The Cavaliers are a deep, veteran team without much playing time available for rookies. Still, J.J. Hickson has definately shown some potential for the Cavs when he’s gotten onto the basketball court. Hickson has played in 12 games for the Cavaliers this season and he is averaging 6.3 minutes, 2.8 points and 1.0 rebound per game. He has been playing well in his limited minutes behind Ben Wallace and Anderson Varejao. Darnell Jackson is also a power forward and he has just come back from a serious injury. He has played in 1 game appearing on the floor for 6.5 minutes in which he averaged 4.0 points and 2.0 rebounds per game. Jackson might find playing time hard to come by this season but he appears to have some potential.

The Cavaliers bought Sasha Kaun from the Sonics last night. Kaun is 6’11″, 250 pounds so he has nice size but chances are that he will play in Russia this season. Kaun played in 135 games (65 starts) at Kansas and he averaged 6.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 1.1 blocked shots per game. It never hurts to add a player for just cash.

The Cavaliers would love to give rookie center Lance Allred a chance to show what he can do next season. He is the first completely deaf player to play in a NBA game. He played in 3 games (0 starts) for the Cavs this season and he averaged 3.3 minutes, 1.0 point and 0.3 rebounds per game. Allred only shot 4 times making only 1 of them from the floor (25%).

The Cleveland Cavaliers acquired Ben Wallace & Joe Smith from the Bulls and Wally Szczerbiak & Delonte West from the Sonics in a huge trade today. The Cavs traded Ira Newble and Donyell Marshall to the Sonics and Cedric Simmons, Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes and Shannon Brown to the Bulls. The Cavs also received a 2009 2nd round draft pick from the Bulls. Ben Wallace will give the Cavs the defensive enforcer that they need. Other teams also must be more careful of taking cheap shots at LeBron James or Wallace will make them pay for it. Wallace played in 50 games (all starts) this season for the Bulls and he was averaging 32.5 minutes, 5.1 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.6 blocked shots per game. Wallace has shot poorly this season as he has only hit 37.3% of his shots from the floor and 42.4% from the free throw line. Wallace has now played in 825 games (710 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 31.5 minutes, 6.5 points, 10.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.4 steals and 2.2 blocked shots per game. Joe Smith has played in 50 games (35 starts) this season for the Bulls and he has averaged 22.9 minutes, 11.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. Smith has now played in 866 games (611 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 28.5 minutes, 12.0 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. Szczerbiak gives the Cavs an outstanding perimeter shooter and he will likely be the starter at shooting guard for the Cavs. Szczerbiak played in 50 games (1 start) for the Sonics this season and he averaged 23.6 minutes, 13.1 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. He has shot well from everywhere on the floor this season as he’s hit 46% of his shots from the floor, 42.8% from three point range and 84.3% from the free throw line. Szczerbiak has now played in 552 games (387 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 32.6 minutes, 15.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. Point guard Delonte West should also get a lot of playing time for the Cavs. He has played in 35 games (5 starts) this season for the Sonics and he has averaged 20.8 minutes, 6.8 points, 2.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. West has now played in 214 games (130 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 27.4 minutes, 9.8 points, 3.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.0 steal per game.

Larry Hughes just was never the player the Cavs thought he was when they signed him. He played in 40 games (32 starts) for the Cavs this season and he averaged 30.3 minutes, 12.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He was only shooting 37.7% from the floor this year. The Cavs might miss Drew Gooden as he has been a underrated player for the Cavs since he arrived in town. Gooden played in 51 games (all starts) this season and he averaged 30.7 minutes, 11.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. Shannon Brown never lived up to his first round billing. Brown played in 15 games (4 starts) this season for the Cavs and he averaged 14.5 minutes, 7.0 points, 1.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. He only shot 36.9% from the floor for the Cavs this season. Cedric Simmons was a complete bust for the Cavs after coming over from the Hornets in a trade this off-season. He played in 7 games (0 starts) this season for the Cavs and he averaged 12.0 minutes, 0.6 points and 2.1 rebounds per game. Ira Newble was playing his best basketball ever for the Cavs lately but he’s still not much of a player. He played in 41 games (13 starts) for the Cavs this season and he averaged 15.9 minutes, 4.3 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. Donyell Marshall has been injured most of the season and the Cavs shouldn’t miss him too much. Marshall played in 11 games (1 start) for the Cavs this season and he averaged 14.2 minutes, 3.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.

This should be a good trade for the Cavs. With the exception of Gooden the Cavs didn’t really lose anyone they will miss.

The Cavs have signed rookie forward Demetris Nichols who was recently cut by the Knicks. Nichols played in 5 pre-season games for the Knicks and he averaged 7.8 minutes, 4.8 points, 0.8 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. Nichols was a good player in college for the Syracuse Orangemen. He played in 123 games at Syracuse and he averaged 10.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.0 steal and 0.8 blocks per game. Nichols also is a good shooter as he hit 42.3% from the floor, 35.8% from the three point line and 75.2% from the free throw line at Syracuse. This was a good move by the Cavs as Nichols is a good offensive player.

The Cavaliers didn’t really have much playing time to offer the rookies but they both appear to have a future with the Cavs. Point guard Daniel Gibson played in 60 games this season and he averaged 16.5 minutes, 4.6 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. Gibson also hit 41.9% from three-point range and when he’s in the game, the Cavs run an up-tempo offense because of his speed with the basketball. He could be a future starter. Shannon Brown (SG) was the first round pick of the Cavs and he struggled when on the floor. He played in 23 games this season and he averaged 3.2 points, 0.9 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. He also only shot 37.8% from the floor. Brown will need to improve his game if he wants to see the floor in the future.

Rookie point guard Daniel Gibson will miss the next two weeks with a sprained toe. He has played in 45 games and he’s averaged 17.3 minutes, 5.2 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game so far this season. Gibson really does a good job of pushing the ball up court on offense and they will likely miss him the next two weeks.

The Cavaliers considered taking Daniel Gibson in the first round because they liked him so much, but when Shannon Brown dropped to them in the first round Danny Ferry shifted gears and selected Brown. He tried desperately to trade up to snag Gibson, but he fell into their lap in the second round. Ferry and the Cavs were probably doing backflips in the teams’ offices. Daniel Gibson has now been elevated to the starting line-up to replace Eric Snow and he’s done well in his first three games. He reminds me a lot of Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs because he’s not a pass-first point guard. He’s also very fast and has a nice jump shot. He has played in 35 games this season and is averaging 15.4 minutes, 4.9 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists. Look for all of those numbers to jump now that he’s a starter. He also has hit 32 of 69 (46.4%) from three point range and he’ll make the opposition pay for packing the defense in the paint against the Cavs.

1st round pick Shannon Brown has been a huge disappointment for the Cavs. He’s only played in 10 games and is averaging 10.3 minutes, 2.5 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.7 assists. His shooting has also been awful as he’s only 10 of 33 (30.3%) shooting from the floor.

The Cavs figured that whoever they drafted probably wouldn’t get much playing time, but with the injury to Larry Hughes gave the kids some playing time. Second round pick Daniel Gibson has played well in his minutes on the court. Gibson has played in 10 games and has averaged 17.4 minutes, 7.3 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game so far this season. Gibson is an outstanding shooter as he has hit 15 of 33 3-pointers this season (45.5%). He looks like a steal in the second round.

Shannon Brown was the Cavs 1st round pick and he hasn’t played as well as Gibson. Brown has played in 10 games and has averaged 10.3 minutes, 2.5 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game so far this season.

Danny Ferry and the Cavs had a good and maybe great draft. Only time will tell.