Where Cleveland Management Screwed Up

[footey]

Lebron's pending free agency, along with that of Bosh and Wade, has been a topic for three years since they all signed 3 year deals the last time.  Cleveland management pushed Lebron to re-up with them to sign extension with them before beginning of last season.  His refusal to do so was the handwriting on the wall that he was leaving. Or at least that is what they should have assumed. They should have traded him a year ago, and gotten good value in return. Now they have nothing. Zilch.  They banked on two leaps of faith: one, that they would win the championship as constructed, and two, once they did win, Lebron would stick around.  That was poor management.  About as smart as Pitino taking the Boston job as coach because he assumed that they would get the number one pick in the lottery and get Duncan. Just stupid.

[wdleehi]

They let contracts expire,


More importantly, they let Lebron pick his teammates instead of telling him who the best fit is.

[Q_FBE]

There were a litany of mistakes made over there. I thought getting Shaq was a mistake. Signing Mo Williams to the big money contract backfired. Jameson was a horrible move. Letting Lebron be the GM was abyssmal.


I think footey had it right - trading Lebron a year ago would have been Clevelands best move.

[Lucky17]

There were a litany of mistakes made over there. I thought getting Shaq was a mistake. Signing Mo Williams to the big money contract backfired. Jameson was a horrible move. Letting Lebron be the GM was abyssmal.


I think footey had it right - trading Lebron a year ago would have been Clevelands best move.

I think each of these moves, at the time, were heralded as solid acquisitions. We have the luxury of hindsight now.

Here's a comprehensive list of every move Danny Ferry made over the last 5 years:

http://hoopshype.com/general_managers/danny_ferry.htm

[wdleehi]

There were a litany of mistakes made over there. I thought getting Shaq was a mistake. Signing Mo Williams to the big money contract backfired. Jameson was a horrible move. Letting Lebron be the GM was abyssmal.


I think footey had it right - trading Lebron a year ago would have been Clevelands best move.

I think each of these moves, at the time, were heralded as solid acquisitions. We have the luxury of hindsight now.

Here's a comprehensive list of every move Danny Ferry made over the last 5 years:

http://hoopshype.com/general_managers/danny_ferry.htm

The point is he never tried to put a real number 2 next to Lebron. 

[cornbreadsmart]

Lebron was the GM? iIf that is true then what are some moves Ferry and company WANTED to make but did'nt because of Lebron? I bet nobody knows. I don't buy it.I can't stand Lebron but I doubt he deserves blame for a poor supporting cast.

[guava_wrench]

There were a litany of mistakes made over there. I thought getting Shaq was a mistake. Signing Mo Williams to the big money contract backfired. Jameson was a horrible move. Letting Lebron be the GM was abyssmal.


I think footey had it right - trading Lebron a year ago would have been Clevelands best move.

I think each of these moves, at the time, were heralded as solid acquisitions. We have the luxury of hindsight now.

Here's a comprehensive list of every move Danny Ferry made over the last 5 years:

http://hoopshype.com/general_managers/danny_ferry.htm

Amen.

Even if you make the best moves, things might not play out the way you want. Also, other teams are also making moves.

What is ironic is that Riley took the same approach a few years ago that Cleveland did. The went all in to get a ring for Wade and then became a bad team as a result, paying for their decisions.

Clev tried to do the same and had the best record in the NBA the last 2 seasons. It is also not clear why some people assert that Clev wouldn't be as good next season as they were this season if they still had Lebron. Basically they just would have lost Shaq. Who knows who they would have picked up with the MLE.

[Lucky17]

There were a litany of mistakes made over there. I thought getting Shaq was a mistake. Signing Mo Williams to the big money contract backfired. Jameson was a horrible move. Letting Lebron be the GM was abyssmal.


I think footey had it right - trading Lebron a year ago would have been Clevelands best move.

I think each of these moves, at the time, were heralded as solid acquisitions. We have the luxury of hindsight now.

Here's a comprehensive list of every move Danny Ferry made over the last 5 years:

http://hoopshype.com/general_managers/danny_ferry.htm

The point is he never tried to put a real number 2 next to Lebron. 

Not true. He tried, but didn't succeed in getting the right guys.

Ferry traded for Jamison, Mo Williams (who put up very good shooting/scoring numbers in his last year in MIL and first year in Cleveland), and Shaq.

Jamison is a career 20/8 guy. Ferry got him without giving up Hickson. At the time, I seem to recall lots of outrage on this board that Washington would give Jamison way for virtually nothing in exchange.

Cavs won over 120 games in the last two years. They just crumbled in the playoffs.

[Dr H]

There's no way they would've traded Lebron, he was their money maker. With that said, if they couldn't get him to sign an extension they should have made other roster moves that would make the team better, and give him a reason to stay. I understand they got Mo Williams, Shaq, and Antawn Jamison which isn't too bad, it's just Boston played like a truly great TEAM and exploited matchups. Just like last year Orlando beat them because they had favorable matchups.

[footey]

Management did everything they could to surround Lebron with enough talent to compete for a championship. That is all they can do. Where they failed is in forcing Lebron's hand, to sign an extension last year. When he reneged, they should have cut there losses, and traded him for some value.  I know this is somewhat hindsight, but it seems that the signals were already there.  They invested so much in him as the face of their franchise, when he did not reciprocate, they should have traded him.  Could be building around Chris Paul. Instead, they are building around Mo Williams.

[jacksmedulaoblongata]

Where they screwed up is Draft night, they should've taken Carmelo Anthony.