Thanks Michael more excellent points, though if Hughes will pan out for the Bulls remains to be seen.

Another ex-Wizard comes back to haunt us: Cavs signed D-Leaguer Billy Thomas for a 10 day contract, useful for until their new players come on board and while Gibson is out.

You may not be able to count Cleveland out, but if Boston and Detroit had better coaches, I would be sure one of them could take care of Cleveland. We will see. This is Danny Ferry's hail mary pass, it isn't just Mike Brown's job on the line it's Ferry's as well.

This trade is fool's gold. On paper some things about it may look good, but once you turn the page over...

Unlike Gooden, Wallace can't share significant floor time with Varajao because they're both offensive liabilities. Z is possibly going to have to play more minutes because they can't go long stretches with Wallace and Varajao together, like they could with Gooden and Varajao.

Szerbiak is a great shooter, but he also plays the same position as Lebron. So where are his minutes going to come from? He's a matador on defense and a weak ballhandler and playmaker, all of which make make playing him at SG a liability.

West has potential, but he's unproven in a meaningful role. Based on what he's done so far, he seems to look to be more of a scorer than a playmaker, which is what the Cavs really need.

The Pistons did something similar to this years ago, when they acquired Christian Laettner and Loy Vaught at Grant Hill's suggestion, as Hill was coming up on Free Agency, trying to show some commitment to improving the team's interior, which Hill had complained about. The gambit fell flat, the Pistons failed to advance (again) and Hill bolted to Orlando at the first opportunity.

Some writer mentioned that really good teams have at least two all-stars. Even Jordan needed a second all-star to win. The Cavs have LeBron, and a fringe all-star in Ilgauskas. The hope was that Hughes would have been that 2nd all-star, but that didn't pan out. This trade doesn't help Cleveland get there.

Kal - I agree with your assessment, with the exception of West. I think he can be a really good fit for Cleveland at the point.

He's always killed the Wizards. He's quick, plays pretty good on-ball defense. His only real weakness is his long range shooting. With more minutes, I think he can be a good point for Cleveland.

The Wallace/Szerbiak for Hughes/Gooden does NOT make Cleveland better. Where is Cleveland going to get their inside scoring? Where is the big defensive guard to put against all the good shooting guards in the East?

I'm that Chicago wanted Larry Hughes--he doesn't fit any better with their offensive style than he did in Cleveland. The only place he really thrived was in Washington in 2004-2005, where he had a green light to jack up shots in transition and was allowed to leave his man to go after steals. I don't see him finding that sort of situation again, because shooting 29 percent from 3-point range isn't going to get him a job with Golden State or Phoenix.

Juan Dixon complained about not getting consistent playing time and asked to be traded, to Piston. Do you guys think he will get consistent playing time there? They already have Flip Murray sitting on the bench collecting dust.

The problem is, it is difficult for an under-size SG who gambles on defense and is streaky on offense to get "consistent" minutes. When he is on, he can help the team, and be on the court, but once his shots are not falling, any coach in this league will sit him down. He is no longer a young prospect, the coach is not likely to leave him on court just to "develop" him.

Hughes could be a good fit in Chicago. Even when they were making the playoffs, their two biggest weaknesses were size in the backcourt and interior scoring. Hughes and Gooden should take care of some of that. It's not going to vault them into contention, but if should make them better.

I do think losing Duhon is going to hurt them, though. His numbers weren't eye-catching but he was a solid presence off the bench.

Dixon's not going to get a ton of minutes in Detroit, but he'll play. Their bench scoring has been erratic and they needed someone who could make shots. Plus, aside from Hayes, the Pistons bench is mostly rookies and younger guys with no real playoff experience. Having a veteran like Dixon is a plus come playoff time, because you never know how the kids will handle the pressure.

They're probably going to end up waiving Murray or buying him out.

I think the Cavs panicked. And will not see the Ring with this squad.
Stay the course Ernie. You only have got two more missing spots to fill. Go get us a stud point guard that will allow us to move GA to the 2. And get us a consistent low post scorer who can play tough interior defense. And lock AB and Pech in the weight room this summer. Also wouldnt hurt to replace those HoHo's with some packets of HGH in the lcoker room vending machines...

Obviously your blog commentary is out of fear that the Cavs have left you in dust-look we beat you down with only 6 guys playing today. A game which the Wiz should have won.

The Cavs obviously has quite gotten better. Hughes had been a horrible shooter prompting a website creation dedicated to him larryhughesstoptakingbadshoots and would never be successful as lebron's sidekick of a pure shooter. Wally is more than able to fill that need and is significantly better than Miller as he can drive within the paint.
Wallace becomes better as the sucking defense to Lebron creates opportunity for the fro on dunks and putbacks around the paint and the overall frontline defense is significantly shored as the Cavs would no longer have to deal with Gooden consistently missing out on his man and gives them a tough basket protector (no more easy PG layups). There is no need for a reliable interior scorer as Lebron usually dominates to ball and simply had to feed to their big men when he drives. West is finally as close to a point guard that the Cavs have been coveting for the last two years and had consistently put up solid numbers out in Boston and siding with Lebron will only get Lebron be better in moving without the ball and handing the ball to him on comfortable spots. Seattle had a glut of point guards as much as Memphis is. I would take a more proven guy in West as say Lowry. Smith's addition adds to an already formidable bench to Cavs as soon as Pavlovic, Anderson and Gibson finally becomes healthy = 1-12 deep and can compete with any starters in the league. Smith is a consistent scorer with outstanding mid-range jumper who is more dependable than dear in the headlights Gooden nights.

Also, Lebron is having a MVP season and is obviously in a mission to win it all this year. The guys surrounding him would only get better. Look, 31-24 without pratically any consistent help and entirely relying on Lebron. Have you seen actually how the Cavs looked without Lebron even on short spurts? With Gooden and Hughes? It's a borderline team.

Let's just see the play in court. Beginning Sunday.

Obviously your blog commentary is out of fear that the Cavs have left you in dust-look we beat you down with only 6 guys playing today. A game which the Wiz should have won.

The Cavs obviously has quite gotten better. Hughes had been a horrible shooter prompting a website creation dedicated to him larryhughesstoptakingbadshoots and would never be successful as lebron's sidekick of a pure shooter. Wally is more than able to fill that need and is significantly better than Miller as he can drive within the paint.
Wallace becomes better as the sucking defense to Lebron creates opportunity for the fro on dunks and putbacks around the paint and the overall frontline defense is significantly shored as the Cavs would no longer have to deal with Gooden consistently missing out on his man and gives them a tough basket protector (no more easy PG layups). There is no need for a reliable interior scorer as Lebron usually dominates to ball and simply had to feed to their big men when he drives. West is finally as close to a point guard that the Cavs have been coveting for the last two years and had consistently put up solid numbers out in Boston and siding with Lebron will only get Lebron be better in moving without the ball and handing the ball to him on comfortable spots. Seattle had a glut of point guards as much as Memphis is. I would take a more proven guy in West as say Lowry. Smith's addition adds to an already formidable bench to Cavs as soon as Pavlovic, Anderson and Gibson finally becomes healthy = 1-12 deep and can compete with any starters in the league. Smith is a consistent scorer with outstanding mid-range jumper who is more dependable than dear in the headlights Gooden nights.

Also, Lebron is having a MVP season and is obviously in a mission to win it all this year. The guys surrounding him would only get better. Look, 31-24 without pratically any consistent help and entirely relying on Lebron. Have you seen actually how the Cavs looked without Lebron even on short spurts? With Gooden and Hughes? It's a borderline team.

Let's just see the play in court. Beginning Sunday.

"Take Eric Snow's minutes"? Snow doesn't start anymore, yet alone see ANY playing time (except last night). What's that about?
This isn't the "big push" the Cavs are looking to put them over the top. They gave up nothing in this deal. Hughes and Gooden were throwaways. They have alot of cap space this summer and next, and will make a hard push for that 2nd all-star referenced. They aren't done dealing... This just tweaks their 29-23 squad this season...

I think its a great trade for the cavs. The cavs basically beat the pistons without hughes last year anyways. Hughes is always hurt and gooden might be solid but hes nothing speacial. As I see it they got 2 for 1 on the inside and outside. Ill take and old ben wallace and joe smith over gooden. It might not be good for the long run but definitely better this year. I will also take szcerbiak and delonte over hughes. Newble might hurt a little and who cares about marshall. They not have the bigs on the inside with a solid 4 man rotation and 4 solid shooters on the outside once gibson gets healthy again. Lebron will carry them the rest of the way. I would be a lot more worried about that team than the previous one if I was Detroit or the Celtics. Also if you read Hollinger's article every single player the cavs acquired have a better PER this year than the players they got rid of. I dont think its the best trade in the world but in the short term there is no doubt it makes the cavs better and more of a contender.

The Cavs got guys who can play right away while Pavlovic, Varajeo, and Gibson heal.

Each of the guys they aquired are good players who are ready to contribute right away, whether as starters or off the bench.

Joe Smith is playing his best ball since being the #1 pick overall. He rebounds and shoots well, and is better defensively than Drew Gooden. Smith will be very eager to do well in post season. He's certainly going to be solid for the Cavs.

Ben Wallace can back up Ilgauskas at C or he may start at PF alongside him. (I think Ben should back up both Smith and Ilgauskas). He's a much better defender than Gooden or Ilgauskas. His numbers were way off in Chicago, but Cleveland will definitely get a motivated Ben Wallace.

Since Anderson Varajeo will be back by the playoffs and he's the future at PF. Losing Gooden is addition by subtraction for Cleveland as far as I'm concerned.

In addition to adding Smith and Wallace inside, the Cavs did real well by adding Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West on the outside.

Wally is a great shooter and is still a strong finisher. I saw him throw down an emphatic dunk in highlights a week or two back. Wally has pleyed in the playoffs with KG and I believe he knows Pierce well enough to play him tough, sense he practiced against him in Boston.

Delonte's a great shooter who can defend and distribute. He's another guy who's going to be highly motivated against Boston.

Like the Bill Russell era Celtics, now they've got guys who specialize Cleveland.

Great three point shooters. Great rebounders, A great post scorer who can also rebound in Ilgauskas. A guy who used to be the defensinve player of the year. And I think the MVP and best player int he league.

Honestly, I can see the Cavs getting past the Lakers, Hornets, or Jazz in the finals.

I think Cleveland's deal was right up there with the Lakers getting Gasol.

This trade won't help Cleveland. They've essentially replaced their problems with new problems. Did they save cap space by getting rid of Hughes? No, they have to pay the rest of Ben Wallace's contract. Szerbiak is a good shooter, but can't do anything else. The only 2 decent players that Cleveland has are LeBron James and Zylgauskas. Ferry has done a terrible job at GM (drafting & signing guys). I think LeBron will probably leave when he can to get on a championship team.