What becomes of Cleveland Now?

If the Cavs fans I know are any indication, they're even more convinced he's a quitter now and they want him gone.

 

the cavs to me are like the new york knicks when isaiah thomas was running the show, a team full of expensive players either past their prime or on bloated contracts more than their talents are worth, all meshed together regardless of chemistry n the management hoping that their newest trade would magically be the one that piece everything together for a winning team. the only difference is that the cavs have one true superstar in lebron.

if i were running the cavs, id tell lebron to sign with other teams n make him lose the 30 extra millions he wouldve gotten if he did a sign n trade with the cavs. no other team will give me players worth lebrons value, so why let him have his money, his choice of team after he pretty much screwed the team over.

 

I think the Cavs almost have to sign and trade Lebron if he says he wants to play somewhere else. It's a crappy thing to do but they need to replace James with something strong and I don't think they have enough cap room even with O'Neal and James off the books to find someone even close to helping them.

 

If the Cavs keep Lebron James, all I know is that they need to do some serious re-tooling with that team. They have some pretty exploitable holes on that team that they need to patch up.

I look at their weak spots: center, Mo Williams, Antawn Jamison. While the later two are good offensive weapons (at least when Mo decides to show up), they are very exploitable on the defensive side. Their situation at center is also a bit of a mess.

 

if they cant go to the finals with the MVP of the league, theres no way theyre going to do better next year when they lose shaq, and then take whatever players they get from the team that takes lebron.

this cavs roster was constructed by just taking in name players quickly, to help get to the playoffs and to convince lebron that he's getting help to win the championship.

 

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If I'm Danny Ferry, and LBJ has made it obvious he's leaving, the package I push hardest for is:
One or two promising rookie contract guys (or a guy otherwise severely underpaid)
At least 2 first rd picks
A huge TE to cover the difference

Stuff I would consider acceptable (not saying these teams are realistic destinations):

Nets: TE, this year's top 3 pick, Humphries for Gibson side deal.

Miami: TE, this year's #18, #41, #42 picks, 2012 first rd pick, Beasley for Gibson side deal.

NYK: Ha. Hahaha. TE. Side deal of S&T David Lee @ $10M for Varejao.

Chicago: TE, 2010 and 2012 first rd picks, side deal of Taj Gibson and Deng for Jamison.

Clippers: TE, #8 pick, 2012 pick, Gordon and DeAndre Jordan.

Houston: Hill, Lull rights, 2010 first rd pick, right to swap for NYK 2011 pick, Jermaine Taylor, Jeffries, Ariza.

Lakers: Gasol, and a Bynum for Jamison side deal.

 

If I'm the Cavs GM, I'd go all-in with Lebron... if Lebron leaves, however, clean house, go back to tanking, and rebuild through the draft, not with scrap pieces through a sign-and-trade.

 

Oh, and said GM above should get fired for underperforming either way.

 

if i were the the cavs gm and lebron wanted to stay(not looking into their salary cap, and not looking into how many years everyone has left on their contract) i would make an offer at kyle lowry, and get rid of delonte west somehow. replace west with ray allen if possible, and then look into other side deals or the draft to pick up a decent center.

 

I don't pay much attention to salaries, but I think we're stuck with a lot of long, overpriced contracts. I'll check on this later.

And after watching this series, I don't think any team is in a hurry to trade for our guys.

 

a) Lebron stays, shaq retires, and Brown gets fired. Cavs then try to LEbron more help.
b) Lebron leaves, shaq retires, brown fired, cavs overpay joe johnson and become mediocre forever
c)lebron stays, shaq stays, brown fired, they try again to win a champonship.

 

lol What a joke if that is how most of the Cavs fans feel. Sure in Game 5 it looked like he didn't want to be there but I think he was trying. He settled more than he should but he wasn't settling all game just look at his ft attempts.

If the majority of the Cavs fans want him gone I just have to think what in the hell are they thinking.

 

You are correct - no one on the Cavs is signed to an attractive deal, aside from Hickson. Ferry spent money like a drunk Mark Cuban.

In the unlikely scenario that LeBron walks and signs a deal outright, the Cavs could try and S&T Shaq somewhere for minor considerations, but the market for him will be tepid. If they cut him loose, they end up slightly below the cap. Bad news is, no one would be in a hurry to sign for small dollars in Cleveland, and the pieces left wouldn't net anything worthwhile in a trade.

If LeBron is walking, it's critical that they set up a S&T. They are in for 3+ years of inescapable hell if he leaves them out to dry.

 

Jamison has two years left on his deal and Mo has three but what really kills you is Andy and Gibson still being around. They will have a little cap room but not enough to add anything major via FAgency. It will come down to swallowing hard and doing a S&T for pieces that might help you stay competitive or letting contracts playout, draft well with the picks you have and setup shop for the summer of 2012.

 

Don't blame Brown. Blame the GM, then blame LeBron.

 

Since the NBA has a maximum salary it's impossible for LBJ to get anything approaching $30M next year. For a player with 7 years experience the max is 30% of the Salary cap. Since next year's cap will be in the mid $50 millions, Lebron's starting salary on a new deal will be below $20M.

 

fixed it for you.

 

Should be interesting in a morbid way to see how far of a nose dive Cleveland takes if Lebron does leave.