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Dwyane Wade releases statement on LeBron James - CBSSports.com
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-bask...on-lebron-james

Dwyane Wade released a statement on Saturday on LeBron James' decision to go back to Cleveland, via the Associated Press' Tim Reynolds:

As a friend and a teammate, I am sad to see my brother LeBron leave to begin a new journey. In 2010, we decided to come together all for one goal — to win championships and we succeeded. We were friends when we first joined the league and created an unbreakable bond the past four years. Our collaboration will always be very special to me both personally and professionally. We shared something unique and he will always be part of my family. LeBron made the right decision for him and his family because home is where your heart is. I know this was not an easy decision to make and I support him in returning to his roots. As an organization, a community, and as individuals, we achieved the goals we set when we first signed on together. We are champions.

This comes a day after James' announcement and Miami Heat president Pat Riley's classy sendoff. While the organization was not at all expecting this to happen, it appears to be handling it well.

I hear DWade may be going home to Chicago

KING

C

Anderson Varejao

We all know who Andy is, and what he does. It's just a matter of health. Which is scary, because the cupboard is completely bare here.

The rest of the position is chum. I would expect us to bring in a guy like Birdman. We are sorely lacking a defensive presence in our frontcourt.

PF

Tristan Thompson

I would've liked to have seen more growth from Thompson at this point. He's pretty awful offensively, and he's a limited defender. He can't protect the rim that well, but he's rangy enough to blow up pick-and-rolls. Cleans up the glass well offensively, but that only goes so far when you gather and get it swatted four rows up. The addition of James will mean more buckets for him, but he needs to get quicker under the rim to increase his efficiency there.

And I think we're more or less stuck with him. LRMR represents him, and LeBron is more or less our de facto GM now. He'll get overpaid next year wherever he goes, but I'd expect him to stay on paper.

Anthony Bennett

Watched him play summer league vs. the Bucks. Looks leaner and stronger by leaps and bounds. His jumper is still a mess, but that takes time. There's no need to panic...if he develops into an adequate stretch 4, he'll be an asset going for. Still a headscratcher of a pick, but we're finally in a position to look forward at possibility instead of looking back in regret, so Bennett has the luxury of developing without huge pressure on him.

At the very least, if he can start hitting 3's more consistently on the pick-and-pop, we'll be in good shape going forward.

SF

LeBron James

He's home.

Like the center spot, the cupboard is pretty bare here. It sounds like we're looking to bring in Mike Miller, but while he's a natural 3, he'll be on the floor with LeBron a lot at the 2.

Our roster has a lot of flexibility to it. Having the best player on the planet will do that. LBJ can play 1-4, Wiggins can go between the 2 and the 3. Irving can't defend at the 2, but he'll probably get some looks in that role. Thompson can play a little center in small ball sets during the regular season, but that won't fly during the playoffs.

SG

Andrew Wiggins

He's best suited at the 3, but he can effectively play the 2, especially with James. The two of them are a huge infusion of defense, especially on the perimeter. His offense game is going to need a lot of polish. Expect him to struggle in that area this year, but that's OK.

By the way, I wonder how Jabari Parker feels now about preferring Milwaukee? So glad we made the Wiggins pick. Parker should stud out, but I think he projects as a stretch 4 long term, and we had just drafted one the year before.

Dion Waiters

Waiters made a lot of improvement over the course of last year, but I wonder if he can adapt to Blatt's style of offense. He's not fond of being an off-ball guard. Then again, he has no choice now. He's the third scoring option. If he can embrace his role and be more disciplined, his slashing can open up a lot for us. There's potential there for him to be a poor man's Wade in this line-up.

I'd be a little surprised if he's still a Cav by the trade deadline.

The rest aren't really worth mentioning. I'd expect us to bring in a shooter. If Joe Harris can hit the open looks, he'll get, he could be a limited rotational piece going forward, but I know nothing about the guy's game. Doesn't need to do much more than shoot effectively, though.

PG

Kyrie Irving

He'll finally slot into the Robin role he's best suited for. LeBron has never worked with a PG of his calibur. Should be a blast to watch. He's never going to be a capable defender, but he no longer has to take the team on his shoulders, and he's very capable of being an outstanding second option. He can play off the ball, and move it around.

Dellavedova and Felix aren't guys you find on contenders.

Not sure if Haywood came over in that trade or not? He's nothing but a body with a friendly contract.

As present, this isn't a championship team on paper. But they're a contender, especially in the East. But they're far too raw to really compete with the powerhouses in the West.

Thankfully, Bosh went back to Miami. If he signs with Houston, they probably end up contending for the FInals right around the time we are, and a Howard/Bosh frontcourt.would give this team fits.

We need consistent shooters and frontcourt help on both sides of the ball. It's way too early to speculate, and I don't see the roster as a finished piece yet, but right now this is a team that could reasonably be expected to make The Finals right now, probably getting ousted 4-1 or 4-2.

It's good to have Cavs basketball back. Those last four years were miserable.

LeBron signs two year deal with opt out after first year.

Link

Someone very smart said this was going to happen.

Ariza signed with the Rockets.

This means that we can add another max deal next year ..... and trade the $10 million non guaranteed contract of Haywood ..... and then re-sign Lebron.

He is committed to Cleveland long term, and signed the short term deal because the salary cap (and maximum) is expected to take a substantial jump with the new TV deal.

LeBron James' deal with Cleveland Cavaliers for 2 years, $42.1 million - ESPN
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11207703/lebron-james-deal-cleveland-cavaliers-2-years-421-million

With an eye towards maximizing the future of the salary cap, LeBron James finalized his contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday, sources familiar with the process told ESPN.com.

James has agreed to a two-year, $42.1 million deal with the team with the goal of re-signing with the Cavs before the 2016-17 season when a new television contract is expected to create a large jump in value of the maximum.

As part of the deal, James will have an option to become a free agent next summer but is fully committed to the Cavs long term, sources said.

"I always believed that I'd return to Cleveland and finish my career there," James wrote in his essay in Sports Illustrated announcing his decision on Friday.

Depending on how the new television contracts are put together, the salary cap is projected to leap to as high as $80 million in 2016. There is also uncertainty with the current collective bargaining agreement starting in 2017, another reason James wanted to keep his long-term options open when it comes to the structure of his contract.

Because of James' off-court earnings, which top $40 million per year according to some estimates, allows for him to take some short-term risk to maximize long-term earnings.

James has earned $129 million over his 11-year career but has only earned the max salary three times in that time.

James' Cleveland-based agents Rich Paul and Mark Termini structured the deal with the Cavs.

Isn't this what I was I saying all along? And people said they wouldn't want him back under those terms.

(The answer is yes).

Its a smart move by lebron. With all that money coming in from the new tv deals, no sense taking a long term deal, when you are leaving extra money on the table..

I meant a deal where he could potentially leave because he was unsure.

This is an entirely different situation now. He has said that he all but intends to finish his career here ........ so I'm not worried about him opting out and leaving. (which is what some, though maybe not you, insinuated)

Geesh ..... maybe 3 first round picks next year ..... a $10 million non guaranteed contract chip ...... a Lebron opt out that could let us add another max deal ......

This could be scary.

Well .... I figured that might be too easy.

Still, we have Andy, who we could use in a sign and trade, along with the $10 million non guaranteed deal ........ and that could still allow us a lot of ability to do things. (and those 1st round picks)

People are going to freak out, but Lebron made two things very clear. Finishing his career with the Cavs, and the blatantly obvious fact that this team isn't there. I highly doubt he releases that emotional letter only to bolt because he doesn't win a title in a year or two. This is purely to make sure he gets his cut, and to make up for quite a bit of money he sacrificed in Miami.

Every beat writer is saying there is zero to panic about.

We should be fine so long as Dion Waiters doesn't sleep with Gloria.

J/C
I must admit, I'm still in somewhat disbelief that Lebron decided to come back to the Cavs. They have been pretty hard to watch over the last few years (almost high school-ish, at times).
I haven't seen this in the thread yet, but will it help with our lack of rim protecting and overall paint toughness?

Powell and Haywood



CLEVELAND, OH – The Cleveland Cavaliers have acquired center Brendan Haywood and the draft rights to forward Dwight Powell, the 45th pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, from the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for guard Scotty Hopson and cash considerations, General Manager David Griffin announced today.

Haywood has played in 794 career NBA games (548 starts) over his 12-year career for Washington, Dallas and Charlotte with averages of 6.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 23.4 minutes. His career field goal percentage of .528 ranks ninth among active players. Haywood was a member of Dallas’ 2011 NBA Championship team, and has appeared in 53 career postseason games, averaging 6.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.3 blocks, while shooting .564 from the field. The New York, NY native played four seasons at the University of North Carolina before being selected by Cleveland with the 20th overall pick in the 2001 NBA Draft. His rights were traded on draft night to Orlando, who later traded him to Washington. The 7-0, 263-pound center missed the entire 2013-14 season due to a stress fracture in his left foot.

Powell played four years at Stanford, appearing in 136 games (105 starts) with averages of 10.8 points and 6.3 rebounds in 26.2 minutes per game. The 6-11, 240-pound forward from Ontario, Canada is a two-time First Team All-Pac 12 selection. He averaged 14.0 points, 6.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.3 steals during his senior season and was the Pac 12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Powell also played for Canada in the World University Games in the summer of 2013.

Mike Cairns of channel 5 is tweeting that he is looking into a story of a 3-team trade involving the Cavs that would have Kevin Love coming to Cleveland. He does not have any more details. Doesn't sound like it's done but just ongoing.

It makes sense to me that Lebron would come for sentimental reasons. Cleveland isn't like other sports towns. It gets into your blood when you live there. I don't know how to explain it, other than I no longer live in Cleveland. I have lived several other places and it's not the same. People like sports where I live but it's not an obsession.

In Cleveland it unifies the city. People randomly come up to you to talk sports if you wear a jersey. Everybody at any time know the score. It's something uneplainable. Cleveland sports just get in your blood.

Other cities don't compare. Sure there are other cities with fans. But it's not the same. Cleveland = the Borg of sports.

This is not a done deal but this is what is being worked on

RT @MikeCarins5 Cavs working three team deal w/ Warriors/TWolves. Warriors get multiple 1st rnd picks. Wolves get Klay and Tristan Thompson. Love to Cavs

Getting Love by ONLY giving up TT and picks? Holy crap..

Please don't give our GM reasons to not make trades...

Seems to good to be true, but it sounds at least somewhat possible.

I understand our end, obviously. I understand Minnesota just getting something, but I don't get the Warriors signing off there.

It sounds like the Cavs are close to signing Miller.

Thing that stinks about this Love stuff is that there is no deadline working against Minnesota. They can carry this out for as long as they want. I have my doubts but it is nice to see the Cavs at least trying.

I don't see how that Love trade works as reported by Cairns.

But Love has the leverage in this. A commitment to extend from him will net Minnesota a decent return. As a rental he's much less valuable.

Gasol to Chicago.

http://espn.go.com/chicago/nba/story/_/id/11207844/pau-gasol-tweets-joining-chicago-bulls

The Central became stacked very quickly.

Just wait till Wade signs with them, too.

I'd be surprised if that went down.

Miami usually takes care of it's people.

I get the feeling that Wade is just waiting to see who all will sign with the team, and take a contact for whatever money is left.

https://twitter.com/RealSkipBayless

This is absolutely hysterical.

It reads like a Bayless parody account.

T-Wolves' stance in recent trade talks is said to remain same: If Klay Thompson part of deal, Kevin Love will go to Warriors, not Cavs.

https://twitter.com/SamAmicoFSO

J/C

Even though I was negative about everything all along, didn't want him back and never believed he would return.

I'm glad he did.

Remember this motley crew?