NBA Cleveland

[Before you ask: no, that was not a whale joke.]

Via BallHype, that menacing Michigan product Robert 'Tractor' Traylor has been thrust back into our world, as he'll compete with Cleveland's squad in the Vegas Summer League. Cavs.com reports Traylor played in that hotbed of basketball fame San Juan, Puerto Rico, last season after a European stint and some time in, er, prison.

Famously, Traylor's girth forced him out of NBA competition. What had been a boon in 1998 when he was drafted sixth overall and traded for Dirk Nowitzki [!!!] became an albatross when Tractor couldn't control his horizontal depth. Traylor always rebounded well in his limited minutes with the Cavs, Hornets, and Bucks, and he blocked some shots, too. But scoring -- or any sort of offensive potency, really -- never materialized, and Traylor probably didn't belong in an NBA uniform by 2004.

It wasn't all cheeseburgers that got Tractor here, as Michael David Smith outlined in this 2007 FanHouse post. Prison is bad for the career, no matter what line of business you're in. Let's hope Summer League is a sign Traylor's getting himself cleaned up.

The roster around LeBron James is, for the most part, lamentable. The Global Icon carried his team almost single-handedly to the Finals in 2006-07 and to a seventh game against the would-be NBA Champions this season. He's basically a two-time defending MVP without any trophies. He desperately needs some help.

Danny Ferry takes plenty of lumps for the minor disaster around LeBron, but at least he tries. He has spent plenty of Dan Gilbert's money to put guys who at one point could play a little around James, and he pulled off a major trade at the deadline (though the return package remains circumspect). And apparently, he's off to an active start this offseason, according to the Newark Star-Ledger's Dave D'Alessandro.

As they were putting some of the finishing touches on the Richard Jefferson-Yi Jianlian deal, the Nets received a call from the Cleveland Cavaliers, who offered them Wally Szczerbiak and his expiring, $13.2 million salary for Vince Carter.

According to two Eastern Conference executives, who asked for anonymity so as not to spill Rod Thorn's secrets, the Nets considered it -- but not for very long.

The one thing Ferry has in his favor: he can take all the bad contracts he wants, because the single goal going forward is proving to LeBron this team can take him back to The Finals repeatedly. Teams will always been pawning off stars for expiring contracts, and so long as you employ LeBron you wouldn't be slipping into that Knickerbocker despair.

The funny thing about this trade offer, of course: Ferry wants Carter to help LeBron win a title and resolve to stay in Cleveland. Thorn would want to trade Carter to help free up the cap space to sign LeBron. I imagine these two teams will be hesitant to work with each other in the next few seasons.

Crystal Ballin' takes a team-by-team look at what should, could, and probably will happen in the June 26th NBA Draft.

Clearly, the Cavs have not only the talent but the need to try and to win now. If Danny Ferry decides to wait, he might end up trying to win without LeBron James (or without a job) and that ain't gonna happen.

Picks: #19

Needs: In order to win now, Cleveland needs legit (sorry Wally) scoring from the perimeter or some backcourt help. Say what you want for their interior offensive needs, but they have three centers who are going to play. And seriously, think about how Wally and Delonte got loose in the playoffs -- that's a direct result of James being on the same team, not their talents. Now let's add someone who isn't washed up.

Best case scenario: Mario Chalmers somehow falls down to them at 19, which seemed a lot more likely a few weeks, or even days, ago. Instead, how about Courtney Lee, who easily could fall here? Either one would be good (Lee being the better scorer but Chalmers can run the Cleveland "offense")but yet, seems somehow unlikely ...

A rumor that has Jermaine O'Neal headed to Cleveland (with the #11 pick) for expiring-in-2009 contracts has picked up plenty of heat over the past week, as happens with most J.O. rumors these days. But Pacers general manager David Morway squashed the idea in a conversation with RealGM's Andrew Perna Friday, saying the teams haven't discussed the center.

"It's tough to answer questions on trades, but in this particular case, I will say that the rumor is completely false," Morway added.

Morway's going to have to squash a lot of J.O. rumors this summer, it seems. Last year, the Lakers rumor strung from May to October and beyond, and almost became one of those inevitabilities, like Ron Artest-for-Peja Stojakovic circa 2005.

Indiana's decision (or inability, who knows) to begin the rebuilding process over the past 12 months has been a bit astonishing. The team has one solid youngster (Danny Granger) and two interesting roleplayer prospects (Shawne Williams and Ike Diogu). The team's best player (Mike Dunleavy Jr.) turns 28 this fall and might have just completed a huge fluke year. The highest paid player (J.O.) played only 1,200 minutes this season and has hit the 30-year-old wall of (potential) doom. The #11 pick could add a great piece ... but the Pacers need many great pieces to begin the healing process. Hopefully, they started working on that sometime soon, lest Indiana fans be trapped in the too-good-to-draft-a-franchise-player, too-bad-to-contend purgatory.

While the reigning MVP is busy trumpeting his way to the finals and Chris Paul at least able to be satisfied with the progress made this season, the Cavaliers are looking at how to improve their team. And by "improve their team" I mean, "do whatever in God's name it will take to convince LeBron James not to go to New York and abandon them to a cold and lonely legacy of abject failure after being granted one of the greatest draft picks ever." You know. In so many words.

So if you're going to go out and get an upgrade for LeBron, and it's pretty evident that it needs to be scoring. So who's available?

Survey says: Michael Redd.

In an article in the Akron Beacon Journal, Pat McManamon writes that there is a "lot of talk about acquiring Michael Redd from the Milwaukee Bucks" for the Cavs. Redd's got a big contract on a rebuilding squad, and it's been proven that he can't be the guy to get the Bucks where they need to go. Putting him on the Cavs for the 19th pick and trigger-happy Wally Szczerbiak plus parts may be the way to make it happen.

I haven't seen a single rumor suggesting Mike Brown's job is in jeopardy. In fact, considering the man signed a two-year extension just four months ago, he probably has as much job security as anyone in the entire league. But if the Cavs really want to take the next step forward, GM Danny Ferry should put "find a new coach" at the top of his summer to-do list.

I know, I know: the Cavs advanced all the way to the Finals last year, and only a true cynic could fault them for losing to a 66-win Celtics team this year. But LeBron James has been the reason for their success, not Brown. If Brown were simply along for the ride it wouldn't be all that bad, but all too often he's actually standing in the way.

How so? By being oblivious to knowing how to use the best player in the game. There's no way around it: the Cavs' offense is simply atrocious. The mainstream media turns a blind eye because they're too busy celebrating LeBron's amazing individual numbers, but for people actually paying attention, it's almost unbearable.

A year after getting blasted by everyone under the sun for refusing to sign a letter by Ira Newble condemning China for its role in the Darfur genocide, LeBron James is finally willing to talk about the situation. Even if he's not really saying anything.

On Friday, James agreed to an interview with ESPN for Outside the Lines, and agreed to talk about the Darfur situation, defended his reputation, and stressed the importance of the situation, all without actually saying anything negative about China. He did stress that the situation is "about human rights" and that he does support Newble, even if he's not signing the letter yet. He was careful to indicate that he wanted the Olympic participants to come up with a group decision regarding the situation, which sounds an awful lot like cover.

But at the same point. James doesn't have to come out, political guns firing at China. All he has to do is raise the awareness of the issue and all he has to do in order to accomplish that is raise the subject matter. As long as he spurs the conversation with his massive public profile, he's succeeding in the really important fight. Letting people know about one of the worst atrocities in human history that continues to go on under our noses.

There is nothing more exciting in sports than a Game 7. Expect perhaps finding out that both Mike Brown and Doc Rviers have been kidnapped before this game and that there will actually be some offense. Since that is unlikely to happen -- and certainly not endorsed to happen by anyone here -- we'll have to settle for seeing whether LeBron James can have his best game of this series on the biggest stage.

He has slowly been stepping his game up after abysmal Games one and two, possibly in the pretense of going off during the Eastern Conference Finals and trudging the Cavs back into the Finals. But first things first -- the Celtics are staring at most scrutiny they have faced in years, without a road playoff win and with another Game 7 against a team they should have closed out already, if they were anything like the Boston team of the regular season.

Live Blog begins here at 3:30, or shortly before.

1. It Starts And Ends With The King: LeBron James finally had the game. 32 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, including monster points down the stretch. He had 8 turnovers, but that's okay, because ... okay, that's not okay. James has woken up more and more as this series has gone on, and managed to put together the complete game in Game 6. He's playing with confidence, desire, passion and focus. He's going to need all of that and his God-given obscene talent if he wants to walk out of Boston with the first win by a visitor in the playoffs. The Cavaliers actually ran James at point for long extended periods in the second half of Game 6, which attributed to James' turnovers. There are advantages and disadvantages to this. The advantage is that it ensures that LBJ has the ball and lets him dictate the offense as he sees fit. The disadvantages are the turnovers and the ability for the Cavs to bring the perimeter double. The Celtics brought the low post defender (Leon Powe, usually) to the perimeter to cover LeBron, trap him if he goes to the wing, and force the ball out of his hands. With any other team, this would mean a pretty simple 1-2-3 touch passing to an open low post player for a lay-in. Unfortunately the Cavs have a bazillion dollars in low post players, none of which can actually score consistently down low. Regardless, I would expect more of the same from Game 6 in terms of James strategy on both sides. The question is whether those shots will fall. And if it'll be enough.

In another of our continuing series, five things to keep an eye out for tonight in the Celtics-Cavs Eastern Conference Semifinals Game 6 this evening.

Nowhere To Go But Up. Or ... Home: Demolished in Game 4. Daniel Gibson out. Unable to get LeBron hot. Rajon Rondo shaking off doldrums. Kevin Garnett. There's a mountain of stuff lined up against Cleveland tonight. They are at home, but as much as it's been a saving grace for teams so far in the playoffs, that's got to end at some point. I hate using cliches, but they're unavoidable in this situation. The Cavaliers are in a position to bond together, give 110%, rise to meet the challenge, and let the hometown crowd buoy them to a Game 7 in Boston. It's not quite that simple though.

Delonte's Inferno: Okay, Delonte West. You're up. Gibson is down, you've been great at home, and this team needs a shooter like nothing else. If the Cavaliers are going to push this thing back to Boston against all odds, they need West to do three things. Create, contain, and close. He's got to spark the offense. He's done a better job of that than even Gibson has done, and has done well both in transition and in the half court set of finding the open man and making the right decision. He's got to contain Rajon Rondo and send him back to his dreadful pre-Game 5 ways, and he's got close out by knocking down and defending three point shots.