The TT and Nets pick for Gasol makes some sense if you’re going all in. I’d demand Evans as well. If IT and Love were fully healthy adding the aforementioned would make the Cavs very interesting if nothing else.
I can't see this team making to the finals. Just no way. Hayward will most likely be back this season for Boston. That's more spacing for Irving.
I'm still gonna wait until their first couple of games after the ASB, but it's just about time to lay the Cavs to rest.
[Windhorst] LeBron’s relationship with Cavaliers’ ownership is affecting the team and there are people on the team who just don't like each other. LeBron James: “I’m lost for words, actually. Going 0-8 on national television. They should take us off every nationally televised game for the rest of the season.
I feel bad for LeBron James. He has been a perennial number 2 for so long eeking out 2 in Miami and 1 in Cleveland. But he is never going to win another championship and his team is imploding after their #2 from their championship run decided to go solo and their #3 was being thrown under the bus despite playing well. Then they have IT who balled out in Boston but has made the Cavs significantly worse at D while on the court. I think LeBronmania is finally setting, and we are witnessing the end of another era of basketball greatness. LeBron's teams, assuming he does just join the Warriors/Rockets or figure out how to create one last super team, will be first or second round exits until LeBron himself is too old/broken down to play at a starter level.
Which is why I think him coming to the Rockets is a strong possibility LeBron will not settle for being MEDIOCRE Going to the Lakers and being a 4 seed is not acceptable to him He *has* to be in the Championship conversation every year Rocket River
Way to go LeBron! Way to get hose guys paid! Now shut up & accept the consequences! You dun goofed! https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...lebron-james-future-trade-deadline/306739002/ The expectation among rival executives now is that they’ll have a relatively quiet deadline. The noise about Gilbert being more than happy to say goodbye to James when the summer rolls around grows louder. And while only Gilbert knows how he truly sees it, there are members of James’ inner circle who have been hearing this narrative for months now. Gilbert wants his team back. C’est la vie LeBron. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy, one that could result in a relatively quiet trade deadline for the Cavs and with Gilbert likely living to regret the ill-advised tact he took – again. Cavs general manager Koby Altman is trying hard to shed the contracts of Tristan Thompson (two years, $36 million remaining) and J.R. Smith ($14.7 million next season, team option worth $15.6 million in 2019-20 with $3.8 million guaranteed), two players who were re-signed in large part because of LeBron’s omnipresent influence. They’re all represented by Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, who built the agency with a huge assist from James. As it pertains to the Cavs’ interest in the Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan, a person with knowledge of that situation said Cleveland continues to offer only its own first-round pick and this kind of unwanted money in those stalled negotiations.
Woj & Zach Lowe podcast: Woj: (Cavs) A lot of the same they had going on last week. There's a lot on their board they're weighing as they get closer to Thursday. The worse this team gets, the worse the environment, the relationships...there's no savior for them. There's no trade that will fix this. The Cavs are weighing how much, if at all, do we give up - cut into our future assets - for a rebuild they feel confident is going to come here based on how this has gone. How much do they want to do to mortgage any of their future? Why even trade their own pick? They don't have players that interest people. Tristan Thompson, J.R. Smith, guys with the big numbers aren't movable. If you're the Clippers, the idea of taking on Tristan just to get the Cavs 2018 pick, is it worth taking on Thompson's money going forward? The answer to that is probably not. George Hill is not a game changer in any way. This weekend further crystallized that their issues are so deep & their future with this group is so bleak, including LeBron, that they're asking these tough questions. Lowe: It's really bad. You ask why is it so bad? A lot of it is the hovering uncertain future of LeBron, the animosity between LeBron & Dan Gilbert, the Klutch angle - given the contracts to J.R. & Tristan - Klutch, the agency of LeBron & others, and immovability of those contracts. That was all preexisting though. There's gotta be something else going on though. Woj: You said it in a couple spots. The LeBron/Dan Gilbert issue sets the tone for others to square off. When the two most powerful people in the organization have that kind of relationship, it opens the door for others to have that. That sets a tone. It only serves to amplify the other issues there. You have a taking of sides, a lot of cliques, the guys who have been there, the guys who just came in, but I do think it does get back to the LeBron/Kyrie summer & Kyrie wanting out. No one has done that before to LeBron - I don't want to play with you - someone said it, did it, acted on it & got out. Kyrie said I'm not gonna let LeBron dictate my future. Cleveland the first time, Miami, everyone has had to wait for LeBron to dictate terms. Kyrie said I'm gonna dictate it, I'm outta here. That set the stage for this. Anyone who thought Cleveland won this trade...not on any planet ever. Kyrie is an all-world player. Cleveland in the past could deal with these issues. They had Kyrie. Their talent won out. Now their talent doesn't do that. Kyrie was there to bail them out of games, a 2-3 week spin. Now there is no one there to do that. Lowe: I said last week I don't want to hear IT revisionism. I was in Croatia when the trade happened. I digest the trade & tweeted something like I think this trade makes sense for both teams. All I got back was Ainge got swindled, Ainge overpaid, what a job by the Cavs! A lot of those same people are like this trade is a disaster. I don't want to hear how this was a disaster for Cleveland. 90% of the reaction was this is great for the Cavs. Woj: One thing on that, they made the best deal out there for them. At the time, they valued the pick. They hoped Thomas could get better. Crowder has not played to the level he did in Boston. It's a testament to Brad Stevens & how in his system, player's values increase. Crowder's value has not been nearly what it was leaving Boston. If they were going to do a trade, they're the one team to give them a lottery pick. Cleveland valued that Brooklyn pick because they felt they're not confident about LeBron's future there. Woj: (What happened to the George Hill trade?) $19M owed next year. If LeBron leaves, they have $19M deal on their books. How impactful will he be? It remains on their board. They might need a 3rd team to finish it, for a 3rd team to take on Cleveland's contract. Cleveland feels that deal will be there for us, let's wait and see what else is out there before we commit to it. (Nets pick scenarios) DeAndre Jordan does not meet the threshold of what Cleveland would want. I don't think they'll give it up. (C.J. McCollum?) I don't know why Portland would do it. I don't think Portland has interest in trading him. ... Lowe: Back to the Cavs/Nets pick, I asked Windhorst who is a younger player I can control who will help now (vs. the Warriors). I pitched the Nets pick + filler for Aaron Gordon. I don't think the Magic would do it. What will this new Magic front office do with this team? Woj: I think their view all year is evaluate what we have. He learned in Toronto, they were looking at where are we going with Lowry, DeMar & Dwane? They came close to breaking it up. Jeff called Masai up and said 'Hey, maybe this is the team we imagined.' With Orlando, with these younger guys, you don't want to give up on too quickly. Look at Victor Oladipo since he left Orlando. He felt the year in OKC was tremendous for his growth. Being there with Westbrook, he didn't think he could make the jump he did from Orlando to Indiana. He needed that year in OKC. Putting the right people around them, who are the keepers? But I don't think they feel a pressure to do a deal at the deadline to rush that decision making process. They have a window to come in & figure out what direction they want to go. While I know they've been active & talking, I don't think they feel a pressure to act. Jonathan Isaac, they're thrilled with him. I don't think Jeff & John Hammond feel pressure to act but something may come they indeed do. Lowe: One Cavs trade that makes sense is IT & Nets pick & whole bundle of salary to Charlotte for Kemba & Nic Batum. Kemba is an all-star caliber player on fire right now. Batum is a multi-positional wing. ... Others have pitched me on could they get Favors/Hood from Utah. I don't think either are worth the Nets pick. It's easy to say put the Nets pick on the market. It's harder to find a trade that works. Woj: Cleveland's standard right now on that pick is Paul George, who is not available & will not be available this week, or a really good young player on a rookie contract. Hypothetically, Porzingis or Booker. Those type of players aren't available & don't come available. Back on Cleveland/Charlotte, they had interest in Kemba. They've talked. ... If you're Charlotte taking on J.R. Smith & Tristan Thompson, even with the Brooklyn pick, what does it do to your...they won't be thrilled there. Charlotte has to figure out what they're doing. They have organizational questions. That would be tough. It makes Cleveland better in the short term but if I'm Charlotte, I need more for Kemba. In an ideal world, the team trading for the Brooklyn pick is closer to the draft. When you trade for the pick now, you just don't know.
Translation: "Never should have traded Kyrie and no one wants the Cavs over priced garbage, even with a Nets pick attached. Basically win with what they have or prepare for The Decision III where James leaves Smith and Shumpert and Tristan in Cleveland to rot and goes to LA or Houston with a new set of friends that can actually play basketball."
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...eadline-preview-cavaliers-deandre-jordan-more • Rival executives say the Cavs are acting as if they are not going to trade the Nets pick. What a dilemma, for all the LeBron-centric reasons we've discussed -- a dilemma made thornier by the team's utter, humiliating implosion. Some folks have pitched deals centered around C.J. McCollum. Portland continues to reject any inquires on McCollum and Damian Lillard, sources say. A package of Kevin Love and the Nets pick would be too much for Cleveland; swapping Love for McCollum doesn't really move the needle anyway. A package centered around Tristan Thompson and the Nets pick may not be enough for Portland. • Marc Gasol makes a ton of sense as a Nets pick target, but the Grizzlies appear happy to stand pat; the two teams have had no dialogue about any Gasol-centric deal, per league sources. • Gasol's age makes him a suboptimal match for a post-LeBron doomsday scenario. That's why two weeks ago on a Lowe Post podcast, I pitched the idea of swapping the Nets pick for Aaron Gordon. This was pure speculation, to be clear. I just made up a fake trade. The Cavs would get a 22-year-old who can shoot 3s and switch across all five positions -- someone who can help against Golden State (and, really, anyone) and remain with the team (via restricted free agency) for the next half-decade. Orlando would do this only if they are squeamish about paying Gordon something like $20 million per season. He might draw a giant offer sheet this summer. Orlando probably shouldn't be squeamish. Trade Gordon, and you have almost nothing beyond Jonathan Isaac to show for years of post-Dwight tanking. Gordon is really good. He will get better. Even at a big salary, he is worth more than the typical No. 6, 7, or 8 pick on a cost-controlled rookie-scale salary. • Speaking of Orlando: Everyone but Gordon and Isaac is readily available, per sources around the league. Most expect Elfrid Payton, a free agent this summer, to be elsewhere by next season, and I'd agree. You can build Charlotte-Cleveland deals in which the Cavs get Kemba Walker and Nicolas Batum for Isaiah Thomas, the Brooklyn pick and about $25 million more in outgoing salary. The two sides have talked at least vaguely, league sources say. But even those are tough to construct. If the Hornets have to take both Thompson and J.R. Smith, they might view the return -- even with the Nets pick -- as selling too low on Walker. Including Cleveland's pick instead is probably a nonstarter for Charlotte. The Cavs are already paying a ghastly repeater tax bill. Batum and Walker make $34.4 million combined this season. Send out any less than that -- Thompson, Thomas, and Iman Shumpert make $32.9 million combined, for instance -- and Dan Gilbert pays several multiples of the difference. You might not care about Gilbert's money. LeBron definitely doesn't. But Gilbert does. There is a deal out there for the Nets pick that makes sense. There is always one we miss, buried in the weeds. Unearthing it isn't easy.
First of all, I think this is a good experience for Lebron. He messed up the Cavs really bad, obviously their FO is just inept but Lebron destroyed their team's cap with overpriced old guys and he also ran both Irving and Wiggins out of town essentially. Hopefully he learns some humility from this and realizes he can't mess with FO decisions just to help his business. Secondly Gilbert is just dumb AF. If he wants to rebuild why did he trade Irving away? He should have done what the lakers did when they chose Lobe over Shaq, he should have made it clear to Irving he was their future instead of trading him away. Instead he traded Irving then still quarelled with Lebron lol and ends up with both of them gone.
LeBron and Gilbert deserved each other. Something lasting could have been built but both sides were (unwittingly) determined to prevent that. Finally we all realize the Irving trade was highway robbery for the Celts and a franchise-breaker for the Cavs.
He has been to 3 finals and won a ring. That is better than every franchise in the league except one. If Love and irving were not injured maybe they have a chance in the 1st one. Wiggins was traded for love. I think love is better than Wiggins who is making max money, but isn't a max player. Also Lebron wanted kyrie for PG not IT.
The last couple of posts are great. A very good analogy with what the Lakers did with Shaq and Kobe. The Cavs now have a broken down maxed out Love, Brooklyn's pick, and one championship, for the 3 #1 picks (Wiggins/Irving/Anthony Bennett and #4 pick (dion waiters)
