Here’s Leon Powe’s first basket as a Cavalier. Through four games Leon has been a solid contributor averaging 4.3 points and 3.3 rebounds in 14 minutes per contest. Powe was a great acquisition in my opinion. He’s a very solid role player who will come in handy during the playoffs. It’s tough coming off an injury but I have faith that Leon will be one of the small pieces that make championship teams complete.
Archive
Here are some of Antawn’s early Cavs highlights. I didn’t know he had that dunk in him, but I’m glad to see him coming out strong.
There are some people who were upset that we didn’t pick up Stoudemire. Yeah he would have been great, but he would have definitely cost us JJ. Instead we get an all star caliber player in exchange for a late first round draft pick. This was a steal of a deal!
From NoYork.com WELCOME TO CLEVELAND ANTAWN!!!
Hopefully Shaq will have time to rest up for the playoffs now...
Here’s a couple things I’ve had on my mind lately
- Positive Take on Shaq’s Injury. ESPN’s John Hollinger wrote an article recently about Shaq’s injury that highlighted the “silver lining” of this untimely surgery. “By the time we get to mid-May and Cleveland has to face Orlando and/or the Lakers — the two teams Shaq was brought in to match up against — the Cavs should have a healthy Shaq. What’s more, they should have a rested Shaq. The big fella had missed only five games this season before the hand injury and was on track to play his most games in a decade; the two-month break should allow all his other sore limbs to heal before the games that matter most.” I like to think positively so I’m going to roll with Hollinger’s silver lining theory on this one.
-RealGM shout out to NoYork. The good folks at RealGM.com took the time to link our post of LeBron’s insane alley oop from last night’s game against New York. Thanks for taking the time to shout us out and to all of our readers check out RealGM if you’re not already a fan.
- Cleveland’s Got Sole. Cleveland’s Got Sole is a non-profit event that will showcase sneaker collections from across the country and highlight clothing companies from around the Cleveland area. NoYork is proud to say that we will have a table at this event on Saturday April 10th at Embassy Suites in Beachwood. We will give more information about this event in the upcoming weeks. Should be a great show and a chance to pick up some nice gear, including NoYork tees!
LeBron is always capable of something insane like this. Every night he steps on the court he could make history. Don’t miss it!
Our new expert on where LeBron won't go (the one with the beard)
A new article from the NY Daily News’ Mitch Lawrence gives reasons that the Nets, Clippers, and Heat are out of this summer’s LeBron lottery. He also goes on to explain what teams still have a shot at LeBron. Any surprise that he thinks the Knicks have one of the best situations for attracting LeBron?
Lawrence reasons that LeBron would not want to play second fiddle in Kobe’s town so the Clippers are out of the running. Next he shoots down the Nets dreams because they will most likely be playing in Newark for somewhere between 2 and 4 years while the Atlantic Yards project is set into motion. Finally the Heat won’t be getting LeBron because both Wade and James need to dominate the ball. These thoughts all seem reasonable, besides the fact that Wade and James would probably love to be on the same team and LeBron is a very unselfish player. Something tells me they could make it work…
On to the teams that Lawrence believes might still have a chance at LeBron. First up the Chicago Bulls freed up some cap space for LeBron and possibly Bosh this summer. They have a solid core and the big city lights of Chicago fits LeBron’s rumored need for a bigger market. Lawrence then directs his attention to the Knicks who gambled everything on the LeBron lottery. He claims that they are the only team with a chance to get LeBron and Bosh, although I’ve heard Miami and Chicago could sign more than one free agent.
Lawrence strenghtens his argument with a quote from LeBron about playing with Bosh. During All-Star Weekend LeBron had this to say, “Being around him last summer (in the Olympics), I got to see how smart he is. His basketball I.Q. is unbelievable. He’s a very, very good player. Sometimes you look at him and you say, “He’s not that strong or he’s not the fastest guy out there.’ But the way he approaches the game … his mindset really helps him dominate a basketball game.”
In the end we’ll see where LeBron goes, but it’s funny that the Knicks have started to rule out other teams from the LeBron sweepstakes. While the Knicks cleared a ton of cap space they gave away a lot of talent to do so. Until LeBron signs a new contract with the Cavs I’ll be thinking NoYork!!!
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.
The King and The Prez
In Bill Simmons’ podcast “The B.S. Report” there are many topics. When you tune in you could hear anything from sports to reality TV talk. Lately Simmons has been talking about LeBron’s future a lot. In my opinion Simmons is a hilarious Sports Guy with a lot of insight on the NBA, so give his thoughts a listen and see what you think.
He asked David Stern where he thought LeBron would go in 2010. Stern’s answer, “There’s a lot of interest, whatever he does, whether he stays or goes…I grew up in this league, valuing no contraction and players staying with their existing team.” Once again, the NBA’s commissioner hopes that LeBron stays in Cleveland. We’ll see if he has any pull!
In an earlier talk with JA Adande Simmons shared a couple of his own theories. Here’s one that involves the dreaded Wizards, “Washington somehow avoids Arenas’ contract, they trade Butler, they trade Jamison, they have all this cap room all of a sudden. They lure LeBron, last week of October Sports Illustrated comes out LeBron/Obama on the cover…The King and The Prez.”
After that ridiculous thought he said that he thought LeBron to the Wizards was in his top five LeBron possibilities. Simmons went on to predict that Bosh and LeBron would end up in Chicago. Adande said that he believes it will be Miami or Cleveland.
While all of the theories are very interesting, I’m hoping that LeBron will stay in Cleveland and we’ll find a way to sign another free agent in 2011. Only time will tell, but the media will continue to dissect all the possibilities. If you haven’t had the chance to check out The B.S. Report go to iTunes and download a podcast (it’s FREE!)
Once upon a time there was a Cavs fan. He was a regular guy just like me and you. One day he happened upon a blog that he thought was cool. He decided to buy a t shirt from that cool blog. The shirt was shipped promptly and when he received the shirt, he thought “cool.”
The shirt had arrived just in time for the New York game. The man set out for the Q and all the stop lights were green. Once he arrived at the arena he watched as other fans slipped on ice while walking. He did not slip when he walked. The man looked down at his shirt approvingly and knew there was a reason he had above average traction.
Once inside the arena complete strangers looked at his shirt and he could tell they were thinking, “That’s a cool shirt.” He was very happy with himself and the shirt. As he walked towards his seat he glanced to his right and saw two Cavalier girls. He could tell they were looking at his shirt, so he made eye contact. They quickly waved him over and asked him if they could take a picture. A friend of one of the Cavalier girls took the picture at the top of this post and quickly posted it to every social media site on the internet.
After a Cavs victory the man returned to his home. He had a microwave dinner and reflected on his night. He decided that the shirt he bought was cool and that he had made a good decision.
This entire story is entirely true.
"Championship first, then I'll talk about next year"
Marc Berman of the New York Post wrote an article recently about the odds of LeBron leaving Cleveland. He writes about an encounter with a Cavs fan who thinks that a Cleveland championship in 2010 means LeBron is more likely to leave. This is an interesting issue that I think we should expand on…
There seems to be two distinct camps on this one. Either you think a championship seals the deal and keeps LeBron in Cleveland, or you think it means mission accomplished and freedom to skip town. I can see the logic in both viewpoints.
On one hand, if this Cavs team wins a championship LeBron knows they are capable of being a contender for years to come. On the other hand if he brings Cleveland the trophy that has eluded them for so long, he may feel like he’s done enough for his hometown and he’s free to pursue greener pastures.
I think a championship is very significant, but LeBron will be looking further into the future than June. His decision will depend on the development of JJ Hickson, the durability of Shaq and Z, and the cap situation for the Cavs. If these issues are in place, LeBron will stay in Cleveland win or lose come playoff time…at least I think he’ll stay, don’t you?
We’ll be selling NoYork T’s tonight outside the Q. We’ll be selling from 6pm to tipoff (7:30). Location is TBD but you can check our Twitter link to the right for exact updates.
