Cavaliers Rumor Mill: Charlie Villanueva, Ron Artest Linked to Cleveland

Two huge stories broke on the NBA landscape on Monday, both of which could have a tremendous impact on the Cleveland Cavaliers and free agency.

One was the big news that Yao Ming could likely miss all of the 2009-10 season — and he might even be done for the rest of his career. This news stems from the left foot injury he sustained during the Houston Rockets’ second-round series with the Los Angeles Lakers.

The second bit of news was the the Milwaukee Bucks, whose cost-cutting trade for Richard Jefferson led many to believe that the franchise had tried to earmark some money for Charlie Villanueva, did not extend a qualifying offer to the 25-year old power forward on Monday. This makes Villanueva, who just completed his fourth year in the league, an unrestricted free agent.

Before, signing with the Cleveland Cavaliers meant getting a chance to play with LeBron. Now, with Shaquille O’Neal in the fold, free agents could be lining up for the opportunity to play with LeBron and Shaq.

I mean, if you were an NBA player who was never going to be a franchise-type guy any time soon, wouldn’t you like the opportunity to be the third wheel behind these two future Hall of Famers? Especially with Shaq now talking about wanting to play two more years after this one and the likelihood of LeBron staying in Cleveland riding on a 2010 championship or bust?

Villanueva and Houston’s Ron Artest sure think so. At least according to some sources and online social networking sites.

Fist, Villanueva. Some sources close to the Cavs were saying following the Shaq trade that the team’s next agenda was to acquire a “stretch” power forward who could hit the 3 and keep defenses honest. The Cavs currently have two guys — LB and Shaq — who are at their best in the paint, whether it be posting up (Shaq) or driving to the basket (LeBron). Having a post-up power forward is useless, and starting and giving major minutes to Anderson Varejao (if he is even brought back) could be even worse.

In comes Villanueva. And never fear, our guy Brian Windhorst at the Cleveland Plain Dealer was already all over the news on Monday:

Villanueva has a good relationship with [Mo] Williams, who became close to
him the two seasons they played together in Milwaukee. Williams could
serve as a recruiter much in the same way he helped bring another of
his close friends to the Cavs, former Bucks teammate Joe Smith, when he
was a free agent last March.

Villanueva also has a long-standing relationship with LeBron James. The
two were in the same high school class and played with each other in
various tournaments and summer camps as they were growing up. Following
their senior year of high school, Villanueva and James became closer
while taking part in two national All-Star Games, including the
McDonald’s All-American Game in Cleveland. They have kept in touch ever
since.

The Cavs have been looking for a “stretch” power forward like
Villanueva for some time. Because he is a good mid-range and decent
long-range shooter (35 percent on 3-pointers last season), he is
potentially a good fit alongside players such as James and Williams,
who like to drive and kick out passes. Add in O’Neal, who succeed
earlier in his career with stretch power forwards such as Robert Horry
in Los Angeles and Antoine Walker in Miami, and that option creates an
even better fit.

Getting Villanueva would be a masterpiece move by Danny Ferry. Many fans were and still are willing to settle for 35-year old Rasheed Wallace. But after not being able to use the draft as an avenue to add young talent to this nucleus, Ferry now has a chance to add a 25-year old power forward who is still a few years away from his prime and can fit like a glove right away.

Villanueva is coming off a banner year where he posted career numbers of 16.2 points and 6.7 rebounds. The former Connecticut Huskie was an absolute beast in the dog days of January and February.
In 18 games in January (10 which were starts), Villanueva averaged 20.2
points and 7.0 rebounds while shooting 51.7 percent from the field and
44.1 percent (30-for-68) from 3-point range. In 11 games during
February, all of which were starts, he put up 21.6 points and 6.6
boards while shooting 47.6 percent from the field and 42.1 percent
(24-for-57) from downtown.

Not only that, but Villanueva, one of the first athletes to become a Twitter celebrity, had a series of “tweets” indicating a desire, however subtle, to play for the Cavs:

Cleveland fans are showing me mad love on twitter, appreciate the love
3:59 PM Jun 28th from web

well, twitterland
like I said there will be more trades to come, very interesting, Shaq
to Cleveland, nice, all Cleveland need is a PF now
6:28 AM Jun 25th from web

Villanueva has also been asked about the subject of joining the Cavs before, most recently by ESPN Radio’s Freddie Coleman.

Most Cavs fans out there are very well aware of the proposed marriage between Villanueva and the wine and gold. But another curve ball on Monday impacted Yao Ming’s future and the future of Rockets unrestricted free agent Ron Artest.

ESPN.com’s Chris Broussard — one of our favorite NBA guys here at the ‘Tude — was on with Kenny Roda of ESPN 850 in Cleveland on Monday and dropped this bombshell on the Wine & Gold Nation:

Broussard: The Yao Ming situation…this name I’m about to throw out here is baggage-infested, all right? But what about a Ron Artest?

Rodda: I’ll take him yesterday, Chris. How do the Cavaliers work that out? Because right now, free agency-wise, all they have is the midlevel at, what, $5-6 million or whatever that is. How do you get a Ron Artest from the Rockets to the Cavaliers?

Broussard: Well, this is the thing. Does Yao Ming’s situation change the outlook for the Rockets? Maybe they might say, “You know what, we’re not going to contend next year. Yao’s going to be out most of the year, maybe even all of the year…do we just let T-Mac’s money come off the books and not sign Ron Artest to a two- or three-year deal worth $10 million a year so we can have room in 2010 to rebuild?”

If the Rockets understand that they can’t build around Yao anymore, why sign Ron Artest? Now, I’m speculating. But after talking with some people around the league and some agents, why sign Ron Artest to a $10 million-a-year deal?

Rodda: How do the Cavaliers go about getting him, though, Chris?

Broussard: Then you look at the teams with money. Sacramento, do they want Artest? They’re not winning anything any time soon.

Rodda: Been there, done that, right?

Broussard: Atlanta? They’re all right at the three and on the wing. Do they bring Ron there? Portland has Turkoglu in their sights. Toronto? I don’t really think Ron’s a fit there. Memphis? No. Oklahoma City? No.

It sounds crazy, but Ron Artest, if Houston doesn’t re-sign him, he may have to settle for the midlevel. I just mentioned all the teams that are out there, and this is from talking to a lot of people from around the league who themselves are kind of reading the situation. But you’ve got to wonder who’s giving him more than the midlevel exception. Detroit, I don’t think they’re bringing them in there after the brawl.

Rodda: So the Cavaliers, with their midlevel available, they might be a team, if that’s what he has to settle for, that he’d be a good fit for.

Broussard: He’s going to have to go for the money because this is probably his last contract. But if he doesn’t get more than a midlevel exception, I know he would love to play with LeBron and Shaq. And again, years are important to him, but he would at least consider a one-year deal. And for Cleveland, you probably want to do it for a year because you don’t want to eat up all of your cap space for 2010.

I’m just throwing out other possibilities because now it’s Yao. A couple of days ago, Villanueva was a pipedream. But things are happening that are opening up a lot of options for the Cavaliers.

Ron Artest has been a favorite Cavalier target of mine since early in the 2005-06 season when the Indiana Pacers were shopping him. At this point, however, a one-year deal would not be ideal because the Cavs would not have his Bird Rights after this season. However, it would certainly be the one move to completely put the Cavs over the top for next year while still maintaining cap flexibility in 2010 for Chris Bosh, who looks to have emerged as the clear-cut target for the Cavaliers’ front office.

But Villanueva gives them that young piece for now and the future. Heck, signing Villanueva for the midlevel and possibly letting Anderson Varejao walk (and promoting Darnell Jackson into the rotation as the backup four) would still give the Cavs more than enough cap space to sign Bosh next summer.

So what do you think, Cavs fans? Villanueva or Artest? Both are unrestricted, and both are reported to want to come to Cleveland badly. If you had the choice, who do you sign and why?