Cavs sign Pollard

[devilfan02]

Not big news but....

 

[Mainstreet]

IMO, a nice signing if his contract is reasonable. I was kind of hoping the Suns might be looking at him or some other big man that knows how to play and bang a little. He used to be able to run the court fairly well as I recall.

It seems every other NBA team right now is thinking big but Phoenix. Maybe the Suns will still get someone. I can only hope... I would even be happy with Jumaine Jones. He would qualify as a big man for Phoenix.

 

[George O'Brien]

The Cavs were rumored to have almost traded for Pollard a while back, so there has been some interest. Last season the Cavs didn't have a center backing Ilgauskas up. Ilgauskas has been pretty durable the last four seasons, but had a history of foot problems prior to that.

Pollard on the other hand has had a lot of injury problems as reflected by the number of games he's played:

02-03 23
03-04 61
04-05 49
05-06 45

I think this is why he did not attract more interest.

 

[NastyOne]

This would've been a way better signing than Sean Marks, and i bet they got around the same amount of money.

 

[George O'Brien]

http://www.cleveland.com/sports/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/sports/1155976792263150.xml&coll=2

Pollard fills gap for Cavs
Veteran will add needed size inside
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Mary Schmitt Boyer
Plain Dealer Reporter
Scot Pollard knows his role.

"I'm a piece," Pollard said Friday after signing a one-year contract with the Cavaliers that is believed to be worth about $2.2 million. "I'm not a guy you build your team around. I'm a piece to a championship puzzle.

"I'm not a pretty player. I do the dirty work. I dive on the floor. I take charges and set screens. I do the things a lot of other guys don't like to do in this league, and I'm pretty sure that's why I'm still in this league. I relish that role."

The veteran power forward, who was attracted by the chance to play with LeBron James and the up-and-coming Cavs, said he'd known since his freshman year at Kansas that he was not going to become an NBA star.

"I was the fifth option from my freshman year on," said Pollard, who played with Paul Pierce, Raef LaFrentz, Jacque Vaughn and Greg Ostertag. "I was happy to do that . . . It's like a point guard getting an assist. That's how I feel when I set a screen or box out."

Cavaliers General Manager Danny Ferry has a star in James. He needs more complementary players around him.

"Adding Scot Pollard to our roster gives us more depth, size, toughness and experience," Ferry said.

Pollard, 31, a 6-11, 265-pound swingman from Kansas, was a first-round pick of the Detroit Pistons in 1997. He has played nine seasons with Detroit, Sacramento and Indiana, with career averages of 4.7 points and 5.0 rebounds in 17.6 minutes a game. He averaged 3.8 points and 4.8 rebounds in 17.1 minutes in 49 games with Indiana last season.

Often known as much for his wacky hairdos and blue nail polish as his tough, physical play inside, Pollard told reporters in a conference call on Friday that he had cut off his hair and was sporting a crew cut this summer.

In another move that may have more salary-cap implications than roster impact, the Cavs traded little-used center Martynas Andriuskevicius to the Chicago Bulls for guard Eddie Basden. Andriuskevicius had a guaranteed contract. Basden, who averaged 2.1 points and 1.5 rebounds in 19 games with Chicago last season, does not.