LBJ Decision - Cleveland!
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Padrino
All-Star
if kevin love arrives in cleveland, it's certainly an interesting basketball situation (especially if CLE can manage to acquire love without giving up andrew wiggins). that said, love would be playing off-ball a lot more for the cavaliers, as perhaps the most talented stretch-4 in history (who can also rebound like a maniac). but i still don't have much of an idea how lebron and kyrie irving fit together. then again, if it doesn't work, irving is one helluva trade chip to bring back a piece that does work. it's intriguing, to say the least; it really does shift the entire landscape of the eastern conference...
Well he's a PR machine, that's for sure. Learned something from 4 years ago.
Padrino
All-Star
he certainly did. but i also think he means it. his emotional ties to akron have never been overstated, and i think it genuinely hurt him to know how much he hurt cleveland when he left. his frustration was understandable, though. looking back at those teams, it truly is amazing how inept the cavaliers' front office was at building around the greatest player in the world. what a royal f***-up that was...
that said, i thought "the decision" was handled very poorly, and i really wasn't a fan of the infamous "heatles" parade where they announced "not one, not two..." it soured their entire run for me, to know that they felt entitled to win titles. it made it all the more sweet when they lost their first nba finals appearance. but they would go on to win two championships together, and i think lebron is content to sit on two if it means he might be able to help cleveland win one before he retires. what an accomplishment that would be...
I just wonder, what happens if he gets the itch again. It's great that he's coming home after only 4 years, and he somewhat screwed the Heat who never deserved it in the process, but he still has 7-10 more years in the league barring something catastrophic.
Bottom line is I don't think I can root for him, but at least he seemingly did the right thing.
Bottom line is I don't think I can root for him, but at least he seemingly did the right thing.
Padrino
All-Star
to me, that's what's so interesting about lebron's decision to return to cleveland. i don't think he's trying to win you over, or me, or anybody else outside of ohio. i honestly think he learned something important during his four-year tenure with the heat: he will never be able to please everybody...
i'm not lebron's biggest fan, but i empathize with the fact that there's little he can do to silence his critics. in the internet age, he will never be able to say enough or do enough or win enough or sacrifice enough to earn the global adoration that michael jordan managed to achieve at a time in which players were not a fraction as scrutinized in their every move as they are today. so instead, lebron wants to go home, raise his family at home, and work to bring a championship home to a state whose sports fans are culturally wired for losing...
maybe you're right; maybe he gets the itch at some point and bolts cleveland again, but i seriously doubt it. as much criticism as LBJ has managed to withstand in the last half-decade, nothing would prepare him for the righteous anger of abandoning his hometown not once, but twice...
rexb_kings
Bench
not only that..Cleveland gets Ray Ray and Mike Miller pretty much for free with LBJ going there now.
I guess the million dollar question, and I don't think we'll ever know, is is he doing it for him or is he doing it for Cleveland. I tend to feel it's about his legacy, and in that regard "You can't go home again". If it really is all about Ohio, well then that saying is out the window because it if feasible he leads them to at least one championship.
Hypothetically, if he does that relatively quickly and then all the young talent bolts their rookie deals to go get paid ... where does that leave him?
In some ways I kind of find the most fascinating aspect of this is how quickly the "Big Three" broke up and where this leaves all of them. Especially Wade, who seems to have gotten screwed here.
Hypothetically, if he does that relatively quickly and then all the young talent bolts their rookie deals to go get paid ... where does that leave him?
In some ways I kind of find the most fascinating aspect of this is how quickly the "Big Three" broke up and where this leaves all of them. Especially Wade, who seems to have gotten screwed here.
Bosh is actually a great fit in Houston.
As for Wade, he'll likely take one last deal from Miami that let's him spend his whole career with the Heat. But if he does go elsewhere Chicago is the only likely scenario I can think of.
I agree Bosh is probably better fit in Houston's "Big 3" than he was with Miami's Big 3.
Although this starts a little snow ball in Houston where they have to start moving all their role players with substantial salary to cover the costs. And could leave the team gutted when its over. At least they have two bigs and a scorer instead of two scorers and a big who didn't always play big.
Although this starts a little snow ball in Houston where they have to start moving all their role players with substantial salary to cover the costs. And could leave the team gutted when its over. At least they have two bigs and a scorer instead of two scorers and a big who didn't always play big.
Padrino
All-Star
well, let's be real here: dwyane wade is on his last legs, but he's got three nba titles to his credit. he "seems to have gotten screwed" in the sense that he likely won't be able to compete for further titles as his career winds down, but i'm not sure that either james or bosh should have too much sympathy for the member of their little trio who's got the most rings...
the big three and their rotating cast of misfits made it to the nba finals four years in a row. that's no easy feat, even in a pathetically weak eastern conference. i think they're breaking up the band at just the right time in their respective careers, to be honest. james is going to try redemption on for size in cleveland, bosh is going to be an incredibly useful fit in houston, and wade should get some solid legacy dollars from miami if he doesn't land with a winner somewhere else...
LPKingsFan
All-Star
Still think Wade should "go home" himself, to the Bulls
LPKingsFan
All-Star
This seems likely, although there have also been reports that Allen is considering retirement, and Miller being tempted by $$ from the Nuggets. I would imagine, though, if Cleveland sends out some of its young wings for Love, that these guys would follow suit. I mean:
Irving
Allen, maybe still Waiters?
James/Miller
Love/Thompson
Varejao/Thompson
is a very good rotation, and maybe you get a backup vet big or two (Birdman?) to follow the coattails.
Big Cuz 15
All-Star
he turned off alot of people with the way he handled his free agency bolt to miami. i was disgusted to hear the not 1, not 2, not 3 crap. the team the way its constructed has to appeal to him also. if the team didn't have any good/great players.. pretty sure he wouldn't consider going back home either. anyhow, either way its a good story line to see him go home and try to make things right.
kingsboi
Hall of Famer
Not sure Cleveland can get Love without Wiggins, plus I am sure now that they have Bron and Kyrie in place that Love would be willing to sign an extension with them, of course you have to hear it from him but if you get a chance to put Love, Bron and Irving together in order to sacrifice Wiggins then you do it.
TyFreak Evans
Bench
Glad LeBron did this. Happy for Cleveland.
ShastaKingsFan
All-Star
It's also interesting that Mike Brown was the coach there before, left for another team...and now he also is back with the Cavs. This may have helped with the decision as well
Really? I thought Lebron was a big reason they fired Brown in the first place.
ShastaKingsFan
All-Star
Ok I looked it up, and in fact I forgot Brown was fired earlier this year so he's not even coach of the Cavs anymore. They hired Blatt
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/10922478/mike-brown-fired-coach-cleveland-cavaliers
"Brown went 272-138 in his first stint with Cleveland. Led by superstar LeBron James, the Cavs made the finals for the first time in 2007 and were title contenders throughout Brown's tenure. However, they didn't advance past the Eastern Conference semifinals four years ago and Brown was let go. At the time, it appeared Gilbert was making the move -- and hiring Byron Scott as coach -- to appease James and hopefully keep him in Cleveland."
ShastaKingsFan
All-Star
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