CAVS.SPACE

Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes found themselves on the move again as the Cavaliers reshaped their roster before the trading deadline. Both were included in a 3-team, 11-player trade today and are now members of the Chicago Bulls. Gooden was traded for the third time in his career and is joining his fourth team. Meanwhile, Hughes was traded for the second time in his career and is joining his fifth team. Both players had previously joined the Cavaliers as supposed key pieces for a championship team but now find themselves out of the team's picture. Both players joined the Cavaliers when the team failed to sign other players. In Gooden's case, he helped salvage a botched roster move after the 2003-2004 season. At the time, Carlos Boozer had asked for a better contract and made a promise to re-sign with the team if they did not pick up the option year on his rookie contract. Boozer went on to break this promise and signed a huge offer sheet with the Utah Jazz. It must be n...

Dwayne Jones is in his 3rd season in the NBA. Daniel Gibson, Shannon Brown, and Cedric Simmons are in their 2nd seasons in the NBA. Here is a quick breakdown of where these guys stand as individual players and on the Cavaliers' roster. 1) Daniel Gibson: He is clearly enjoying his second season in this league. He returned from All-Star Weekend in New Orleans with a Rookie Challenge MVP Award and the runner-up position/cash prize for the Long Distance Shootout. Gibson entered tonight's game averaging 11.6 points, including a remarkable .467 mark from downtown and a solid .802 mark from the line. He is showing great promise as a bench contributor and combo guard. On the other hand, he averages a modest 2.6 assists per game (still 2nd on the team, though). Of the four young players, "Boobie" Gibson is the only one considered a key part of this team. His value is seen not just in the present, but in the future. The concern right now is that the team really needs h...

Whether or not the Cavaliers are still buyers in the trade market, tonight's loss to Houston should be a reminder of how important it is for the role players and supporting cast to contribute. While Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming put up decent numbers tonight, the solid play of rookie forward Luis Scola and "Skip To My Lou" Rafer Alston paced the Rockets to victory. Scola contributed 15 points and 8 rebounds while Alston added 22 points (including 6 made three-pointers) and 6 assists. The Rockets' bench added to the Cavaliers' deficit, outscoring the Cavs' bench 20-11. Although Houston shot a subpar .405 from the floor tonight, the home Cleveland squad outdid them by putting up a horrid .388 shooting percentage. Even with a triple-double, LeBron James was held to 7-18 shooting from the field. Other statistics suggested an even contest, but it was clearly seen on the court that the Rockets' team--not just their best players--controlled the flow of the gam...

While I did not see all of All-Star Weekend this year, what I did see was pretty entertaining. All-Star Saturday stood out as amusing and refreshing. Of all the events, the Slam Dunk Contest had a much needed jump in creativity this year. Jamario Moon, Rudy Gay, Gerald Green, and Dwight Howard were not bashful in breaking out their best moves for the competition. Sadly, in some of the past dunking contests, there were really no exciting dunks. In pushing to both entertain and win the event, Green and Howard displayed imagination too often left behind with childhood. They came up with bold new ideas such as blowing out the candle on the cupcake on the rim and the Superman 'phantom' dunk (which still managed to get a 50 even though Howard did not actually touch the rim). Their other dunks were different takes on still difficult dunks. Hopefully, this year's Slam Dunk Contest has served as a reminder that there are still a myriad of ideas for eye-catching and show-sto...

The trade deadline is two weeks away. Unlike Major League Baseball, most NBA trades occur during the offseason. Yet, in the past week, two bold trades were made by competing Western Conference powers. While the Memphis Grizzlies and Miami Heat each received some talent, the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns obtained a couple big-name players: Pau Gasol and Shaquille O'Neal. The last NBA Champions to not have an All-Star caliber offensive post player were the Chicago Bulls (whose best offensive post player during six championship seasons was Toni Kukoc, who was more of a slasher and sharpshooter than an inside threat). The Rockets had Olajuwon; the Spurs had Robinson and Duncan; the Lakers and the Heat both had Shaq; and the Pistons had Rasheed Wallace. While the Suns have Amare Stoudemire and had Shawn Marion, neither draws attention on the court like Shaq. The Lakers, meanwhile, have not had an All-Star big man since O'Neal left town. Thus, the moves to pick up talen...