Everyone has been raving about the Cavaliers' acquisition of Antawn Jamison. My question is why? They gave up Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and he has stuck around with the Cavaliers franchise through the good and bad. He is a quality big man who can shoot, and he spelled Shaquille O'Neal while ensuring the Cavs lost little production when the second unit came in. His outside shooting ability was extremely underrated, and his 7'3 frame caused matchup nightmares for every team trying to contend with the Cavaliers. However, he was deemed expendable because it was believed the Cavaliers need a "stretch four" to open up the lane for King James and for Shaq.
At one point in the season, Big Z was not elected to play in a game in which he could have claimed the Cavalier's all-time games played record, and he was obviously upset. He brings a lot to the table, and I do not understand how Mike Brown was foolish and arrogant enough not to let the big man in the game to gain this record(he gained it the next game after Ilgauskas and close friend James proclaimed their frustration with Brown after not playing him). Like I stated earlier, this makes no sense to me. Ilgauskas can shoot just as well as Jamison, and he presents much more size than Jamison's 6'9 brings to the table.
It is looking as if Ilgauskas will sign with either the Atlanta Hawks or the Dallas Mavericks, which in my mind gives either team the missing piece they need. How you can give a quality big up and let him go to a contender in your own conference is beyond me. It is no coincidence that the Cavaliers are in their first 3-game losing streak of the season. Mark my words now; The Cavaliers will not win the NBA Finals without reacquiring Ilgauskas, which is seeming less and less likely everyday with many title-contending teams in pursuit of the soon-to-be free agent big man.
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