Daniel Boobie Gibson has more certainty than ever in his career as a Cleveland Cavalier, and less certainty at the same time.
In July at the conclusion of the Cavs’ season, Boobie signed a five year, $21m deal to tie him to the team as LeBron James’ most promising sidekick. Clearly this was an investment in the young guard’s future by the Cavs and an indication of their confidence in him.
Of course, the focus in Cleveland ever since King James came along has been on finding the suitable supporting cast for the star, to put the Cavs over the top, in much the same way as the Bulls did with MJ once upon a time. On that basis, the arrival of Mo Williams in Ohio later in the offseason was much welcomed by fans.
Williams is a great scoring guard, though always presents the problem of being a bit of a tweener — a shooting guard in a point guard’s body. A description that somewhat the same as Boobie.
Gibson has spent this offseason building muscle and confidence to his game. He likes the Cavs’ chances along with those of his own. “We have the guards. We have the shooters. We have the defenders. We have LeBron James. We have everything we need to get to where we want to be at the end of the season,” Gibson said. “It’s just a matter of us getting out there and putting in the effort.”
However, the signing of Williams surely brings the question as to how this will affect Boobie’s playing time and share of the ball. Clearly Gibson was not ready to take over a team and run the offence and is much better as a spot-up shooter and secondary scorer. But the arrival of Williams, combined with Delonte West, Alexsander Pavlovic and Wally Szczerbiak in the backcourt makes for a battle for minutes. Cavs coach Mike Brown potentially has some tough decisions on his hands as the season progresses.
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