Of Buckeyes and basketballs

Word on the street here in Cleveland is that the Cavaliers are going to be eyeing former Ohio State star Michael Redd in free agency this summer, if he doesn't re-up with the Bucks beforehand.
Now, there's a lot to that. First, the Cavs have to sign free-agent-to-be Zydrunas Ilgauskas to a contract extension, or decide not to, or lose him to another team and move on. Second, they have to look at point guard Jeff McInnis, also a free-agent-to-be. McInnis is having a career year and ready for a big payday. How much are they willing to offer him, if anything at all?
Third, there's the impending ownership change. Sometime after the first of the new year, Michigan online mortgage tycoon Dan Gilbert is probably going to close a deal to buy the Cavaliers from Gordon Gund. Then we find out how much Gilbert is willing to spend, where he's willing to spend it, what his ownership philosophies are, and who he wants running the team.
All those factors will affect whether Ilgauskas or McInnis are suiting up for Cleveland next year, let alone Redd.
But putting Redd, an Ohio native, alongside LeBron James in the Cavaliers' lineup would almost certainly vault the Cavs to title contender status. That would put the current fifth- and 11th-leading scorers in the NBA on the same floor every night.
The arrival of Redd (and subsequent departure of McInnis, since the Cavs probably wouldn't ante up for both)
could also give Ohio's lone NBA franchise a considerable Buckeye State flavor. Losing McInnis could open a spot in the starting lineup for Canton native Eric Snow at point guard. With Redd, a Columbus native, at shooting guard, and James, an Akron native, at small forward, three-fifths of the Cavaliers' starting lineup next year could be comprised of Ohioans.
And they're all good, or in Redd and James' case, great. Which got me to thinking, if I had to piece an NBA team together out of only Ohio natives, what type of team would I come up with? Could it win?
Scanning NBA rosters, I found out that we don't usually grow them big in Ohio, but we grow them talented.
In pieceing together this roster, I wanted to be realistic. Players had to have played in the NBA, but they don't necessarily have to be on an active roster right now. However, they had to be young enough that, if they were called up and asked to play, they could still answer the bell. In other words, no John Havliceks or Jerry Lucases on this team. This isn't an "all-time" roster. My team follows in the next post.