While We’re Waiting serves as the early morning gathering of WFNY-esque information for your viewing pleasure. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email at tips@waitingfornextyear.com.
Here are some homework assignments for three Cavalier players, starting off with The Kid: “Kyrie Irving is by far the best player that wears the Wine & Gold. Like, from “New York to LA”-far. Like, he is probably a top 20-25 player in the world, right now, without a real ceiling to speak of. But the thing about players’ ceilings, and not having hit them yet, is that it by definition means that the player can still improve.” [David Zavac/Fear the Sword]
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A nice primer on one of the under-reported sides of the Dwight Howard trade craziness: “Much has been reported about the proposed Dwight Howard trade to the Brooklyn Nets over the last 36 hours as the Nets and Magic proceed in negotiations. As has been well documented the Nets and Magic need a third team to help facilitate the deal so that Kris Humphries can be traded to allow more salary to be shed by the Magic. At the heart of this deal lies Dan Fegan, super agent, who represents Dwight Howard and Kris Humphries.” [Joe Kotoch/Pro Basketball Draft]
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Notable moments in Cleveland Indians All-Star history, beginning with this note: “Cleveland has hosted the All-Star Game five times: 1935, 1954, 1963, 1981, and 1997. The first four were at the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium; the 1997 game was at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field).” [Susan Petrone/It's Pronounced "Lajaway"]
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Concluding with Tribe talk, here’s a debate about whether the team should look for a trade: “Given this, should the Indians make a move to improve the club before the July trade deadline? I have recently moved towards the “YES” view in my own thinking. My view is based in part on the optimists’ case above, but also on the nature of the Indians minor league talent, the likely sacrifice in any trade, at the moment.” [APV/Let's Go Tribe]
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This is a fun post for baseball fans about what a star ace — such as Zack Greinke or Cole Hamels — might be worth in a trade this year. Unfortunately, there are three Indians examples in there, so it might not be that fun for Cleveland fans. [Carson Cistulli/FanGraphs]
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Not exactly Indians again in the baseball world, but this is a stellar read by familiar name to the Baseball Prospectus scene about the faults of sabermetrics. I agree with a lot of his sentiments, as I’m also a numbers guy by trade but have already had the privilege of working in baseball for three years. [Russell Carleton/Baseball Prospectus]
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OBR’s position-by-position analysis continues with the tight ends: “The Browns tight end position could be one of the deepest positions on the team. With some of the uncertainty at wide receiver, the tight ends could help the passing game significantly.” [Fred Greetham/Orange & Brown Report]
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With Storm Klein’s exit from Columbus, what remains for the LB corps? “More importantly, he was the only backup linebacker with any game experience whatsoever and was the lone listed backup to the extremely green Curtis Grant at the Mike. Sure, Fickell’s defensive schemes often call for just two LB’s on the field but I have to believe I’m not the only one nervous about the state of things at what is typically a position of strength in Columbus.” [Chris Lauderback/Eleven Warriors]