Thursday, June 19, 2008

The Case for Augustin

Here's my hypothesis: The Cleveland Cavaliers would be a better team with a true point guard (Delonte West isn't a true point guard; he played SG to Jameer Nelson in college and has the shooting tendencies that leave me desiring more out of him). The answer is simple: DJ Augustin, PG from Texas. Now most may say why pick another small PG out of Texas when you could just trade for TJ Ford? Well, I believe Augustin is a game-changer at PG, leaving Lebron and his teammates happy with his abilities. Augustin can pass and shoot, play solid D and give the Cavs the true PG they have lacked since (gasp, Andre Miller).

It's not that simple though for Cleveland. Most mock drafts I've seen have Augustin being picked anywhere from 10-13. 11 to Indiana is the popular place at this point. Being that the NBA is backwards from the NFL (the draft is before free agency; in the NFL, free agency is first). The Cavs need to address this situation through the draft. I shudder to think what PG they can pick if they stay at 19. Trading up is the only option right now. Make your move. Show LeBron your serious about improving the team by adding the second best PG in the draft to the team (Rose being 1). After that, you can go about adding a SG (Michael Redd, another rumored name; although I'm quite scared of Redd being a Cav for multiple reasons I'll get into in another post leading up to free agency) or addressing whatever needs that the team may see itself needing. DJ Augustin is a solid talent that can elevate the offense to a higher level (that offense in the playoffs was unoriginal and so inconsistent). Trading up 8 picks or so might leave you without a first rounder in a future year or you may have to part with a player from this year's team. But the overall makeup of the team would be much better with a true PG, DJ Augustin.

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