Woj on Lebron: Cavs are unsure if he will stay

[Smitty77]

I don't trust Woj regarding anything related to Lebron. He's been stirring the pot for years.

That said, Lebron absolutely should play the "upgrade or I'm leaving" card. Gilbert has not spent as much as he could to improve the Cavs, and I'm sure that that doesn't go unnoticed.

Personally, if I'm Lebron I'm signing in Boston next off-season for the MLE, haha. Screw LA, go to a team made for your talents.

Horford / Zizic
Lebron / 2018 BRK #1
Hayward / Crowder
Bradley / Brown
IT / Fultz

That's how you beat Golden State.

"Gilbert has not spend as much as he could to improve the Cavs ..."  Technically true Roy, but they have spend FAR MORE than the league average and had the HIGHEST team salary at around $128.5 million this year.

I don't quite get your point.

Smitty77

[Smitty77]

That said, Lebron absolutely should play the "upgrade or I'm leaving" card. Gilbert has not spent as much as he could to improve the Cavs, and I'm sure that that doesn't go unnoticed.

Roy, the Cavs traded the #1 overall pick in the draft at Lebron's request to get a guy that he doesn't even really like.  Come on.

It's fine to say that if the Cavs don't let Lebron be GM he might leave, but I think Lebron is a terrible GM in the same way that Jordan is a terrible one.

Has Gilbert made cost-cutting moves that downgraded Cavs assets?

I think that's indisputable. What that has to do with Kevin love, I'm not completely sure.

Please fill me in on Gilbert's indisputable cost-cutting moves that downgraded the Cavs' assets Roy!!

Smitty77

[csfansince60s]

In short, LeBron (player/coach/GM) is yet again pointing fingers after his most recent failure.  Nothing new to see here.

Exactly.....but those fingers ONLY point outward....NEVER inward.


He's gone after next year........why?...........it's like the fable about the snake and the fox halfway across the river both drowning because the snake bit the fox, knowing they would both drown...."why did you do it" implored the fox......and Bron Bron the snake answered "'cause I'm a snake!"

Frog / turtle and the scorpion.

Foxes are much too sly to be tricked like that, haha.

Yeah, I did change the "characters" a bit.

Frog is also more appropriate for Gilbert, but snake is definitely more appropriate for bron bron.

[Roy H.]

That said, Lebron absolutely should play the "upgrade or I'm leaving" card. Gilbert has not spent as much as he could to improve the Cavs, and I'm sure that that doesn't go unnoticed.

Roy, the Cavs traded the #1 overall pick in the draft at Lebron's request to get a guy that he doesn't even really like.  Come on.

It's fine to say that if the Cavs don't let Lebron be GM he might leave, but I think Lebron is a terrible GM in the same way that Jordan is a terrible one.

Has Gilbert made cost-cutting moves that downgraded Cavs assets?

I think that's indisputable. What that has to do with Kevin love, I'm not completely sure.

Please fill me in on Gilbert's indisputable cost-cutting moves that downgraded the Cavs' assets Roy!!

Smitty77

See above.

An easy one is giving Portland a #1 pick to take on Varejao's contract. Not only did they give up a fan favorite, they also sacrificed a 1st rounder.

[Roy H.]

I don't trust Woj regarding anything related to Lebron. He's been stirring the pot for years.

That said, Lebron absolutely should play the "upgrade or I'm leaving" card. Gilbert has not spent as much as he could to improve the Cavs, and I'm sure that that doesn't go unnoticed.

Personally, if I'm Lebron I'm signing in Boston next off-season for the MLE, haha. Screw LA, go to a team made for your talents.

Horford / Zizic
Lebron / 2018 BRK #1
Hayward / Crowder
Bradley / Brown
IT / Fultz

That's how you beat Golden State.

"Gilbert has not spend as much as he could to improve the Cavs ..."  Technically true Roy, but they have spend FAR MORE than the league average and had the HIGHEST team salary at around $128.5 million this year.

I don't quite get your point.

Smitty77

He could have paid more to make the team better. He didn't, which broke his promise to Lebron.

Lebron has increased the value of the Cavs by literally hundreds of millions of dollars. Gilbert putting any budgetary restrictions on the team is unacceptable.

[tazzmaniac]

That said, Lebron absolutely should play the "upgrade or I'm leaving" card. Gilbert has not spent as much as he could to improve the Cavs, and I'm sure that that doesn't go unnoticed.

Roy, the Cavs traded the #1 overall pick in the draft at Lebron's request to get a guy that he doesn't even really like.  Come on.

It's fine to say that if the Cavs don't let Lebron be GM he might leave, but I think Lebron is a terrible GM in the same way that Jordan is a terrible one.

Has Gilbert made cost-cutting moves that downgraded Cavs assets?

I think that's indisputable. What that has to do with Kevin love, I'm not completely sure.

Please fill me in on Gilbert's indisputable cost-cutting moves that downgraded the Cavs' assets Roy!!

Smitty77

See above.

An easy one is giving Portland a #1 pick to take on Varejao's contract. Not only did they give up a fan favorite, they also sacrificed a 1st rounder.

Not a very good example.  Varejao was done and was immediately cut by the Blazers.  He's played under 300 minutes total since he was traded.  The Cavs picked up Frye in the trade and saved money.  The 1st that they gave up will end up being a late 2018 1st.   

[Roy H.]

That said, Lebron absolutely should play the "upgrade or I'm leaving" card. Gilbert has not spent as much as he could to improve the Cavs, and I'm sure that that doesn't go unnoticed.

Roy, the Cavs traded the #1 overall pick in the draft at Lebron's request to get a guy that he doesn't even really like.  Come on.

It's fine to say that if the Cavs don't let Lebron be GM he might leave, but I think Lebron is a terrible GM in the same way that Jordan is a terrible one.

Has Gilbert made cost-cutting moves that downgraded Cavs assets?

I think that's indisputable. What that has to do with Kevin love, I'm not completely sure.

Please fill me in on Gilbert's indisputable cost-cutting moves that downgraded the Cavs' assets Roy!!

Smitty77

See above.

An easy one is giving Portland a #1 pick to take on Varejao's contract. Not only did they give up a fan favorite, they also sacrificed a 1st rounder.

Not a very good example.  Varejao was done and was immediately cut by the Blazers.  He's played under 300 minutes total since he was traded.  The Cavs picked up Frye in the trade and saved money.  The 1st that they gave up will end up being a late 2018 1st.

The Cavs could have picked up Frye for nothing but money, as they had a trade exception to fit him into. Instead, they sacrificed an asset to save money. That asset could have been used to improve the team.

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

When you talk about unused exceptions you have to assume that teams are willing to accept them and give up their players to further strengthen the Cavs and also assume that DG didn't try to use the exceptions. This is not 2K, just because you want to do something doesn't mean that it will automatically happen! They aren't trading with themselves.

[celticsclay]

When you talk about unused exceptions you have to assume that teams are willing to accept them and give up their players to further strengthen the Cavs and also assume that DG didn't try to use the exceptions. This is not 2K, just because you want to do something doesn't mean that it will automatically happen! They aren't trading with themselves.

Yeah this is how I feel. Did he do everything he possibly could? Perhaps there was an opportunity to do something small but we are talking about tiny assets. This isn't letting harden go over 4 million. Seems like a stretch to fee like Gilbert has not been extremely free spending and half let Lebron run the team. Can't say I get the take roy

[Roy H.]

When you talk about unused exceptions you have to assume that teams are willing to accept them and give up their players to further strengthen the Cavs and also assume that DG didn't try to use the exceptions. This is not 2K, just because you want to do something doesn't mean that it will automatically happen! They aren't trading with themselves.

They could have taken Frye into an exception. They instead moved Varejao and a #1 due to money.

They declined to match Delladoeva's offer sheet, which was exactly the type of mid-range contract needed to complete trades.

They could have kept Mike Dunleavy and acquired Korver with a trade exception (which might have allowed them to keep their #1), but preferred to clear Mo Williams salary.

[Roy H.]

When you talk about unused exceptions you have to assume that teams are willing to accept them and give up their players to further strengthen the Cavs and also assume that DG didn't try to use the exceptions. This is not 2K, just because you want to do something doesn't mean that it will automatically happen! They aren't trading with themselves.

Yeah this is how I feel. Did he do everything he possibly could? Perhaps there was an opportunity to do something small but we are talking about tiny assets. This isn't letting harden go over 4 million. Seems like a stretch to fee like Gilbert has not been extremely free spending and half let Lebron run the team. Can't say I get the take roy

What take don't you get? You acknowledge that Gilbert didn't maximize spending, and lost assets in the process. For Lebron, that's unacceptable. He's required to give A+ effort; why is Gilbert excused for an A-?  Being 95% invested in winning isn't the same thing as being 100% committed, and Lebron knows that.

If Lebron wants to leave for a team that doesn't impose any spending restrictions in pursuit of a title (in other words, exactly what Gilbert promised), I don't blame him. Lebron has made Gilbert hundreds of millions of dollars. Asking him to invest a fraction of that to further improve the team is a pretty modest request.

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

TOO funny. They have built the 2nd best team with the 2nd best assembly of top end talent! They should have spent the money on Delly though, I think he is the piece that puts them over GSW. I also believe they could have found a stud with the 27th pick but they squandered that too. 

[Ogaju]

TOO funny. They have built the 2nd best team with the 2nd best assembly of top end talent! They should have spent the money on Delly though, I think he is the piece that puts them over GSW. I also believe they could have found a stud with the 27th pick but they squandered that too.

I postulated the same theory about Delly he was very instrumental in last year's Cavs win. He kind of played the 'Posey' role on that team. You cannot get rid of players like that and expect to not lose a step. They are not the unicorns, but they are the glue guys that every championship team needs. Why do you think Delly was missed?

[green_bballers13]

Sorry guys, but Delly isn't the reason why the Cavs lost. They got trounced in 5 games. I think they needed another top 10 player to beat GS.

[Roy H.]

TOO funny. They have built the 2nd best team with the 2nd best assembly of top end talent! They should have spent the money on Delly though, I think he is the piece that puts them over GSW. I also believe they could have found a stud with the 27th pick but they squandered that too.

Did Gilbert maximize his team's chances, or were decisions based on money?

It's a pretty simple question, and the answer is obvious. When your net worth is $6 billion, and your star player has made you hundreds of millions, it makes no sense to cut corners.  Gilbert has spent a lot, but he could have done even more. 95% commitment isn't enough for Lebron, and he'll choose his future employer accordingly.