Just for fun - what could CLE get for James?

[reggie35]

Paul Pierce, Ray Allen <-> LeBron, Delonte, Ben Wallace

 

[Redz]

a bucket of tears

[SSFan V]

From the Celts
Pierce, Rondo, Walker & 2 #1's.

From the Cavs
Lebron
Daniel James

ESPN thinks the Celts go +8 with this trade and the Cavs go -10

[Moranis]

The most logical trading partner would be a team like Portland that has plenty of strong young players that they could send to Cleveland.  No other team really has the pieces unless you start talking about Dwight Howard or Chris Paul as the centerpiece.

[indeedproceed]

in my mind you'd need dwight or chris + another young talent ala Lamarcus Aldridge or like THad Young

[Eja117]

It's a matter of getting back major stars plus major pieces + draft picks + maybe an expiring contract.

Like maybe

Al J, Kevin Love (good, young, cheap), Foye (I don't think he's gotten his big payday yet), Bassy (expiring), draft picks

Chris Paul, David West, J Wright, a looooooooottttt of draft picks

Ben Gordon, Tyrus Thomas, Derrick Rose, Deng something to make salaries work.  I doubt the Bulls go for it.

Derron Williams, AK, Okur, Milsap after a big raise, draft picks

Hard to say

Too many possibilities

[BCelts]

I think they could get just about anything they want for James.

Honestly, I think this is exactly right.  I cannot think of a team that would not trade everything they were allowed to trade for LeBron James (remember, there still are trade restrictions) except perhaps the Oklahoma Supersonics.  Without using trade checker, but remembering there is a rule against trading sucessive no 1 pick so two is realistically the number of number ones involved, I wonder if OK balks at Durant, Green, Westbrook, and two number ones for James.  I think they do.

Otherwise, Sacto can offer Martin, Blake, expiring contracts and two number ones, and I bet Sacto would make that deal.  Denver would trade Carmelo and two number ones in a heartbeat.  The Bulls might even give up Rose, Deng, and two number ones.  Portland - Oden, Aldridge, Roy, and two number ones?  Probably.

Here is the reasoning.  James is the best player in the L, and probably will be so (with the possible outside exceptions of Durant and/or Howard) for the next decade.  Three is a limit on salary.  Every talent traded for James will be a max contract in a few years, but will always be the best bang for his buck.  For example, in the Bulls' deal above, Rose will be good and will be maxed, and so will Deng.  But James will be better, and the team getting James could always work to get to the point they could add other talent around James *while keeping butts in the seats because James is great).

Heck, even the $ from James' fame makes many of these deals a go.

[Cman]

I think they could get just about anything they want for James.

Honestly, I think this is exactly right. 

I don't know... the problem is that whichever team trades for LeBron has the same problem that Cleveland has now: there is no guarantee LeBron stays after next year.  Plus, when you consider all the talent that has to be traded to get LeBron, it is a real recipe for disaster for said team. 

Take the Portland trade for example

Brandon Roy, Greg Oden, Rudy Fernandez, Jerryd Bayless, Travis Outlaw and two future first round picks.

Portland would still have James, Aldridge, Przybilla, Webster, Blake, Outlaw as their top six players.

Could Portland win a ring with James, Aldridge, Pryzybilla, Webster, Blake (can't list Outlaw twice)?  Plus, what happens if James then leaves.  How far would Portland get in subsequent years with Aldridge, Pryzybilla, Webster, Blake and no draft picks?  Would they have been better off standing pat and taking their chances with Roy, Oden and the others?

So, while James is the best player in the NBA, it will be tough to get equal value back from trading him.

[reggie35]

Cman hit on the nose. Only way LeBron gets traded is if the Cavs are managed by the Chris Wallace.

[BCelts]

I don't know... the problem is that whichever team trades for LeBron has the same problem that Cleveland has now: there is no guarantee LeBron stays after next year. 

I assumed that LeBron was signing a contract extension with the trade, like Kevin Garnett did.  If that is not true, and we are talking about a one year "rental" of LeBron, that is an entirely different story.

[acieEarl]

Cman hit on the nose. Only way LeBron gets traded is if the Cavs are managed by the Chris Wallace.

Not only would Wallace trade James, he'd trade James to the Lakers for Farmer and Walton, and Shannon Brown.

[KG Living Legend]

 Anybody think this is too much value for James,  

 Aldridge, J. Bayless, R. Fernandez, T. Outlaw, Brandon Roy.

 Almost a whole team for James.

 Cleveland Starts Big Z, L. Aldridge, Outlaw, Fernandez, And Mo Willians. Not bad at all.

 Portland needs one more Stud to add to that team and there Championship bound with James, instead of being at least three years away now.

[BCelts]

Anybody think this is too much value for James,  

 Aldridge, J. Bayless, R. Fernandez, T. Outlaw, Brandon Roy.

 Almost a whole team for James.

 Cleveland Starts Big Z, L. Aldridge, Outlaw, Fernandez, And Mo Willians. Not bad at all.

 Portland needs one more Stud to add to that team and there Championship bound with James, instead of being at least three years away now.

My argument is why this is not too much value is that it is nearly impossible to keep all those guys on the team long term.  You will lose some to free agency unless Portland is willing to have an enormous salary cap figure.

[Who]

I think they could get just about anything they want for James.

Honestly, I think this is exactly right. 

I don't know... the problem is that whichever team trades for LeBron has the same problem that Cleveland has now: there is no guarantee LeBron stays after next year.  Plus, when you consider all the talent that has to be traded to get LeBron, it is a real recipe for disaster for said team. 

Take the Portland trade for example

Brandon Roy, Greg Oden, Rudy Fernandez, Jerryd Bayless, Travis Outlaw and two future first round picks.

Portland would still have James, Aldridge, Przybilla, Webster, Blake, Outlaw as their top six players.

Could Portland win a ring with James, Aldridge, Pryzybilla, Webster, Blake (can't list Outlaw twice)?  Plus, what happens if James then leaves.  How far would Portland get in subsequent years with Aldridge, Pryzybilla, Webster, Blake and no draft picks?  Would they have been better off standing pat and taking their chances with Roy, Oden and the others?

So, while James is the best player in the NBA, it will be tough to get equal value back from trading him.

Haha ... oops ... leave Outlaw in the trade, good riddance. Easier to build a contender without him.

Yes, I absolutely think Portland would win a title with that team. They have a good enough team (Bron, Joel, Aldridge, Blake, Webster) there to be the second best squad in the West, and the best challenger to the Lakers, perhaps even better than LA.

Moreover, it's not just that team that we're talking about, they'd still have $10+mil to add a second all-star caliber player, say Turkoglu or Artest to the mix. That's the best team in the league ... and far superior to this year's Cavs team.

[nickagneta]

I think they could get just about anything they want for James.

Honestly, I think this is exactly right. 

I don't know... the problem is that whichever team trades for LeBron has the same problem that Cleveland has now: there is no guarantee LeBron stays after next year.  Plus, when you consider all the talent that has to be traded to get LeBron, it is a real recipe for disaster for said team. 

Take the Portland trade for example

Brandon Roy, Greg Oden, Rudy Fernandez, Jerryd Bayless, Travis Outlaw and two future first round picks.

Portland would still have James, Aldridge, Przybilla, Webster, Blake, Outlaw as their top six players.

Could Portland win a ring with James, Aldridge, Pryzybilla, Webster, Blake (can't list Outlaw twice)?  Plus, what happens if James then leaves.  How far would Portland get in subsequent years with Aldridge, Pryzybilla, Webster, Blake and no draft picks?  Would they have been better off standing pat and taking their chances with Roy, Oden and the others?

So, while James is the best player in the NBA, it will be tough to get equal value back from trading him.

I absolutely beieve that Portland could pull a trade for LeBron that would net them a championship caliber team for a year and still keep enough talent around so that after LeBron left, and he will, there's no way he would stay in Portland, there would be enough cap space and talent to remain good.