INDEPENDENCE — General manager Danny Ferry openly admitted Monday that the Boston Celtics were the team the Cavaliers were most concerned about matching up with in the playoffs heading into the 2008-09 season.
But after his record-setting, 66-win team in the regular season had a number of weaknesses blatantly exposed by Orlando in the Eastern Conference finals, the GM will now have to turn his attention to the Magic as the Cavaliers prepare for next season.
“We’re going to have to look at who those top teams are and make some decisions based on that when we look at our roster,” Ferry said at Cleveland Clinic Courts, where he and coach Mike Brown offered their final thoughts on the just-completed season.
While claiming “the foundation is very good,” Ferry did add: “Clearly, there’s room for growth. I don’t know if we’ll win 67 games next year or 47, but we’ll get better.”
The GM refused to go into specifics, but there are a number of areas where the Cavaliers could use some help.

A quality big man

Orlando’s Dwight Howard caused the Cavaliers all sorts of problems in the playoffs, when Zydrunas Ilgauskas looked old, Anderson Varejao wasn’t strong enough to defend inside and Ben Wallace sometimes appeared to be on his last leg.
Ilgauskas is expected to exercise the player option in his contract for next season, Varejao is ready to opt out of his and become an unrestricted free agent and Wallace is pondering retirement, so adding a quality big man in the offseason is vital.
Just about every team in the league would like to do that, but there could be some intriguing players available, including Detroit’s Rasheed Wallace and Antonio McDyess, Atlanta’s Zaza Pachulia, Milwaukee’s Charlie Villanueva, New York’s David Lee and Chris Wilcox, Orlando’s Marcin Gortat, Portland’s Channing Frye, San Antonio’s Drew Gooden and Utah’s Paul Millsap.
Ideally, the Cavaliers would like to get a rugged defender who is a monster on the boards and also possesses some solid low-post skills at the offensive end, another area where they have a glaring need.
Rookie J.J. Hickson, who showed a lot of promising signs early before falling totally out of the rotation, could become that player over time, but the Cavaliers don’t want to go into next season with that being their only hope for improvement
Fellow rookie Darnell Jackson will also be back, while veterans Joe Smith and Lorenzen Wright are unrestricted free agents who are unlikely to return.
As for Varejao, Ferry said, “We want him on our team next year,” but the power forward is likely to opt out of the $6.2 million he could earn and test the free agent market, where the Cavaliers will not have the luxury of matching any offer he receives, as they did in often cantankerous negotiations with agent Dan Fegan two years ago.
Ferry has not talked to Wallace, who is scheduled to earn $14 million in the final year of his contract, and has no plans to do so for at least a week.
“It’s best to give it a little time, then sit down and talk,” the GM said.

An athletic wing

Wally Szczerbiak, now an unrestricted free agent, and Sasha Pavlovic, whose $4.95 million contract for next season is far from fully guaranteed, had their moments during the regular season, but both were exposed by Orlando’s multifaceted Mickael Pietrus in the conference finals.
Finding someone like Pietrus, who can drive, defend and make perimeter shots, won’t be easy, but the Cavaliers have to get bigger and more athletic off the bench, especially since their starting backcourt of 6-foot-1 Mo Williams and 6-3 Delonte West is extremely small.
Players Cleveland might consider include the Los Angeles Lakers’ Trevor Ariza, Houston’s Ron Artest and Phoenix’s Matt Barnes and Grant Hill, but this is an area the Cavaliers will likely have to address through some type of trade, because the list of potential free agents is slim.
Cavaliers swingman Tarence Kinsey is under contract for next season, but it would be unrealistic to expect him to be anything more than an end-of-the-bench guy who can help out in a pinch.

A backup point guard

With Daniel Gibson looking more and more like a guy who will never be anything more than a catch-and-shoot 3-point specialist, the Cavaliers’ only real backup point guards behind Williams were starting small forward LeBron James and starting shooting guard West.
Those are two pretty good options to have and coach Mike Brown used them well in that regard, but the Cavaliers really don’t have a prototype point guard on their roster.
A ton of quality point guards could or will be free agents, including Atlanta’s Mike Bibby, Dallas’ aging Jason Kidd and Philadelphia’s Andre Miller, but the Cavaliers are looking more for a role player who won’t break the bank. Two possibilities include Charlotte’s Ray Felton and Washington’s Juan Dixon.
Just as with Pietrus, Orlando has the perfect example in veteran Anthony Johnson.
“From this (loss to the Magic), we have an even greater understanding of how hard it is,” Ferry said of his team’s quest for a title. “From this, we hope that hunger grows even deeper.
“We’re in the mind-set of, ‘Let’s give (Orlando) credit right now,’” he added. “Then we’ve got to figure out how we can get better.”
Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4061 or rickn@ohio.net.

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