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The writing was on the wall with the signing of Leon Powe earlier this week: there was no more guaranteed playing time to be handed out for the 2009-2010 Cavaliers.
With that in mind, two-time Cavalier Joe Smith spurned the chance to return to the wine and gold once again and instead chose the Atlanta Hawks, where he will be a key member of a traditionally short bench for coach Mike Woodson. I wish Joe Smith, "Mr. Professional" as the CofC writers liked to call him, the best of luck in Atlanta. This will be Smith's 10th NBA team in his 14th season of NBA basketball, and he continues to find work because he is a solid, veteran big who plays the game the right way.
General manager Danny Ferry, however, wasted no time, scooping up both stretch forward Rob Kurz and journeyman center Darryl Watkins to compete for the 15th and final roster spot. Kurz has been a rumored acquisition for over a month now, and he is the odds-on favorite to take that last spot.
Kurz is a 6'9", 232 pounder who is 24 years old out of Notre Dame. He spent last season with the Golden State Warriors, playing in 40 games (5 starts). In that time, Kurz averaged 3.9 points and 2.0 rebounds in just over 11 minutes per game. The stretch four did have some standout games though. Some of them include 20 points and 7 boards against Denver in December, 21 points and 5 rebounds against Utah in April, and 11 points and 6 rebounds in his final regular season game against Phoenix. At Notre Dame, Kurz was a two-year starter and saw significant time in his sophomore season as well. His averages his senior year were 12.8 points and 7.1 rebounds, shooting 45% from the field and 39% from beyond the arc (39-99). He also tallied 48 blocks in his 33 games (all starts).
For Watkins, I had to dig a little bit deeper for information. He graduated from Syracuse in 2007, and much like Kurz, he was a two-year starter who saw action in his sophomore year. Watkins, listed at 6'11" and 258 lbs., is first and foremost a shot-blocker. With the Orange his senior year, Watkins averaged 3.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 3.4 blocks per contest. His defense and shotblocking capabilities allowed him to latch on with the Sacramento Kings at the start of the 2007-2008 season after going undrafted. He saw action in 9 games, but he was waived in December and split the rest of the season with 2 NBDL squads. In his short time with the Kings, Darryl averaged 1.3 points and 1.3 rebounds in just under 8 minutes per game. This past year, he signed a two-year contract with the Spurs, but was waived when the Spurs needed to open up roster spots. Watkins then signed with Tianjin of the Chinese Basketball League.
The Cavaliers now have what most likely will be their full complement of players heading into game number one. In Kurz and Watkins, the team hopes to find one guy who could provide a little more experience than Jackson and Hickson if needed until Leon Powe is healthy in the second half of the season. Initially, I anticipate the inactives to be Powe, Jawad Williams, and either Darnell Jackson or Rob Kurz/Darryl Watkins. It will depend on who shows the ability to contribute more initially, although it may vary from game to game based on matchups. When Powe returns, only one of the three (Hickson, Jackson, Kurz/Watkins) will be active each game, and the Cavaliers seem to be showing confidence that J.J. Hickson will elevate his play and take that spot.
So, here is the breakdown of the Cavaliers roster as it stands right now.
PG - Mo Williams, Daniel Gibson
SG - Delonte West, Anthony Parker, Danny Green
SF - LeBron James, Jamario Moon, Jawad Williams
PF - Anderson Varejao, Leon Powe, J.J. Hickson, Rob Kurz/Darryl Watkins
C - Shaquille O'Neal, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Darnell Jackson
Keep in mind that I'm balancing the positions a little bit (i.e. Gibson won't play a ton of PG and the same with Darnell at C), but it will balance out as West and Parker take some minutes at PG and Varejao will play some center. For your viewing pleasure, I didn't want to put four shooting guards and five power forwards.
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