THE FUTURE OF THE CAVS

I think this is the time Danny Ferry needs to be very smart, very patient, and very tough, because it's about to get real ugly in Cleveland. James is going to (somewhat understandably) throw a hissy fit this summer over his teammates sucking so bad, while Kobe, KG, and Chris Paul are all fighting for glory. And everyone in the state of Ohio is probably wetting their pants at the idea of Lebron bolting in two years. So what is a GM to do?

Here's the thing--you can't do much. Yet. If Cleveland tries to get better immediately, it's going to mean very slight improvement at very high cost. They're not going to get a Pau Gasol dropped into their laps, it'll be more like old, overpaid, declining players (e.g., Jason Kidd) who will be available for the crappy pieces Cleveland has to deal. Those kind of moves probably aren't going to make you a championship team, and more importantly, you're blowing cap space.

The only thing the Cavs have going for them right now is they have no long term contracts. Right now the only contract they have past the 2009-2010 season is James's option year for 2010-2011. That's it--in the summer of 2010, when James is deciding whether to opt out, and if so, where he's going to spend the next 5 years of his career, you finally have a hell of a lot of salary cap freedom. In some years, cap space isn't all that valuable, but not 2010; here are just a few players who either have an opt-out that year or are straight free agents: Dwyane Wade, Amare Stoudemire, Chris Bosh, Dirk Nowitzki, Tracy McGrady, and Manu Ginobili. Um, yeah.

If Cleveland plays their cards right, they'll be one of the few teams that have the cap space to offer a max contract, and they'll be able to offer a player like Dwyane Wade the opportunity to play with Lebron and compete for championships. Dwayne Wade...now that's a rebuilding plan.

I think Ferry can learn from Lakers' GM Mitch Kupchak here--everyone might hate your guts, the star player might publically question your competence, you might be hanging by a thread...but if you stick to your guns and your plan works (don't forget the Lakers had the best record in the West when Bynum got injured and Gasol wasn't even on the radar screen), everyone will be falling all over themselves to proclaim your genius. You'll be the toast of the town.

You just can't win right now, there's no possible quick fix. Nobody wants Ben Wallace, Wally Szczerbiak or Zydrunas Ilgauskas for what you're paying them, and you don't have any potential-laden young players to tempt a team with a disgruntled superstar (like a Vince Carter or Ron Artest, which is a dicey move anyway). The best bet is to hang tough, ignore the calls for your head and Lebron's demands, and stick with your best bet--adding a Wade or Bosh or Amare in 2010. James might be pissed as hell at you and the franchise by that time, but if you can deliver him a sidekick like Wade I guarantee he jumps at it the same way Kobe quickly embraced the enormously improved Andrew Bynum.