Analysis: Cavs, T’Wolves complete trade

So Chris Grant, how does it feel to make your first substantial move in the big chair? Granted (no pun intended) signing Samardo Samuels, signing Christian Eyenga and getting something back for LeCheat were all transactions under the Grant era, this will be the first transaction Grant has made that will be put under the microscope by Cavs fans and media over the next few years. So what’s the first big deal? According to various reports, the Cavs and Timberpuppies got a deal done that will send Delonte West and Sebastian Telfair for Ramon Sessions, Ryan Hollins and their own 2013 2nd round pick.

The Cavs and T’Wolves had been talking for a while previous to this deal getting done. Once the Cavs were re-buffed by the Houston Rockets in their attempts to extract Kyle Lowry from them, Sessions was the next name on the Cavs list. It ultimately worked out to be a deal that gave both teams what they wanted. The Cavs wanted to buy-low on a young, talented point guard while the T’Wolves wanted to simply dump a couple of contracts for pure cap space.

Sadly, the Delonte West era came to an end today. It was a short stint for Delonte filled with up’s-and-down’s but I’ll be the first to say Delonte was one of my favorite players on-and-off the court, when he had his head on straight. He will be looking for a job, as Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports reports, now that the T’Wolves will waive Delonte, as they will clear cap space by doing so. I’d be surprised to see Delonte get a job quickly with his checkered past but if some team does claim him–it’ll likely be a contender–then I’ll be rooting for him.

For Telfair, it was a short stint as well and the times he’s been traded just keep on increasing. After being highly touted coming out of high school and being picked 13th overall in 2004, he’s never really been able to stay with one team or prove that he can have a role. He might get another chance with Minnesota as Jonny Flynn will be out 4-6 months with hip surgery, which will mean Telfair will get a chance to prove himself. Telfair had some good showings in his half-season here but he was nothing more than an expiring contract to the Cavs with the amount of point guards they have.

Now onto what the Cavs got.

Ramon (ra-MAHN) Sessions is an interesting player. The key for him will be to prove which season was the fluke season: last year with the T’Wolves or his ‘08-’09 season with the Milwaukee Bucks. The Ramon Sessions that played in Minnesota put up close to a 13 PER, had close to a 23% assist rate, put up a +0.4 WARP (Wins Above Replacement Player) and had a +0.9 Roland Rating. The Ramon Sessions that played in Milwaukee put up close to a 18 PER, had close to a 35% assist rate, put up a +7.1 WARP and had a +4.0 Roland Rating. Putting it into simpler terms: if Sessions was on the team last year and played like he did in Minnesota, he would have made no more of an impact than Jamario Moon did. If Sessions was on the team last year and played like he did in Milwaukee, he arguably would have been the best player on the team outside of LeCheat. So what’s the deal?

Milwaukee and Minnesota were at the opposite of end of the spectrum for Sessions, fit wise. In Milwaukee he saw a bigger role with Mo Williams gone, more minutes and the offense was a lot more in his hands. In Minnesota he saw a decreased role with the drafting of Jonny Flynn, less minutes and he was a poor fit in the triangle offense.

Straying away from the stats and breaking down his game, the best comparison that I could make would be to Andre Miller.

Offensively, Sessions is as much of a true point guard as the Cavs have had since Miller left. Sessions is a pass-first point guard who can score and create at a good rate (PTS/40 hover around mid-high teen’s; USG rate hovers around 20) but would much rather set up his teammates first. He’s more of a slasher who gets to the line a lot because he has to make up for his lack of a jump shot (10 3’s in his career and poor eFG%’s on jumpers). He’s not on the Eric Snow level but it is a major weakness in his game.

Defensively, Sessions was billed as a good defender coming out of Nevada a few years back but it’s been a mixed bag ever since. Last year in Minnesota his defensive +/- and OPP PER were much better than in Milwaukee but his defensive rating and defensive win shares were better in Milwaukee than they were in Minnesota. Considering the mixed bag and my limited knowledge of his defensive abilities, I’ll refer to the always reliable John Hollinger: “Defensively, Sessions experienced some trouble fighting through screens but otherwise excelled. He applies good ball pressure and has excellent size, plus he helps out on the glass.”

The Cavs are hoping Session can play like he did in Milwaukee.

Sessions should benefit playing under Coach Scott, where I feel he will be more free than he was in Minnesota and more like he was in Milwaukee. Coach Scott has mentioned a lot this summer of using a 2-guard backcourt, which he did a lot of in New Orleans with Jannero Pargo and Chris Paul. It should be interesting to see how that works with with Mo Williams, who Sessions is very close to.

The other player the Cavs received in the deal is Ryan Hollins. Unlike Sessions, Hollins wasn’t a key component to this deal and was more of a throw-in. He is someone the Cavs were interested in because of their lack of size upfront. By just looking at Hollins, he definitely passes the eye test. He’s tall, he’s long, he’s super-athletic, he runs the floor like a deer and he has good hops (remember him posterizing Anderson Varejao in a late blow-out win with the Mavs a couple years ago?). The problem is Hollins hasn’t shown anything more than that to this point in the NBA. He got more minutes and a bigger role last year in Minnesota but he showed why he never got those minutes or that role elsewhere.

Offensively, he’s not going to contribute much. Most, if not all, of his points will either come off lobs, put-backs, running the floor or offensive rebounds. He’s not someone who can spot-up, he’s not someone who you run plays for and he’s not someone who can create his own shot. With all that said, the advantage he does have is he is a good pick-and-roll partner considering his athleticism and hops. In P&R situations last year, he scored 1.16 PPP (points per possession) which ranked as 28th best in the NBA among big men. His athleticism also helped in transition as his 1.33 PPP was good for 45th best in the NBA. So bottom line: don’t expect much from Hollins on offense, unless it relies on him using his athletic ability.

Defensively, Hollins may look like he has the frame, hops and ability to be a good defender but he never really has developed into one. Just like his offensive game, his defensive game relies on athletic ability. Anything in regards to his athletic ability he can do well defensively: he’s good on P&R rolls, he can block shots, he’s good in transition and good in isolation situations. Unfortunately he doesn’t rebound well, struggles in post-up situations and isn’t a good team defender. His advanced defensive stats have never been good so don’t look for much out of him defensively.

The good news for Hollins will be Coach Scott’s up-tempo offense should help him take advantage of his athletic ability, which so much of his game relies on. Hollins will likely be the back-up 5 to Varejao and eat up some minutes against centers.

In addition to both Sessions and Hollins, the Cavs also received Minnesota’s 2013 2nd round pick. While it may not seem like much right now, their 2nd round pick this year was 35th overall (for reference, DeJuan Blair went 37th overall two years ago). Unless the T’Wolves magically get better over the next couple of years, the 2nd round pick will likely be high and will be a nice asset for the Cavs. Whether it nets the Cavs a player who may have fallen out of the 1st round or helps them get back into the 1st, it’s always nice to have high 2nd round picks. This pick also gives the Cavs 6 2nd round picks in the next 3 drafts and what could be 10 picks total within the next 3 drafts.

Enough yapping, I’ll try to finish this up short and sweet. The bottom line to this deal is the Cavs don’t risk much talent wise in this deal as they gave up two players who wouldn’t have worn a Cavs uniform much longer. The Cavs do add on salary over the next couple of years but cap room shouldn’t be a priority with no free agents wanting to play in Cleveland. Cap flexibility is another thing and this deal shouldn’t compromise that. The key to to this deal will be which Ramon Sessions decides to show up. If it’s the one form Minnesota then the Cavs will have your average back-up point guard. I’m hoping that, and I’m sure the Cavs are hoping too, it’s the one from Milwaukee. If it is then Cavs fans will have a lot more faith in Grant than they do right now.

For some extra info, here are a couple of highlight tapes on Sessions and Hollins on YouTube! to get a feel for their games: Sessions highlights and Hollins highlights. Here’s also a detailed scouting report of Hollins from a year ago.

Analysis: Cavs, T’Wolves complete trade

By L. Smooth

Comments

Mark Cameron July 27th

Great stuff, Smooth.

I look forward to seeing what Sessions can do with the ball in his hands in a fast paced offense (not quite the pace of his 24 assist game, but still). Hollins will be nice in transition as well, but as you mentioned, he won’t see a whole lot of time.

In the end, not a homerun, but considering the Cavs would’ve likely let Delonte expire, getting a young talent and a pick for essentially free isn’t a bad move.
Brian July 27th

The real key to the deal is that the Cavs got rid of Delonte when everyone in the league knew they were going to get rid of him. And they still got a potential asset or two by finding a team not willing to spend as much $. Exactly what they should be doing right now if they want to take advantage of Gilbert’s wallet and still prepare for the rebuild with picks.

Along those lines, I think the 2nd-round pick was the most valuable asset. It will likely be on the edge of the first round without requiring 1st-round $.

I don’t expect much of anything from Hollins. He seems like someone the Wolves wanted to get rid of more than the Cavs really wanted to acquire. The 2nd-round pick likely helped to smooth that over, so the Wolves could save some more $.

Sessions is a sign that Byron Scott is helping directing traffic in the front office and getting the kind of PG he wants. If Sessions can help establish the tempo, pace, and general game that Scott wants, then he will have effectively done his job, regardless of whether he himself has a future with the Cavs over the whole rebuilding process. If Sessions can approach his time with the Bucks, which may be possible depending on his playing time, then it will be a big bonus. If he can play well enough to backup a stronger PG as part of a solid team, well then this will go down as a great trade.

But, whatever faults the new players have, today’s trade really was addition by subtraction, sad to say. They absolutely had to get rid of West, and in the process of saving their trade-partner some $, they ended up getting rid of Telfair, too. Everything else is gravy.