If Lebron said he was leaving, what should Cleveland have done? (revisionism)

[Roy Hobbs]

In hindsight, it looks like Cleveland never had much of a shot at re-signing Lebron, with the rumors of him not returning his owner's phone calls, etc.

Here's my question:  let's say that on January 1, 2010 Lebron tells Cleveland management that he's not inclined to re-sign with the team.  He'll play hard for the rest of the season, and he'll work with the Cavs to do a sign-and-trade if they want, but he really prefers the situations in NY, NJ, and Miami.  In such a scenario, what do the Cavs do?

Do you immediately put Lebron on the trade market?  Or, with the best record in the league at the time, do you attempt to win a title, and see what you can get in a sign-and-trade after the season?  Do you still make the Jamison trade, in an effort to maximize your title chances?

This one is genuinely a tough decision for me.  I am a firm believer that when you have a legitimate shot at a title, you do everything in your power to maximize your chances at that.  I think I'd be inclined to take my chances, valuing a shot at a title + whatever I could get in a sign-and-trade as being better than what Lebron's trade value would be. 

However, you've got to think that Lebron's trade value would have been very high, even in a situation where Cleveland was desperate.  It's hard to say exactly who would have been offered, but you've got to think that they would have had a ton of options.  Andrew Bynum is the most obvious name, of course, but other teams may have put together some good packages.  Eric Gordon + Blake Griffin + a pick?  Devin Harris + a lottery choice?  David Lee + Danillo Gallinari + Jordan Hill + picks?

At the end of the day, though, I couldn't give up the chance at a title (which means I'd be sitting in Cleveland, depressed and most likely out of a job, since Lebron couldn't win last year). 

[Who]

If there was even a small chance that LeBron would stay I would refuse to trade him.

If he said he was definitely leaving, then I would look to move him. Likely to Portland for a package based around Greg Oden and prospects/picks.

[Moranis]

The problem with trading him is no team is going to trade much of anything unless they are sure he is going to stay (and I don't think you can negotiate an extension mid-season like you can in baseball). 

I would think Portland would have made a ton of sense.  Oden, Batum, Fernandez, a couple of firsts, and filler for Lebron.  That would have still left Portland with Aldridge, Camby, Roy, and Miller in the starting five which is great.

I certainly would not have made the Jamison trade if I knew Lebron was going to leave.  The Cavs tried hard for Amare, but even Hickson wasn't enough for the Suns, so I'm not sure what else they could do.  Perhaps they could have made a much stronger push for Bosh during the season.  You never know, maybe after playing in Cleveland for a few months, Bosh would elect to stay in town and you get them both.

[guava_wrench]

Interesting question.

If they knew Lebron wanted to leave, I think they still do the same thing. They had the best record in the NBA. If they could have made it past us, perhaps they might have been more successful against Orlando and LA than they were against us.

If you know he's leaving, try to get the most out of him while he's there.

[papa shuttlesworth]

Good question.

I think I would go all in for the title without making any deals that would cripple the franchise post-Lebron.  I'd say tell him the plan and ask him to at least revisit it after we've won the title. 

Lebron's value is already set at the maximum and it is not like you can sell/buy high/low with him.  Any team would give the Cavs any players to get him, regardless if it was in the middle of the season or in July.

By working together, the Cavs could have restocked their roster (to at least some level more than zero) and Lebron could have gotten more money and years on his contract. 

We'd also all be spared from... "the Decision."

So, in conclusion, the situation could have been handled better.

[BballTim]

In hindsight, it looks like Cleveland never had much of a shot at re-signing Lebron, with the rumors of him not returning his owner's phone calls, etc.

Here's my question:  let's say that on January 1, 2010 Lebron tells Cleveland management that he's not inclined to re-sign with the team.  He'll play hard for the rest of the season, and he'll work with the Cavs to do a sign-and-trade if they want, but he really prefers the situations in NY, NJ, and Miami.  In such a scenario, what do the Cavs do?

Do you immediately put Lebron on the trade market?  Or, with the best record in the league at the time, do you attempt to win a title, and see what you can get in a sign-and-trade after the season?  Do you still make the Jamison trade, in an effort to maximize your title chances?

This one is genuinely a tough decision for me.  I am a firm believer that when you have a legitimate shot at a title, you do everything in your power to maximize your chances at that.  I think I'd be inclined to take my chances, valuing a shot at a title + whatever I could get in a sign-and-trade as being better than what Lebron's trade value would be. 

However, you've got to think that Lebron's trade value would have been very high, even in a situation where Cleveland was desperate.  It's hard to say exactly who would have been offered, but you've got to think that they would have had a ton of options.  Andrew Bynum is the most obvious name, of course, but other teams may have put together some good packages.  Eric Gordon + Blake Griffin + a pick?  Devin Harris + a lottery choice?  David Lee + Danillo Gallinari + Jordan Hill + picks?

At the end of the day, though, I couldn't give up the chance at a title (which means I'd be sitting in Cleveland, depressed and most likely out of a job, since Lebron couldn't win last year). 

  I don't know that you would have that many decent trade partners. I would think that your choices would be from teams that think they could keep LeBron and teams that think that LeBron would put them over the top. The teams close to a title generally don't have great young players that they could unload and still have enough left to win the title. The teams that thought they could keep him don't have a lot of assets. In either case, you wouldn't be likely to get great draft picks either.

  Portland might be able to do something based on Oden or on Roy and Aldridge. Losing Aldridge and Roy would have left them thin, and would you trade Oden for 3-4 months of LeBron? Interesting if they did, Cleveland would be trading the franchise player from Akron for the franchise player from Ohio State.

[Dybdal]

I think the Cavs did the right thing.

They were in an absolute no win sitiuation that exceeds basketball. Had they traded Lebron he would have turned into a matyr for the people and all the faith in the Cavs would all but vanished at that point.

They chose the latter, pray that he would indeed return and if not, then do their best to severe the ties to Lebron.