Marc Stein: Christopher Paul is already recruiting Lebron

Imagine if we had Lebron JAMES and James HARDEN, Chris PAUL and Paul GEORGE and George HILL

We wouldn't be able to keep their names straight

James passes it to James who surveys the court. Screen by Paul frees up James to pass it to Paul. Paul drives the lane and kicks it to Paul George who throws it over to George. George passes it back to George who sees James in the corner. James drives down the middle... alley-oop to James BANG!

 

Wouldn't Cleveland rather just let LeBron walk for free than take on 2 useless contracts in Ryno and EG, and 3 low 1st round picks?? If we were indeed going to move Gordon, wouldn't we be better served sending him to a contender who's willing to give up a 1st rounder for him? I just don't see how this proposed deal helps Cleveland with their rebuild.

 

Boston is a GSW level talent in the East. No advantage to being in the East anymore since he's not going to be top dog.

I hate the idea of people dogging us the way they dog GSW getting KD, but GSW struck first.

It's going to be a * on Harden's legacy in the media's mind, which kills me. Harden is a top 30 all-time player.

 

Where did I compare them as players? Obviously I know Harden is better, but LeBron and even CP3's legacies are so much greater that Harden will be remembered as sort of a 3rd wheel or a 2b like Pierce. This is a Houston board, so of course people here will disagree but the national perception of Harden isn't a very good one. As time goes on, it will only get worse playing second and even at crucial times- third wheel to LeBron and CP3.

 

Thanks, I needed a good laugh.

 

What's this 'Christopher'? Is he CP3's gay uncle or mother?

 

Christopher Robin maybe.

 

I don't think so, if James bolts the Cavs are forced to start a full rebuild, at that point they wouldn't care much about one or two years of Ryan (unless his contract alone keeps them in the luxury) since they would need at least 3/4 years to have some sort of core to build around anyway.

Gordon is not though, a starting caliber SG who can create his own shot, shoot the 3 with great range and can guard 3/4 positions under contract for 2 years at 13M...that's really good value as today. The Cavs can definitely get a good pick/young player out of him.

As for our picks well, not good on paper, but imo, decent picks to bet on since the Rockets would still be an old team, you never know for how long Lebron and Chris will stay, it they'll get hurt, the picks might be unprotected...still better than nothing. And they would also send him in the other conference.

 

I tend to agree that CLE would rather shed salary and get picks. They might be low 1sts, but if we can send expirings and non-guaranteeds, that's more appealing for them then sending Ryno and Ego with those same picks. You'd need to trade Ego for a pick and attach that to Ryno + another pick just to get dumpable salary to give CLE.

So they'd get the same salary relief of letting LBJ walk, but a pick or two to show for it.

 

Uh, no. EG is a very valuable piece. Cleveland likely wouldn't keep him, but they could move him for something better like an additional pick or two or maybe a younger player who could remain with them through their rebuild. As for Ryno, no one wants him. But if you're rebuilding and you can get 2 or 3 future picks from the Rockets, it's worth looking into. Especially if those picks have limited protection on them.

 

If I were Cleveland and I knew LeBron was leaving, bringing on Ryno's contract wouldn't be the worst thing in the world:

You're immediately in rebuild mode and have no hope of winning next year
Next year Ryno's contract becomes a trade-deadline prize of a $20M expiring deal
You have to hit the league's minimum salary mandate somehow
Ryno might actually score 10-15 points a game on a team that doesn't have the pressure of winning

As for EG's contract, you get plenty of value out of that deal, then it also become valuable at the 2020 trade deadline.

In other words, unless they can get something in return that will help them rebuild INSTANTLY, this isn't that bad a deal: 2 or 3 #1s they can use to trade, and two big contracts they can deal a year down the road.

 

James and Paul are older players and may not be on the team in 2023. That pick may be substantially better than we think.

 

Maybe, but unlikely. Iguodala is a year older.

 

In an ideal world, Harden would lead us to a title or titles as the lead guy. However, if Bron comes here and it results in 2 or more titles for Harden then his legacy will be fine. Harden will be the 2nd wheel here and can still maintain gaudy statlines even with Bron and CP3 on the roster. CP3 is the one who might have his stats plummet and who’s titles would come as an aging 3rd wheel. At the end of the day, Harden will have an MVP, many All-NBA 1st Team selections, many All-Star selections, insane numbers in his prime, and hopefully multiple titles as an incredible #2 behind Bron.

 

dudes would rather lose without lebron than win with him LOL.

 

hard to imagine the cavs accepting ryno without wanting to send back some bad contracts too.

more likely is: james opts in and is traded for ego/ryno/1st, then S&T clint for thompson or jr smith & korver to balance out the ryno contract.

 

It's 2019. It's the Western Conference Finals. Who wins this series?

j

 

The problem with this so called death lineup is that there aren’t good pure shooters anywhere on it.

 

to be fair, our regular death lineup doesn't have any pure shooters anywhere either.

 

Man just looking at that line up gets me itching for next season. Screw the bench....5 man/48 min playing time rotation.