Post by Scott on Jun 11, 2007 10:39:53 GMT -5
At the end of last season, Cleveland basketball fans were finally looking forward to an offseason for the first time in three years. That's because management finally had their own draft pick to work with and didn't have to field a barely competitive team to prevent other teams from having top picks. All of this trouble started back at the onset of BBS when GM Osburn traded away three consecutive draft picks for Juwan Howard. Howard was a young player who had a strong skillset and seemed destined to improve upon that skillset. However, those skills never blossomed, and Osburn was left with a backup-caliber player who was making way too much money. Plus, he was left without his own pick for three consecutive years.
After three years of fielding teams that landed picks around 10th in every draft, Osburn finally had the freedom to tear the team apart and pretty much start from scratch. He was able to move away contracts to free up some cap room as well as acquire another potential lottery pick in the 2004 draft (Memphis). The only players that stuck around were star forward Glenn Robinson, reliable point guard Bob Sura, and backup forward Rodney Rodgers. The rest of the team has been given a new face.
Osburn's first move was to acquire young defensive prowess Eddie Griffin from the Minnesota Timberwolves. Griffin has been a big-time defensive player, landing second team honors last season. Averaging around 3 blocks per game, he anchors the defense and more than makes up for his lack of offensive game. The rest of the moves that season were made to clear cap space, and the Cavs ended with the 4th worst record in the league. With the luck of some ping pong balls, Cleveland landed the 2nd pick in the draft and chose Andre Iguodala.
Osburn was just starting a big offseason for the Cavs though. As soon as they landed the pick, Cleveland had many suitors after that second picks and the rights to either Iguodala or equally talented Luol Deng. Cleveland finally found the right trading partner in New Jersey and brought in Leandro Barbosa, Ben Gordon, and Gerald Wallace. Along with newly acquired Raef Lafrentz and backup Juwan Howard (yes, the same man that caused the entire downfall of the team in the first place), this team is looking up for the coming season.
With its own pick again this coming draft, the Cavs look to take one more step in becoming a perennial playoff team and one day a threat in the tough Eastern Conference. For now, Osburn is looking to the offseason to see if any big deals can be made to retool the team even more to his liking.
After three years of fielding teams that landed picks around 10th in every draft, Osburn finally had the freedom to tear the team apart and pretty much start from scratch. He was able to move away contracts to free up some cap room as well as acquire another potential lottery pick in the 2004 draft (Memphis). The only players that stuck around were star forward Glenn Robinson, reliable point guard Bob Sura, and backup forward Rodney Rodgers. The rest of the team has been given a new face.
Osburn's first move was to acquire young defensive prowess Eddie Griffin from the Minnesota Timberwolves. Griffin has been a big-time defensive player, landing second team honors last season. Averaging around 3 blocks per game, he anchors the defense and more than makes up for his lack of offensive game. The rest of the moves that season were made to clear cap space, and the Cavs ended with the 4th worst record in the league. With the luck of some ping pong balls, Cleveland landed the 2nd pick in the draft and chose Andre Iguodala.
Osburn was just starting a big offseason for the Cavs though. As soon as they landed the pick, Cleveland had many suitors after that second picks and the rights to either Iguodala or equally talented Luol Deng. Cleveland finally found the right trading partner in New Jersey and brought in Leandro Barbosa, Ben Gordon, and Gerald Wallace. Along with newly acquired Raef Lafrentz and backup Juwan Howard (yes, the same man that caused the entire downfall of the team in the first place), this team is looking up for the coming season.
With its own pick again this coming draft, the Cavs look to take one more step in becoming a perennial playoff team and one day a threat in the tough Eastern Conference. For now, Osburn is looking to the offseason to see if any big deals can be made to retool the team even more to his liking.