Cap Space For Lebron's Running Mate

[WPB Dawg Fan]

The Cavs are actually set up quite nicely for cap space going into next year AND 2010, and will be able to make a serious run at getting Lebron plenty of money AND getting him his 'Scottie Pippen'!!!

 

Look at the contracts and numbers set to expire:

 

2009

Zydrunas Ilgauskas - $10.8M (player option)

Wally Szczerbiak - $13M

Eric Snow - $7.3M (comes off books)

Anderson Verajao - $6.2M (player option)

Lorenzon Wright - $1.2M

 

2010

Zydrunas Ilgauskas - (if we kept him) $11.5M

Ben Wallace - $14M

Sasha Pavlovic - $4.95M

 

In fact the only 3 players GUARANTEED to be on the Cavs going into 2011 are:

Mo Williams - $8.5M

Daniel Gibson - $4.4M

JJ Hickson - $2.3M

 

So the Cavs could very easily make Lebron one of the highest paid players in the NBA and still go out and get a top notch player to go next to him.

 

In 2009 the list is:

Kobe Bryant, Carlos Boozer, Allen Iverson, Ron Artest, Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion, Andre Miller, Lamar Odom and Rasheed Wallace

 

In 2010 the list is:

Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Tyson Chandler, Manu Ginobili, Richard Jefferson, Joe Johnson, Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki and Michael Redd

 

If we are already a top playoff team (and we will be) for the next 2 years....and especially if we win a title...I can't imagine Lebron wouldn't at least CONSIDER staying her if we bring in a Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire, Michael Redd or even get Carlos Boozer back!!!

[Guest Masters]

This is too new WPD. Even with out that cap space, by NBA rules, CLE will always be able to offer James the most salary. But yes, CLE has been making an effort so that in 2010 they can resign James and another top tier FA. Or, in the worst case if James were to leave for some reason, they could sign two top tier FAs.

 

The whole notion by the media that James is leaving for sure is just silly to me. One week he is leaving for the Nets for sure. This week it is the Knicks for sure. Yet no one can give a legitimate reason, other than it's NY. The guy can't make more in salary there. He certainly isn't gonna get more endorsements at this point (he has every major one). It won't make him any more of a global icon, as he already is one. The only reason James will leave CLE is if he sees no chance of winning multiple titles in CLE and somewhere else can offer that. Some how I don't see the Knicks or the Nets offering that any more in 2010 than the Cavs can. They have been to two starting ECF and one year removed from the finals. They have a better team now than they did either of the last two years. And, as you pointed out, CLE can get even better in 2010.

 

People forget, Jordan, James's hero, won his titles in Chicago. Not exactly NY and Jordan didn't need to go to NY. Just as James doens't need to go to NY.

[TheBestPlayersPlay]

Sorry, but most of you must not know much about Lebron "I am the King" James. Lebron James is not a Cleveland fan. Lebron James in fact doesn't like Cleveland much at all. Lebron James has always, and will always be about Lebron James. After all, there is nothing bigger than Lebron James. LBJ will be gone in 2 years, period. This big headed asshole is a disgrace to the city of Cleveland, doesn't know when to shut his huge pie hole, and doesn't deserve to have the love affair he has with certain "fans". Sir Charles said it best recently : http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/danpatric...tml?eref=fromSI

 

 

 

Barkley to LeBron: Shut up

11:21 AM11.26 Posted By: Andrew Perloff

 

Knicks fans made a play for LeBron James on Tuesday.

AP

 

 

Charles Barkley says LeBron James should stop talking about where he will sign in two years. Barkley thinks James shouldn't be talking about going to other teams while he's playing for Cleveland.

 

"If I was LeBron James, I would shut the hell up," Barkley said. "I'm a big LeBron fan. He's a stud. You gotta give him his props. I'm getting so annoyed he's talking about what he's going to do in two years. I think it's disrespectful to the game. I think it's disrespectful to the Cavliers."

 

Barkley compared James' actions to him going on TNT and saying he can't wait to go to ESPN in two years.

 

Barkley says going to New York won't even make a difference for LeBron. He'll be LeBron James whether he's in Cleveland, Sacramento or Tokyo. He has the same amount of marketing appeal.

 

Barkley says that no player has a bigger reputation because he plays in New York, except for maybe Joe Namath.

 

Dan brought up Derek Jeter. Would Jeter be this kind of star in another city? Barkley says Jeter would be a hero in Kansas City if he won four championships.

 

Dan and Charles also got into the Lakers' chances of winning 70 games this season. Charles said that the Lakers might have everything wrapped up early and have no incentive to play that hard at the end of the season.

 

Barkley said that he's disappointed there aren't more serious rivals to the Lakers and Celtics. Barkley says there are only three quality teams in the West -- L.A., Utah and New Orleans. And Cleveland and Boston are the only teams to watch in the East right now.

[TheBestPlayersPlay]

Just saw this one too. I guess others are beginning to tire of big mouthed a-holes act as well. http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-36-9...h-New-York.html

 

 

 

 

 

No Longer Cute: LeBron James' Flirtation with New York

November 26, 2008 12:35 PM

ESPN's Chris Sheridan, quoting LeBron James in the Daily Dime:

 

"You have to stay open-minded if you're a Knicks fan," James said before delivering his parting words. "If you guys want to sleep right now and don't wake up until July 1, 2010, then go ahead. It's going to be a big day."

 

The basic rule of PR in these situations is not to be fancy. You don't want to inspire reporters to dig deep into something where there are no real answers. You want to end the story, because the more of a media fire there is, the greater the chance that you could get burned. (Remember, this is the guy who shelved his convictions about genocide so as not to make a distraction for Team USA. He seems to have no such scruples with the Cavaliers.)

 

Even if you want to leave all your options open, all you have to say is that you love playing in Cleveland, you're from Ohio, and you'll worry about your next contract when this one is done.

 

That would be enough to get the amplifiers turned up. Teams would still clear cap space for you, just in case. But that's not enough for LeBron James. He's taking it to a whole different level. His amplifier goes to eleven.

 

The Yankees hat, the coy talk, calling New York his favorite city ... I hope Cleveland pharmacies are stocked up with Maalox this Thanksgiving, because Cavalier fans are feeling the indigestion.

 

In PR terms, I see that quote above, and the others we have seen like it, as LeBron James slapping Danny Ferry, owner Dan Gilbert, and Cleveland fans across the face.

 

Would it be so hard, I can imagine them asking LeBron, to squash the rumors?

 

(I mean, a while ago at a political rally in Ohio, he said what anyone would say at a political rally in Ohio: That he loves and is committed to Ohio. Later James clarified with a New York-based reporter -- just to be super double extra clear -- that he had not ruled out leaving in 2010.)

 

 

Special Big Apple red shoes for New York? At some point, it's too much.

 

I just wonder if, perhaps, at some point, the Cavalier brass tires of it all.

 

It's like you're taking the prettiest lady to the big dance. That's fantastic.

 

But then all night long she's dropping hints that she's thinking of leaving with that guy over there. Yeah, the one in the blue and orange.

 

Bad night, huh?

 

The only difference is, in the middle of a dance, you can't make a trade.

 

But in the NBA, you can.

 

I hear you, I hear you. YOU DON'T TRADE LEBRON JAMES. YOU JUST DON'T.

 

GM 101.

 

I know. I agree.

 

And I know that there are far more Dans -- Ferry, Gilbert, and the like -- in this world than there are LeBrons. The superstar ultimately holds the cards, and everyone else should act accordingly.

 

But that doesn't mean you stand idly by as they loot the store. If at any point the Cavaliers believe LeBron James is going to leave as a free agent in 2010, it's time to start preparing Cavalier fans for the fact that you might trade the guy.

 

At the very least, it might dim the lights a little on the LeBron James flirtation show.

 

Or it might end up being smart to actually trade him.

 

If he walks, top teams will have cap space in 2010, but it's a good bet that the premium markets will be the ones to attract the blue chip talent like Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. In other words, Cleveland's plan B for cap space in 2010 is probably not as sexy as New York's. So better to trade for an asset that you can then pay more than anyone else to keep.

 

And let's not pretend this free agent negotiation is really going to come down to some team executives wowing LeBron James with a nice tour of the city two summers from now. The Knicks, Nets, and Pistons have made their moves. The cards are on the table. There's no good reason the decision makers in the LeBron James camp wouldn't already have a good idea how they'd rank the contenders at this point. The only information to come is who is going to win the championships in 2009 and 2010, and who else might gain cap space.

 

So my point is, if you're Danny Ferry, and you don't have strong private conviction that LeBron James is harmlessly flirting, don't you have to at least know what's out there?

 

There is probably no limit to what you could get for LeBron James in trade. Three affordable young stars and some cap space doesn't seem like too much to ask. (UPDATE: David Thorpe's clever trade suggestion. Even looking at that trade machine screen kills me as a Blazer fan ... you don't trade those guys either ... but the market for James must just be sick. He's a one-man trip to the Finals. And another idea from Thorpe, involving Boston.)

 

I actually really feel for Danny Ferry. He's running one of the best teams in the NBA, with one of the best coaches, and the best player ... yet there are a ton of scenarios whereby the next couple of years could make him the latest in a long string of reviled Cleveland sports figures.

 

Keeping LeBron James is the only way out, and that could take some luck.

[flipflop]

Lebron keeps saying whether he leaves or not is "business". If its Business trade him.

 

 

 

Just saw this one too. I guess others are beginning to tire of big mouthed a-holes act as well. http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-36-9...h-New-York.html

 

 

 

 

 

No Longer Cute: LeBron James' Flirtation with New York

November 26, 2008 12:35 PM

ESPN's Chris Sheridan, quoting LeBron James in the Daily Dime:

 

"You have to stay open-minded if you're a Knicks fan," James said before delivering his parting words. "If you guys want to sleep right now and don't wake up until July 1, 2010, then go ahead. It's going to be a big day."

 

The basic rule of PR in these situations is not to be fancy. You don't want to inspire reporters to dig deep into something where there are no real answers. You want to end the story, because the more of a media fire there is, the greater the chance that you could get burned. (Remember, this is the guy who shelved his convictions about genocide so as not to make a distraction for Team USA. He seems to have no such scruples with the Cavaliers.)

 

Even if you want to leave all your options open, all you have to say is that you love playing in Cleveland, you're from Ohio, and you'll worry about your next contract when this one is done.

 

That would be enough to get the amplifiers turned up. Teams would still clear cap space for you, just in case. But that's not enough for LeBron James. He's taking it to a whole different level. His amplifier goes to eleven.

 

The Yankees hat, the coy talk, calling New York his favorite city ... I hope Cleveland pharmacies are stocked up with Maalox this Thanksgiving, because Cavalier fans are feeling the indigestion.

 

In PR terms, I see that quote above, and the others we have seen like it, as LeBron James slapping Danny Ferry, owner Dan Gilbert, and Cleveland fans across the face.

 

Would it be so hard, I can imagine them asking LeBron, to squash the rumors?

 

(I mean, a while ago at a political rally in Ohio, he said what anyone would say at a political rally in Ohio: That he loves and is committed to Ohio. Later James clarified with a New York-based reporter -- just to be super double extra clear -- that he had not ruled out leaving in 2010.)

 

 

Special Big Apple red shoes for New York? At some point, it's too much.

 

I just wonder if, perhaps, at some point, the Cavalier brass tires of it all.

 

It's like you're taking the prettiest lady to the big dance. That's fantastic.

 

But then all night long she's dropping hints that she's thinking of leaving with that guy over there. Yeah, the one in the blue and orange.

 

Bad night, huh?

 

The only difference is, in the middle of a dance, you can't make a trade.

 

But in the NBA, you can.

 

I hear you, I hear you. YOU DON'T TRADE LEBRON JAMES. YOU JUST DON'T.

 

GM 101.

 

I know. I agree.

 

And I know that there are far more Dans -- Ferry, Gilbert, and the like -- in this world than there are LeBrons. The superstar ultimately holds the cards, and everyone else should act accordingly.

 

But that doesn't mean you stand idly by as they loot the store. If at any point the Cavaliers believe LeBron James is going to leave as a free agent in 2010, it's time to start preparing Cavalier fans for the fact that you might trade the guy.

 

At the very least, it might dim the lights a little on the LeBron James flirtation show.

 

Or it might end up being smart to actually trade him.

 

If he walks, top teams will have cap space in 2010, but it's a good bet that the premium markets will be the ones to attract the blue chip talent like Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. In other words, Cleveland's plan B for cap space in 2010 is probably not as sexy as New York's. So better to trade for an asset that you can then pay more than anyone else to keep.

 

And let's not pretend this free agent negotiation is really going to come down to some team executives wowing LeBron James with a nice tour of the city two summers from now. The Knicks, Nets, and Pistons have made their moves. The cards are on the table. There's no good reason the decision makers in the LeBron James camp wouldn't already have a good idea how they'd rank the contenders at this point. The only information to come is who is going to win the championships in 2009 and 2010, and who else might gain cap space.

 

So my point is, if you're Danny Ferry, and you don't have strong private conviction that LeBron James is harmlessly flirting, don't you have to at least know what's out there?

 

There is probably no limit to what you could get for LeBron James in trade. Three affordable young stars and some cap space doesn't seem like too much to ask. (UPDATE: David Thorpe's clever trade suggestion. Even looking at that trade machine screen kills me as a Blazer fan ... you don't trade those guys either ... but the market for James must just be sick. He's a one-man trip to the Finals. And another idea from Thorpe, involving Boston.)

 

I actually really feel for Danny Ferry. He's running one of the best teams in the NBA, with one of the best coaches, and the best player ... yet there are a ton of scenarios whereby the next couple of years could make him the latest in a long string of reviled Cleveland sports figures.

 

Keeping LeBron James is the only way out, and that could take some luck.

 

[Guest Masters]

Sorry, but most of you must not know much about Lebron "I am the King" James. Lebron James is not a Cleveland fan. Lebron James in fact doesn't like Cleveland much at all. Lebron James has always, and will always be about Lebron James. After all, there is nothing bigger than Lebron James. LBJ will be gone in 2 years, period. This big headed asshole is a disgrace to the city of Cleveland, doesn't know when to shut his huge pie hole, and doesn't deserve to have the love affair he has with certain "fans".

 

*sigh* What do you think James owes anyone. He's a pro athlete. It is his job and he is damn good at it. By your logic of "he is not a fan of Cleveland" (which he is of the town, just not the sports teams), well then we don't have to worry about him going to NY for either team. By the logic you are trying to use, he will go to Chicago. He grew up a Bulls fan. I don't give two shits who he roots for in any pro sport. Just as I don't care what teams other players on the Browns, Indians, or Cavs are fans of. It is completely irrelivent. What matters is how they play while suited up for a CLE team. Last I checked, James plays the best ball in the NBA.

 

I have seen the Barkley quote, and listed to the actual interview on Dan Patrick. What is failed to be mentioned in these latest stories is that James is not the one talking about where he is going. The media is. He gets asked the question every single day. Gee, a shock he eventually answers it (which he used to not do). Lebron isn't bringing it up or out there yapping about leaving, playing in NY, or anywhere else. Sports writers across the country are doing it and poking him about it in every city. But lets blame James...... *sigh*.

 

I suggest you listen to the interview before/after the Knicks game in its entirety (or read the actual transcript, which I have posted in another thread). Listen to in on NBA.com. Gary Payton hits the nail on the head, James is now just playing with the media. What else can he do.

 

If CLE wins a title this year or next, he will be going no where. CLE can add as much as any team, can offer him the most money (again see his answer on taking a pay cut), and he cares about one thing as you said, Lebron James. But in the way you want a great athlete to. He cares about his legacy in the game of basketball, and since HS has had one desire. To win, win, win. He doesn't care about points scored or any of that. He cares about the final on the score board. He knows like in any major sport his legacy is ultimately defined by the number of titles he wins. Where it is does not matter, and nor should it.

 

As long as CLE keeps heading in the direction they are (note Sir Charles also in the same interview predicted the Cavs to win it all this year), James will not be leaving. Just like when Kobe teased a few years ago going to CHI and NY when he was coming up as a FA (and the Lakers didn't look good or like they would be any time soon), it is all about hype, press, and playing with the media.

 

 

[Guest Masters]

The two biggest NBA myths around are that LeBron James needs to be in New York and that the league needs the Knicks to be good.

 

 

 

Anyone who still believes you can make it only in Manhattan probably still calls remote controls "clickers." This isn't the Walter Cronkite era, when we got our news from men sitting at desks in New York. These aren't the old Don Draper days, when everything we thought we knew and needed was generated by the ad shops on Madison Avenue.

 

 

 

LeBron, playing in little old Cleveland, stands to make more in endorsement money this year than New York Yankees superstars Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter will combined. And they play for the Yankees. LeBron could win eight championships with the Knicks and they still wouldn't rule that city the way the Yankees do. Oh, and you could add Peyton Manning's $13 million to Jeter and A-Rod's $14 million and it still won't match LeBron's $28 million in off-court money this year.

 

 

 

(If we didn't have bigger racial breakthroughs this year, we might ruminate on sociological implications of an African-American basketball player making more than twice as much endorsement money as a white NFL quarterback. Let's just say LeBron should be thankful for Julius Erving, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and even O.J. Simpson for making it possible for him to be the highest-paid team athlete in American sports this year.)

 

 

 

The only two people ahead of LeBron on Sports Illustrated's 2008 "Fortunate 50" list are golfers Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. They can live anywhere they want, but they don't feel the need to be in New York. They'll pass on the outrageous price-per-square-footage costs for dwellings that don't have a single blade of grass. They'd rather be in Florida and Arizona, where they can be warm and (in Tiger's case) avoid paying state income taxes.

 

 

 

Now if James wants New York's vibrancy and thin-crust pizza, that's one thing. Maybe he just wants to play 41 games a year in Madison Square Garden. From the savvy fans to the booming sound system, it's still the NBA's best arena when it's at full blast.

 

 

 

But let's dispense with the notion that he has to go there, that it's the next step in his career and any other location between there and Los Angeles is a waste of his time. Patrick Ewing got to New York a year after MJ went to the Midwest … and you don't see people wearing Ewing's silhouette on their shoes.

 

 

 

LeBron made the cover of Sports Illustrated and played games on ESPN when he was a high schooler in Akron. In Cleveland, he's been on the cover of Fortune, Time and Vogue (maybe he should have rethought that last one). He has hosted "Saturday Night Live."

 

 

 

You don't need to go to the media anymore. The media come to you, even if it means parking a satellite truck at your curb. Just ask Joe the Plumber. In the world of YouTube, Flickr and Facebook, anyone with a digital camera and a high-speed Internet connection is the media. In fact, LeBron's best work can be found on the Web, in that sublime scene where Smooth LeBron romances Nicole Scherzinger with a pair of high-tops.

 

 

 

If LeBron goes to New York, he won't get any famouser. I'm forced to use a made-up word because the Knicks are a made-up mythology, somehow considered to be among the elite franchises even though the Rockets have won just as many championships in 21 fewer years of existence. The Warriors, Trail Blazers and Heat have won more recently than the Knicks. The Bullets and Sonics have won more recently, too, only they're not the Bullets and Sonics anymore.

 

 

 

When it comes to the league's health, the Knicks are like tonsils. It's nice to have them, but you can live without them. At the NBA's zenith in the 1980s, the stars of the program were in L.A. and Boston. The Knicks were the sideshow, giving us the occasional Bernard King scoring outbursts or the Ewing lottery. The best they could be in the early 1990s was an interesting villain to be vanquished, Sgt. Slaughter to Jordan's Hulk Hogan.

 

 

 

What happened the first two times Jordan retired and allowed the Knicks to get their time in the spotlight? Viewers left in droves. The biggest NBA Finals ratings drop-offs were from a 17.9 for Jordan in 1993 to a 12.4 for the Knicks and Rockets in 1994 and an 18.7 for Jordan in 1998 to an 11.3 for the Knicks and Spurs in 1999.

 

 

 

It doesn't matter that the Knicks reside in the nation's largest television market. New York only matters to New Yorkers. The rest of the country doesn't care.

 

 

 

Maybe LeBron buys into the New York hype because it seems as if he has spent his whole life surrounded by hype. The difference is, LeBron lives up to it.

 

 

 

J.A. Adande joined ESPN.com as an NBA columnist in August 2007 after 10 years with the Los Angeles Times. Click here to e-mail J.A.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/stor...bigapple-081126

 

2. Why don't more people realize that the Cavs, already really good, will be even better three months from now?

 

 

 

Only 5-to-1 odds to win the title? Really? Even in this crummy economy, with ticket sales about to drop through the basement, the Cavs can't blow their LeBron Window for one reason: If they win a title, he might stay and save professional basketball in Cleveland. Money is no object. They don't care. And given that they have $20 million worth of expiring contracts (Wally Z. plus Eric Snow) as well as two favorable contracts (Andy Varejao and Sasha Pavlovic), that means the following guys are in play for them: Mike Miller and Michael Redd (the two biggies), along with Josh Howard, Shawn Marion, Gerald Wallace, Jason Richardson, Rasheed Wallace, Brad Miller, Raja Bell, Leandro Barbosa and Antawn Jamison.

 

 

 

For instance, let's say they traded Wally, J.J. Hickson and $3 million to Minnesota for Mike Miller, and $10 million worth of Brian Cardinal and Mark Madsen in 2010 ... then they dealt Pavlovic, Snow and a 2009 No. 1 pick to Washington for Jamison and Darius Songaila's mildly reprehensible contract. Two reasonable trades, right? Cleveland gets two blue-chippers; Minnesota and Washington save money, gain cap space and position themselves for 2009 (fan-tanking) and 2010 (the free-agent bonanza). Wouldn't the Cavs become the favorites if they landed Jamison AND Miller without giving up anyone in their top eight? I'd be more scared as a Celtics fan if Mike Brown wasn't in charge. The point is -- they will definitely add one more elite guy and possibly two. Which means that our top three (Boston, Cleveland, Los Angeles) could end up being more loaded than any top three since 1993 (Chicago, New York, Phoenix). This is a good thing.

 

 

 

(The highlight of the second trade for me: I called my buddy House, a diehard Wiz fan, and opened the conversation with, "Would you trade Jamison and Songaila for ...?" Before I could say the rest, he just started screaming, "YES! YES! YES! ABSOLUTELY! GIVE ME THE CAP SPACE!!! YES!!!!" Ladies and gentlemen, your 2009 Washington Wizards! OK, let's give the readers a couple of questions.)

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story...mp;sportCat=nba

 

All I can say it quit listening to everything you hear about James going to the Knicks or the Nets (oh how people already forget that two weeks ago these same people you are listening to told you he was going there for sure).