Attitude Check: Power Forward Or No Power Forward?

Could Joe Smith end up re-signing with the Cavs?Starting this week is a Sunday series named "Attitude Check". In each article there will be a review of the week, a look at the week ahead, random thoughts along with other goodies. Check it out!In Case You Missed ItJamario Moon Press ConferenceA Look At The Cavs "New And Improved" RosterBulls.com Sam Smith: Is Kevin Durant Better Than LeBron James?Cavs To Waive Tarence KinseyHere It Is: Cavs 2009-2010 Regular Season ScheduleWindhorst: Cavs Could Add Another Big Man SoonA Look AheadSo what's ahead for the Cavs? Not much.Within the next week, the Cavs are expected to add another power forward. The list of names include Joe Smith, Leon Powe, Rob Kurz, and Steve Novak. None of those are exactly impact players but the power forward position is arguably in need of another player, preferably one who can stretch the defense.Joe Smith would seem to be the first choice for the Cavs considering he's a familiar face, has a nice mid-range game and is a good locker room guy. He knows Mike Brown's defense and would be a good fit in what the Cavs want. Another positive to adding him would be the Cavs wouldn't need to use their BAE (Bi-Annual Exception - $1.99 million) but can rather save it for the mid-season free agents. The only worry about him is whether or not he has anything left in the tank.Leon Powe would seem to be the next choice with him being a proven producer in this league and still being young (25 years old). The only problem is that he's had yet another serious surgery on his knees, which figures to hold him out until early next year. Brian Windhorst mentioned the Cavs offered Powe a contract but Powe may wait until he can either get a better offer or can further recover and prove to teams he can play. Powe is reportedly also being pursued by the Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks. The Cavs are his preference with the Magic behind. Powe played AAU ball with LeBron James, on the same team, when they were younger (thanks to Brian Windhorst for the tidbit).Rob Kurz and Steve Novak are probably last on the list but similar players. Both are young, good spot-up shooters, with not much else to offer. Novak is more proven but Kurz isn't a restricted free agent like Novak is (Novak's qualifying offer is a little over $1 million). Neither would be expected to contribute much but having a "stretch-4" would be nice to have on the roster.Is A Power Forward Needed?Now as much as some have argued a power forward is needed, as I have at times as well, it can be argued that one isn't needed--at least not right now.It's been reported that the Cavs have been planning on trying to get J.J. Hickson some playing time this season and by adding a power forward like Joe Smith, it certainly would wipe out any plan of that happening, barring injury. Now if a guy like Rob Kurz or Steve Novak were to be signed, it probably won't affect Hickson. And as far as Powe: it's not even known if he can return to playing.While Hickson was expected to be a project when the Cavs drafted him in 2008, Hickson needs to get some playing time. J.J. has been recovering from a back injury ever since mid-season last year and has just now started to do some drills. He's not been able to develop this off-season like the Cavs had hoped because of the injury, but the good news is that it isn't expected to be a recurring injury.Right now it doesn't look like the 4th big will be expected to play a lot of minutes with LeBron James playing a lot more power forward this year. Doing a rough estimate, it looks like the backup power forward should be expecting around 10-15 minutes a game. Giving those minutes to Hickson and letting him play some might not be such a bad idea.J.J. needs to play some this year. Even though he's still raw, the Cavs need to figure out what they have in him and whether or not he should be kept on the "untouchable" list or should be used as trade bait. Giving J.J. some minutes and letting him experience mistakes, ups-and-downs, what it needs to succeed at the NBA level nightly, etc., wouldn't be such a bad thing. The only way he's going to develop is through playing time. Sitting him on the bench and practicing can only teach him so much. He needs playing time.Some say J.J. isn't ready but when given some consistent minutes last year, he produced. In January, he averaged 18.5 minutes and put up 7.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, 0.9 blocks on 54.1% shooting. All JJ needs to do is play smart, play good defense, be opportunistic on offense and hit some jump-shots. Having a simply role like that wouldn't be asking too much for J.J.The Cavs do look like they will be adding a power forward within the next week. Even though it does look like the Cavs might need it, it might end up being a mistake.10 Things I Think1. Joe Smith is crazy if he thinks he can get a 3-year deal. No team in their right mind is giving a 34-year old power forward a 3-year deal. A 2-year deal is probably the max he's going to get. The Atlanta Hawks have been the only other team to have any interest in him. He visited the Hawks last week.2. I truly believe JJ Hickson can have a breakout season...if given the time this year. He needs to be given time, that's the key. Injuries do happen so we may see him this year, you just never know.3. Jawad Williams Summer League play helped him stay on the Cavs. If he doesn't play as well as he did and show as much progress, I doubt he would be with the Cavs right now.4. Meanwhile on the other hand, Tarence Kinsey's Summer League play is part of the reason why he got released. The other part was that he wasn't worth his contract and that he got a DUI in July.5. Former Kansas Jayhawk Russell Robinson accepted an invite from the Cavs to attend their training camp. Robinson has a chance to make the team as the 3rd PG, as the spot is there if he plays well enough. He reportedly played well in summer league, which got him an invite.6. It'll be interesting to see who else the Cavs invite to training camp. Bob Finnan has mentioned David Harrison on multiple occasions but I can't see that happening with his history and with the Cavs likely adding a power forward soon.7. Danny Green has yet to be signed but he should be signed soon. He'll likely be signed with the remainder of the MLE. Danny Ferry looks like he signed Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon to contracts that left just enough money to sign Green. Green will likely get a contract similar to what Darnell Jackson got last year.8. Danny Ferry should be given a lot of credit for how much he improved this team this summer. He got real creative and did a lot with not too many assets. 9. This will be a bounce back season for Daniel Gibson. His role will be cut but he will have a much easier time with either Anthony Parker or Delonte West next to him in the backcourt. Both make up for his weaknesses in the ball-handling and defensive departments. Gibson being healthy and the addition of Shaquille O'Neal will be also huge for him. He should return to his 2007-2008 form.10. I was actually glad to see Chrisitan Eyenga stay over in Europe. He'll develop a lot more over there then he would have over here. There is no comparison in who does a better job of developing the players, as far as the NBADL and Europe goes. Europe does a much better job of developing fundamentally sound players who understand how to play the game. Eyenga will be getting a lot of attention and playing time in Europe, while that couldn't really be said if he stayed over here. The NBADL and Europe are also different in competition and style of play, with Europe being the better in both aspects.Tweet Of The WeekSzczepanik: say the gooden rumor isn't true. at least tell me he shaved the ducktail.(Send your Tweets to CavAttitude on Twitter and you could be featured here.)Music Of The WeekCriticize what I listen to but most of this stuff will be real hip-hop. None of that mainstream crap. If you don't like that, then don't listen. But this is just a little off-topic stuff. Most of this will have a NSFW warning (language). So here it is. The Roots - How I Got Over