Cavs take chance on Powe (Associated Press)

Associated Press

CLEVELAND — Leon Powe once thought he was the nation’s top 10th-grade basketball player. Then he saw one of his AAU teammates play: LeBron James.

Powe asked his coach if James was in his graduating class. He was.

“Aww man,” Powe said. “There goes my No. 1 spot.”

He’ll gladly take a backup role to James again, as soon as his repaired left knee allows it. Powe signed a two-year deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers on

Wednesday, even though he isn’t expected back on the court until sometime around the All-Star break. The Cavaliers are paying Powe the league minimum for a three-year veteran.

“The money is not the issue with me,” Powe said. “The issue is I want to get my knee back healthy and go out there and play basketball. The money will come.”

The Celtics let the 6-foot-8 forward leave following a third surgery on his left knee, this time to repair a torn ACL suffered in the playoffs. Powe is strengthening the knee in Los Angeles and should begin running in about a month. He is expected in Cleveland in two weeks to continue his rehab.

“It’s always tough leaving the place you started,” Powe said in a conference call on Thursday. “I gave them every opportunity to have me over there, which didn’t work out. It wasn’t my fault. I had to move on.”

Powe averaged 7.7 points and 4.9 rebounds in 70 games last season.

He is reuniting with James after the two stormed the country on AAU teams and at summer camps during their high school years. Powe, 25, watched James take over games long before he became an NBA superstar.

After Powe broke into the NBA alongside stars such as Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, Powe now joins James and Shaquille O’Neal.

“Shaq is one of the greatest players of all time and ‘Bron is going to be right there in that category,” Powe said. “Those are two great personalities. That’s the fun thing about playing with guys like them. They’re easy to get along with and it’s easy to play with them.”

By remaining in the Eastern Conference, Powe might not have to wait long for a reunion against his old team. The Cavaliers and Celtics are likely to again be two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference, and Powe admits he’s already dreaming of a postseason meeting.

“If that happens, that’s going to be fun for me,” he said. “I know Boston is a challenge, but our team, the Cavaliers got better and we’ll take on all challengers.”

Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press

Cavaliers Sign Leon Powe

via cavs.com

“The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed free agent forward Leon Powe to a contract, Cavaliers General Manager

Danny Ferry announced today. Per team and league policy, terms of the contract were not released.

Powe, 25, played in 70 games (seven starts) this past season for the Boston Celtics and averaged 7.7 points on .524 shooting and a career-best 4.9 rebounds in 17.5 minutes per game. In his seven starts, he averaged 14.3 points on .576 shooting, 8.1 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 25.9 minutes per game. The 6-foot-8 forward recorded career highs in scoring (30), blocks (5) and assists (3) and added 11 rebounds in 41 minutes versus Memphis on March 13th. He scored in double figures on 25 occasions and notched five double-doubles during the season. He experienced a torn ACL and meniscus in his left knee during Game 2 against the Chicago Bulls in the First Round of the 2009 NBA Playoffs and missed the remainder of the playoffs. In 189 games (14 starts) during his three seasons in Boston, he has career averages of 6.6 points on .523 shooting and 4.2 rebounds in 14.6 minutes per game.

“Leon is a high quality player and person. His tough, gritty play has already contributed in big playoff games during his young career,” Ferry said. “As he continues to work rehabilitating his injury, we would look to hopefully see him return towards the end of the season.”

The California native played 23 of his 25 career postseason games during the Celtics’ run to the 2008 NBA Championship. He averaged 5.0 points on .493 shooting and 2.7 rebounds in 11.7 minutes per game in the 2008 postseason, including a 21-point performance against the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 2 of the NBA Finals.“

Cavs Looking at Rob Kurz (who is that exactly?)

Not a whole lot about him out there, but the Cavs are looking to fill the early season gaps left early by JJ and Powe being out.  From his picture on NBA.com he looks like a pleasant fellow.

A Bulls Blogger Thinks Bosh/LeBron is Plausable

From blog.bulls.com here

“…The consensus among NBA executives is James will remain in Cleveland, mostly because there may not be

anywhere better to go. The big threat was the Knicks. But the declining salary cap likely won’t allow the Knicks enough salary cap space to sign two free agents. The Knicks roster is awful, and it likely would be a major step back competitively for James to join a team like that. With Kobe Bryant back with a championship, it is now James—before it was Bryant when James made the Finals in 2007—who is most likely to be anxious to be with a team that has the best chance to win a championship.

The belief is the Cavs will be a better option, and, of course, can provide him the biggest contract. Toronto’s Bosh has been the other big name. But there are increasing indications he will remain in Toronto given an aggressive summer of acquisitions, including Hedo Turkoglu.

Should Bosh still look to leave, the consensus is it will be a race between the Cavs with James and the Heat with Wade to try to sign Bosh and combine two All Stars and Olympic teammates. The free agents who played on the 2008 gold medal team supposedly have talked about eventually playing together…“

“

Wally on the Nuggets Radar

via Denver Post here:

“Of the final three roster spots, Warkentien said he was “hopeful” Carter would take up one spot and the Nuggets “will go and get another wing player” to replace Kleiza. One name floating around is that of veteran guard Wally Szczerbiak, who last played with Cleveland. He is an unrestricted free agent and would fill the need for a perimeter scorer off the bench.

“Of our remaining roster spots, etch this in stone,” Warkentien said. “One of them will be a wing.“

Cavs Still Going After Powe, Injury or Not?

via the grand Windhorst at cleveland.com

“CLEVELAND, Ohio — Thinking outside the box and taking a managed risk, the Cavaliers are close to scoring what could be a key big-man addition to their roster.

Leon Powe On Da Tracks

According to a source, the Cavs have the framework of a contract completed with free agent forward Leon Powe. It could become official as early as Tuesday, when Powe is expected to come to Cleveland to meet with team doctors.

Powe is in the middle of recovering from a torn ACL in his left knee and may not be able to return until the All-Star Break. But the Cavs feel like he’s worth the wait.

The sides have been talking for weeks and were able to agree on a two-year contract, which will protect both sides. Powe will get a chance to rehab with a deal and the Cavs will be protected if he recovers as they apparently believe he will.

The 6-8 three-year veteran averaged 7.7 points and 4.9 rebounds for the Celtics last season. He proved valuable when Kevin Garnett went down with injury and played an important role until he suffered the injury during the playoffs.

The Celtics could have kept Powe’s rights, but they declined to make him a qualifying offer in June because he’s had several injuries to the left ACL. They had hoped to be able to re-sign him when he was healthy, but the Cavs were able to put together a more attractive offer.”

Link here

Site Outage this Weekend / Upgrade Announcement

Hi loyal CavsFans,

This weekend the old site (the current one) will be moved to the URL www.cavshistory.com/v2 and there will be a brief site outage. This is to make way for the beta testing of the new site (if you want to be a beta tester email me at contact@cavshistory.com or msg me a twitter.com/cavshistory).

The current site has been in this format for almost 7 years and it is time for a change.  The homepage will be updated to the blog temporarily. Then in the coming weeks, we will slowly be rolling out the new format (lovelingly dubbed CavsHistory 3.0).  The new features should make you guys happier (and let bloggers/tweeters link directly to pages). Basically, we are getting all web 2.o when its almost time to get web 3.0

The old format will live on forever at www.cavshistory.com/v2, it won’t be deleted just in case anyone just can’t bear to live without it.

Be patient with us, there will be bugs and hiccups.  But I guarantee the new format will be a pleasant experience and will hold up better against the upcoming LeBron/Shaq-led title run as well as the impending LeBron free-agent-to-be craziness.

Go Cavs

Looks Like no Bowen?

via realGM.com

“The Cavaliers have been rumored as a suitor for Bruce Bowen, but they are unlikely to sign him, according to a source.

They still have their $2 million bi-annual exception at their disposal, but they are not committed to using it this season.”

I don’t mind this, even on the cheap.  We are overloaded at the 2 as it is.

Cavs Introduce #15 Jamario Moon… Get Laughs from Lil' John

Ferry introduces Jamaro (link)

Moon seems like a humble guy.  I like him fine.  But the real reason for this post is to give a nod to Lil’ John (yeah THAT Lil’John, from Big Chuck and Lil’ John).

Basically at the end of the interview John jumps up on stage (although you can’t see him on camera because he’s too small) and proceeds to tell Jamario to buy his bling from him (Lil’ John Rinaldi owns Rinaldi Jewelers).

It was awesome because all Clevelanders get the joke and Jamario looks confused but still remained polite.  Classic.

Miami Doesn't Match, Cavs Get Jamario Moon

Pretty pumped about this one.  Moon is an athletic 29 yr old swing man that is the “long” that Cavs were talking about getting.  In the Miami trade with Toronto last year, Moon was the best piece and he played well with Wade and Co.  Looking forward to see how he fits into the Cavs plans.

Here’s the skinny from Cavs.com:

“CLEVELAND, OH – July 24th, 2009 – The Cleveland Cavaliers have entered into a Player Contract with restricted free agent forward Jamario Moon. The Cavaliers signed Moon to a contract Offer Sheet on Friday, July 17th; with his former team, the Miami Heat, having seven days to match the Offer Sheet and retain him. The Cavaliers received notice from the Heat that they declined to match, deeming Moon a Cavalier. Per team and league policy, terms of the agreement were not released.

“Jamario is going to bring versatility and a high level of athleticism to our team,” said Cavaliers General Manager Danny Ferry. “He should be a very good fit to our current roster. We are very happy to have him with us.”Moon played in 80 games (60 starts) this past season for the Toronto Raptors and the Miami Heat. He averaged 7.2 points on .468 shooting, 4.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.1 steals in 25.8 minutes per game. The 6-foot-8 forward scored in double figures on 25 occasions. He led the NBA in steals-to-turnovers ratio (2.0) during the 2008-09 season. In two seasons in the NBA, Moon has career averages of 7.8 points on .478 shooting, 5.4 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.1 blocks in 26.8 minutes per game.”

The Mighy Windhost’s Twitter had this to say: “…Jamario Moon now a Cav. Guarantee is two years, $6 million“