In dire need of NBA-related content, ESPN is running a series where they ask their blogger network to answer five questions about a specific team. I’m still waiting for my invite, so in the meantime, I’ll answer the five questions about the Cavs. Why the Cavs? Because that’s the favorite team of TSR’s owner, silly.

1. Who should start at PG for the Cavs?

Cleveland has three option with Kyrie Irving: 1) give him the keys immediately, and either bench Baron Davis or trade him, 2) let Davis tutor Irving, or 3) try to play the two together. I fully support option #1. Irving is going to go through some growing pains, but the more he plays the faster he’ll get up to speed. There’s no sense in stunting his growth or asking Davis to be a tutor, which is not something he’s suited for. If this were an affable elder statesman like Steve Nash or Jason Kidd, I could see doing the mentoring thing, but this is Baron Freaking Davis we’re talking about. Trade him.

2. Who should start at SF and PF for the Cavs?

The folks over at ESPN seem torn about whether or not to start Anderson Varejao at power forward, but to me he’s the best center on the team — why are you bringing him off the bench at PF? So then you have to decide between Antawn Jamison, Omri Casspi and Tristan Thompson. I’d give Jamison the veteran nod and let Casspi/Thompson battle it out for the other forward position or play the better matchup.

3. J.J. Hickson for Omri Casspi and a draft pick: Good trade or bad?

Let’s keep in mind that the draft pick that was included is lottery protected in 2012, top 13 protected in 2013, top 12 protected in 2014 and top 10 protected in 2015-2017. If, by 2017, the Cavs have not acquired the pick, they get the Kings’ second round pick. In other words, if the Kings continue to stink, this may end up being a Hickson-for-Casspi swap. But chances are Sacramento will have one good season in the next six and either make the playoffs or nearly make the playoffs. In that case, this pick could end up being in the #11-#16 range.

So is it a good trade? It depends on Casspi. Hickson showed some potential while in Cleveland but was deemed expendable once the Cavs went after Thompson, who is a rather raw (yet athletic) power forward. Casspi is a grinder who showed some flashes in his rookie season but didn’t get much run last year even though the Kings desperately needed good play at SF. If he thrives in Cleveland, this trade will work out, but as it stands, it doesn’t look good.

4. Are the Cavs on the right track or the wrong track?

It mostly depends on Irving. If he turns out to be the franchise point guard that most of us think he is, then they’re on the right track.

5. Can we talk about the Cavs without talking about LeBron James?

I did just that for four questions, but the short answer is “nope.” LeBron and the Cavs will forever be linked, and until the Cavs are once again a playoff team, we won’t be able to discuss them without thinking about LeBron and The Decision.

Irving reminds me a little of Chris Paul. He has that same speed and ball control, and while his vision may not be on par with Paul’s, it’s pretty close. He’s great on the break and does a nice job of making the right decision in transition or when he dribbles into the lane. He made 18-of-39 three-pointers (46%) while at Duke, which isn’t a huge sample size, but it appears that he has an NBA-ready jumper. He also nailed 90% of his free throws and shot a terrific 53% from the field.

NBADraft.net says Irving is “a facilitator who shows the ability to make those around him better … Great vision and passing skills … Great burst. Has the blow by speed to get past defenders off the dribble … Good decision maker. Looks to make the right play instead of always trying to dazzle.” Conversely, the site says that Irving’s durability is a concern and that he “could struggle with the transition to the NBA game with just 8 games of NCAA experience under his belt.”

Meanwhile, DraftExpress says that Irving is “not as blazingly fast with his first step as Derrick Rose, John Wall, or even Kemba Walker, Irving plays at a very unique pace that keeps defenses consistently off-balance and allows him to get to the basket seemingly whenever he needs to. Able to drive left or right almost equally well, he has excellent timing on his drives, very good body control, and the ability to operate at different speeds.”

It may take a while for Irving to mature into a franchise point guard, but he has all the tools to get there. The Cavs need a player to build around and Irving is that guy.

Wolves general manager David Kahn said he knew Minnesota was “dead” when it got down to the final three of himself, Utah executive Kevin O’Connor and Nick Gilbert.

“This league has a habit, and I am just going to say habit, of producing some pretty incredible story lines,” Kahn said. “Last year it was Abe Pollin’s widow and this year it was a 14-year-old boy and the only thing we have in common is we have both been bar mitzvahed. We were done. I told Kevin: ‘We’re toast.’ This is not happening for us and I was right.”

I bolded the interesting bit. Kahn went out of his way to point out that he was just saying “habit,” but by doing so it sure seemed he was implying that the lottery may have been fixed without going so far as actually saying it.

Then again, he might have been joking about the fact that he “knew” he was in trouble when there was a 14-year-old kid representing a team in the final three, but with his track record, he should know what to say and what not to say.

The pick was originally obtained as part of the Baron Davis trade with the Clippers. It had a 2.8% chance of becoming the #1 pick.

See the full draft order here.

Watch as Villanueva reacts to the news that he was ejected.

One thing that’s interesting to note here is the favoritism that the Cavs announcers showed Hollins. I guess that should be expected, but at every point during the incident, the guy doing the color commentary, Austin Carr (I’m assuming — let me know if I’m wrong), blamed Villanueva exclusively as if Hollins was completely innocent during the incident.

Villanueva definitely gave his screen a little extra (he reportedly said after the game that Hollins had hit him with an intentional elbow earlier in the game) but Hollins threw his shoulder into Charlie V as he set the pick. Then Hollins wrapped up Villanueva which led to Villanueva raising his arms up into Hollins’ face. Had Hollins let go there, the two probably would have had a stare down or a pushing match and neither would have been ejected.

The most perplexing thing about this situation is Villanueva’s reaction to getting ejected. At the 1:29 mark he learns that he’s been tossed, and it takes him a full seven seconds of stroking his chin before he decides to go after Hollins.

The Cavs led by 23 points with 5:06 remaining in the third quarter, but the Heat went on a 22-4 run to close the quarter and cut Cleveland’s lead to five at the break.

Mike Bibby’s seventh three-pointer of the game tied the score at 83-83, but the Cavs went on a 12-0 run (sparked by Luke Harangody of all people) that included four points from Ryan Hollins and six points from Anthony Parker.

LeBron finished with a 27-10-12 triple-double, but the Cavs had the last laugh, breaking the Heat’s five-game winning streak and knocking Miami out of a tie with Boston for the #2 spot in the East.

As a side note, Chris Bosh had another clunker, shooting just 5-of-14 from the field for 10 points to go along with four rebounds and four assists. He was thoroughly outplayed by J.J. Hickson (21 points, 12 rebounds) and Hollins (13 points, three blocks). Bosh was coming off seven double-doubles in his last eight games, but his performance in tough environments on the road is something to keep an eye on.

Here are the highlights:

The Los Angeles Clippers just pulled off the unthinkable: they managed to trade away Baron Davis’s untradeable contract. But it cost them a lottery pick.

Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer has the details.

An NBA source has confirmed to the Plain Dealer that the Cavaliers are about to send guard Mo Williams and forward Jamario Moon to the Los Angeles Clippers for guard Baron Davis and a No. 1 draft pick in the 2011 draft. That likely will be a lottery selection, although this draft is not considered to be particularly strong.

Below you’ll find a table with each player’s age, ’10-11 Player Efficiency Rating (via John Hollinger of ESPN) as well as their salaries for the next two seasons. Both contracts expire in 2013.

The Clippers are going to save approximately $11.7 million over the next two seasons with this trade. Even though Davis has a higher PER this season, they’re probably getting the better player in Mo Williams, who has battled injuries this year and hasn’t been the same since LeBron left last summer. I suspect he’ll be revitalized playing with Blake Griffin just as Davis was for the first half of the season.

When I first saw the headline about the Cavs trading for Davis, I chuckled, but with the Clippers’ first round pick included in the deal, it makes a lot more sense. The Cavs are basically buying the Clips’ #8 overall pick (which could end up being quite a bit higher or a little lower) in the 2011 draft for around $12 million.

Side note: It just goes to show how out of whack the NFL rookie salaries are for the top picks because it’s almost impossible to find an NFL team that wants to trade into the upper part of the draft. And here the Cavs are spending $12 million for that right because the NBA rookie salary scale is a much better deal for teams drafting in the lottery.

There’s no telling how this trade is going to work out until we see what kind of player the Cavs get with the pick. One thing it does buy the Cavs is hope. Mo Williams wasn’t going to take this team anywhere and neither is Baron Davis. Williams has more value because he’s going to provide about the same production at a fraction of the cost, but by acquiring a lottery pick, the Cavs have another building block for their rebuilding project.

The short-term winner in this trade is definitely the Clips. Not only did they shed themselves of Davis and his terrible contract (which they gave him in the first place), they also freed up enough cash in the summer of 2012 to make a run at a max free agent, assuming the next collective bargaining agreement allows for this. There are already rumors swirling that Deron Williams could join the Clips that summer, and Chris Paul could be a free agent next summer as well.

One thing is certain — the Clips have to sign/acquire a great player to play alongside Blake Griffin before he has an opportunity to sign elsewhere. If they can sign Deron Williams/Chris Paul, re-sign Griffin, and can keep Eric Gordon in the fold as well, the Clippers will really be in business.