Cavaliers To Alter Uniforms For Next Season

[Discogod]

A quick mock-up of what I'd like the logo to look like, with tweaked colours:

Also, don't forget both New Orleans and Orlando redesigned their uniforms less than 2 years ago, yet Orlando wore throwbacks and New Orleans the Mardi Gras alts this year. I'm fairly sure that whilst the Cavs will mainly have just basic home & roads next year, they'll still bust out either a throwback (Personally I'd love to see the Blazer-esque 80-83 unis), a CavFanatic, or both.

[Burning River]

A quick mock-up of what I'd like the logo to look like, with tweaked colours:

Also, don't forget both New Orleans and Orlando redesigned their uniforms less than 2 years ago, yet Orlando wore throwbacks and New Orleans the Mardi Gras alts this year. I'm fairly sure that whilst the Cavs will mainly have just basic home & roads next year, they'll still bust out either a throwback (Personally I'd love to see the Blazer-esque 80-83 unis), a CavFanatic, or both.

I like this. The gold would be a bit more yellow or brighter. I m not sure if it got grayed-over, or you cahnged the word mark to gray.

[CJworks]

A quick mock-up of what I'd like the logo to look like, with tweaked colours:

Golden State Cavs?

[Discogod]

A quick mock-up of what I'd like the logo to look like, with tweaked colours:

Also, don't forget both New Orleans and Orlando redesigned their uniforms less than 2 years ago, yet Orlando wore throwbacks and New Orleans the Mardi Gras alts this year. I'm fairly sure that whilst the Cavs will mainly have just basic home & roads next year, they'll still bust out either a throwback (Personally I'd love to see the Blazer-esque 80-83 unis), a CavFanatic, or both.

I like this. The gold would be a bit more yellow or brighter. I m not sure if it got grayed-over, or you cahnged the word mark to gray.

Damnit, I uploaded the wrong one. Yeah, that one's got the wordmark in a silvery-grey. I did 3 versions, one with white lettering, that one, and one where I replaced the blue with a dark burgandy.

Oh well, just imagine the wordmark in white and you'll get what I was going for.

[andrewharrington]

I would darken the red to be more of a burgundy, right on the cusp of clashing with the blue, and brighten the gold.

[ESTONES6]

I have to echo what is already been said. If LeBron wanted the team to change the color to pink, neon green, black, purple, and navy blue... the colors would be changed. Believe me, if Bron Bron wanted Potato Head, er... Mike Brown out of town, Brown wouldn't even have time to pack his bag.

As for the uniforms... the article says a light alteration with the word mark changing. I would anticipate almost the same exact thing as now, except a different font and numerals on the jersey.

[crashcarson15]

I have to echo what is already been said. If LeBron wanted the team to change the color to pink, neon green, black, purple, and navy blue... the colors would be changed. Believe me, if Bron Bron wanted Potato Head, er... Mike Brown out of town, Brown wouldn't even have time to pack his bag.

As for the uniforms... the article says a light alteration with the word mark changing. I would anticipate almost the same exact thing as now, except a different font and numerals on the jersey.

I prefer Roker

[ESTONES6]

Yeah... I am pretty sure the CavFanatic jersey is going to be a staple in the years to come... including next year. They make about an ass-ton of money with the designs and alternates. I know I was given a CAVS t-shirt Win on Gold, outlined in white. My cousin has the Gold on Wine outlined in white CAVS CavFanatic from this year.

Honestly, I LOVE the idea behind the CavFanatic idea, but, having 5 uniforms is... annoying to say the least.

[IceCap]

This is a shame. The Cavs' current home, road, and alternate is one of the best sets in the NBA. Very few teams look better when they wear the uniform set the way it was meant to be worn. The over-exposure of the alternate, the throwbacks, and the fake throwbacks, though, have ruined what should be one of the best looks in the league.

The CavFanatic jerseys are the worst offenders. At least with throwbacks they're "honouring" the team's past. With these CavFanatic mix-and-match throwbacks, they've given up on all pretence. They're dropped even the flimsy excuse of the throwbacks of honouring the past. They're basically saying "you peons will by anything we slap James' name on, so here's a meaningless uniform that never actually existed. By the jerseys puppets."

Their official story of "honouring the fans" is the most transparent excuse I've ever seen a team give to shill a jersey. Really? Celebrating a glorified version of MySpace is the best you can do to justify these uniforms that are, essentially, meaningless?

If the Cavs want to honour the good people of CavsFanatic they could give away t-shirts at select games, or other collectible trinkets. Rolling out a throwback uniform that isn't even a throwback, and altering the on-court identity of the team serves one real purpose. To sell even more merchandise.

I'm not one to vilify someone for trying to make a buck, but this crosses a line. You don't have to completley tear apart your brand to sell merchandise featuring your star player.

While this new update will no doubt be a downgrade, I'm hopping the Cavs use it as a way to right the ship. Unveil the new home, road, and alternate uniforms, and just wear those as they were meant to be worn from here on. Break out the throwbacks for appropriate anniversaries or if a former player is being honoured, and leave it at that.

[Burning River]

I like the idea of changing the colors back to the original. I like THE COLORS of this years "Fanatic" jersey. The deeper wine with the gold. I think most Cavalier fans will welcome going back to the Cavaliers color-Roots. I never liked the push of navy blue. Then the Vegas gold became an after-thought. The Cavaliers were and should be "Wine and Gold". Gund's changed the colors to not associate with the Ted Stepien era.

I am interested to see if they could wash away some of the blue in the current logo. Maybe eliminate the thik blue "Banner" and create more of a simple outline effect.

I welcome the color change. This change needs to become permanent, though.

[The_Admiral]

The colors are fine the way they are. The only thing I've never liked about the Cavaliers' set is using navy blue numbers on the whites when everything else is wine and gold, with navy as the tertiary color. I'm not totally sure about how well Haettenschweiler goes with the edgy swooshy wordmarks, but I don't suppose there are many better options.

[BBTV]

The colors are fine the way they are. The only thing I've never liked about the Cavaliers' set is using navy blue numbers on the whites when everything else is wine and gold, with navy as the tertiary color. I'm not totally sure about how well Haettenschweiler goes with the edgy swooshy wordmarks, but I don't suppose there are many better options.

The numbers are the worst part of their entire uniform IMO. They'd have been better off with plain block. Would enhance the wordmark, and look much more professional. The rest of the uniform (home, road, and alt when it's actually an alt) is very nice.

[andrewharrington]

Again, the Cavaliers will never be the Celtics, Knicks, Lakers, Bulls et al, not so much because they can't succeed, but because they don't have the history, fanbase or market that those teams have. That's why I argue that wearing a single uniform to try to establish that you are like those teams does not make sense for the Cavs. Without the extra buzz and revenue from identity-driven merchandise sales, the minute the Cavs start sucking is when they're in jeopardy of going under because the bandwagoners hop off and attendance goes to zero, nobody wants merchandise from a team that's only good every 20 years or so, etc. The Cavaliers identity is a mosaic because it needs to be.

[IceCap]

Again, the Cavaliers will never be the Celtics, Knicks, Lakers, Bulls et al, not so much because they can't succeed, but because they don't have the history, fanbase or market that those teams have. That's why I argue that wearing a single uniform to try to establish that you are like those teams does not make sense for the Cavs. Without the extra buzz and revenue from identity-driven merchandise sales, the minute the Cavs start sucking is when they're in jeopardy of going under because the bandwagoners hop off and attendance goes to zero, nobody wants merchandise from a team that's only good every 20 years or so, etc. The Cavaliers identity is a mosaic because it needs to be.

The thing is, they'll never have a brand history on par with the Celtics, Knicks, Lakers, Pistons, and Bulls if they keep changing their identity and clogging the schedule with throwbacks and MySpace uniforms. Build a winning team and a strong identity, and fans will want to be a part of it.

[Gothamite]

The CavFanatic jerseys are the worst offenders. At least with throwbacks they're "honouring" the team's past. With these CavFanatic mix-and-match throwbacks, they've given up on all pretence. They're dropped even the flimsy excuse of the throwbacks of honouring the past. They're basically saying "you peons will by anything we slap James' name on, so here's a meaningless uniform that never actually existed. By the jerseys puppets."

Their official story of "honouring the fans" is the most transparent excuse I've ever seen a team give to shill a jersey. Really?

Deserves to be repeated. The whole thing is just pathetic.

[TruColor]

I like the idea of changing the colors back to the original. I like THE COLORS of this years "Fanatic" jersey. The deeper wine with the gold. I think most Cavalier fans will welcome going back to the Cavaliers color-Roots. I never liked the push of navy blue. Then the Vegas gold became an after-thought. The Cavaliers were and should be "Wine and Gold". Gund's changed the colors to not associate with the Ted Stepien era.

I am interested to see if they could wash away some of the blue in the current logo. Maybe eliminate the thik blue "Banner" and create more of a simple outline effect.

I welcome the color change. This change needs to become permanent, though.

Here's something that bugs me a little: the original Cavs colors aren't the same as what the NBA has been using in their throwbacks. Both the Wine and the Gold were quite a bit different back in the day...however, by brightening up the shades, people think that they were even more dynamic than they actually wore (re: San Diego Chargers' Powder Blue throwbacks). Here's a comparison:

[andrewharrington]

Again, the Cavaliers will never be the Celtics, Knicks, Lakers, Bulls et al, not so much because they can't succeed, but because they don't have the history, fanbase or market that those teams have. That's why I argue that wearing a single uniform to try to establish that you are like those teams does not make sense for the Cavs. Without the extra buzz and revenue from identity-driven merchandise sales, the minute the Cavs start sucking is when they're in jeopardy of going under because the bandwagoners hop off and attendance goes to zero, nobody wants merchandise from a team that's only good every 20 years or so, etc. The Cavaliers identity is a mosaic because it needs to be.

The thing is, they'll never have a brand history on par with the Celtics, Knicks, Lakers, Pistons, and Bulls if they keep changing their identity and clogging the schedule with throwbacks and MySpace uniforms. Build a winning team and a strong identity, and fans will want to be a part of it.

I guess it's difficult to understand if you haven't experienced it, but I don't think that strategy would work for the Cavs. I mean, in retrospect, it's easy to say that if they would have [hypothetically] stuck with wine and gold they would have established a great brand and visual history by now, but in my opinion, I firmly believe that if they had stuck with wine and gold from the beginning, they wouldn't even be in Cleveland anymore.

I don't believe that running the brand like Boston, New York, Chicago or LA works (or would have worked) for the Cavaliers, under any circumstances. If they got stale in their identity, people would forget about them (literally, even if they were decent) because people don't care about them except during the high points. They're in one right now, but that could do a 180 in as little as 3 months if LeBron James leaves, and then they're stuck in creek without a paddle, no fans, and a bunch of "LeBron/Douchebag Traitor/Hometown Letter-Downer Era" Cavs merch that won't sell. Good thing they have new jerseys to sell next year, just in case. When the LeBron era ends, whether it's this season or 10 seasons from now, the Cavaliers will go right back to the back burner, and that wouldn't be any different if they had maintained a consistent identity over the years, in my opinion.

There is zero acknowledgment of their 2007 trip to the NBA Finals among Clevelanders. Fans, sportswriters, everyone; they simply don't care about it. It's always about the here and now with the Cavs. They will always be the third wheel to the Browns and Indians, and they need the buzz of both a good team and something new and fresh to put asses in the seats and eyes on the TV. After the '07 Finals, the city said, "Well that's over, now it's time for baseball." Yet, Clevelanders continually lament the Browns' losses to John Elway twenty plus years ago and the Indians' shortcomings in 1995, 1997 and 2007, yet there's not a peep about the Cavaliers, except maybe a mention of 'The Shot' every now and again, but that always seems to be more about Jordan's greatness than the Cavs' lack of it. I know they're only 40 years old, but 40 years is 40 years, and the Cavs have struggled to hold fans through about 80 percent of those 40 seasons.

[IceCap]

Again, the Cavaliers will never be the Celtics, Knicks, Lakers, Bulls et al, not so much because they can't succeed, but because they don't have the history, fanbase or market that those teams have. That's why I argue that wearing a single uniform to try to establish that you are like those teams does not make sense for the Cavs. Without the extra buzz and revenue from identity-driven merchandise sales, the minute the Cavs start sucking is when they're in jeopardy of going under because the bandwagoners hop off and attendance goes to zero, nobody wants merchandise from a team that's only good every 20 years or so, etc. The Cavaliers identity is a mosaic because it needs to be.

The thing is, they'll never have a brand history on par with the Celtics, Knicks, Lakers, Pistons, and Bulls if they keep changing their identity and clogging the schedule with throwbacks and MySpace uniforms. Build a winning team and a strong identity, and fans will want to be a part of it.

I guess it's difficult to understand if you haven't experienced it, but I don't think that strategy would work for the Cavs. I mean, in retrospect, it's easy to say that if they would have [hypothetically] stuck with wine and gold they would have established a great brand and visual history by now, but in my opinion, I firmly believe that if they had stuck with wine and gold from the beginning, they wouldn't even be in Cleveland anymore.

Sorry, I just don't buy that.

The whole thing about Cleveland not being a big enough market to establish a long-term brand doesn't hold up. The Indians and Browns have established brands. The Cavs' failure to do the same doesn't have anything to do with a supposed third wheel status. It has to do with them changing uniforms every five/ten years and crappy teams. Now they have a decent/good team, and a nice brand. If they continue to build a competitive team and keep their current identity through it all, then the brand will become something that fans want to be a part of.

Besides, if it takes a uniform change to keep the team in town, they should probably move.

[BBTV]

Again, the Cavaliers will never be the Celtics, Knicks, Lakers, Bulls et al, not so much because they can't succeed, but because they don't have the history, fanbase or market that those teams have. That's why I argue that wearing a single uniform to try to establish that you are like those teams does not make sense for the Cavs. Without the extra buzz and revenue from identity-driven merchandise sales, the minute the Cavs start sucking is when they're in jeopardy of going under because the bandwagoners hop off and attendance goes to zero, nobody wants merchandise from a team that's only good every 20 years or so, etc. The Cavaliers identity is a mosaic because it needs to be.

The thing is, they'll never have a brand history on par with the Celtics, Knicks, Lakers, Pistons, and Bulls if they keep changing their identity and clogging the schedule with throwbacks and MySpace uniforms. Build a winning team and a strong identity, and fans will want to be a part of it.

I guess it's difficult to understand if you haven't experienced it, but I don't think that strategy would work for the Cavs. I mean, in retrospect, it's easy to say that if they would have [hypothetically] stuck with wine and gold they would have established a great brand and visual history by now, but in my opinion, I firmly believe that if they had stuck with wine and gold from the beginning, they wouldn't even be in Cleveland anymore.

Sorry, I just don't buy that.

Actually, I think I understand exactly what he's saying, and can certainly see how that could be valid. I'd suspect that if they built a consistent identity, a strong / recognizable brand, and (of course) had some success, they'd have become desireable to players, and would be one of the teams that's able to attract the top talent, and wouldn't have the type of lean eras that would lead to extreme disinterest. However, as I said in the Eagles thread, it's tough to argue with someone who is in the area and knows more about the fans / team / situation than an outsider, so I'll just say that my point is in general and not necessarily applicable to the Cavs.

[IceCap]

I'm sorry, I can't buy a logo/uniform change being essential to keeping a team in place. If it is, then the team should be moved.

I'm not saying the Cavs should move. I'm saying that they don't need to change every five/ten years.