DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum NBA Finals: Avoiding the Sweep

If Lebron leaves and Lue remains the coach, we're pretty much guaranteed a top 3 pick next year. just something to keep in mind if we have to rebuild.

I look at this list and they're mostly flawed for one reason or another: basketball reasons, location, or can't happen without a sign and trade or some ridiculousness (e.g. taking the vet minimum.)

Actually.. Houston does make sense. That's my somewhat-but-not-really-educated guess where he ends up. They'd have to do some roster shuffling but with a handshake deal in place, they'd be able to make it happen.

What’s dumb is all the media, particularly cleveland media. All these articles about it being his last game blah blah blah. So now everyone is just assuming he’s leaving. Though he’s never said anything remotely like he was all season. Now more will be surprised he stays than leaves.

Not sure what the Cleveland media is saying but I personally think he's gone. His relationship with Gilbert and the front office is strained (putting it mildly.) The team itself, minus Lebron, isn't very good. Due to bad contracts and limited assets, there's only limited means to retool the roster.

The best pitch we can give is that it's his hometown and he said he'd stay here when he came back. We all saw what happened these last two Finals though.. and even getting back there will be no easy task when you figure Boston will get back two key players and their young core will be a year older.

I heard on the radio that James definitely wants a super-max deal this time around - radio guy said that would be 5 years, $205M ($41M/year) and that only Cleveland could give it to him. I guess they could do a sign-and-trade, but the team that traded for him would have to give up enough assets as to make them a much less attractive destination for LBJ. I also heard that LBJ really wants to watch his son play at SVSM, where I believe he will be enrolling as a freshman this fall. So, take it FWIW, but I think there's a decent chance he stays. I also think his "legacy" as a Top 5 All-Time player is in cement regardless of whether he gets any more rings.

Make of this what you will, 2019 NBA Finals odds: http://www.vegasinsider.com/nba/odds/futures/

Golden State Warriors 5/4
Houston Rockets 7/2
Philadelphia 76ers 7/2
Boston Celtics 8/1
Los Angeles Lakers 20/1
Miami Heat 20/1
San Antonio Spurs 25/1
Cleveland Cavaliers 30/1

This tells me Vegas thinks Lebron is gone (to Houston or Philly?), otherwise you'd never be able to get 30/1 on the Cavs. Odds aren't infallible but this is pretty damning, IMO.

Remind me ; why was Gilbert run off ? Or was it Griffin ? The GM that most liked !

He wanted $4mil a year. Personally, I’d have given it to him.

Based on that article he wrote when he came back, and his family situation now, I think we have a better chance than the talking heads think we do.

If they’re not gettin clicks, they’re not making money. Have to drive the drama or no one will pay attention.

FWIW, in an interview on the Sirius NBA channel, Iman Shumpert said that Lebron has quite the home and kingdom in Akron, and it would be hard to give that up. He said the thing he misses most was hanging out there.

A chance he ends up in Boston? It might make sense.

Cleveland unloads Kevin Love
Cleveland trades Lebron for Al Horford (this clears up cap space for Boston, and Horford takes over the 4 spot for Love, or we could flip him to somebody else)
Lebron gets to play for a GOOD coach, is reunited with Kyrie, has a good, young cast, plays with Hayward, etc. ... and plays for a LEGENDARY franchise.

And Kyrie goes into full revolt, because he wanted out of Lebron's shadow. He wants to be "the man".

Why would Cleveland want to do that though?

I'M COMING HOME

By LEBRON JAMES (AS TOLD TO LEE JENKINS)
July 11, 2014

Before anyone ever cared where I would play basketball, I was a kid from Northeast Ohio. It’s where I walked. It’s where I ran. It’s where I cried. It’s where I bled. It holds a special place in my heart. People there have seen me grow up. I sometimes feel like I’m their son. Their passion can be overwhelming. But it drives me. I want to give them hope when I can. I want to inspire them when I can. My relationship with Northeast Ohio is bigger than basketball. I didn’t realize that four years ago. I do now.

Remember when I was sitting up there at the Boys & Girls Club in 2010? I was thinking, This is really tough. I could feel it. I was leaving something I had spent a long time creating. If I had to do it all over again, I’d obviously do things differently, but I’d still have left. Miami, for me, has been almost like college for other kids. These past four years helped raise me into who I am. I became a better player and a better man. I learned from a franchise that had been where I wanted to go. I will always think of Miami as my second home. Without the experiences I had there, I wouldn’t be able to do what I’m doing today.

I went to Miami because of D-Wade and CB. We made sacrifices to keep UD. I loved becoming a big bro to Rio. I believed we could do something magical if we came together. And that’s exactly what we did! The hardest thing to leave is what I built with those guys. I’ve talked to some of them and will talk to others. Nothing will ever change what we accomplished. We are brothers for life. I also want to thank Micky Arison and Pat Riley for giving me an amazing four years.

I’m doing this essay because I want an opportunity to explain myself uninterrupted. I don’t want anyone thinking: He and Erik Spoelstra didn’t get along. … He and Riles didn’t get along. … The Heat couldn’t put the right team together. That’s absolutely not true.

I’m not having a press conference or a party. After this, it’s time to get to work.

When I left Cleveland, I was on a mission. I was seeking championships, and we won two. But Miami already knew that feeling. Our city hasn’t had that feeling in a long, long, long time. My goal is still to win as many titles as possible, no question. But what’s most important for me is bringing one trophy back to Northeast Ohio.

I always believed that I’d return to Cleveland and finish my career there. I just didn’t know when. After the season, free agency wasn’t even a thought. But I have two boys and my wife, Savannah, is pregnant with a girl. I started thinking about what it would be like to raise my family in my hometown. I looked at other teams, but I wasn’t going to leave Miami for anywhere except Cleveland. The more time passed, the more it felt right. This is what makes me happy.

To make the move I needed the support of my wife and my mom, who can be very tough. The letter from Dan Gilbert, the booing of the Cleveland fans, the jerseys being burned -- seeing all that was hard for them. My emotions were more mixed. It was easy to say, “OK, I don’t want to deal with these people ever again.” But then you think about the other side. What if I were a kid who looked up to an athlete, and that athlete made me want to do better in my own life, and then he left? How would I react? I’ve met with Dan, face-to-face, man-to-man. We’ve talked it out. Everybody makes mistakes. I’ve made mistakes as well. Who am I to hold a grudge?

I’m not promising a championship. I know how hard that is to deliver. We’re not ready right now. No way. Of course, I want to win next year, but I’m realistic. It will be a long process, much longer than it was in 2010. My patience will get tested. I know that. I’m going into a situation with a young team and a new coach. I will be the old head. But I get a thrill out of bringing a group together and helping them reach a place they didn’t know they could go. I see myself as a mentor now and I’m excited to lead some of these talented young guys. I think I can help Kyrie Irving become one of the best point guards in our league. I think I can help elevate Tristan Thompson and Dion Waiters. And I can’t wait to reunite with Anderson Varejao, one of my favorite teammates.

But this is not about the roster or the organization. I feel my calling here goes above basketball. I have a responsibility to lead, in more ways than one, and I take that very seriously. My presence can make a difference in Miami, but I think it can mean more where I’m from. I want kids in Northeast Ohio, like the hundreds of Akron third-graders I sponsor through my foundation, to realize that there’s no better place to grow up. Maybe some of them will come home after college and start a family or open a business. That would make me smile. Our community, which has struggled so much, needs all the talent it can get.

In Northeast Ohio, nothing is given. Everything is earned. You work for what you have.

I’m ready to accept the challenge. I’m coming home.

because they'll lose Lebron for nothing unless they sign and trade him ... and you might as well get Horford for "nothing" ... that's an asset that you could use very effectively

But God forbid he EVER work with the team to help with salary cap to give us room to work.

He did this crap the first time too. Didnt Curry, Thompson and KD all take less money so that KD could sign with GS?

Lebron is a great player, one of the best ever, but he has always been a selfish, self centered, narcissist. And that has played a huge role in why this team has been broken up.

You highlighted the very things I’ve been thinks about in that last paragraph. I’m 80-20 or better that he stays.

If it comes to it, we could sign and trade for Horford and Kyrie! Wouldn’t that just short circuit his brain?

Only way lebron is going to boston is if Kyrie is traded. Not to mention Lebron wouldn't have any say in any FO/coaching decision and his crew wouldn't get anywhere near the preferential treatment he gets now. They don't need lebron...at all. They took his team to 7 games without their two best players.

Tough way to go out, but what an amazing 4 years it's been.

I really hope people take the high road if/when Lebron leaves this summer. Guy came back and delivered on a championship. I've already seen morons on social media going the 2010 route.

How quickly we forget huh? My advice to you, would be to go back and watch the last few minutes of game 7. Watch parade footage. Don't forget what he did. He didn't have to come back. He could have stayed in Miami and they probably could have taken a year or two to build a great team there. He could have gone to a bigger market and done the same there as well. He chose to come back and do what so many have failed to do.

Sure, he takes blame in the fact that this team doesn't have a loaded roster. Taking one year deals is great for him personally, and puts enormous pressure on the front office to put together teams that can win NOW. Having a commitment long term makes it easier to bring in other players.

I know people want to throw around blame, but the fact remains that Golden State has 4 all stars, as well as great support players. They have been beaten once in 4 years, and it was by us. For as much as people talk up the Western Conference, nobody over there has been good enough to win 4 games against them.

Everyone wants to say Lebron is leaving because of the relationship with Gilbert. I think that's garbage. I think Lebron is leaving because this team can't really get any better, and he's now approaching the second half of his prime. If the Cavs were able to swing a deal or two to bring in another really good player, and possibly add to the support staff, sure he'd stay. Why not?

If Dan was really the problem, Lebron wouldn't have been back in the first place, but it's an easy narrative to run with when you're in the media.

ESPN is going to be insufferable for a month now. Already the front page is nothing but "Where will Lebron go?". If you weren't following the series, you'd have no idea that Golden State actually won it.

They also have no problem with completely making crap up. Stephen A was on the other day (I heard the rant replayed from another talk show), and he was basically making things up. To paraphrase and condense the rant, it was pretty much this: "If you want the facts, listen to me. This is what's going to happen, you need to listen to me because these are the facts. Lebron is going to sit down with the Golden State Warriors and that's who he's seriously going to consider because that's his best chance to win a championship. Oh, by the way, that's just my opinion." Must be nice to have a gig like that where you can just talk out of your backside and pass it off as fact.

ESPN has laid off quite a few people the last few years. People really good at their jobs too. Yet this dude has run that same old shtick for years. He's basically a televised version of that friend we all have who comes hard with his take, doesn't let anyone else's opinion get in the conversation, and also will never account for the fact that he's wrong on almost everything.

Brian Windhorst's future rides on this decision too ... where will he live now?

Wonder how many times LBJ has left the arena late at night to see Windy stuffed in an S-10 with a pizza on his lap... trying to get "the scoop".

Insufferable much longer than that already. The decision to stack up more talking heads and mansplain every opinion that can contrive, as if those opinions matter (and those opinions should matter) to us began the death spiral of a way overpriced product. Is it a sports channel if they don't cover the event but just talk it up instead? Somebody stupidly arrived at the decision that these appointed experts were a destination unto themselves, that viewers go to them instead of the sports. And the silly stuff like mike ladies and guys with dumb questions in mid-contest for coaches is a waste IMO. More talk, less sports coverage, questionable opinions, and treating those opinions and hearsay and fabrication and artificial controversy are not sports. But they are easier to make for market overkill despite lacking genuine appeal like it used to command.

Less schlock and more sports coverage.

You and Punch are very good BB posters. I wish I could have read more of you two and less of others who complained about almost everything w/this team.

Unless something crazy happens, those posters are going to get their wish. LeBron will be gone, this team will be broken up, we will "build through the draft," and we will be a perennial lottery team.

Sometimes, I think Cleveland fans don't deserve a winner.

Fans don't deserve a winner?

That's cool, it doesn't matter what the fans do, or want anyways.

If you have a chance to be a winner, as a team, Win!

That's their whole reason to Etre isn't it?
That's sports.

The Cavs did win! "Fans" like lead did not nothing but b***** the entire time. So no, they don't deserve a winner!

Suck it up buttercup.

I don't like Lead's opinions either, but you know what? That's what this board is for. To state your opinion and everyone is entitled to it. That doesn't mean everyone has to like it.

It's a public forum where people posts their thoughts and opinions. I don't understand why you get so upset over people having different opinions than you. If it bothers you that much, the board has an ignore feature you can use.





This is inevitable. Lebron is not going to play forever. Even if he comes out and says he wants to finish his career in Cleveland, he will retire eventually. When he does, we'll be a lottery team again.

I want to win more championships. All my life I've seen Cleveland teams almost get there. I've only seen them get there once.

Perhaps you can follow your own advice?

and now all we listen to is you bitching about Lead Your obsession is not a good look

It seems your obsession w/me is weird.

No, you just whine a lot and multiple people have called you out about it . You bitch about Leads posts more than Lead even posts .

Waiting for the PM now with you wanting to fight

It's so simple to ignore somebody here on this message board. Two or so mouse clicks, job done.

Not really....some jackwagon such as myself will quote the post to keep things interes5, lol.

LOL! Well, least you're real/honest about it hahaha.

1. I'm really thankful and appreciative of what Lebron has done for the city, the franchise, the fans, etc. What a ride.

2. When Durant went to the Warriors they became nearly unbeatable.

3. When we lost Kyrie and couldn't add anybody of worth, it was an inevitable outcome.

4. Game 1 was a dagger. It was both referee-inflicted and self-inflicted and it was too much to overcome.

5. I was disappointed in how we played in Game 4. We laid down.