Cleveland Cavaliers (current) off-season rumors

• j_crazy

  

  BR1986FB;405427 wrote:Why is my comment stupid? Because you were compared to the biggest POS on this site?

  
  ouch doesn't mean he agrees with it, just that it's a harsh comparison.
  
  it is a very harsh comparison BTW.
  
  don't get so defensive bro.
• Sage

  

  It's a shame that SQ won't be here to take another well deserved thumping on this.
• Trueblue23

  

  I don't think LeBron will sign with Miami because winning with Bosh and Wade would be viewed by many, sadly, as the easy way out.
  
  I think Bosh and James end up in Cleveland.
• wes_mantooth

  

  I would sperm if Bosh and Lebron ended up here....but I just cannot see it happening. Other teams have better situations for a sign and trade and a better cap situation. I think they end up in Chitown.
• BR1986FB

  Trueblue23;405536 wrote:I don't think LeBron will sign with Miami because winning with Bosh and Wade would be viewed by many, sadly, as the easy way out.
  
  I think Bosh and James end up in Cleveland.

  
  I don't know about Bosh but the further this goes on and the more I'm hearing, I think Lebron is going to end up staying.
• just_a_swimmer

  

  BR1986FB;405621 wrote:I don't know about Bosh but the further this goes on and the more I'm hearing, I think Lebron is going to end of staying.

  
  What have I been saying all along. The media are a bunch of loosers. Going on and on and on about the 3 guys meeting in Miami. It's all lies IMO. They even keep talking about it when all parties deny they met. I have really lost alot of respect for some of these media but wipes that I actually respected before.
• IggyPride00

  

  I am interested to see if Toronto tries to force Bosh's hand on the sign and trade if teams start bidding competitively in terms of trade offers.
  
  Many around here have assumed that Bosh holds all the cards by threatening to just walk, so they have to trade him where ever he wants.
  
  While I am sure they don't love the idea of losing him for nothing, they could very easily tell him that he is either going to sign with the team that offers him the best deal (and in return he gets the 6 year max deal) or he has to leave 30+ million on the table and go sign with whoever.
  
  When push comes to shove, I could see him agreeing to go pretty much wherever if it means getting the 6 years and $120 million (No team not committed to winning would sign anyone to that kind of deal so it is most likely a winning team that would trade for him).
  
  I'm just having a hard time seeing an NBA player walking away from $30+ million dollars if he has the chance to earn it.
• just_a_swimmer

  

  IggyPride00;405627 wrote:I am interested to see if Toronto tries to force Bosh's hand on the sign and trade if teams start bidding competitively in terms of trade offers.
  
  Many around here have assumed that Bosh holds all the cards by threatening to just walk, so they have to trade him where ever he wants.
  
  While I am sure they don't love the idea of losing him for nothing, they could very easily tell him that he is either going to sign with the team that offers him the best deal (and in return he gets the 6 year max deal) or he has to leave 30+ million on the table and go sign with whoever.
  
  When push comes to shove, I could see him agreeing to go pretty much wherever if it means getting the 6 years and $120 million (No team not committed to winning would sign anyone to that kind of deal so it is most likely a winning team that would trade for him).
  
  I'm just having a hard time seeing an NBA player walking away from $30+ million dollars if he has the chance to earn it.

  
  
  That hit the nail on the head right there. Walking away from 30 million even if you make millions is a ton of money. LBJ isn't walking away from that just to let Wade get to sign for it. I mean I have heard many a athlete say it isn't about the money but when it comes right down to it it is all about the money.
• BR1986FB

  just_a_swimmer;405633 wrote:That hit the nail on the head right there. Walking away from 30 million even if you make millions is a ton of money. LBJ isn't walking away from that just to let Wade get to sign for it. I mean I have heard many a athlete say it isn't about the money but when it comes right down to it it is all about the money.

  
  Plus WHY would Lebron go to play for WADE'S team? I'm sure Lebron is still going to want to be "the man." Miami is D-Wade's team.
• devil1197

  wes_mantooth;405540 wrote:I would sperm if Bosh and Lebron ended up here....but I just cannot see it happening. Other teams have better situations for a sign and trade and a better cap situation. I think they end up in Chitown.

  
  What teams have better situations right now that can S/T for Bosh and still have room that can bring in another max star? The teams right now with a lot of cap room got rid of most if not all of their assests in hopes of landing two max stars via FA.
  
  How would Chicago do a S/T for Bosh?
• BR1986FB

  Different take....
  
  
  Sports business titan sees long marriage for Cavs' Gilbert, LeBron
  June 29, 2010
  By Ken Berger
  CBSSports.com Senior Writer
  
  
  Everyone has an opinion about where LeBron James is going and who's joining him. To that point, the LeBrons from the TV commercials were alive and well this past weekend, having reportedly been in Miami, New York and Chicago all at the same time.
  
  It's the height of silly season in the NBA, and the start of the most anticipated free-agent period in league history is still more than a day away. But one person is perhaps most uniquely positioned to speculate on LeBron's future. That person has been on both sides of the fence in LeBron's relationship with Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, and he also was willing to speak freely and on the record when I reached him on the phone this week. No sources, no confidants, no private moments, no agendas.
  
  That person is Steve Greenberg, son of the late Hammerin' Hank Greenberg and undisputed king of the sports transaction as managing director of the New York-based investment firm Allen & Co.
  
  "The irony about this whole media circus is that, if you look at what LeBron has done in Cleveland and what Dan has accomplished in Cleveland with the Cavs, I believe had they won even one championship -- let alone multiple titles over the past two or three years when they really were deemed to have a shot -- we probably wouldn't be going through this exercise," Greenberg said. "My point being, the Cavs and LeBron, Dan and LeBron, and LeBron and the Cavs are the perfect sort of triangle and match for one another and ultimately will bring a championship -- and probably multiple championships -- to Cleveland. They just haven't done it yet. And had they, I don't think anybody would be talking about going to Chicago, Miami, New York or another place. I think that has helped fuel the speculation."
  
  There are those on the team side of things willing to speculate on their chances of landing LeBron. There are those from various, competing factions of LeBron's camp who are willing to do the same. But only Greenberg has the kind of experience as a stakeholder with both Gilbert and LeBron, so his words carry considerable weight in this breathless debate about where James will decide to spend the prime years of his career as an athlete and icon.
  
  Greenberg, whose Allen & Co. brokers the biggest sports deals, worked with Gilbert on his attempted acquisition of Rawlings in the early 2000s, advised him on his attempt to buy the Milwaukee Brewers from the Selig family and finally helped him close the deal to purchase the Cavs. When James' agent, Leon Rose, had his practice bought by Creative Artists Agency -- which now represents the top three NBA free agents, James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh -- Greenberg acted as an informal advisor to Maverick Carter, the CEO of James' marketing company, LRMR Marketing.
  
  Greenberg knows Gilbert well, and also has experience with other NBA owners involved in the chase for LeBron -- namely Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan. (He calls Reinsdorf a "friend," but declined to comment on Dolan because he has been on opposing sides of past business dealings with him.) But he also has come to know LeBron and what makes him tick. Whereas most NBA players think Allen & Co. is another name for the Celtics' Big Three, when Greenberg first met LeBron, he was astonished that the budding superstar associated the name with the firm's annual conference for titans of industry in Sun Valley, Idaho, and wanted to attend.
  
  All of this has helped him form an opinion about what James will do -- an opinion more than worthy of inclusion in the vuvuzela-like drone of speculation that currently has America covering its collective ears.
  
  "It's sort of like [Derek] Jeter," Greenberg said. "When his contract comes up, people don't say, 'Gee, I wonder if Derek is going to go play for the Giants in San Francisco.' He's so intertwined with the fabric of those pinstripes, and has been for so long with such success, and has been so comfortable in that environment. You used to be able to do it more, but [Cal] Ripken has done it. Jeter has done it. ... Despite all the craziness, I suspect Kobe [Bryant] is going to be a Laker for life. Those are few and far between in sports, but when you look back, those tend to be the players that have the greatest impact on the game.
  
  "What's really extraordinary about LeBron's situation is, it's actually his hometown -- not just the team that happened to draft him -- and it happens to be not one of the top five markets," Greenberg said. "I kind of liken it to Warren Buffett. If Buffett lived in New York or the Greenwich, Conn., suburbs or San Francisco or Chicago, I actually think some of the mystique of being the Oracle of Omaha might have been diminished. The fact that he's lived in the same house in Omaha and it is his hometown tends to lend to the legend. So if you can do it in Cleveland or Chicago as opposed to New York or L.A., that only adds to it."
  
  It is no secret, of course, that Buffett has become one of James' most influential mentors. So while I believe James could wield far more influence on the NBA -- and enhance his goal of becoming a billionaire and international icon -- by moving his one-man corporation to a major market, Greenberg is on the other side of the argument. All you have to do when deciding how much weight to give his opinion is look at his track record. He's usually on the right side of the biggest sports deals, and has experience with both parties who will be making (or not making) this one.
  
  "Dan is the ultimate entrepreneur and the ultimate people person," Greenberg said. "If you look at any of his organizations, starting with Quicken Loans, there've been a couple of keys to his success. One is his sort of vision and leadership, but the other is his ability to attract, maintain and incentivize key executives over long periods of time."
  
  Now, Gilbert chases the most important executive of his career.
  
  "I imagine that Dan would want to have a multi-decade relationship with LeBron James," Greenberg said. "That's how he's thinking, and that will go for as long as Dan owns that franchise. That's going to be his approach. I know it's been his approach the last five years."
  
  How does he do it?
  
  "That is part of Dan's secret sauce," Greenberg said. "From a long time hanging around the sports industry, I've seen all kinds of owners; the good, bad and ugly, the smart and the not so smart. And over a period of time, the quality of ownership does tend to affect the way an organization thinks, acts and performs on the field or on the court. Dan is one of those guys. He's a winner, a winner in life, a winner in business, and he's going to be a winner in the basketball business, as he has been."
  
  That's where we are, 36 hours from the biggest transaction of Gilbert's career. Greenberg said that if you asked 100 people to tell you the first thing that comes to mind when you say, "Cleveland," 50 of them would say LeBron James. If LeBron leaves, and you asked 100 people to tell you what comes to mind when you say, "Dan Gilbert," he would be the guy who let LeBron James get away.
  
  We are days away, maybe even hours, from a transaction that will define them both. Greenberg, sports' biggest deal maker, isn't in a position to bet against either one.
  
  http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/13579392/sports-business-titan-sees-long-marriage-for-cavs-gilbert-lebron?tag=coverlist_footer;coverlist_photo_content
• IggyPride00

  

  If Lebron does stay in Cleveland, I am convinced he is going to demand an opt out clause for after 3 years as part of the deal.
  
  I could see him wanting to sign the max deal just for grandfathering purposes in case the cap radically changes, but I see no scenario in which he locks himself in anywhere for more than 3 years because there are just too many unknowns anywhere he signs, and he can't allow himself to get trapped in a potentially bad situation (i.e no titles).
  
  That would leave him able to be a free agent again when he's 28, and then sign the max year deal because at that age he could still get a 6 year deal no problem and will still be considered in his prime.
  
  The Cavs will detest the idea of an opt-out, but I can't see them telling Lebron to walk if the choice is give it to him or get nothing.
  
  On the bright side, Kobe had an opt out for this year. When you win, the star doesn't exercise it with the intent to leave. They just opt out to get the new max deal with the new elevated salary and raises a new deal brings. If the Cavs are winning titles, then it is just an excuse to get paid more which Gilbert would happily do for him. If they aren't Lebron can leave and not be stuck in a bad situation all through your prime like KG.
  
  I am beginning to think this is the most likely scenario although he might decide he has to leave if they can't some how swing a deal to bring in some type of legit second star be it Bosh or someone else.
• Footwedge

  I don't think Bosh wants anything to do with Cleveland. So...I would try to sign Staudemire in his place.
• devil1197

  Footwedge;405658 wrote:I don't think Bosh wants anything to do with Cleveland. So...I would try to sign Staudemire in his place.

  
  Sign Amar'e? Can't happy.
  
  If LeBron gives the nod to Cleveland, which I believe 100% he will, it will push another star to come to Cleveland (Bosh who will want a max deal because he doesn't get the off the court $$$ like LeBron/Wade/Kobe etc).
• Cleveland Buck

  

  Bosh doesn't want any part of Cleveland, and Toronto doesn't want any part of taking back one of our bad contracts when they can just trade Bosh for draft picks and a big trade exception.
• wes_mantooth

  

  devil1197;405650 wrote:What teams have better situations right now that can S/T for Bosh and still have room that can bring in another max star? The teams right now with a lot of cap room got rid of most if not all of their assests in hopes of landing two max stars via FA.
  
  How would Chicago do a S/T for Bosh?

  
  They don't have to...they can just sign him. Chicago set themselves up nicely.
• KR1245

  

  How do we know that Bosh doesnt want anything to do with Cleveland? A couple unnamed sources say something and it has to be true. I would love to have Bosh but there are other guys out there that could improve this team.
• BR1986FB

  wes_mantooth;405668 wrote:They don't have to...they can just sign him. Chicago set themselves up nicely.

  
  To a max 3 year deal. If he wants the extra $30 million, he's gonna have to sign the 6 year and then be traded if he wants out.
• wes_mantooth

  

  BR1986FB;405674 wrote:To a max 3 year deal. If he wants the extra $30 million, he's gonna have to sign the 6 year and then be traded if he wants out.

  
  Correct. I am under the impression that Wade, Bron, and Bosh are only wanting 3 yr deals....maybe I am wrong.
• BR1986FB

  wes_mantooth;405679 wrote:Correct. I am under the impression that Wade, Bron, and Bosh are only wanting 3 yr deals....maybe I am wrong.

  
  I think devil was talking about the case of a 6 year max deal. Teams wouldn't have to do a sign & trade for Bosh if they have the cap room for him, obviously.
• devil1197

  Cleveland Buck;405662 wrote:Bosh doesn't want any part of Cleveland, and Toronto doesn't want any part of taking back one of our bad contracts when they can just trade Bosh for draft picks and a big trade exception.

  
  Actually, Toronto wants talent in return and we don't have to give them one of our supposedly bad contracts (Mo/Jamison etc). We can load the deal with expirings, young talent, picks, and AV who Toronto has been known to want. Cleveland can give Toronto an instant 5.5 million in cap relief from West along with packaging any contract of Moon/Telfair/Parker etc that are all 2-3 million range that will expire.
  
  Remember, Toronto would be in the same situation that Cleveland would be in if LeBron leaves. Toronto will have little cap room for signing players as they stand at 46.3 with the top 3 salaries being long term. If Cleveland loads them with expirings plus JJ/AV etc along with picks, it would be a hard trade to turn down. JJ comes on the cheap and AV has a team option at the end and his contract is incentive based also. It would give the Raptors good cap space for next off season in an attempt to rebuild. I would also look for Cleveland to be willing to take back a bad contract if the Raptors push for it.
  
  No team can give the wide assortment of pieces that Cleveland can that is in the running for two max stars. Dallas can give a nice package but they really haven't been on the radar and Gilbert won't S/T LeBron at all.
  
  Correct, Chicago doesn't have to S/T for Bosh but Bosh is willing to work with Toronto for a S/T especially if LeBron heads back to Cleveland imo.
  
  People have talked about Bosh and how he matches up the other stars with outside endorsements. It depends on how he feels he will do in that area moving forward, that extra $30 million at the end of the contract goes further with Bosh than it does a LeBron or Wade. I doubt he takes a long term deal, but for a player that isn't necessarily the most marketable guy he may look into it more than the megastars.
  
  Find where Bosh wants nothing to do with Cleveland because right now you cannot find a credible source.
• Trueblue23

  

  Damn I can't wait for all this to be over!
• Pick6

  

  Trueblue23;405840 wrote:Damn I can't wait for all this to be over!

  
  same here. all this speculation and bullshit is annoying as hell. espn, all i want to know is when and where players sign. I dont really care what rumors you make up or where lebron n co eat lunch.
• jordo212000

  

  Pick6;405850 wrote:same here. all this speculation and bullshit is annoying as hell. espn, all i want to know is when and where players sign. I dont really care what rumors you make up or where lebron n co eat lunch.

  
  ??? They can't tell you where they are going to sign for a few more days haha. So obviously anything they say will be a rumor. You might not be interested, but there are plenty of others that are. This is a huge week in professional sports. The whole landscape of a league could change.
• 2quik4u

  

  jordo212000;405860 wrote:??? They can't tell you where they are going to sign for a few more days haha. So obviously anything they will be a rumor. You might not be interested, but there are plenty of others that are. This is a huge week in professional sports. The whole landscape of a league could change.

  
  dont matta La still winning it