Saturday, July 4, 2009

The Matrix to Cleveland?



Toronto's signing of Hedo Turkoglu requires them to either renounce the rights to Shawn Marion, Carlos Delfino and Anthony Parker. The other option is to do a sign and trade with one or all of them. Here is one thing they could do:

The Raptors sign and trade Shawn Marion (??? 3 yrs 30 mil) to the Cavaliers for Anderson Varejao (??? 4 yrs 26 mil) and Daniel Gibson (4 yrs, 17 mil)

For Toronto this trade would add the defensive, rebounding presence that they had been missing. Varejao isn't really a center but he can provide some of the toughness that the Raptors have been missing. Daniel Gibson slots in as a shooter off the bench and as some insurance in case Demar DeRozan is not ready to play big minutes. Because Jose Calderon is a bigger point guard, playing Gibson at the 2 won't hurt the Raptors in the same way it hurt the Cavaliers. Also having Turkoglu handling the ball could allow them to play Gibson more at the 1. The downside to this deal for Toronto is that they are eating up cap space on role players. As long as Bosh stays that isn't a big deal but if he leaves next summer, they would be regretting this trade. Conversely if they let Marion, Delfino and Parker go for nothing the team will have serious holes and that might make Bosh go as well. With or without the trade if the Raptors don't feel that they can re-sign Bosh then they have to move him before the trade deadline.

In a very roundabout way the way free agency has gone so far (Zach Randolph to Memphis, Artest to the Lakers, Turkoglu to the Raptors and Ariza to the Rockets) could work out extremely well for the Cavaliers. Marion would fit in really well next to LeBron providing great defense, versatility, rebounding, athleticism and acceptable shooting. It would also allow LeBron to freely interchange between the 3 and 4 without changing personel. The great thing for the Cavaliers is that this trade would allow them to add talent while keeping the mid level exception. With Marion on board adding another free agent like Grant Hill, Linas Kleiza, Anthony Parker etc would put this team in a place to be favored for a championship again. Considering the bleak outlook at the begining of the offseason that would be a great accomplishment. At the very least, with this trade, they have solved the issues that they had with the Magic in the playoffs.

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