bitty41 wrote:

martin wrote:

bitty41 wrote:If Miami is able to sign both Wade/Bosh will that play a role in Lebron's decision making? Again my feeling that if winning a title isn't all that important to Lebron he'll consider leaving Clev. If he wants to spend the height of his career contending he'll stay.

if CLE doesn't win it this year, how do they change their team or get better over the next few years? They are locked into a lot of contracts and have Z and Shaq in their last year.

So what if they don't win it this year they are still among the best teams in the NBA now they get bounced in the first or second rounds than you need to go back to the drawing board but right now they have something that is working. Not every team is in the mind-set that if you don't win a title you should tear down your squad and rebuild.

LeBron also knows he can't win a championship alone. Detroit was the only team in my mind that has done it without a Franchise player and side-kick allstars, and LeBron knows this.

Not sure he has the talent around him to get past a healthy Lakers team and Z and Shaq gettin very old by the day, and after that you are down to Jamison, new MLE signings and what? His legacy would be what Ewing's was to Jordan and Pippen's: Damn good teams but nada rings.

I agree with his talent right now. It's a perfect team for him, but you come back a year older at every position. The only player on the roster that will really improve is Hickson. I'm sure they could do a similiar sign and trade next year. I think Lebron is a little diva who like the attention. Do I blame him? No. But, I could see him playing one more year in Cleveland. It would have been great for the knicks had the Cats finished 8th because they really pose a serious threat. They should now coast into the conference finals and it's going to depend on Vince Carter to really step up and carry Orlando to the finals.

martin wrote:

AnubisADL wrote:

martin wrote:

bitty41 wrote:If Miami is able to sign both Wade/Bosh will that play a role in Lebron's decision making? Again my feeling that if winning a title isn't all that important to Lebron he'll consider leaving Clev. If he wants to spend the height of his career contending he'll stay.

if CLE doesn't win it this year, how do they change their team or get better over the next few years? They are locked into a lot of contracts and have Z and Shaq in their last year.

- Cleveland has 12 million in expiring deals.
- Cleveland has bird rights to Shaq
- Cleveland has the MLE every year

Once teams run out of cap space there are going to be solid guys left that will have to accept the MLE. Another factor is Cleveland doesnt need to acquire starters through trades. They just need to acquire more solid role players because they already have Varejao, Jamison, and Williams as starters. You have guys like Mike Miller available who will likely accept the full MLE and can really punish teams from the perimeter..

Right. I don't know how to put this more delicately, but you have to learn a lot more about how the NBA works before you can come close to making solid arguments.

Like salary cap, like what eFG% really means, like who ****in cares if CLE has bird rights to Shaq.

Trust me I know plenty about the NBA and the Salary Cap. Here is what I do know:

- I know Cleveland has the best record in East
- I know Cleveland can pay Lebron the most money
- I know Lebron opting out has little to do with him wanting to have "flexibility" and more to do with him wanting 30% of the salary cap instead of 25% but of course that is just coincidence. As Lebron recently stated: "I take care of my business on and off the court."
- I know old ass Shaq was dropping 12 and 7 and having his way with NBA centers
- I know expecting Bosh or any other star to forgo a year of guaranteed max salary is naive
- I know expecting a bunch of guys to take the minimum to play with Lebron in NY is also naive because guys weren't taking the minimum to play with Boston or LA.

If you had a true understanding of the NBA and the salary cap you would realize how valuable having those Bird rights really are. You would understand that having Shaq's Bird rights means you could pay him whatever he likes while being over the cap. It means they could sign him to a 1 yr deal and trade him at the deadline like they did Big Z. They could also S&T him to a team looking for his services(Dallas). They could sign him to a partially guaranteed one year deal just to use him as S&T bait this summer. The key point is Cleveland has flexibility to do many things even though they are over the cap.

martin wrote:

bitty41 wrote:

martin wrote:

bitty41 wrote:If Miami is able to sign both Wade/Bosh will that play a role in Lebron's decision making? Again my feeling that if winning a title isn't all that important to Lebron he'll consider leaving Clev. If he wants to spend the height of his career contending he'll stay.

if CLE doesn't win it this year, how do they change their team or get better over the next few years? They are locked into a lot of contracts and have Z and Shaq in their last year.

So what if they don't win it this year they are still among the best teams in the NBA now they get bounced in the first or second rounds than you need to go back to the drawing board but right now they have something that is working. Not every team is in the mind-set that if you don't win a title you should tear down your squad and rebuild.

LeBron also knows he can't win a championship alone. Detroit was the only team in my mind that has done it without a Franchise player and side-kick allstars, and LeBron knows this.

Not sure he has the talent around him to get past a healthy Lakers team and Z and Shaq gettin very old by the day, and after that you are down to Jamison, new MLE signings and what? His legacy would be what Ewing's was to Jordan and Pippen's: Damn good teams but nada rings.

How does this scenario doesn't really support a Leborn to NY. The team he is with right now is winning 60 games on a pretty consistent basis and making it to the conference finals. Whereas the Knicks can barely win 35 games and have not won a playoff game in almost 10 years. So LBJ cannot come to NY and claim that he's doing it to win a title.

For the reocrd I think the Lakers are done in the next 2 years.

- Lebron signs a 5 yr max deal with the Knicks
- Knicks trade Gallinari to Toronto for Chris Bosh on a 6 yr max deal
- Chandler and Lee are traded to NJ for Devin Harris and Douglas

Wishful thinking I know.

Bosh
Lebron
Douglas
Walker
Harris

AnubisADL wrote:How about this possibility

- Lebron signs a 5 yr max deal with the Knicks
- Knicks trade Gallinari to Toronto for Chris Bosh on a 6 yr max deal
- Chandler and Lee are traded to NJ for Devin Harris and Douglas

Wishful thinking I know.

Bosh
Lebron
Douglas
Walker
Harris

Two division rivals trade us their best players for our glorified role players, are Bryan Colangelo and Rod Thorn scheduled for lobotomies?

bitty41 wrote:

martin wrote:

bitty41 wrote:

martin wrote:

bitty41 wrote:If Miami is able to sign both Wade/Bosh will that play a role in Lebron's decision making? Again my feeling that if winning a title isn't all that important to Lebron he'll consider leaving Clev. If he wants to spend the height of his career contending he'll stay.

if CLE doesn't win it this year, how do they change their team or get better over the next few years? They are locked into a lot of contracts and have Z and Shaq in their last year.

So what if they don't win it this year they are still among the best teams in the NBA now they get bounced in the first or second rounds than you need to go back to the drawing board but right now they have something that is working. Not every team is in the mind-set that if you don't win a title you should tear down your squad and rebuild.

LeBron also knows he can't win a championship alone. Detroit was the only team in my mind that has done it without a Franchise player and side-kick allstars, and LeBron knows this.

Not sure he has the talent around him to get past a healthy Lakers team and Z and Shaq gettin very old by the day, and after that you are down to Jamison, new MLE signings and what? His legacy would be what Ewing's was to Jordan and Pippen's: Damn good teams but nada rings.

How does this scenario doesn't really support a Leborn to NY. The team he is with right now is winning 60 games on a pretty consistent basis and making it to the conference finals. Whereas the Knicks can barely win 35 games and have not won a playoff game in almost 10 years. So LBJ cannot come to NY and claim that he's doing it to win a title.

For the reocrd I think the Lakers are done in the next 2 years.

can we use a little imagination? Donnie just traded JJ, Hill, 2011 swap and 2012 so that he would be in the 2 Max contract range for salary cap. Curry comes off in 2011 summer. Guys who are getting better really fast and who are at low contract #s: Gallo, Chandler, Douglas. Knicks have 1 piece of luggage on their team in Curry, CLE has like 5 pieces tied to them for 3 years min.

That's called flexibility. Which Cleveland has none of. For me, their team is just about maxed out in terms of "next moves" to make the team better.

bitty41 wrote:

TMS wrote:i don't think u can call Lee a glorified role player anymore i mean he did make the AS team this year & has been 1 of the more consistent F's in the game offensively... i think Harris for Lee wouldn't be a bad tradeoff for either team if like was mentioned they end up getting John Wall this summer in the draft... Harris isn't exactly a superstar either & hasn't done anything to elevate the level of his team's play either.

This scenario doesn't make sense on two-fronts. Gallo is def a role player and giving up Bosh for him let's give Colangelo a little more credit he's not a complete moron. Why trade for David Lee giving up one of your core players when you could just as easily outbid the Knicks? My mistake Lee isn't a role player but giving up your best players to division rivals has never been a particularly good move for a GM to make.

ur right they could offer him a contract outright this summer (btw i wasn't even talking about Gallo for Bosh, i think that's not realistic for many reasons but that's a different topic)... i'm just talking about value wise i think Harris & Lee are comparable... if u could get Lee on a Devin Harris level contract i would have zero problem w/extending him in NY, but i think he'll command a lot more.