Cleveland Sports Forum

Agree with Rusty on this one. The reason this team has some ugly contracts is because LeBron wanted them. He pressured team to resign Thompson. He pressured them to resign Smith. Then, after he forces them into this mess he will walk away to his next attempted juggernaut with the hopes of titles.

I won’t wish him luck.

I agree with Rusty and Hillbilly re Lebron's role in making it difficult for general managers to keep the team stocked long-term with a healthy balance of stars, old pros, and (critically after several years of win now at all cost maneuvers) young stars and superstars in the making.

His own insistence in getting absolute max money year-to-year adds to the problem.

But I won't be as mad as I was with him last time he left. I will always remember him as the guy who finally got Cleveland a professional championship in my conscious lifetime and as the guy who amazed us with such great personal performances on the court for so many years. I also really appreciate the scholarship help he is giving so many young, disadvantaged kids.

So, I don't know yet whether I will be reluctant to root for him elsewhere, if he goes. Certainly, I would like to see someone give Golden State some heart-ache and a major getting over of themselves. But, I have little hope to see a truly great Cavs team anytime near soon if he does leave, And that will suck.

'There's a Microscope': What's It Like to Have LeBron's Future in Your Hands?
HOWARD BECK
JUNE 6, 2018


B/R
CLEVELAND — If you can't be an NBA superstar, the next best thing is to play next to one.

The superstar dunks, you whoop and holler. He hits a buzzer-beater, you give him a chest bump. Occasionally, you throw down one of his misses, and the superstar points approvingly.

The superstar will carry you to 50-win seasons, deep playoff runs and, quite possibly, a championship.

A blessing, some call it. Except when it isn't.

"It's a gift and a curse," says Cleveland Cavaliers guard Jordan Clarkson, one of 14 players who is currently blessed with having LeBron James as his teammate. "You got the attention of everybody watching all the time. It's just part of it."

By "attention," Clarkson means "scrutiny." Also: criticism, blame, ire and occasional apoplexy. None of it will be proportional, and it may not be rational.

If the Cavaliers somehow rally from a 2-0 deficit in the NBA Finals and beat the Golden State Warriors, all attention will be on James winning his fourth championship. If they lose, James will also take the brunt of the backlash—but with a big, bold caveat attached: It's because of his teammates.

More specifically: Because his teammates aren't good enough.

The Warriors have four All-Stars. LeBron has Kevin Love and a band of not-so-merry journeymen.

Every missed jumper, wayward pass and late-game gaffe (hello, JR Smith) carries heavy consequences. Any other team loses, it's a disappointment. The Cavs lose, it's a stain on LeBron's legacy.

"I'd say there's a microscope," Cavaliers forward Tristan Thompson says. "You got to be ready to perform every night. So, you got to be prepared for that. And some guys can't handle those big stages; some guys can."

The microscope has not been kind. It's magnified Smith forgetting the score and dribbling out the clock at the end of regulation in a tied Game 1. And George Hill's missed free throw just before that. It's amplified Clarkson's clanked jumpers and Jeff Green's general malaise.

James delivered a historic performance in Game 1—51 points, eight rebounds, eight assists—and the Cavs lost anyway. He followed that with a 29-point, 13-assist, nine-rebound effort in Game 2, and came away with a 19-point defeat.

No one could really blame James for those losses. So the backlash naturally fell to the unsupportive supporting cast, and left Smith relying on a well-worn cliche.

"It's a gift and a curse," he said over the weekend. "You play on his team, and you're playing with the best player in the world, and you get to witness some great, historic things and be a part of it. Then, on the other side, if you don't help that person win, they're looking at you, too. So it's a lot of pressure, depending on how you look at it."

Smith has missed 14 of his 19 shots so far. Clarkson has missed 10 of 13. Even Kyle Korver, the Cavs' designated sharpshooter, has gone flat, missing five of his six attempts. It's gotten so desperate that coach Tyronn Lue is considering a more prominent role for Rodney Hood, who was all but banished from the rotation.

Perhaps the burden of being LeBron's teammate is too great for those who make up this group. Or at least, that's what these guys are hearing every day.

"It's definitely a present thing," says Larry Nance Jr., who arrived here with Clarkson in a February trade. "You can't turn on ESPN or SportsCenter without everybody else like, 'Oh, LeBron's got no help,' and all that stuff. But anybody that's saying that is outside of our locker room. And the only opinions we're worried about are the ones inside our locker room."

Though, as Clarkson separately acknowledged, playing with James is different than playing anywhere else, or with anyone else.

"Especially us new guys, we talk about it," he said. "We're new here; it's a new experience for us. Definitely, I feel like you can feel it, too. It's part of the game. It comes with it."

Hood, who was also acquired in February, recently told the Undefeated, "You lose a game and you feel like the world is coming down. You win, it's like, you're supposed to win. It's still a struggle to me to adapt to that."

Screw up on LeBron's team, and you’ll quickly become a viral sensation. A thousand memes sprang from the image of James yelling at Smith after his Game 1 mishap. On Monday, new footage circulated of James stewing on the bench—and reacting with anger when he learned the Cavs had a timeout they could have used.

As with all things LeBron, this dynamic is unique. If the Warriors lose, it won't be blamed on JaVale McGee. But then, the stakes are so much higher for Cleveland. James is 33, with an ever-shrinking window to contend for titles, and free agency looming. If these Cavs cannot help him raise another banner, he just might find that help elsewhere—in Philadelphia or Houston or Los Angeles.

That much is universally understood, if not necessarily discussed in polite company here. Whenever LeBron has found his supporting cast lacking, he's left to find a better supporting cast—ditching Cleveland for Miami in 2010, then ditching Miami to return home in 2014.

"What's on my mind is getting my body, mind and focus ready for Game 3," Thompson insisted. "We've had a great run together. That's always going to be my brother, regardless."

The blessing/curse paradigm? Thompson rejects the latter part, having ridden the James train to four straight Finals, one championship and one very large contract.

"I wouldn't say it's a curse," he said. "It's definitely a blessing, because I definitely ate the fruits of his labor really well."

The benefits also include a lot of open shots and ample opportunity to succeed. That's the message Cavs veteran Jose Calderon is delivering daily to his younger teammates.

"Are you a scorer? Score," Calderon says he tells them. "Man, you don't have to change anything. ... You're gonna be open—shoot it. Now, if you miss shots or whatever, we figure it out."

Still, the burden is there and undeniable and, at times, even palpable. You can hear it in the Cavs' testy responses, and see it in their taut expressions.

"You can tell," Warriors rookie Jordan Bell says. "Last game, Jordan Clarkson had came in. I think he missed like two shots, and I looked up—he was out of the game. I was like, 'Damn, he got pulled already, just for missing two shots?' I guess when you play with LeBron, all you have to do is just catch and shoot. If you're not doing that well, I guess you got to come out."

There are no such concerns for the historically stacked Warriors. Stephen Curry has Kevin Durant, and Durant has Curry, and they both have Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, and, well, no one is fretting much over Nick Young's 1-of-9 shooting.

"This is a blessing—that's it," Bell says with a smile. "There's no curse."



Howard Beck covers the NBA for Bleacher Report and BR Mag. He also hosts The Full 48 podcast, available on iTunes. Follow him on Twitter, @HowardBeck.

Agreed, Peter. I’ve said the same thing here. Very appreciative that we got our first championship in my lifetime, so I won’t take James’ jersey to the range and fill it full of holes this time like I did last. But I won’t wish him luck.

I also remember when he first came back him saying he wanted to finish his career here at home. So if he leaves I might have to go find that quote and tweet it to him every day till he blocks me.

rusty might know better then us but when he left for Miami wasn't it a sign and trade where we got picks?

That wouldn't break my heart either if that happened. He still has tons of value.

You never get value in those deals. Especially for a guy like LeBron. We ended up getting like two 1sts and two 2nds in that sign and trade. And I honestly can't remember one player we got with those picks. Whoever LeBron goes to will be drafting very low...

We are the only team that can give LeBron a Super Max contract. If he decides to leave again I absolutely would not do a sign and trade. Make him take the hit.

Oh yeah, I get it, but the franchise would be foolish to turn down 2 firsts and 2 seconds (just as an example). And of course they would take those if they could.

Should be interesting. Maybe they can get super creative and trade, say, a Kevin Love and get players back more helpful to Lebron - enticing him to stay...

I only trade Love if LeBron leaves. Start a complete rebuild. If LeBron stays I try to add another guy. Will be tough, but rumors of a Kemba Walker trade in works.

By the way, you say foolish. I say you’d have as good a shot at hitting big on a scratch off ticket than hitting on a guy at the end of the 1st round or 2nd round. So why not send a signal that you won’t be forced into that nonsense any more. You want to walk from Cleveland, LeBron. Fine, you will earn a lot less cash.

Besides Carlos Boozer name another good player we have selected in the latter half of draft since, say, Mark Price played...?

To me there is almost no value in late 1st or 2nd round picks, so why grab your ankles for this guy?

I'm now in RI for the summer listening to local sports radio. Big time speculation Celtics will make a run at Lebron and dump Kyrie

Hillbilly wrote:By the way, you say foolish. I say you’d have as good a shot at hitting big on a scratch off ticket than hitting on a guy at the end of the 1st round or 2nd round. So why not send a signal that you won’t be forced into that nonsense any more. You want to walk from Cleveland, LeBron. Fine, you will earn a lot less cash.

Besides Carlos Boozer name another good player we have selected in the latter half of draft since, say, Mark Price played...?

To me there is almost no value in late 1st or 2nd round picks, so why grab your ankles for this guy?

HB - for example we got Larry Nance because of our own late round first. They do have value. Our recent "hero" Isaiah Thomas was the last pick in the 2011 draft. Very last. Recently - Draymond Green 2nd rounder. DeAndre Jordan 2nd round.

I don't think setting a precedent is relevant here - Lebron's situation is incredibly unusual. We'd be sending a message to....???

Oh well, doesn't matter what we think it will indeed be a huge offseason for the Cavs either way.

Definitely a trooper:

LeBron reveals he played three games with broken hand
SPORTSaturday 9 June 2018 - 8:23am


CLEVELAND – Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James revealed Friday, after his team was swept in the NBA Finals, that he played the last three games with a broken right hand.

READ: Warriors take NBA Finals opener, despite LeBron's 51 points

The Golden State Warriors beat the Cavs 4-0 in the best-of-seven championship series, but it was after the opening overtime loss in California when James injured himself.

"I let my emotions get the best of me and played the last three games basically with a broken hand," James said, displaying his soft cast.


James had become upset in the final seconds of regulation time in the 124-114 defeat when a foul call was reversed to allow Golden State to equalise and JR Smith grabbed a late rebound with the score level but dribbled away from the basket, thinking the Cavaliers led.

Images of a frustrated James talking to Smith became an internet sensation.

ESPN reported James hit a blackboard in the locker room after that game and underwent two MRI exams that showed the fracture, a fact he kept hidden so the Warriors would not know.

"Obviously, I don't have a boxing hand," James said.

So you cannot name one guy other than Boozer that the Cavs have hit on late in draft. Me neither. I even went and looked it up, it’s a sad batch going way back even through 80’s. So once every 40 years the Cavs will hit on a good player latter half of draft.

And if a team is willing to trade you a player for a late draft picks they just want to dump said player. They will take cash. Hell, teams are starting to sell late draft picks for cash any way.

Owners should start sending a message to the next Durant or LeBron that wants to try to form a super team. You want to leave to ring chase, fine, can’t stop you, but you will be doing it for less money.

This Durant to the Warriors was just nonsense. Only way to beat them is for players to form another super team. Then you are going to have a few good teams in the league and the rest are crap. You’re going to have fans of 27 or 28 teams start the season every year knowing they have no shot. How is that good for the league?

The league has to do something to curb this nonsense. Owners can start by not contributing to increased pay.

Hillbilly wrote:
This Durant to the Warriors was just nonsense. Only way to beat them is for players to form another super team. Then you are going to have a few good teams in the league and the rest are crap. You’re going to have fans of 27 or 28 teams start the season every year knowing they have no shot. How is that good for the league?

The league has to do something to curb this nonsense. Owners can start by not contributing to increased pay.

Could not agree more. But I want the Cavs to get what they can when/if Lebron goes as well.

Get ready: Superteams and superstars can recruit LeBron again
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8:00 AM ET
Brian Windhorst
ESPN Senior Writer

This LeBron James free-agency decision is going to be his most personal.

When he went to Miami in 2010, it was about business; he badly needed to become a champion. When he returned to Cleveland in 2014, in what he hoped was his last move, it was about legacy.

James has his championships now. No matter what anyone says on the matter, he also believes his legacy is secure. With the Cleveland Cavaliers losing in the Finals for the second straight year, the choices and options in front of him are complex. Put more simply, James might not see any option he truly likes at this point.




On free agency, James says 'don't have an answer'
LeBron James said his family and desire to "still want to be in championship mode" will dictate where he'll play next season, but he offered little detail as to when he'll make that decision.

Despite whatever assumptions exist, for months James and those closest to him have made it clear that no decision about the future has been made or the choices even fully vetted. There's no well-formulated plan ready to be executed.

There are a few issues James will have to work through and probably prioritize. And perhaps he'll have to make some tough compromises.

But something that should be understood when it comes to James this summer: Anything is possible. Repeat: anything. Making assumptions on things he's said in the past, feelings he's had in the past, bad blood, rivalries, weather, anything from the past could be a mistake. James believes he's got a blank check to do what he wants, and perhaps the only thing that's clear about this free agency is that he's not afraid to use it.

Family considerations

LeBron James' family will have some influence on his free-agency decision this summer. Ethan Miller/Getty Images
James' oldest son, Bronny, is 13. His younger son, Bryce, will turn 11 next week. They will be able to voice their feelings on the decision this time. They have spent time in Miami and Akron and even Los Angeles in the summers. Bronny is a standout basketball player who has a chance at an NBA future, and his development and comfort through his teen years, of course, is important.

James' wife, Savannah, was already a driving force in 2014 when James came home to Akron. James loves watching his sons play basketball.




It's hard to see him being apart from his family, which includes 3-year-old daughter Zhuri, at this stage of his life. In 2010, he left Savannah and his young sons in Ohio when he first moved to Miami. Now, where they want to live is a deeper factor.

The case for Cleveland
James has been on the record many times -- including in his coming home letter four years ago -- that he wants to finish his career in Cleveland. That is still the case. But a difficult year for the Cavs has made this a challenging time for James to consider how he wants to spend his final act.

The departure of general manager David Griffin, Kyrie Irving's trade demand and a high-stress season may have shaken James' outlook. A series of mental mistakes during the Finals, namely JR Smith's blunder in Game 1, led James to muse "how do you put together a group of talent but also a group of minds to be able to compete" with the Warriors this week.

The Cavs are capped out and have limited trade assets, and it's unclear how much immediate help their No. 8 pick in the draft can provide. The Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers established themselves this season as the teams of the future in the Eastern Conference, and the Cavs lack a clear path to make up ground.

It's the result of competing all out for the past four years, where the team traded picks and signed players to huge deals in the name of surrounding James with talent in the moment. But there remains little to no trust between James and owner Dan Gilbert, and a limited relationship with general manager Koby Altman, who is less than two years older than James.


Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert and LeBron James share a moment during the team's championship ring ceremony in 2016. Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
If there was a foundation there, perhaps James and Gilbert could get together and forge a plan going forward, such as roster moves, what to do with the draft pick or maybe style of play. That has never been how James has operated, however, and that doesn't seem likely to change.

The Cavs can offer James more money and years than anyone else, up to a five-year deal for more than $200 million. But James has signed four contracts with Gilbert in his career and none has been longer than three years. Since coming back four years ago, he has never given more than two. Little trust there.

Last summer, Gilbert requested that James commit long term to the franchise. James did not. Gilbert made an incoming draft pick the centerpiece of the Irving trade, establishing the point that he'd plan for a time after James and not be caught flat-footed the way he was in 2010 when James left. Little trust there.

James' roots in Ohio and his love of playing in front of its fans -- his joyful trots after game-winners this postseason being a strong latest example -- leave all options open.

During the Finals, the Cavs felt like they were close to the Warriors, especially in narrow losses in Games 1 and 3 that left them frustrated and feeling like the gap wasn't as wide as the results indicated. It led them to wonder if they could find a way to acquire an Irving replacement, that they may not be far away. But James believes in results, not near misses, and when the Cavs get their chance to pitch James, they will need to have an actionable plan.

Still, for James to go to another franchise at this point creates certain risks, and he'd probably have to be convinced the opportunity was worth any lingering fallout were he to depart Cleveland again. Maybe there will be one he likes, maybe there won't, and James will remain with the franchise under terms of his choosing.

Opt in, arrange a trade
If James does choose to move on, he and Gilbert could still do business. James has a player option for next season in his contract for $36 million that he has until June 29 to execute. Because the salary cap has stayed mostly flat since he signed this current deal in 2016, that $36 million number is close to the max salary available to him if he became a free agent.

Never becoming a free agent and instead getting traded would be beneficial to James because the no-trade clause in his contract would carry over to his new team, which would also inherit his full rights. Then he could sign an extension of up to four years with his new team six months after a trade, creating a five-year commitment for more than $200 million if he wanted it.

For the Cavs, this would open the door to getting a return for James and helping them start a rebuild instead of losing him for nothing. For James, though, this would mean he'd have to vocalize that he wanted to be traded away from Cleveland.

This route is what James' close friend Chris Paul did with the LA Clippers last summer. Like Paul, James would choose the team he'd get traded to and be able to approve of the players changing hands. It's not unlike a sign-and-trade concept that the Cavs used to trade James to Miami in 2010, but it has fewer restrictions. In short, it's a complicated but legitimate path, especially because it opens the door for James to go to a team that doesn't have the needed $30 million-plus in cap space to sign him outright.


LeBron James could conceivably force a trade out of Cleveland. A deal with Philadelphia would pair James with rising star Ben Simmons. Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images
For example, the 76ers have significant cap space this summer but not enough to sign James outright to the max. It's possible that if James wanted it and the Cavs found a deal, the 76ers could trade for James and still retain the ability to sign their own free agents like JJ Redick and Amir Johnson, plus have exceptions available to add more talent.

The rules don't allow teams to talk to James before July 1, after his option pickup date. So to execute this type of deal, they'd need a player to recruit him -- which isn't against the rules. James Harden helped lead the Houston Rockets' effort to land Paul last year.

James could also pick up the option and stay with the Cavs for another season and push back locking in his future for a year. At age 33, with the chance for the biggest contract of his career, that would not seem probable. But like these other options, it remains a possibility. It's James' option; the Cavs wouldn't have a say in the matter.

The unrestricted route
Then there's the conventional path, which would be to enter unrestricted free agency and change teams for a third time for a final act. This is the area where much time and effort has been devoted in recent months, namely with the Los Angeles Lakers clearing out salary-cap space over the past year to prepare to pitch James after July 1.

James has made it clear that he only wants to take a max salary of around $36 million and isn't willing to take a pay cut -- like Kevin Durant did with the Golden State Warriors last summer -- to fit on a roster. It's possible those demands could soften, but currently taking that position leaves the pool of suitors for him shallow.

The Lakers can create more than $70 million in space, it is well known, to sign James and another max-level free agent. No other team is in that position. In his past two free agencies, James joined a team with another superstar in residence, and another star came with him. Chris Bosh joined James in coming to Miami with Dwyane Wade in 2010. James joined Irving, and Kevin Love came along via trade in the 2014 offseason.

If James prioritizes competing for championships as he has in the past, bringing a star with him or having one in residence seems to be rather important. But that is a short list. Other teams that can create max space this summer include the Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls, Sacramento Kings and Dallas Mavericks. There isn't an ideal option for James there when it comes to the creation of another superteam.

Things change rapidly in the NBA, though. Teams that don't have cap room today could create some if they needed it or felt they could get James. The books are tighter this summer; there isn't as much overall space as there has been in the past three offseasons. That means the cost of offloading contracts will be more expensive and harder than in seasons past.


There are still doors, and that brings other teams into play that might have elaborate plans to acquire James. The Rockets are at the head of this list. It would be a challenge for them to re-sign free agents Paul and Clint Capela and find a way to add James. But it's not impossible, and general manager Daryl Morey is known for his scheming.

Pile it all together, and what James has is a lot of scenarios, many of them messy. Right now, there's not a sure bet in the bunch. There's a lot on the line; much of the league will revolve around what he does. It's going to take time, it's going to take thought and it might be unpleasant.

Welcome to another LeBron James free agency.