It has recently been reported that the Cavs have entered into talks with the LA Lakers and the Orlando Magic that would send Dwight Howard to LA, Andrew Bynum to Cleveland, and Anderson Varejao and a package of picks to Orlando. At a glance you would think LA would be the biggest winners in this deal but after taking a closer look Cleveland stands to benefit the most from this deal.
LA gets a franchise center who will give you 20 and 10 on a nightly basis as well as 2+ blocks a night. This looks great on paper but when you add in the fact that he ran Stan Van Gundy out of Orlando and doesn't have the mental toughness to deal with criticism. Luckily for him however the Lakers are, and will be, Kobe Bryants team.
Now on to the main point of this piece, Andrew Bynum to the Cavs. If this trade is agreed upon by the previous 2 parties the Cavs have to pull the trigger. Bynum is without a doubt a top center in the NBA and given another year or to could possibly push Howard for the top slot. This benifits the Cavs for 3 reasons. Reason number 1 is that they get a franchise center that will hold down the paint for years to come. Legit centers are hard to come by and if you have a chance at a good one you have to lock him up for years to come.
2nd is that it frees up playing time for younger players to develop. I personally love Anderson Varejao and everything he brings to the court. His skills may be average but you can't coach the hustle and heart he displays every minute of every game he plays. But the facts are he will be 30 at the start of this season and has missed significant time the past two years due to injury. This is certainly due to his style of play but I see no reason to keep a player who can not stay healthy. Just ask the Indians how Grady Sizemore is working out this year. With Varejao out of the picture it frees up Tristan Thompson to start full time and allows for Tyler Zeller to get the minutes he will need to develop. With Bynum drawing much of the attention in the paint it will take the pressure off of those two to contribute at a top level immediatly (provided they both pan out).
The final reason is that their strengths will now match up with the Miami Heat's weakness's. The Heat are going to be the team to beat to get to the finals for a while now. But the two positions the are weak at are center and point guard. Kyrie Irving is arguably a top 5 point guard already and Bynum is hands down in the top 2 of centers currently playing in the Association. Joel Anthony can not handle Bynum and this would present a large problem if the two were to meet in the playoffs. Also Mario Chalmers is a servicable NBA point guard but he will not be able to contain Kyrie Irving for a full 4 quarters. Now I do realize that the Heat have strengths that also match up with are weaknesses but I am looking down the road. Possibly 2 to 3 years from now. At that point Dion Waiters should have developed into a solid starter and Dwayne Wade should have lost a step or two simply due to age. Tristan Thompson has never been looked at as an offensive threat so as long as he can turn into a Serge Ibaka-esque defender he will have lived up to his high draft pick in my eyes. And if Alonzo Gee continues to develop his game he will be a solid contributer as well. Add in Zeller coming in off the bench and Daniel Gibson spotting up from beyond the Arc and you have a team that is built for success. So in conclusion if the Cavs want to speed up the rebuilding process and become a conference finals and possibly even a NBA finals contender they should get this deal done as soon as possible.
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