Die Hard Cleveland is no fan of Vince Carter.  We’ll get that out of the way immediately and show our bias.  Do we hate the guy?  No.  We don’t know Vince personally or know exactly what makes the guy tick.  But from what we’ve seen of this guy in the past on the basketball court, we wonder if this guy has what it takes to put forth the maximum effort on a championship team.  Of course we could be wrong here.  A lot of players in the NBA go from city to city and never are in the right situation.  But as Cavs’ rumors have ran rampant over the past week that the team had talks with the Nets about a deal for the 31 year old star, we are faced with the prospects again of seeing a guy who has been villified for his unprofessional conduct in Toronto come here to Cleveland to try and be the missing piece in LeBron and Cleveland’s quest to win a championship.

This isn’t the first time we were faced with the possibility of seeing Carter come to Cleveland.  During the trading deadline in February, there were rumors the Cavs looked into acquiring him.  At the time, we were appalled at such a move.

With recent rumors of a deal involving Wally Szczerbiak’s expiring contract for Vince Carter and his 4 years/15+ mil per year, Cavs’ fans have been forced again to ponder whether this guy can be everything the Cavs’ hoped for as a second scoring option or a player that has been criticized in the past for being soft, too injury prone, declining at 31, a quitter, and a poor defender.

But after looking at both sides of the opinion, you have to at least entertain the thought of what Carter could bring to the team.  Carter may be declining and his ability to create shots may not be what it once was, but Carter has one of the sweetest shots in basketball.  Carter can score from anywhere on the court.  He can hit the three with ease and can drain pretty much anything in between.  He’s almost assured to score in the high teens per game even as he ages because of his ability to shoot the ball so well.  He’s essentially a huge upgrade at scoring over Wally Szczerbiak if you consider that rumored deal.

But is the cost too high to gamble on this guy?  The Cavs would add salary to a team that desperately needs to get out from under bad contracts as they wait for Ben Wallace’s contract to run closer to its expiration date.  The team is still saddled to the point they can barely do anything in Free Agency.  All that will change in a few years as Wally, Ben, and other contracts come off the books, but then you’ll be stuck with Vince’s contract and if he starts declining fast and injuries keep him off the court, how bad is that going to look?

Another thing to consider is Vince’s makeup.  You’ll get conflicting opinions on this guy as a player.  Some people still consider him to be too soft and lacking the professionalism to help a team get over the top although Carter was praised in 07-08 by Nets’ management for being a leader after Jason Kidd left town and played strong through nagging knee injuries.  Of course many, including us at Die Hard Cleveland will never really forget the situation with him in Toronto where he tipped off his own team in a game and admitted that he quit on them.

Those wanting to take a chance on him argue that his arrival in Cleveland would rekindle his drive as a player to the point where it would spark VC like none other.  Playing with LeBron James and having another opportunity at a championship would be the motivation needed to give Carter the extra push to resurrect himself.

Ultimately, it comes down to two opinions right now: take a chance since everything else is drying up and get the scorer that can help LeBron on offense regardless of adding salary or not -or- avoid bringing in a talented player with a questional pedigree as a professional whose injury history can only be rivaled by that of Larry Hughes.

This isn’t a question of trading Wally for Vince straight up.  It’s a given that Vince is a much better basketball player.  The question is this: is Vince the answer?  Is he the man that will help put you over the top or will he further drag this team down with injuries and uninspired play?  Right now, you’ll get a lot of people in Cleveland willing to take their chances on this man.  After all, Cavs’ fans feel like there’s one big bold move that needs to be done in the next year or so to get LeBron another scorer before he has the opportunity to leave as a Free Agent.  However, we here still aren’t a fan of Vince and hope there’s something better that can be done…but if there isn’t and something becomes of all these rumors, we’ll hope that those arguing for VC are correct and we’re wrong.