Joe Smith or Drew Gooden?

Both players were bought out before midnight on Sunday allowing them to sign with another NBA team in time to make the playoff roster.

While nothing is official, reports suggest that Smith is coming to Cleveland and the Spurs are interested in Gooden.

Whatever the case, the Cavaliers need someone.

While Gooden might be virtually better in every single statistical category, Smith is without a doubt a better acquisition for what the Cavaliers need.

Gooden is six years younger, far more athletic, a bigger body, can rebound and finish around the rim and can start for the majority of the teams in the NBA.

Smith is on his last legs, a bit scrawny and can’t body up with some of the bigger forwards/centers in the league.

Despite this, Smith is exactly what the doctor ordered for the Cavaliers.

He doesn’t make the same bone-headed mistakes that Gooden made consistently when wearing a Cavaliers uniform. He doesn’t NEED to play 25 to 30 minutes to keep him happy and he doesn’t sport any “rat tails” on the back of his head or ridiculous looking goatees.

He can hit his jump shots and grab some rebounds and won't destroy any team chemistry while doing so either.

This is not to say Gooden was a bad teammate while in Cleveland. He actually seemed like a very nice and down to earth guy but his bone-headed mistakes were often too much to make up for and it's the reason why his next team will be his sixth team in just seven seasons.

Smith will know his role and accept it happily, just as he did at the end of last season for the Cavaliers.

All I ask is for 12-15 minutes a game allowing Z and Andy to rest without having to worry about Darnell Jackson fouling out in that span of time or a person seated in the first row risking injury after JJ Hickson gets another one his shots blocked, again.

-Nick Carrabine
NCarrabine@news-Herald.com