Saturday, July 25, 2015

Cavaliers ink Richard Jefferson,trade Rakeem Christmas

The Cleveland Cavaliers looked to improve their bench with needed shooting and preferably with a veteran background.
Cleveland did both with the addition of well traveled Richard Jefferson to the veteran minimum contract for a one year.

Jefferson isn't the slashing player that he was in his prime,but what the 35 year old has done is change his game to become a knockdown three point shooter.

I discussed this in yesterday's podcast and what I see Jefferson becoming in the Cleveland offense is exactly what the team hoped that they would be able to bring with the long hype which was unrewarded for Ray Allen-A three point shooter that can bolster the second team in offense and when he plays with the number one unit,Jefferson can command the respect of defenders and not allow them to play inside the paint exclusively.
Jefferson shot 42 percent last season from three point range and is a 38 percent shooter for his career.
Looks to me that Richard Jefferson is going to easily fill the slot vacated by J.R. Smith and perhaps even more....



Cleveland also re-signed veteran James Jones to a one year deal to provide his long range shooting from the deeper part of the bench,
Jones shouldn't be counted on every night,but could be an occasional help on the odd night.
Cleveland also traded their top draft pick in second rounder Raheem Christmas to the Indiana Pacers for a 2019 second round pick.
I wrote when the Cavaliers drafted Christmas that he could have helped as a rebounder/shot blocker,but would need development time at best and might have struggled to see time off the bench.
Christmas could be much better off in finding court time as a Pacer with Indiana losing big men David West and Roy Hibbert as Indiana continues to rebuild.

I hope to be back with a few Braxton Miller thoughts and part two of our interview with Jessica Rosales soon!




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