I have gone a bit far. Yes, I made the city the culprit but what I am actually saying is. The combination of city atmosphere/no consistent coaching/questionable organization and direction/waste of talent is not what most FA role players would prefer. Playing with Lebron is just not sufficient. Will there be role players who want to play with Lebron no matter what city. Sure. Will there be a large number of them? I doubt it much. My opinion. That's all.
Hey, Yung breh....You know Bron has to go through a maturing process of those players. It can take one year or up to 3 or more years. I do not think he wants to waste his time. I mean it's no like he is in his early twenties. He is 29, 30. Decisions should be made cautiously therefore. Legacy here and there, all it comes down to is the amount of championships he can win. I do not think he can win enough in Cleveland to be in discussion: who is on par with Kobe and Duncan?
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ymucqmjJs20" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
• It is also quite possible that if James returns to the Cavs, longtime NBA sharpshooter Ray Allen would join him. Allen was a member of the Heat the previous two seasons, and has said he would like to play for the team James chooses in free agency. Allen is a free agent as well. http://msn.foxsports.com/ohio/story/nba-report-lebron-decision-perhaps-owner-s-plane-up-in-air-070714
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Heat full-court press is on after signing Danny Granger, per Yahoo Sports. Told Cavs sense they will know on LeBron by Wednesday.</p>— Sam Amico (@SamAmicoFSO) <a href="https://twitter.com/SamAmicoFSO/statuses/486234495847501825">July 7, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Cavs especially active in trade talks today, I'm told. "We are going to make some moves, soon," says team source.</p>— Sam Amico (@SamAmicoFSO) <a href="https://twitter.com/SamAmicoFSO/statuses/486237786660671488">July 7, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
It means LeBron's people told Broussard to run with the story and get it out in public. LeBron loses nothing by showing Cleveland some love, and the more he acts likes it's a "tough" decision, the more he wins in the PR game. The Big 3 aren't going anywhere, and all of this was so LeBron could get his max deal and Wade could take a paycut in order to bring in some help.
I agree that the big 3 are staying, but I disagree on the PR angle. I think Lebron (if he cares) could be dragged through the douche mud all over again if he leads Cleveland on. I don't think he cares though.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Also told some others pursued by Heat (Pau Gasol, Trevor Ariza, Luol Deng) are not interested in "the small money."</p>— Sam Amico (@SamAmicoFSO) <a href="https://twitter.com/SamAmicoFSO/statuses/486243978992705537">July 7, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
More bets have been placed on the Cleveland Cavaliers to win the 2015 NBA title than on any other team at the Las Vegas Superbook. Over the past two weeks, as reports surfaced about LeBron James' potential interest in returning to Cleveland, the Cavs' odds to win next year's championship have improved from 60-1 to 30-1. Superbook assistant manager and head NBA oddsmaker Jeff Sherman told ESPN.com that none of the bets on the Cavs have been significant in size, but altogether the wagers were enough to cut Cleveland's odds in half. The defending champion San Antonio Spurs (9-2) and the Chicago Bulls (7-1) are the only teams that have attracted more money than the Cavaliers, but no team has received more overall bets (28) than Cleveland since odds went up on June 9. In comparison, the Miami Heat, the favorite at 5-2, had attracted only one bet at the Superbook. Sherman cautioned that the NBA futures pool is only a month old, however. William Hill U.S. director of bookmaking Nick Bogdanovich said in a text message that his shop also had seen a recent influx of betting interest on the Cavs, "but nothing over the top." It's been enough, though, to shorten Cleveland's championship odds from 50-1 on June 16 to 20-1 currently at William Hill's Nevada book. If James were return to Cleveland, where he spent the first seven seasons of his NBA career, Sherman said he would adjust the Cavs' odds to around 8-1. "They are such a young team," Sherman said of the Cavaliers. "They would be better positioned for the next season than this upcoming one." http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11187651/cleveland-cavaliers-attracting-bets-vegas-books
Heh: <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>As an aside to all this NBA free-agency madness, I've been told Cavs owner Dan Gilbert has removed his plane from public tracking.</p>— Sam Amico (@SamAmicoFSO) <a href="https://twitter.com/SamAmicoFSO/statuses/486249356149141505">July 7, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>No guarantees made, but Danny Granger/Josh McRoberts committed to Heat w/ strong belief LeBron James will be a teammate, sources tell Yahoo.</p>— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA/statuses/486258162744307712">July 7, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>