Re: Cleveland Cavaliers
Posted: Sat May 12, 2018 10:45 am
Cavs’ best bet to keep LeBron? No one else tempting, insider suggests
Colton Jones Amico Hoops
Brian Windhorst has been covering LeBron James since he was a high school phenom at St. Vincent-St. Mary’s in Akron.
With James having to decide on whether to pick up his $35.6 million player option for the 2018-19 season by June 29, Windhorst sees LeBron remaining with the Cleveland Cavaliers as a very real possibility, for one specific reason.
Appearing on the Woj Pod with host Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN with fellow guest, Bobby Marks, formerly the assistant general manager of the Nets, Windhorst explained his rationale succinctly.
“I think the Cavs’ greatest situation, is that there’s no other great situation,” Windhorst said. “And that may end up keeping LeBron put.”
Windhorst touched on several Cavaliers-related topics, including the NBA Draft Lottery, set for Tuesday in Chicago, the much-speculated-on Brooklyn pick, which Cleveland acquired as part of the Kyrie Irving deal Aug. 22, and whom the Cavs might select in the draft June 25, or if they will trade it.
“This draft pick that they are about to make is enormous,” Windhorst said. “First off, because it’s Cleveland, we have to see what happens Tuesday because these dudes win lotteries. I know they’re down to two percent, or whatever, but they are in the same slot they were when they won the Kyrie lottery.”
Windhorst told a story about how Cleveland almost incredibly won the draft lottery four consecutive seasons and who it just missed out on in the one of the four it didn’t win.
“Let me tell you what’s crazy, I don’t know if everybody knows this,” he said. “So they won three lotteries over the course of four years. One of them was with the Clippers pick. The year they did’t win, was the year that the Pelicans, they were the Hornets then, the Pelicans won to get Anthony Davis. And here’s the crazy thing — the Cavs and the Pelicans had the same record and they did a coin flip. And the way the coin flip worked, the Pelicans got this set of Ping-Pong balls. If the coin doesn’t go (that way), then the Cavs would’ve won that lottery, too. Even their slot won, that year.”
So, aside from the immediate task — taking on Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals for the second consecutive season — what lies ahead for Cleveland?
“First, the Cavs have to go through the lottery. And Dan Gilbert fully expects to move into the top three… because why wouldn’t he?” Windhorst said. “Like I said, they won three of four and the fourth one, they lost on a tiebreak, otherwise it would have been four in a row. So, first off, they have to see that happens on Tuesday. So let’s say the percentages hold and they don’t move up from eight.
“So then that becomes a vitally important draft pick. Do you draft a guy there who you think pairs with LeBron, or do you draft a guy there that maybe doesn’t pair with LeBron? And here’s the challenge, unless LeBron breaks from his past, when the season ends, there’s not going to be an exit interview, he’s just going to leave. And then there will be no conversations with LeBron James about what to do with the draft pick.
“‘And, hey, LeBron, what about your option that you have for next year on the 29th? Are you going to pick that up? Are you interested in picking that up? What if we trade the No. 8 pick for Player X?'”
Which puts the Cavaliers in quite a difficult position.
“Unless LeBron changes his modus operandi, he will go dark,” Windhorst said. “So ideally, if you had a player who was much more invested in the team… which by the way, this is one of the things about when people say LeBron is the GM, yes, there are times when LeBron exerts pressure on the Cavs franchise and tries to force them, or leverage them into doing things. At the same time, he runs away from that at times because he doesn’t want to take ownership of decisions because he wants to be able to have the freedom to blame the organization and/or leave the organization.”
James has a track record of doing exactly that, Windhorst explained.
“For example, this happened in Miami (in 2014). The Heat draft Shabazz Napier because LeBron has touted him as being one of his favorite players or favorite player in the draft,” he said. “But they weren’t on the phone with LeBron saying, ‘Hey, do you want us to take Napier? Yeah, yeah take Napier.’ He fit the profile of a player that Pat Riley likes, which is a guard who had played three or four years, very similar actually in profile to Dwyane Wade — championship-level player who played three or four years. It wasn’t like Pat Riley hated the guy, but the concept that LeBron’s told the Heat take Shabazz Napier and then bolted on them is just not accurate. Once the season ends, you can’t get him, forget about it. You’re not getting him on the phone.”
Windhorst tried to explain how things could work come draft night for the Cavaliers.
“(Oklahoma’s) Trae Young is an interesting character. I know that Dan Gilbert probably loves the concept of taking Trae Young. He would be very excited maybe to get his hands on him and he may be available in that spot,” he said. “Trae Young, a perimeter shooter alongside LeBron, could potentially be… I don’t know how good Trae Young is going to be. I’m no scout. But that could potentially be a tremendous one-two punch, especially if Trae Young is the type of player that some people think he will be, but other people think he’s going to be not as good. Other people are afraid of that being a bust pick. OK, that’s a classic example.
“Or, do you take a pick as if LeBron is not going to be there? Do you take Michael Porter Jr., for example? If it comes down to Michael Porter Jr. or LeBron James, you’d love to be sitting next to LeBron and having him have input on this as to where this is going to go. But I just don’t think that’s going to happen. So the Cavs are going to kind of have to go blind.”
Windhorst explained how James has played with only a handful of first-round draft picks who actually played as rookies.
“One thing I’m going to point out about draft picks and LeBron — in his career, he has played with only four first-round draft picks. In other words, guys who got drafted and played with LeBron as rookies. Four,” he said. “And they are Luke Jackson, who hurt his back in the first summer league and was never a factor in the NBA. That’s one. Shannon Brown, who the Cavs didn’t even pick up his third-year option. J.J. Hickson, who was a prospect and had some good moments with LeBron, but certainly, LeBron didn’t get excited about staying with the Cavs to play alongside J.J. Hickson. And Norris Cole, who was like the 28th pick and basically drafted to be a backup point guard, which is what he did.”
Which brings us to this — what should the Cavaliers do in respect to how it affects James’ choice on his player option?
“So, if you’re LeBron James and those are the four guys that you have seen coming in, you’re not going to get excited about about a first-round draft pick. You’re just not going to get excited about it,” Windhorst said. “He never had a Jason Tatum come up and play alongside of him. He never had any of these influxes of talent. He’s 33 going on 34. Selling him on a guy who may be really good in two or three years, that’s just not going to go.”
Which might mean a trade, such as Cleveland did in 2014 when it drafted Andrew Wiggins with the No. 1 overall pick and then traded him and another former No. 1 overall pick, Anthony Bennett, to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Kevin Love.
“LeBron probably would love to see what they could fetch for the eighth pick, or let’s say they get lucky and hop up to No. 3,” Windhorst said. “I’m not sure that LeBron is that excited about playing with Luka Doncic. Even if that draft pick may end up setting the franchise in a great position in two or three years.
“So that’s the issue — their big piece to improve the franchise, their biggest trade asset and their biggest piece to improve their franchise is a draft pick, which is not something LeBron has been deeply involved with before.”
Colton Jones Amico Hoops
Brian Windhorst has been covering LeBron James since he was a high school phenom at St. Vincent-St. Mary’s in Akron.
With James having to decide on whether to pick up his $35.6 million player option for the 2018-19 season by June 29, Windhorst sees LeBron remaining with the Cleveland Cavaliers as a very real possibility, for one specific reason.
Appearing on the Woj Pod with host Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN with fellow guest, Bobby Marks, formerly the assistant general manager of the Nets, Windhorst explained his rationale succinctly.
“I think the Cavs’ greatest situation, is that there’s no other great situation,” Windhorst said. “And that may end up keeping LeBron put.”
Windhorst touched on several Cavaliers-related topics, including the NBA Draft Lottery, set for Tuesday in Chicago, the much-speculated-on Brooklyn pick, which Cleveland acquired as part of the Kyrie Irving deal Aug. 22, and whom the Cavs might select in the draft June 25, or if they will trade it.
“This draft pick that they are about to make is enormous,” Windhorst said. “First off, because it’s Cleveland, we have to see what happens Tuesday because these dudes win lotteries. I know they’re down to two percent, or whatever, but they are in the same slot they were when they won the Kyrie lottery.”
Windhorst told a story about how Cleveland almost incredibly won the draft lottery four consecutive seasons and who it just missed out on in the one of the four it didn’t win.
“Let me tell you what’s crazy, I don’t know if everybody knows this,” he said. “So they won three lotteries over the course of four years. One of them was with the Clippers pick. The year they did’t win, was the year that the Pelicans, they were the Hornets then, the Pelicans won to get Anthony Davis. And here’s the crazy thing — the Cavs and the Pelicans had the same record and they did a coin flip. And the way the coin flip worked, the Pelicans got this set of Ping-Pong balls. If the coin doesn’t go (that way), then the Cavs would’ve won that lottery, too. Even their slot won, that year.”
So, aside from the immediate task — taking on Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals for the second consecutive season — what lies ahead for Cleveland?
“First, the Cavs have to go through the lottery. And Dan Gilbert fully expects to move into the top three… because why wouldn’t he?” Windhorst said. “Like I said, they won three of four and the fourth one, they lost on a tiebreak, otherwise it would have been four in a row. So, first off, they have to see that happens on Tuesday. So let’s say the percentages hold and they don’t move up from eight.
“So then that becomes a vitally important draft pick. Do you draft a guy there who you think pairs with LeBron, or do you draft a guy there that maybe doesn’t pair with LeBron? And here’s the challenge, unless LeBron breaks from his past, when the season ends, there’s not going to be an exit interview, he’s just going to leave. And then there will be no conversations with LeBron James about what to do with the draft pick.
“‘And, hey, LeBron, what about your option that you have for next year on the 29th? Are you going to pick that up? Are you interested in picking that up? What if we trade the No. 8 pick for Player X?'”
Which puts the Cavaliers in quite a difficult position.
“Unless LeBron changes his modus operandi, he will go dark,” Windhorst said. “So ideally, if you had a player who was much more invested in the team… which by the way, this is one of the things about when people say LeBron is the GM, yes, there are times when LeBron exerts pressure on the Cavs franchise and tries to force them, or leverage them into doing things. At the same time, he runs away from that at times because he doesn’t want to take ownership of decisions because he wants to be able to have the freedom to blame the organization and/or leave the organization.”
James has a track record of doing exactly that, Windhorst explained.
“For example, this happened in Miami (in 2014). The Heat draft Shabazz Napier because LeBron has touted him as being one of his favorite players or favorite player in the draft,” he said. “But they weren’t on the phone with LeBron saying, ‘Hey, do you want us to take Napier? Yeah, yeah take Napier.’ He fit the profile of a player that Pat Riley likes, which is a guard who had played three or four years, very similar actually in profile to Dwyane Wade — championship-level player who played three or four years. It wasn’t like Pat Riley hated the guy, but the concept that LeBron’s told the Heat take Shabazz Napier and then bolted on them is just not accurate. Once the season ends, you can’t get him, forget about it. You’re not getting him on the phone.”
Windhorst tried to explain how things could work come draft night for the Cavaliers.
“(Oklahoma’s) Trae Young is an interesting character. I know that Dan Gilbert probably loves the concept of taking Trae Young. He would be very excited maybe to get his hands on him and he may be available in that spot,” he said. “Trae Young, a perimeter shooter alongside LeBron, could potentially be… I don’t know how good Trae Young is going to be. I’m no scout. But that could potentially be a tremendous one-two punch, especially if Trae Young is the type of player that some people think he will be, but other people think he’s going to be not as good. Other people are afraid of that being a bust pick. OK, that’s a classic example.
“Or, do you take a pick as if LeBron is not going to be there? Do you take Michael Porter Jr., for example? If it comes down to Michael Porter Jr. or LeBron James, you’d love to be sitting next to LeBron and having him have input on this as to where this is going to go. But I just don’t think that’s going to happen. So the Cavs are going to kind of have to go blind.”
Windhorst explained how James has played with only a handful of first-round draft picks who actually played as rookies.
“One thing I’m going to point out about draft picks and LeBron — in his career, he has played with only four first-round draft picks. In other words, guys who got drafted and played with LeBron as rookies. Four,” he said. “And they are Luke Jackson, who hurt his back in the first summer league and was never a factor in the NBA. That’s one. Shannon Brown, who the Cavs didn’t even pick up his third-year option. J.J. Hickson, who was a prospect and had some good moments with LeBron, but certainly, LeBron didn’t get excited about staying with the Cavs to play alongside J.J. Hickson. And Norris Cole, who was like the 28th pick and basically drafted to be a backup point guard, which is what he did.”
Which brings us to this — what should the Cavaliers do in respect to how it affects James’ choice on his player option?
“So, if you’re LeBron James and those are the four guys that you have seen coming in, you’re not going to get excited about about a first-round draft pick. You’re just not going to get excited about it,” Windhorst said. “He never had a Jason Tatum come up and play alongside of him. He never had any of these influxes of talent. He’s 33 going on 34. Selling him on a guy who may be really good in two or three years, that’s just not going to go.”
Which might mean a trade, such as Cleveland did in 2014 when it drafted Andrew Wiggins with the No. 1 overall pick and then traded him and another former No. 1 overall pick, Anthony Bennett, to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Kevin Love.
“LeBron probably would love to see what they could fetch for the eighth pick, or let’s say they get lucky and hop up to No. 3,” Windhorst said. “I’m not sure that LeBron is that excited about playing with Luka Doncic. Even if that draft pick may end up setting the franchise in a great position in two or three years.
“So that’s the issue — their big piece to improve the franchise, their biggest trade asset and their biggest piece to improve their franchise is a draft pick, which is not something LeBron has been deeply involved with before.”
