NBA Offseason

[Big Nick Dudley]

Apparently Lebron will not waive his no-trade clause. If he doesn't want to stay, why else would he do this?

 

[George Steele's Barber]

Apparently Lebron will not waive his no-trade clause. If he doesn't want to stay, why else would he do this?

Lots of reasons:

If he leaves Cleveland now, Kyrie wins. He may have made a promise to his family. He doesn't feel like now is the right time. He feels that Cleveland can still win this year despite the Kyrie drama. He wants to leave Dan Gilbert with nothing in compensation for his departure. Fear of ending up in the West this year. A feeling that the Kyrie stuff can be worked out.

If he wants to stay in Cleveland next year he should say so. It's not like it gives the Cavs org any more power against him. If anything it gives the Cavs more power against the rest of league.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

I agree. He needs to say one way or the other. Not for Gilbert, but for Cleveland fans.

Leaving would be idiotic, in my opinion. Giving Cleveland a title won't matter. A lot of basketball fans want a reason to hate Lebron and this would ignite that fire once again, especially when you consider Lebron IS the draw, not Cleveland. He doesn't need a bigger market, he IS the market.

 

[Da Prophet]

I fully believe LeBron wants to own the Cavs and winning in Cleveland probably just increases the amount the franchise is worth. That would only make it harder for LeBron to purchase it. LeBron adds hundreds of millions to the value of the Cavs and him leaving is best for his long term plan of ownership (if that's what he wants).

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

Westbrook?

My bad. Meant through '16. Still quite a...situation, I guess you could call it.

And of course James isn't saying he's leaving Cleveland. It just makes him the bad guy in some people's eyes that much sooner. I told one of my friends whose a Cleveland fan back in '10 (or whenever that offseason was) that he was leaving and he refused to believe me. There is literally no reason not to say you're staying if you're staying.

Also, if Gilbert and James's is as bad as I'm guessing (especially if he leaves again) good luck on James trying to buy the franchise from him.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

I think James has this need for people to like him. I don't think he likes being the villain. I'm not saying that that is wrong, but I'd like him much more if he embraced that role. It's why I like the Rodmans and Barkleys of the world. Why despite being rivals, I respect and admire the Bad Boy Pistons and why my favorite NBA image ever is Reggie making the choking motion at Spike Lee.

I do hate Cleveland fans who act like he owes them, like without Cleveland James would have never been anything. I hate sports fans in general who act like players owe them. The truth is James is the only good thing to happen to the Cavs and Cleveland sports in my entire twenty seven years, probably longer. Even if you ignore how laughably inept the Browns seem forever destined to be and how the Indians are forever caught in limbo of never being awful but never being elite, the Cavs were nothing before James. He left and they returned to trash. Who is the best player in Cavs history behind James? Larry Nance? Mark Price?

Interesting though, and I'll try to find it for you guys, but from a financial standpoint LeBron actually hurts the Cavs, well at least he hurts Dan Gilbert. Someone did the math and the increase in attendance and merch sales that LeBron adds are completely offset by the luxury tax that Gilbert has to pay to cover the contracts of not only LeBron, but Thomson and JR Smith, both who are generally viewed as overpaid and both clients of LeBron's agency.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

Interesting though, and I'll try to find it for you guys, but from a financial standpoint LeBron actually hurts the Cavs, well at least he hurts Dan Gilbert. Someone did the math and the increase in attendance and merch sales that LeBron adds are completely offset by the luxury tax that Gilbert has to pay to cover the contracts of not only LeBron, but Thomson and JR Smith, both who are generally viewed as overpaid and both clients of LeBron's agency.

Cleveland has a pretty loyal fan base regardless. If I'm not mistaken (and your numbers would probably answer the question), they were doing pretty well without James. Look at the Browns. They've been terrible as long as I can remember. They still have rabid fans.

There are certain markets that have a certain fan base, no matter how they perform. LA and Florida fans are notorious for not caring that much about their pro teams. The Lakers might be the lone exception. But even with them it seems like more of a status symbol than anything. Then there's Philly fans. That's a whole different breed.

 

[JGlass]

Cleveland has a pretty loyal fan base regardless. If I'm not mistaken (and your numbers would probably answer the question), they were doing pretty well without James. Look at the Browns. They've been terrible as long as I can remember. They still have rabid fans.

There are certain markets that have a certain fan base, no matter how they perform. LA and Florida fans are notorious for not caring that much about their pro teams. The Lakers might be the lone exception. But even with them it seems like more of a status symbol than anything. Then there's Philly fans. That's a whole different breed.

Some guy on reddit crunched the numbers on whether or not LeBron's return to Cleveland has been worth it financially, and he concluded that it 100% has been. I don't remember all the details, but I do remember that one of the aspects was that the Cavs have had at least 8 playoff home games each year since his return, not to mention that they're averaging sell-out crowds since his return (they were several thousand short prior to his return).

Here's a link to the article, has a lot more information than just the few bits I remembered.

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/commen..._medium=browse&utm_source=reddit&utm_name=nba

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

They have Rose now, just need a solid backup PG who plays defense. I would really make a push for Cousins. With Lebron, Cousins and Love, they could be the polar opposite of GS. That team may be better than this year's Cavs team.

 

[Khalifa]

Rose for 2.1 million are you kidding? The dude just came off an 18ppg season as the third option in a shit house offense for point guards. Rose still has a lot of talent and if he didn't win that MVP he would be appreciated so more (much like Greg Oden, who would've been a beast). Great signing by the Cavs but I feel a little sorry for Rose. I mean it ain't the vets min but only 2.1 for him? I suppose that's the way this off season worked.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

It's all they could afford. Plus Rose is a shell of his former self. Rose is also the most overrated MVP of the last twenty years. Just look at his playoff numbers that year. His poor play and terrible shooting literally shot the Bulls out of the playoffs.

 

[Da Prophet]

Rose strikes me as the type of dude who thought he'd get max money and can't understand why he isn't getting it.

Dude hasn't played in 67 games in the regular season since 2010-11.

Rose - 25 points, 7.7 assists, 4.1 rebounds, 1 steals, .445 FG%, .332 3P% and .858 FT%.
LeBron - 26.7 points, 7.0 assists, 7.5 rebounds, 1.6 steals, .510 FG%, .330 3P% and .759 FT%.

LeBron should've been MVP over Rose.

 

[Khalifa]

Yeah I'm not ripping on Cleveland for only using 2.1. If I could get Rose for that I swear I would've been dreaming.

Lebron had Wade and Bosh so I don't think he deserved it, also Wade was arguably the closer/glue that year. If things got tough Dwade was the recognised one for getting them out of it.. I believe Rose should've won MVP that year but Dwight could easily have a case made for him to.

+James probably had a worst final series than Roses post season, well he did. Cost his team (well the Mavs really one it but still) the championship that year.

 

[A11oftheLights]

Lebron had a triple double in one of those finals games ffs

 

[George Steele's Barber]

LeBron was arguably not the most valuable player on his own team in 2010-2011. Rose carried the Bulls (undeveloped Joakim, over the hill Boozer, good not great Deng) to the best record in the league when they had no business being near the top of the East.

Plus regular season MVP is a regular season award.

 

[Khalifa]

Lebron had a triple double in one of those finals games ffs

Kenton also only averaged less than 3 points on the final quarter. Only averaged 17.2 points 7 rebounds and 6 assists. No where near his king status and not really that great of numbers for the supposed best player in the league. The fact is Lebron didn't step up for the series, to passive. He learnt and that never happened again. But for those finals, he was shit house

 

[Da Prophet]

Nobody ever gives Dallas the respect they deserve. Here is Cuban detailing exactly what Dallas did to stop LeBron rather than just saying he came up small or choked.

[YOUTUBE]H9w_XUQyJJQ[/YOUTUBE]

 

[A11oftheLights]

Videos like that are hilarious. How many times has skip bayless or stephen a smith been shown to actually know nothing about what they are talking about. Sure its retrospective most times but the amount of rants that they go on about being certain about things is hilarious. Smith didnt have a correct finals prediction in god knows how long

 

[Khalifa]

Nobody ever gives Dallas the respect they deserve. Here is Cuban detailing exactly what Dallas did to stop LeBron rather than just saying he came up small or choked.

[YOUTUBE]H9w_XUQyJJQ[/YOUTUBE]

Dallas definitely won that series but Lebron also lost it at the same time. If Lebron played better would the heat of won? Hard to say but I doubt it. Dirk went off, Terry hit some massive shots, Chandler proved how good of a player he is and the difference a rim protector makes, Jason Kidd was just his end of career Jason Kidd self. I could keep going (the crazy thing is Caron Butler was or for the end of that season, could've arguably been their second best player on some nights) but it wasn't all Dallas doing that to LBJ otherwise every team would just keep doing that. Mentally James was just a different player than he has been every other finals series. Which is good because he has been pretty much flawless in every other series.

Also I love that video. Been watching "Skip Bayless Worst Moments and Predictions" on YouTube the last mounts or so, so good hahaha. The dude has some wild stuff to say. There is 8 parts to it and more get made every couple
Of daysz

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

Hopefully with Cleveland making so many changes, they will play a better style of basketball. I really want someone to give GS a run.

 

[JGlass]

Nobody ever gives Dallas the respect they deserve. Here is Cuban detailing exactly what Dallas did to stop LeBron rather than just saying he came up small or choked.

[YOUTUBE]H9w_XUQyJJQ[/YOUTUBE]

I watched about half of this video before I gave up. My love for Mark Cuban wasn't enough to get me past my hatred of Skip Bayless. He's the Donald Trump of sports talk: he has no idea what he's saying, but he's confident and self-important so people gobble it up.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

Dallas did a great job against Miami. Super teams can be beaten. You have to have the right players and coach. You don't always need a superstar. In 2004, my team, the Pistons, used a fantastic strategy to beat L.A. - let Shaq and Kobe run wild, but completely shut down everyone else.

Unfortunately that will not work against GS. They move the ball too well and there isn't a team out there playing that kind of defense.

And yeah, Skip Bayless is total garbage.

 

[Da Prophet]

I watched about half of this video before I gave up. My love for Mark Cuban wasn't enough to get me past my hatred of Skip Bayless. He's the Donald Trump of sports talk: he has no idea what he's saying, but he's confident and self-important so people gobble it up.

The big point at the end is when Cuban asks Skip to name the defensive schemes used by OKC when LeBron went into the post the night before. Skip fails to name a single scheme, rambles for time until Cuban asks again and Skip stutters and says he did name some schemes. At that point Cuban proceeds to outline the defensive schemes used by OKC in the post against LeBron and reinforces Skip knows nothing.

 

[SSJPhenom]

Skip Bayless is the worst sports commentator in the world. I can't stand him. He's not impartial at all. If he doesn't like someone, it doesn't matter how good they are, what they do, or what they say. He will always find a way to slight them when he's talking about them. Watch him talk about LeBron James. Shannon Sharpe will say, "Skip, the King's been to 7 straight Finals, 8 over all. He's averaged a triple double in the Finals. He's still the greatest player in the world today". Then Skip will come back with something like, "Yea, he's been to 7 straight Finals. In an Eastern Conference that I think high school teams could compete in. Of course he wouldn't have been to 7 straight Finals if in 2013 when he, in Miami at the time, faced off against my Spurs and Ray Allen saved his legacy with the most miraculous shot I've ever seen. He should give Ray Allen a Xmas card every year for that one. If it wasn't for that shot my Spurs would've won 2 straight NBA Championships against the self proclaimed King of Akron. He might have averaged a triple double in the finals this year but what good did it do him? They still lost in 5 games and Durant was putting on such great performances that I think he may very well be the best player in the world today. It's close. Blah blah blah".

Of course, through all that rhetoric, he doesn't talk about how in 2013 the Miami Heat were amazing and LeBron was far and away their best player. It's only because of Ray Allen that they won the Finals that year. Of course that was Allen's job, to hit threes and clutch shots, but he doesn't acknowledge that either. He also ridicules LeBron for resting, saying that maybe he shouldn't play all those minutes then he wouldn't need to rest as much. Oh, but when Pop rested Duncan, Parker, and Ginobli all the time; well that man was a genius.

I can't stand Skip Bayless.

 

[LBGetBack]

I've gotta know; what did LBGetBack get banned for? Please tell me!!!

Yeah, Kyrie is an idiot.

Banned? Only from the sports forum. Basically, the answer to your question is in that Lebron/MJ thread you started, unless my posts got deleted.

I'm waiting to see how this Kyrie thing truly plays out. It's been a big story, but all we're getting are little passive aggressive social media "shots" from both of them.