auditioned for Avatar late one night...