Blasphemy in the court of King James you say?  Nahhh.  I'm talking about DaJuan Wagner. 

Last year the basketball avatar of Cleveland sports was DaJuan Wagner.  His nickname is "The Messiah."  I wonder if the Cavaliers will get a guy nicknamed the "Holy Spirit" next year.  Anyway, I digress.

The trading of Ricky Davis left a void in the Cavaliers offense that has left coach Paul Silas acting as an apostle proselytizing about his return.  Five games in and the jury is not yet in.  Wagner is shooting a very J.R Bremer-like 26.3% from the field including 1-11 from three point land and showing a very Ricky Davis-like shot selection.  In fairness to Wagner he is a young player who would be a junior in college this year and because of injuries has never participated in a full training camp which is hard for a long time veteran to adjust to let alone a player who came out after his freshman year.  One thing you can tell from Wagner's five game sample is what kind of game he has.

       Fans and seemingly members of the Cavaliers organization have forgotten what DaJuan Wagner was last year and how his year went as a rookie.  After his return from a bladder infection that caused him to miss a large chunk of traing camp Wagner got off to a blistering start averaging close to 20ppg his first couple of weeks back.  But, as it is with all rookies, the league started to catch up with Wagner's game.  Teams learned he had trouble going left, his jumper was inconsistent and they attacked him defensively and his numbers started to dip even before the ill fated Paxson mandate to move Wagner to point guard after John Lucas was fired halfway through last season.  Too often last year Wagner was caught up in scoring and being the new Iverson than the other parts of the game like passing, rebounding and defense.

       I question how well Wagner fits with the Cavaliers and how much he will ultimately help the team.  One of the Cavaliers glaring weaknesses is their lack of shotmakers and threats to spread the floor.  The best outside shooter that the Cavaliers can run of screens and kickout to for jumpers currently in the rotation is LeBron James.  Frankly, that is horrifying considering the wildly inconsistent nature of James' shot as he can hit 3-4 three pointers in a row then go through a stretch where he throws up shots at the basket where the only game where they would have a chance of counting would be in a game of darts.  Wagner isn't a shooter he is a scorer who needs a lot of shots.  He hasn't shown that he is a guy you want coming off screens for 17 footers or swinging it to in the corner for the zone busting three pointer.  "Juanny" is a slasher that when he comes off picks it turns into isolations where he wants to break the defender down and get to the basket which in and of itself isn't a bad thing.  The Cavaliers need more of that rather than relying on James to do it all.  But, the same problems remain for the Cavaliers.  Wagner isn't going to stop opposing defenses from sagging in and clogging up the lane.  His penetration is eventually going to meet the same "five defenders in the paint" quagmire that hampers LeBron James and Zydrunas Ilguaskas.  There is still no one for Wagner to kick out to on his penetration like there isn't anyone for James especially if Paul Silas' defense obsession continues to leave the best shooter on the team, Jason Kapono, on the bench.

       A good argument can be made that this article is just too premature considering the circumstances that have surrounded Wagner thus far.  That very well may be true but I am not necessarily basing my assertions on Wagner's stats after five games.  It is more about what actually is Wagner's game and looking what the Cavaliers really need and the two appear to be incongruent.  An encouraging sign is that Wagner's last game against Seattle was his best.  It wasn't the seven points on 3-10 shooting but the other aspects of his game.  He has seven rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block.  Wagner made plays on both ends and didn't just score as he did often last year.  

The book isn't written yet but "The Messiah's" second coming had better come with a more divine jumpshot.

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