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You don't think Kobe is in top 10 defensively at guard? Who would you say is better than him?
Yes, that was my point. That is a complete joke.
Well, the Heat won't miss Damon Jones. Fortunately, they signed TWO guys who'll chuck threes up from anywhere.
In fact, Williams and Walker would shoot 4s if they could.
Updated: Sep. 8, 2005, 2:55 PM ET
Miami moves puzzle, disappoint Jones
By Ric Bucher
ESPN The Magazine
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/column...ric&id=2155597
For someone who has played for nine teams in seven years and never lasted anywhere more than one season, Damon Jones sure is having a hard time saying goodbye to Miami.
Jones, 29, will be introduced this afternoon as the new starting point guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers, right after he signs a four-year deal worth as much as $16 million. It's easily the longest and richest contract he ever has been offered. After giving the Heat one last chance to keep him, Jones flew to Cleveland on Wednesday afternoon and spent the evening being wined and dined by GM Danny Ferry and an assortment of Cavs officials.
No one has ever showered this much love on a guy who couldn't even land an NBA training-camp invitation his first two years out of the University of Houston, lasted until the fourth round of the CBA draft, and spent his formative years playing with the Black Hills Posse (IBA) and Jacksonville Barracudas (USBL).
This, then, should be the happiest day of Jones' professional career. Yet it's not.
Or at least it wasn't as of early Thursday.
"This was the hardest decision I've ever had to make," said Jones by phone, in between physicals early Thursday morning. "It's tough to talk about, even now. It won't really sink in that I'm a Cavalier until I put my name on that contract. It's still disappointing that I'm not going back to a team that was a minute and a half away from going to the Finals."
Now he joins a team that he described as "on the cusp of being good." He loves that he's coming in on the ground floor of an emerging franchise, that first-year coach Mike Brown scratched his way through the coaching ranks the same way Jones did as a player, that he's arriving with Larry Hughes and Donyell Marshall, and that LeBron James can't posterize him again as he did with a fast-break dunk Feb. 3 on TNT.
"Instead of being on the other end, I can be the one throwing him lobs," Jones said.
But for all that, Jones knows that the Cavs aren't ready to contend and that a lot of question marks about their chemistry and cohesion will have to be answered before they are.
That's why he'd still be in Miami had the Heat simply been willing to increase his salary more than a few hundred thousand above the $2.7 million he would've received had he not opted out of his two-year deal. The Cavs, after all, reportedly are starting him at $3.5 million. It's hard to believe the Heat, had they reeeeeeally wanted to keep Jones, couldn't have matched that.
And to hear Jones tell it, he won't be the only one disturbed about his departure from the Heat. Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade repeatedly offered to exert their influence on Heat management to get Jones re-signed. One conversation with Shaq this week lasted 2 1/2 hours, he said, and got "very emotional."
"But I didn't want them to say anything," Jones added. "I wanted to be brought back for my contributions on and off the basketball court, nothing else."
Jones also indicated that coach Stan Van Gundy had his back. Despite the acquisition of Grizzlies point guard Jason Williams in this summer's ginormous five-team, 13-player deal, Jones had been told he would remain the starter. That could've been propaganda to get Jones back in the fold -- or it could point to the threat of fissures between Van Gundy and president Pat Riley that bringing in Williams, James Posey and Antoine Walker poses. Riley, as with all personnel chiefs, will want the new pieces provided every opportunity to demonstrate how wise it was to get them. Van Gundy, as with all coaches, will want to stick with the players he knows and can trust.
"Now that I'm on the outside looking in, it's going to be tough," Jones said. "They're going to be successful, but Stan is going to have a problem coaching those personalities."
Although Jones thanks Riley for the chance last season afforded him, he is baffled by the team's extreme makeover.
"I've been scratching my head from Day One," he said. "I can't give you a real reason why it had to be done. We lost to the defending champions with a whole lot of things that didn't get airplay. Udonis [Haslem] had a broken finger; Eddie [Jones] was having knee problems; Dwyane was hurt; and I got two cortisone shots in my ankle so I could play in Game 7. Pat Riley had a vision of, I don't know, the Showtime Lakers and a bunch of big names. I just wish we could've done what the Detroits and San Antonios and even the Lakers in their championship years did -- keep everybody together and build that championship continuity."
That, of course, is no longer his concern. Despite the Cuyahoga love, owner Dan Gilbert's money and whatever he might say, Jones leaves the lingering impression that he still wishes it were.
This Cav's team is going to be very good this year, i see them giving a lot of teams in the East a lot of trouble.....when the Spurs freaking took over this team this offseason they did some mean business....one of the best pickups they had was larry hughes to play along side Lebron, then donyell marshall as well...now they have a set point guard, and i can smell trouble for some teams...but the Heat, Pistons, and Pacers will destroy the Cavs.
Now the Cavs are going for Alan Henderson ...
http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/12595133.htm
Beacon-Journal - According to league insiders, the Cavaliers top target is Alan Henderson. The 10-year veteran played last season with the Dallas Mavericks , where he averaged 3.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in 52 games. He played the previous nine years with the Atlanta Hawks , where Cavs assistant general manager Chris Grant, a former Hawks executive, got to know him well.
The 6-foot-9, 32-year-old Henderson is known as a good mid-range shooter but, more importantly for the Cavs, an active rebounder. He was second in the NBA last season in offensive rebounds per 48 minutes.
Getting a player like Henderson became imperative after forward Anderson Varejao went down with a severe shoulder injury that required surgery last week. He might be out until February.
But signing Henderson might be complicated. The salary won't be: He'll get $1,138,500, the veteran's minimum, of which about $400,000 will be picked up by the league. However, Henderson was arrested July 2 at JFK Airport in New York for having a loaded gun.
Henderson, the missing piece for the run and gun offense ?
Naw, we were told that was Griffen last year.
Every year there will be another hyped up Jason Williams for the run and gun but he'll end up not producing.
Henderson is getting old. I don't see him being much of a help for Cleveland. He is still good but not for long.
Looks like that Heat are trying to settle for Payton now that they lost Damon.
Payton still an option
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald...l/12616211.htm
BY BARRY JACKSON
[email protected]
Free agent point guard Gary Payton, a nine-time All-Star, wants to play for the Heat. Shaquille O'Neal would like him here. Now Payton waits to hear whether Heat president Pat Riley is receptive to adding a 37-year-old point guard instead of a younger backup at the position.
Riley spoke with Payton's agent, Aaron Goodwin, late last week, and Goodwin said he hopes the conversations continue. According to an official familiar with the situation, Payton would have no problem backing up Jason Williams.
Riley has declined to specifically discuss remaining free agents. But he said finding a backup point guard would not be a problem. ''I think we will get somebody who can really help us, whether it's through free agency or trades,'' he said. ``We have been able to do very well with the backup point guards.''
O'Neal said Saturday he has spoken to Riley about various players -- he declined to identify them -- and expressed interest in luring Payton, who has never won an NBA le.
''We would love to have Gary down here,'' said O'Neal, who was Payton's Lakers teammate in 2003-04, when the Pistons beat Los Angeles in the Finals. ``He's still tenacious on defense, and I know he still wants [a le]. And I'm the only guy in the world who can get him one.''
Payton, 6-4, averaged 11.3 points, 6.1 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 1.1 steals and shot 46.8 percent from the field in 77 games for Boston last season.
The Heat also intends to speak with Washington Wizards restricted free agent point guard Steve Blake, 25, in the next few days.
O'Neal said he was disappointed Damon Jones signed a four-year, $16.1 million contract with Cleveland. ''We're going to miss Damon,'' he said. ``He was a great shooter. . . . He got what he wanted, but he gave up a lot. No more night life, no more warm weather and no more a lot of media attention. . . . I guess this was his first shot at getting something big. I guess he had to take it.''
O'Neal didn't seem concerned about Michael Finley signing with San Antonio. ''We'll be fine,'' he said about Finley not joining the Heat. ``Pat and [GM Randy] Pfund have done a beautiful job of putting a new team together. A lot of people probably are going to be worried we have to start all over. But I've been here a couple weeks working with the guys and I know most of the guys, so it won't be a problem at all. . . .
``We've got to get farther than we did last year, and we will. . . . I'm used to change. Pat is what I will become if I become a general manager. Got to get it done now. Can't wait. . . . I call it the Jeff Gordon prophecy. Jeff Gordon changes his car every race he loses.''
With Eddie Jones, Damon Jones and Rasual Butler gone, three-point shooting has become a concern. ''I guarantee you Antoine [ Walker] is going to hit more threes,'' O'Neal said. ``I guarantee you Jason is going to hit more threes, and he's going to get more assists. [ Dwyane Wade] is going to get more points. Everyone is going to get open looks.''
They only need him til Varejao comes back.
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