"James' exit from Cleveland is inevitable"

[Maximus]

Ha. Well, the guy's kinda close, but it's a load of crap. Yeah, some teams'll have space, but 80% aren't even close to being considered threats to lure Lebron there.

What's the rough estimate for the cap, $60 million? And Lebron's up for, what, $20 mil/year starting roughly? So a team would need have at MOST $40 million in guaranteed salaries for 2010/11. Let's see, assuming no big moves and expected re-signings & options....

Atlanta - $25 million (Assuming resiging/options on Horford, Williams & Acie Law)
Chicago - maybe $23 million (and only if they ditch Tyrus & Sefalosha and their cap holds, & don't keep Ben Gordon)
Cleveland - $40 million (not counting Lebron & other cap holds we might have), plus we can offer an extra year others can't
Houston - $22 million (not counting McGrady's cap hold, assuming resigning Scola)
LA Clippers - $22 million
Miami - $22 million (factoring in D.Wade's cap hold)
Minnesota - $38 million
Nets - $20 million
OKC - $40 million
Phoenix - $20 million
Sacramento - $39 million
Toronto - $26 million

** The Pistons could have space, but only if they don't resign Hamilton & don't option Stuckey - no chance
** The Knicks are only a possibility if they can dump MASSIVE salaries. I mean MASSIVE.

So who's even a whiff of a threat there? Miami if they get good again, Clippers maybe... the pretty LA lights? I still honestly see the Knicks as a long shot.

And this is all based on my estimates. Half those teams could drop off that list if they give bigger contracts than expected to their young players.

It's so much less cut and dry than all these national media types think. There are honestly very few options for Lebron that will make as much sense as Cleveland if we continue to contend for titles every year.

I agree he's "kind of close" if you look at the 2010 numbers as of today. But look at what he said -

"My understanding is, he's out for sure," the executive said. "He'll run it out to free agency for sure, and Cleveland is definitely not the highest chance of the teams. Everyone that knows him and that he talks to privately says he wants to get out of there. Obviously, New York's been talked about, but there's going to be lots of teams with money that year, 15 or so."

He's saying that there will be 15 or so teams "that year". NO FREAKING WAY teams will have that much discipline to not spend between now and then. My guess is a max of 5 teams end up being enough under the cap to actually offer a contract to Lebron in 2010.

 

[theSTEREO.]

I agree he's "kind of close" if you look at the 2010 numbers as of today.

He's saying that there will be 15 or so teams "that year". NO FREAKING WAY teams will have that much discipline to not spend between now and then. My guess is a max of 5 teams end up being enough under the cap to actually offer a contract to Lebron in 2010.

For sure, I'm with ya. I was just showing that the whole argument of 'so many teams being able to offer Lebron money' was flimsy for sure.

You're right. I don't see any way, any how that that many NBA teams hang onto that much cap space for 1 single summer, especially at the expense of the young players they've cultivated, not giving them proper contracts.

 

[KU_216]

So is there any truth that LeBron tells those close to him he wants out? We've been hearing it for years, with no actual evidence to support it.

 

[TyGuy]

If lebron was so eager to leave then I highly doubt he would have signed a contract extension with us.

This poor dead horse has been beaten and ravaged for WAY too long.

 

[Juice22]

I'm sooo Sick of this....LEBRON already STATED that he IS NOT LEAVIN CLEVELAND....It was even posted up here on this site. Of course it didnt make ESPN, because it was also included with Politics and it keeps the suspens of 2010.. I cant stand people like that.

 

[Amherstcavsfan]

OKC - $40 million

LeBron to Oklahoma CIty in 2010?

 

[limeaide]

This unbiased Blazers fan knows in his heart that LeBron is bringing you a championship.

Stay quiet, and let them speculate so they can look like fools when LBJ resigns.

 

[Wes]

I still don't understand why people lump a city like Miami in as a big market. I can understand NY, LA, and Chicago, but Miami? I didn't think that their TV market was much bigger than Cleveland's.

Better climate, yes. Huge, global market? No.

 

[G-MAN]

1. If Lebron wants money he would go to the "big" market". His contract dollars don't mean jack. He would make a few million more off of a Cleveland contract but would make hundred of millions off of extra endorsements.

The Yankees pay their entire payroll off of their TV contract. The tickets, hot dogs and crap are pure profit. Our local players do car commercials, barely. Every sport in New York/NJ has players getting endorsement money. It's a totally different world.

If he wants to leave Cleveland it will leak out nearer the end of his contract. It is to his advantage to leave Cleveland without us trading him. Best player in the NBA type trades include 2 to 3 no. 1 picks and 2 to 3 starters. Leaving the other team without much of a bench and less young talent. Lebron doesn't want to start over.

If he does want to leave his entorage is definately on lip lockdown by orders of Lebron. He also does not want to seem like a two faced person to the fans of this area. If he does go the media will just say he wanted to go a better situation. If they critisize him, they won't get interviews. Superstar status.

It all has to do with how much privacy does he want. Once he goes to NY/NJ he will be in the middle of the suck. If things go bad he becomes Dominique Wilkens instead of MJ.

 

[Soda]

This is sad, it is a day away from not only the season opening, but the Cavs against the Celtics. This is a huge test early and I can't believe this garbage has taken the upper hand on the season to come.

 

[BlueSeats626]

This is sad, it is a day away from not only the season opening, but the Cavs against the Celtics. This is a huge test early and I can't believe this garbage has taken the upper hand on the season to come.

Its not going away. These articles will pop up every time the Cavs play in NJ/NY.

 

[Soda]

Its not going away. These articles will pop up every time the Cavs play in NJ/NY.

I suppose you're right. As long as those bums don't have any basketball to write about, they won't get off this.

 

[Jon]

A ring would certainly help LeBron's popularity, but what might help even more is if the Cavs were perceived as fun to watch.

LeBron's ISO power drive game is not that compelling compared to a small guard who dips and dives around people to get to the rim and that nails J's in the defender's face.

If the Cavs offense improves and LeBron diversifies his game - that's going to help him a lot.

 

[Cavatt]

A ring would certainly help LeBron's popularity, but what might help even more is if the Cavs were perceived as fun to watch.

LeBron's ISO power drive game is not that compelling compared to a small guard who dips and dives around people to get to the rim and that nails J's in the defender's face.

If the Cavs offense improves and LeBron diversifies his game - that's going to help him a lot.

Did you get to see the Wizards game? It was really awesome, jam packed with highlight moves. I don't know if it will look like that against Boston, we look way worse against defensive specialist teams like spurs and celts, but man the Cavs are gonna look great this year.

 

[Jon]

Did you get to see the Wizards game? It was really awesome, jam packed with highlight moves. I don't know if it will look like that against Boston, we look way worse against defensive specialist teams like spurs and celts, but man the Cavs are gonna look great this year.

Yes, both the offense and defense looked good in the Wiz game, but the Wiz looked pretty disinterested even though their coach tried to plead with them to play hard as a dry run for the regular season.

Our offense does usually seem more like an offense against bad defensive teams like the Wiz. For instance, we scored 100+ pts against them 3 times in the playoffs, but only once .vs. the Celts.

So we'll see. It was a nice way to end the pre-season, but we didn't look very good in the other games.

Hopefully for once we'll install a new offense and actually use it.