The Lebron Safari 2014

[Tlyons]

Did Lebron make that video himself? And just an FYI, with that soundtrack a video of me taking a shit would have been "EMOTIONAL"

[Jack Brickman]

Did Lebron make that video himself? And just an FYI, with that soundtrack a video of me taking a shit would have been "EMOTIONAL"

Sure, but let's keep that one off of YouTube.

[Tlyons]

Sure, but let's keep that one off of YouTube.

InB4 some does this in the pooped a huge log thread.

[jrcross13]

I am on the fence about his possible return. I hate the way he left and I still root against the cHeat every game. If Gilbert wants him back, then I am ok with it. What makes me nervous is how can the Cavs recruit him back without looking bad. Trying to court him like we did back in 2010 makes us look desperate, begging the jilted lover to take us back!

If we are in fact interested, I would simply have a simple message to him that said, "there is a max contract for you in Cleveland if you want it." No more, no less. Don't feed into his ego and play his games. I would then have Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson recruit him. Of course players want to play with the best in the league, and those two have no emotional attachment to him leaving like the fans and ownership does. What could these 2 use to recruit him home,

1) Kyrie, Dion, Tristan, Zeller, Andy, + young draft pick this year (Muhammed or Noel) . This is a solid young nucleus that James will just put over the top.

2) Cap space to bring in one other big name with James along with locking up Kyrie long term.

3) Miami's 2015 draft pick! I think this gets lost in the thought process. If James and Bosh exit Miami, then that team is in deep trouble and would likely net us a top pick. I am not sure if it is protected in any way, but I doubt they were thinking about him leaving when they traded it to us. So even if we have a Championship season with him, we would still get one more high pick to add.

4) The coming home, restoring his image storyline, fulfill his promise, blah blah blah.

I really think that the Cavs,the Lakers, and the Heat are really the only teams in play for him in 2014. Maybe I am looking at it through wine and gold colored glasses, but I don't see where else he would go.

The Lakers are an aging team and he would be marketed as the heir apparent to Kobe. I don't think his ego will let him be in Kobe's shadow. Their main selling point would be Los Angeles itself.

Miami will have an aging Wade and be facing cap Hell. I cannot see him staying with those weak fans.

[rabman_gold]

Here's my only stance about the whole thing (I won't convince others to my side either, it's up to everyone on which side to take):

I he decides to make it a circus again, F him. I'm not a part of it. There's only one team I'm following through thick and thin. The Cleveland Cavaliers. Not LeBron James. I'm a Real "Cavs" Fan, after all. Also, I'm not going to be baited into a "Decision, Part II", if he decides to do it (though, I doubt he would, since it hurt his image the last time, even if he decided to go back to Cleveland).

If he does go back to go back to Cleveland, swell. More power to him. He'll probably make us a contender again. He'll also call the shots unless he actually wants to play with Kyrie and friends. I don't give a shit. I just want to enjoy basketball and hopefully watch success and a championship before my eyes.

Even if he doesn't come back, I don't doubt our team. Grant may not look like he knows what he's doing right now, but that's because there's no pressure on him. He'll have to replace the parts sooner or later or he'll be fired, but you realize he should've realized from Ferry's building. Making a team with older guys who used to be good isn't the same as a team with guys who have talent that can get much better with excellent attitudes. He should also know about the coaching and observe if it's right once he's given Scott a fair team to use.

If LeBron wants to be a part of this show, it's his choice, but these guys won't foolishly place their eggs in the basket waiting for him. They can make way more transactions in the meantime. Get more assets, draft picks, players, and trade for great players in 2014 even if LeBron isn't here. Good thing Gilbert is also here to watch, since he's a very generous spender. *back to watching what matters, Cavs games*

[jay_em]

Imagine how awkward it will be announcing Lebrons name in the starting lineup for the first time at the Q. I just don't think Lebron is man enough to come to terms with Gilbert or this town. It kind of reminds me when of the Tribe of the 90's that was broken up. Players that left, when asked would always talk about how it would have been great to get back together again. Which kind of happened, Thome, Lofton, just wasn't the same. Even Manny Ramirez talked about how a return to Cleveland would have been good. People can always reminisce about the good times but when the good times have past, it's really hard to recoup those feelings and times. To me, yeah I will admit the Lebron Era was an outstanding time for Cavalier basketball, but there is a time to move on. We don't need him, we will recover, the pieces are starting to fall into place. And when we do get to that point, it will feel that much better.

In similar vein to your "past good times are rarely recouped" stance. It could also be said that potential future success is just that potential....it rarely manifests itself.

[brownsbuck6]

Today's trade is just one more asset that, down the line, will help this team to continually reload with young talent. It's amazing what's happening, such a different approach to LeBron's first go around here. What's amusing to me is if LeBron does return, everything will be opposite. He spent the first seven years of his career here constantly with aging or mediocre veterans. Might he spend the last seven years of his career surrounded constantly by young, budding talent? Which, sadly, is how it should have been done the first time around, but the pressure to win now because of his presence didn't allow for it. It's amazing how this entire scenario might have been for the longterm benefit of the Cavs. I could never have been convinced of that in 2010.

[bigfoot5415]

Part of me wants the Heat to completely blow it up in 2014. Honestly LBJ is the only one that I can see opting out. DWade & Bosh will both accept their $20 mil pay days. With just those two and role players, I doubt they make the playoffs w/o LBJ. The East will be a tough division by then. A lot of teams are on the upswing.

All of this so that 2015 unprotected Heat 1st rounder becomes something great.

[MDLT]

It's strange that so many fans here think that James must do Cleveland right in order to redeem himself. It might be hard to accept this, but nobody cares about Cleveland or what happened anymore. The media doesn't care, sports fans don't care, and LeBron doesn't care.

This whole redemption angle is completely logical only if you are a Cleveland sports fanatic, or Chris Broussard and need to write a story for ESPN - otherwise, it's just nonsense.

Now, maybe he would come back based on the potential talent here, but that seems just as ridiculous. Would bet everything that he stays in Miami where they bring in another star to replace one of the three, or leaves for another major city where they bring in James with other bonafide stars.

[Doc Shakalou]

It's strange that so many fans here think that James must do Cleveland right in order to redeem himself. It might be hard to accept this, but nobody cares about Cleveland or what happened anymore. The media doesn't care, sports fans don't care, and LeBron doesn't care.

This whole redemption angle is completely logical only if you are a Cleveland sports fanatic, or Chris Broussard and need to write a story for ESPN - otherwise, it's just nonsense.

Now, maybe he would come back based on the potential talent here, but that seems just as ridiculous. Would bet everything that he stays in Miami where they bring in another star to replace one of the three, or leaves for another major city where they bring in James with other bonafide stars.

It's not about Cleveland. LeBron seriously hurt his image across the whole league after he left. That's why he started to try and adopt the villain role in the NBA. He realized he didn't like it and has tried to repair his image since. Again, it's not about Cleveland. It's about leaving his hometown team to form a super team because he didn't have the will to do it on his own. He was being compared to Jordan before he left. After he left everyone said Jordan never would have done that.

People don't care about Cleveland, it would be the same scenario if he had done all of this to Charlotte.

The other aspect I didn't mention is that LeBron still thinks of Cleveland as home. He has that mansion in Bath. He hates that he's a pariah in his hometown. He wants to be loved here and really the only way for him to repair his image in Cleveland is to come back.

[JiggleIt]

You guys are literally going to need therapy after this next one. Book your appointments now.

[Doc Shakalou]

You guys are literally going to need therapy after this next one. Book your appointments now.

I'll be fine since I don't even really want him back. I'm also firmly against planning the Cavs personnel moves around signing him in free agency. I just think it's going to happen because LeBron loves the attention and the narrative around it would help improve his image both in Cleveland and nationally. ESPN would cum themselves over the redemption storyline they could run with.

Not to mention that, besides us not being a big market, there likely won't be a better option out there for him roster wise. Kyrie, Dion, Tristan, Noel/Shabazz/McLemore/Metrics guy we all hate, plus all the other assets we have. I doubt any other teams will have the amount of talent this roster will at the time and also the cap space to bring him in.

[DonGilbert]

@KingJames: @KyrieIrving is definitely a All-Star this year #nodoubtaboutit

[Typhoon]

[TyGuy]

Damn, wrong thread. I have no input at this time, lol.

Sent from my ass using tapatalk 2