Is Antonio Daniels coming to the Cavaliers or not?
Just as everyone seemed to dismiss the possibility of signing 34-year-old point guard Antonio Daniels (who recently agreed to a buyout with the Minnesota Timberwolves) . . . there's a new rumor making the rounds that suggests a deal may be imminent.
Here's the latest, according to a new report on Hoopsworld:
"Antonio Daniels worked out for the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday and could reach an agreement with the team in coming days, a source close to the situation tells Hoopsworld. Cleveland has shown interest in Daniels since he was waived by the Minnesota Timberwolves several weeks ago.
"Daniels' top choice remains the Cavaliers and he's awaiting an offer from the team before working out for other suitors. Cleveland has also asked Daniels' camp not to speak with other teams, suggesting that an agreement between the two sides could come shortly."
It's hard to know what to think of this.
Suddenly, it seems like Daniels sees himself in Cleveland . . . and is just waiting for Danny Ferry to hand him a pen. But . . .
Just last week, Hoopsworld reported that Daniels was close to a decision . . . and insinuated that he'd cooled on Cleveland, because he was concerned about his "minutes and role on the team."
Likewise, Cleveland was probably stepping away from the table because Delonte West had just returned to the team and Mo Williams had regrouped from a slow start and a minor preseason groin injury.Even though Delonte and Mo haven't played consistently yet this season . . . and even if Daniels relaxes his stance on minutes and a "role" . . . it's hard to see how this makes sense right now.
For starters, with Delonte, the Cavs are 10 players deep . . . and 11 if you include Darnell Jackson, who was active for most of last season. The team has 15 players on the roster, but only 12 can be active for each game.
Here's the rundown:
(1) LeBron James, (2) Shaquille O'Neal, (3) Mo, (4) Anthony Parker, (5) Anderson Varejao, (6) Zydrunas Ilgauskas, (7) Daniel Gibson, (8) Delonte, (9) Jamario Moon, (10) J.J. Hickson, (11) Darnell, (12) Danny Green, (13) Jawad Williams, (14) Leon Powe, and (15) Coby Karl.
Signing Daniels would likely mean that Coby would be cut, and Daniels would probably become our 12th player . . . meaning he's just borderline active. And as the 12th player, he can't expect to get 10+ minutes a game. As it stands, Jamario (our 9th player, roughly) has trouble getting 10 minutes.
And even if you'd rank Daniels ahead of DJ, what are the chances Mike Brown goes with an 11-man rotation? (0% - That isn't happening.) Bottom line: Barring an injury or a trade, Daniels isn't going to get regular minutes, in every game.
Yes, he'd be great insurance for Delonte, who is undoubtedly going to miss some games at some point this season as he deals with his indictment on weapons charges in Maryland. There's also his unpredictable personal issues, but I'd like to not speculate about him missing more games for that.
He'd also be a great back-of-the-bench guy, to step in when the Cavs are hit with injuries, face match-up problems . . . or just need a fresh spark or new look on offense.
And if the Cavs are interested, let's assume that they'll remember to discuss this important, but reduced role with him beforehand. Because if he isn't aware of this (and / or doesn't sign off on it), we could have a mini-Allen Iverson distraction on our hands.
Because as of right now, if Mo, Delonte, AP and Boobie are healthy (and playing reasonably well), Daniels is just not good enough to crack the into the backcourt rotation.
There is another way to look at this, though.
Smooth (from Cavalier Attitude) has made the following observation:
"Brian Windhorst [of the 'Cleveland Plain Dealer'] reported [this weekend] that while the Cavs have interest in Daniels and were close to signing him at one point in time, nothing was close as of the last few days.
[Windhorst reported: "The Cavs were close to pulling the trigger on Daniels, but two things happened. One, team doctors gave indications that West would be returning sooner rather than later. And second, Daniel Gibson has been shooting and defending and earning extra playing time. Neither of these were certain when Daniels was waived at the end of the preseason. Had the Cavs signed him, he'd be on the inactive list right now."]
"I find it suspicious. [...] Why would the Cavs all of a sudden be in hot pursuit of someone to potentially put on the inactive list? Something might be going on. I don't know what but something just might be happening. It could be good and it could be bad.
[And on Twitter, Smooth adds] "Maybe it's nothing. But it's suspicious that they'd be going after someone who wouldn't mean anything and would cost double [because of the] luxury tax."
It's a good point. There are three ways I could see this making sense. [Of course, all this is momentarily assuming that Hoopsworld's sources are accurate and there is serious interest from the Cavs.]
#1.) The team knows something we don't know about Delonte's status. Perhaps they know, or have a feeling, that Delonte will have to miss a substantial number of games this season due to either his legal or personal issues. This is, of course, a "bad" explanation.
#2.) Antonio just really wants to come to Cleveland . . . maybe because we're the best team interested in him, or maybe because of LeBron and / or the rest of the organization. He is unemployed, but supposedly he has received interest elsewhere, and he did get a big buyout. So he probably wouldn't have to chase any paycheck. At least, not yet.
In this case, he'd have to be cool with very limited play, at least until he's needed for a greater role.
#3.) The team is planning on making a trade, and will need help at guard in the aftermath.
Now, there haven't been any real trade rumors connected to Cavs, except that Stephen Jackson one, in which we'd give up Z. But that would make the backcourt even thicker . . . so who knows?
It's early, and we're still meshing as a team, but I'm not in favor of making any moves right now unless it's something you can't turn down. We don't know what we have yet, so how do we know exactly what we need? A player shift now would complicate and lengthen the Cavs' fusion process.
It'll be interesting to see what happens with Daniels. Maybe he and the Cavs are a perfect fit for each other, or maybe Danny Ferry is just continuing to do his job . . . investigating as many options as he can to see if anything catches his eye.
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[Monday Afternoon Update: Brian Windhorst on Twitter: "The Cavs did workout Antonio Daniels over the weekend but currently have no plans on adding a player."]
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