More Damon Jones

The Cavaliers seem to have picked up a very nice addition to the team at a somewhat reasonable pice.

Miami would have had to take the entire salary out of their mid-level exception (you can't combine exceptions, and Miami's wanted to use the "Non-Bird Exception" for Non-Qualifying Veteran Free Agents to sign Jones for $3 million). Had they matched our offer for Jones, Miami would have theoretically only had 1.4 million left out of their MLE to sign a swingman (and don't think Ferry didn't know this). So, Miami just couldn't justify paying Jones after the J-Will trade. I personally think "White Chocolate" sucks, but I could see someone thinking that was an upgrade for them. Its a pretty marginal upgrade, though, for that price, but they did get 'Toine in the deal too, and I'm sure that was the prime mover.

Amazing how close I was in the final details of Jones' deal. Essentially DJ got the Alston deal, age adjusted (4 years/16 million, starting with 3.6 million his first year). Seems like we paid exactly market value for Jones, though I am not sure how many suitors he really had. There is no doubt, though, that Jones could have gotten a bigger deal if he had been willing to sign early with a bad team. Aside from McInnis, none of the most coveted free agent point guards have more experience starting in the NBA than Damon Jones. Jaric and Watson essentially got the $5 million MLE in five year deals averaging 6 million per year. Jasikevicious got about 4 million per year (not sure what his first year will be) over 3 years. McInnis signed for 7 million over two years (the Nets probably got the best deal value-wise). Brevin Knight got a 3 year deal, but I'm not sure of the total. No matter, he wasn't on our radar and ended up re-signing with Charlotte.

It looks like the Cavs had a strict policy in place that said that their free agent aquisitions would either be able to play solid defense, or shoot the ball well, or preferably both. Really Jaric was the only guy on the market (at PG) that could do both, though he is getting paid an awful lot for a guy who is always injured and has never started on a regular basis. Antonio Daniels can shoot and plays a bit of D, but he is in the over 30 club and has never been a starter. His deal was ridiculous, but look at where he is playing. Waston also got a sweet deal, especially considering he doesn't shoot all that well. Knight can't shoot OR play D (though he is a good playmaker). Ditto for McInnis, though J-Mac can score and handles the rock reasonably well.

So, in the end we got a top 10 free-agent point man. Considering our needs (and wants), though, we got one of the 3 or 4 best guys available. Not bad for a team that spent most of its money re-signing its All-Star center and significantly upgrading the 2 and the 4 spot. Jones will be a nice complement to Snow, and I wouldn't mind at all if he came off the bench as a third guard (his price allows for this). Turns out Ferry is the Cavs secret weapon after all!

If not for Varejao's injury I would be jubilant. Now we have to hope we can pick up some forward/center depth at or just above the league minimum. I can't blame Ferry, though, for not wanting to spend a bunch of money on a guy who will be pretty far down the depth chart once Wild Thing comes back. It wouldn't surprise me if we made a trade at this point. Between Newble, Pavlovic, and Jackson, someone is going to ride some serious pine. Now we have to ask if we would be willing to trade one of the younger guys for a big stiff. Ironicly, Miami is looking for a swingman who can shoot, and is willing to trade their 3rd string center. I'm not holding my breath.