Cleveland Cavaliers Blog – Page 95 – NBA Blog

CC Sabathia chimes in on LeBron staying or going

Marc Berman of the New York Post reports:

CC Sabathia told WFAN there’s a likelier chance of his friend LeBron James leaving for New York if Cleveland wins the NBA title.

Asked about James’ thought process, Sabathia told hosts Evan Roberts and Joe Benigno, “I think it depends on what happens this year in the playoffs and how they play, to see how close they get and if they win, how that weighs in his decision.

“I know he wants to go where he can win. I know he likes the idea of New York.”

Sabathia added, “I think if he won (a title), it would be easier for him to leave.”

NBA will discuss issue of players resting

The AP reports:

David Stern says the issue of players resting at the end of the regular season will be discussed among NBA executives, though he doesn’t see anything coming of it.

The commissioner says he is “troubled by it, because it would be our preference that healthy players play,” but says the decision is one that has always been left up to the teams.

InsideHoops.com Says:

I totally understand NBA teams about to enter the playoffs wanting to make sure their key players are healthy for the post-season. But of course, fans who are paying big ticket prices for games want to see good action, and not the bench guys playing while star players barely break a sweat or sit out entirely. But that’s just how it is. Fans going to the last few games of the regular season simply need to know that depending on a team’s situation, a key star or two may not be out there.

Evan Turner wins AP college player of year

The AP reports:

Ohio State junior swingman Evan Turner is the runaway choice as The Associated Press’ college basketball player of the year.

The 6-foot-7 Turner, who averaged 20.3 points, 9.2 rebounds and 5.9 assists, received 54 votes from the 65-member national media panel…

Kentucky freshman John Wall received nine votes, while Da’Sean Butler of West Virginia and Luke Harangody of Notre Dame each got one.

Mo Williams role change

George M.Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal reports:

With the addition of forward Antawn Jamison, Mo Williams no longer has to shoulder as much of the scoring burden and can focus on running the Cavs’ offense. Although it’s taken some time, Jamison continues to get better and more comfortable in his offensive role.

It’s not just Jamison changing Williams’ role. There’s LeBron James, of course, and J.J. Hickson who is getting more consistent as a scorer and showing more versatility and confidence. When center Shaquille O’Neal, who had begun to assert himself more offensively in Zydrunas Ilgauskas’ absence, returns from his injury, the number of scoring opportunities might further decrease.

”Obviously he’s a terrific scorer,” Cavs coach Mike Brown said of Williams. ”He’s shown that he can score the basketball a lot of different ways, and he’s done that in the past.

”With the addition of Antawn and LeBron being who he is, with all those different types of options we have, Mo is just trying to find his spot within the team.”

Cavaliers sign Zydrunas Ilgauskas, waive Darnell Jackson

The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed free agent center Zydrunas Ilgauskas to a contract, Cavaliers General Manager Danny Ferry announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts. Per team and league policy, terms of the contract were not released.

Ilgauskas has averages of 7.5 points on .452 shooting, 5.3 rebounds and 0.8 blocks in 20.5 minutes per game in 53 games (six starts) this season with Cleveland. He was traded to Washington, where he did not appear in any games, as part of the three-team trade on Feb. 17th in which the Cavaliers acquired forward Antawn Jamison and guard Sebastian Telfair.

“The entire Cleveland Cavaliers organization from our hard-working part-time game day people to our front office, to the coaching staff, players, ownership and everyone else are thrilled that Zydrunas is coming back home to help us with our upcoming playoffs mission and hopefully, beyond. Things didn’t seem quite right around here without the big guy. If there ever was a benchmark to measure what the franchise aspires all of its team members to be, whether they play on the court or off the court, that benchmark would be Zydrunas Ilgauskas. That’s why having “Z” back means so much to the Cavs, the city of Cleveland and the entire state of Ohio,” said Cavaliers majority owner Dan Gilbert.

The two-time all-star is the Cavaliers’ all-time leader in games played (760), rebounds (5,841), blocks (1,259) and minutes played (21,572) while ranking second in points scored (10,540). The native of Lithuania is also the all-time leader in postseason games played (64) and total rebounds (512) while currently placed second in minutes played (1,950) and blocked shots (75). He ranks fifth among all active NBA players in games played with one franchise behind only Kobe Bryant (L.A. Lakers), Tim Duncan (San Antonio), Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas) and Paul Pierce (Boston).

“Having the opportunity to bring Zydrunas back to the Cavaliers is very special for the franchise and our fans. We’re happy and we feel fortunate that Z wants to be here. We’re also very happy for his wife Jennifer and his children too, and we’re excited to see him back on the court with his teammates tomorrow,” said Cavaliers General Manager Danny Ferry.

Ilgauskas, 34, was drafted by the Cavaliers with the 20th overall pick of the 1996 NBA Draft. He missed the entire 1996-97 and 1999-2000 seasons and large portions of the 1998-99 (77 games) and 2000-01 (58 games) seasons due to foot injuries. Since the 2002-03 season, he has played in 587 of a possible 628 regular-season games with Cleveland. He was named an all-star during the 2002-03 and 2004-05 seasons. He has career averages of 13.9 points on .475 shooting, 7.7 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.7 blocks in 28.4 minutes per game in 760 games (673 starts).

The Cavaliers have also waived forward Darnell Jackson. “Darnell was a good, hard-working teammate for us. We thank him and wish him the best going forward,” stated Ferry. The second-year forward averaged 0.8 points on .320 shooting and 0.7 rebounds in 4.3 minutes per game in 27 games this season. The Cavaliers roster now stands at 15 players.

Leon Powe comeback trail

George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal reports:

They’ve rebuilt him — or at least his knee — and it’s paying off for the Cavs during the playoff run.

Coach Mike Brown will have some tough decisions when it comes to his playoff rotation and Leon Powe, who sparkled in the postseason during his career with the Boston Celtics, isn’t making it easier.

Powe had his best game (16 points, seven rebounds) against the Detroit Pistons on Sunday.

”I’ve worked hard on my leg to try and get back to this point,” Powe said, ”but it’s moving a little bit faster than I thought, which is a sign of my dedication to [rehab] and that is a tribute to me.”

He still isn’t very fast. He doesn’t jump very high, but somehow he was able to even get a dunk in against the Pistons.

”My family keeps asking me to get them a dunk,” he said, ”but I wasn’t sure if I was ready for it. When I saw the opportunity, I went and tried it and I dunked it. I was happy about it.”

Cavs recall Darnell Jackson from D-League

The Cleveland Cavaliers have recalled forward Darnell Jackson from the Erie BayHawks of the NBA Development League, Cavaliers General Manager Danny Ferry announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts.

Jackson was assigned to Erie yesterday and played in the BayHawks’ 101-100 loss against the Dakota Wizards last night. He posted game highs of 32 points on 14-21 shooting (.667) and 11 rebounds while adding two steals and one block in 41 minutes. In two games (both starts) with Erie this season, he is now averaging 33.0 points on .651 shooting, 11.5 rebounds, 1.0 assist, 3.0 steals and 1.0 block in 41.5 minutes per game.

He will be available to play tonight for the Cavaliers in their 6 p.m. game versus the Pistons.

The BayHawks are the D-League affiliate of the Cavaliers and the Toronto Raptors.

Anderson Varjeo says he does not flop. He sambas

George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal reports

Ask Cavaliers forward Anderson Varejao about his reputation as a flopper, and his reply is direct.

”I don’t flop; I samba,” said the curly-haired Brazilian.

For this season, he’s right. Varejao isn’t the King of Flop in the NBA. In fact, the number of offensive fouls he’s drawn this season is down markedly from past years.

Last year, he had lured competitors into 52 offensive fouls. In 2006, it was 99. This season, he’s drawn a mere 25 offensive fouls.

It would be easy to assume, then, that Varejao’s game is off. Not at all. Varejao isn’t drawing as many offensive fouls on opponents, but he is still bringing needed energy off the bench for the Cavs and contributing in more ways.

Cavs assign Darnell Jackson to D-League

The Cleveland Cavaliers have assigned forward Darnell Jackson to the Erie BayHawks of the NBA Development League, Cavaliers General Manager Danny Ferry announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts.

Jackson has averaged 0.7 points on .333 shooting and 0.8 rebounds in 4.2 minutes per game in 26 games. In his one game with the BayHawks this season, he posted game highs of 34 points on 14-22 shooting (.636) and 12 rebounds while adding two assists, four steals and one block in 42 minutes in Erie’s 114-108 victory over the Dakota Wizards on Feb. 25th. The second-year forward will be available to play tonight for the BayHawks in their game versus the Dakota Wizards at 7 p.m. at the Tullio Arena in Erie. The game will air on VERSUS presented by Papa John’s at 11:30 p.m.

The BayHawks are the D-League affiliate of the Cavaliers and the Toronto Raptors.

LeBron will reach 15,000 points two years younger than Kobe did

George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal reports:

Cavaliers forward LeBron James scored 32 points Wednesday night against the Indiana Pacers and needs three points to become the youngest player ever to score 15,000 points in a career. Kobe Bryant was 27 years and 136 days old when he became the youngest to score 15,000 points. James is 25. With his sixth rebound, James passed Jim Chones for fourth on the Cavs’ all-time list. Chones has 3,790. James finished with nine rebounds and now has 3,794.

James’ triple-double against the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday moved him into the third slot among active players, behind Jason Kidd (104) and Grant Hill (29). James has 28. Additionally, with 23 triple-doubles of at least 25 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, he topped Michael Jordan (22) and ranks third behind Magic Johnson (40) and Larry Bird (29).