Oh I thought you were saying I was throwing out trading for him. I honestly cant think of a package. Because There is so much that Cleveland would want in return (and rightfully so) that it would decimate us and leave us with almost nothing. Then Lebron is in a city where he has to do everything like he is now. Except now there is no reason for him to be loyal to us, like he would Cleveland and we lose him. There is no realistic trade that would benefit us in the long run.
I'm not that taken by his surrounding cast in Cleveland, and Z is close to done. If Portland didn't totally gut their roster to attain him, I'd think there would be a better chance of winning titles as a Blazer then as a Cav. STOMP
I was just making a joke. "Lopsided deal" in the context of this off-season has meant lopsided in salary. But I extended it to LeBron, as if "lopsided" referred to talent. I don't think Cleveland will ever trade him unless James says he's leaving but will accept a sign-and-trade. Two of the big three. Or one of the big three and two of Rudy, Batum, Bayless. I don't know if that's fair value (hard to place fair value on the best player since Michael Jordan), but beyond that Portland guts their team too much to be competitive even with James. All of this would be predicated on James signing an extension. So it would have to be next year, as a sign-and-trade.
this changes nothing for lebron. for the cavs, it doesn't really change anything either. they just need to improve the team. if they win the title next year, lebron isn't going anywhere.
Why would the Cavs ever want to move LBJ? If anything they will look to move one of their three PGs in a draft day deal. I have a feeling either West or Gibson will be the one shipped out. They have zero cap space, so the MLE is going to be their main summer tool, and I would imagine that they could get a decent player this summer. LBJ is a pretty attractive piece for a FA to think about joining, even at a reduced rate.
well if it became evident that lebron was going to leave and they didn't want to lose him for nothing, it would make sense to try to get something in return. it isn't going to ever come to that though. i'd be surprised to see mo, west, or gibson moved. none of the 3 are really signed to unreasonable deals and all work well with lebron. they just need to do a better job of hitting shots in the playoffs. the cavs really need two things in my mind. a big perimeter player(other than lebron) and a real post up threat. they have the last pick of the 1st round, the MLE, and ben wallace(14 mil) and pavlovic(5 mil)'s expirings to work with.
I think it changes a big deal for LeBron and Cleveland. It's all or nothing next season, or else he becomes an unrestricted FA which would make me nervous if I were a Cavs fan. There's no big-time FA in this summer's class, and they're going to have to take some sort of risk in a trade by breaking up their core to bring in somebody. This current group got exposed big time, and won't win it all next year.
this current group didn't get exposed at all. they played the one team in the league they didn't matchup well with in the eastern conference finals and lost in 6 games when 3 of the games(and two losses) were determined on last second shots. there's no reason for the cavs to panic, but like any other team they should be looking to make improvements. and it isn't all or nothing next season. the cavs not winning the championship next year doesn't mean that lebron is going to leave. it's very much in doubt whether there will be any team with a chance at getting him that would also be able to offer him as good of an opportunity to win. why do they need to break up the core? there aren't any star free agents out there for them this year, but there are plenty of guys who could come in and help the team. and when you're in the cavs situation all it takes is a little improvement(or really they don't even have to improve at all) to win a championship. the MLE, 30th pick in the draft(if they use it wisely), and improvement from hickson should already have the cavs on the right track. and yet again they have big expirings to play with if deals present themselves.
well yeah that was the point I was trying to make, to get him we gut our team.. then we are in the same position as Cleveland (minus the loyalty)
I agree to that as well. Kinda like your Rockets with us.. we played one of the few teams that we dont match up well with. The Rockets could use a consistent 2nd fiddle for Lebron though, if they can get anything remotely like that for Wallace's expiring contract.. look out.
Cleveland has a bunch of one-dimensional players surrounding LeBron. If they're not doing that one thing well, then they're not going to win in the playoffs. They can beat up on the scrub teams and good teams, but were only 3-6 against the elite like Boston, Orlando and LA during the regular season, and now 5-10 counting the playoffs. They don't need more role or average players. They need a legit second option and that's not going to be available this summer. As far as the expiring contracts, I think this past trade deadline proved that you're not going to get a primetime player for just cap relief.
the thing is, they don't need a legitimate 2nd option. it would help them immensely to have one, but it's not a necessity. all they need is to bring in a big perimeter guy(preferably who could hit open shots) and suddenly, the magic aren't such a terrible matchup for them anymore. the cavs didn't win 66 games or play a closely contested conference finals(even if most people for some reason want to act as if that wasn't the case) or play a close 7 games with boston last year by accident. they are a legit elite team and a title contender every year with the roster as currently structured.
I understood your point and then countered it. Either one of the scenarios I threw out still leaves Portland with more talent to surround LJ with then currently resides on the Cavs, and they will be losing Z to retirement in the not too distant future. STOMP
I guess we disagree. Any team with LeBron for the next 10-15 years is going to be a title contender. If he played for the Kings this season, I bet they would've won a playoff series. The Cavs are an elite team in the NBA for sure, but their supporting cast was giving so little that they had to resort to LeBron going 1 of 5 over the last two games. Cleveland as it is will always be good enough to make the ECF, but they were obviously missing something to take that next step and just weren't good enough talent-wise to beat Boston or Orlando.
Puppet commercials Chalk display before every game Goofy, staged intros with team Then the guy loses, takes his ball, and goes home. Perhaps "King James" isn't as mature as he's made out to be. Walking off the court without congratulating the team that just kicked your ass is bush league, and leaving your teammates behind to deal with the loss is selfish. Bad move, LeBron.
yes, we definitely disgree. and i completely disagree with your assessment that the cavs were obviously missing something and weren't good enough talent wise to beat boston or orlando. if anything, the series the cavs have been eliminated in the past two years have proven that they do have enough talent wise to beat boston or orlando. orlando won two games fairly comfortably(but still close enough) at home, the cavs won one game in that fashion as well. the other 3 games came down to the cavs taking a shot as time expired. obviously they made one and missed two and the series ended 4-2 orlando. but that series of games certainly didn't prove that the cavs simply don't have the talent to play with orlando or that adding a few better pieces off the bench couldn't swing that in the cavs favor. same last year with boston. boston obviously won the series, but with two minutes left in game 7, it was a one point game. clearly, the cavs had the talent to be capable of beating boston(and that was before adding mo williams). they didn't, but they certainly aren't far off. an example of the cavs clearly not having the talent to win a championship would have been their sweep at the hands of the spurs. of course, the cavs have definitely made improvements since then.
I feel like if they had enough talent to win either of those series...they would have won them? Or at least one of them. Saying "well they were in 3 tight games too" only means so much. You still have to get over the hump and win, and when it comes down to it, the Cavs haven't. They'll probably keep making ECFs if LBJ stays, but they need more help if they want to win a title. They can't win with LeBron having to go for 40+ each night.
