Yahoo.com is reporting that the Cavaliers and the Miami Heat are involved in trade discussions which would send Wally Szczerbiak and Anderson Varejao to the Heat in exchange for Shawn Marion.  What do I think?

-  First off, let me note that this piece is by Adrian Wojnarowksi, a guy who regularly bumps up his hit count by tossing off more LeBron-to-New York columns than anyone else in the country.  The guy knows that the Cavaliers are hot and that they drive internet traffic, so he’s more than willing to feed that need whenever the opportunity presents itself.  That doesn’t make the rumor untrue, it just means that he might not care if it wasn’t.

-  Second, only someone who has no clue about the Cavaliers would even believe that such a rumor was true.  The Cavaliers are thin at the frontcourt, something that became apparent on Saturday against Atlanta, when the Cavs were out-rebounded 40-34 due in part to the absence of center Zydrunas Ilgauskas.  Without Varejao, the Cavaliers would have an even bigger hole to fill.  A team that is 20-4 does not move a productive front line player without getting one in return.

-  While Marion has some name recognition, he has been a pale imitation of himself this season, as his numbers have declined across the board.  His points are down (12.4 v. 15.4 ppg), his rebounds are down (8.9 vs. 10.2 rpg), his assists are down (1.7 v. 2.2 apg) and his field goal percentage is down (46% v. 51%).  And he’s doing that in slightly more minutes per game (37.2 v. 36.7) this season.  The Heat are a team that desperately needs Marion to step up and take more responsibility, but so far he is coming up short.  That is not the mindset the Cavaliers want to bring to the team.  While Wojnarowski says that Marion might be more motivated if he was playing for a contender, the fact that he’s not motivated right now speaks volumes about his dedication.

-  Meanwhile, Anderson Varejao is playing the best basketball of his career, averaging 9 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.  And those who are watching the games know that Varejao has been far greater than his statistics at the point in the season, and that Andy has become the Cavaliers’ most consistent big man. While Varejao may still be moved at some point this season, it’s becoming more and more difficult for the Cavaliers to make such a deal for equal value.  

-  When a team is rolling like the Cavaliers are right now, the last thing a GM wants to do is do anything that would damage the chemistry of the team.  With that in mind, Shawn Marion is the same guy who was thrilled to be traded from the Phoenix Suns - a 55-win team - to the Miami Heat, a team that only won 17 games last season.  During his time in Phoenix, Marion was once asked if he would prefer winning a championship on the Suns as the team’s third option offensively, or going to his own team where he would be the first option, but not winning a title.  Marion said he’d prefer to be “the man,” even if it meant coming up short in the playoffs.  That mindset is not what the Cavaliers are looking for right now as they strive to win a Championship.

-  Here’s the other thing: Why would the Heat do it?  While the Heat are playing better than expected at this point in the season, they are a one-and-done team at best.  Szczerbiak and Varejao might be an improvement, but that still doesn’t get them into the second round.  With Marion’s expiring contract, the Heat are looking to add young talent that will be around for a while; otherwise they can just let Marion’s contract expire and take advantage of the salary cap relief.  A quick scan of the comments on Ira Winderman’s Heat blog for the Sun-Sentinal reveals that most of those fans aren’t any happier with this rumored trade than Cavaliers fans.  It’s not that they thing Marion is any good, they just have Gasol-esque high hopes for his expiring contract, just like Cavaliers fans have for Szczerbiak’s contract.  Trading one expiring for another is pointless to a Heat team that isn’t going to win anything this season.

-  And finally, there are already reports that the rumors are false.  

Go Cavs.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 16th, 2008 at 6:14 pm and is filed under News and Notes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.