Report: Chaos in Cleveland; James cussing out Cavs executives

[jpotter33]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2758056-lebron-james-reportedly-cursed-at-cavaliers-executives-in-heated-meeting?share=other



Looking more and more likely that Cleveland is looking toward life after Lebron, and they’re not going to make any big trade deadline splash with the Brooklyn pick.

[Monkhouse]

My god, what a travesty LOL!

[celticsclay]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2758056-lebron-james-reportedly-cursed-at-cavaliers-executives-in-heated-meeting?share=other



Looking more and more likely that Cleveland is looking toward life after Lebron, and they’re not going to make any big trade deadline splash with the Brooklyn pick.

That team is about as big a mess as I can remember seeing in the NBA, at least for a team that was supposed to compete for the finals.

[RodyTur10]

The Cavs should send James to the G-League for that. That's totally inappropriate behaviour.

[Phantom255x]

If it weren't for Lebron's NTC, I think CLE would have shipped him out by now. 

[jambr380]

If it weren't for Lebron's NTC, I think CLE would have shipped him out by now. 

Yeah, I think this is the most underrated part of the story. He could do Cleveland a HUGE favor and help them kick-start a rebuild, but he is refusing to waive his NTC. And it's not like he would get sent off to SAC - he can choose where wants to go.

This seems bad, but we haven't seen the worst of it yet (Cleveland losing in the 2nd round of the playoffs and then ditching the city/team in FA).

[Phantom255x]

If it weren't for Lebron's NTC, I think CLE would have shipped him out by now. 

Yeah, I think this is the most underrated part of the story. He could do Cleveland a HUGE favor and help them kick-start a rebuild, but he is refusing to waive his NTC. And it's not like he would get sent off to SAC - he can choose where wants to go.

This seems bad, but we haven't seen the worst of it yet (Cleveland losing in the 2nd round of the playoffs and then ditching the city/team in FA).

Max Kellerman (although I hate his anti-Boston takes) made a good point, that Lebron would not waive his NTC because he wants to win titles, and so gutting your roster to acquire Lebron does not accomplish that. Better to just wait until FA and join that team with most of it's roster intact (like Houston or San Antonio). But that's assuming he even takes a pay-cut in FA (which I doubt, so we'll see).

[2short]

If it weren't for Lebron's NTC, I think CLE would have shipped him out by now. 

It would be the smart thing to do from a team prospective.  Move him for expiring players, a few vets and lots of draft picks.  Sadly his clause means he can negate all trades and leave as a free agent , no doubt he is leaving.  I think Cleveland needs to step up and post he's available.  Let lebron act like a baby.  He got Paul Silas fired all those years ago, they should know what he's like by this point

[action781]

If it weren't for Lebron's NTC, I think CLE would have shipped him out by now. 

Yeah, I think this is the most underrated part of the story. He could do Cleveland a HUGE favor and help them kick-start a rebuild, but he is refusing to waive his NTC. And it's not like he would get sent off to SAC - he can choose where wants to go.

This seems bad, but we haven't seen the worst of it yet (Cleveland losing in the 2nd round of the playoffs and then ditching the city/team in FA).

Max Kellerman (although I hate his anti-Boston takes) made a good point, that Lebron would not waive his NTC because he wants to win titles, and so gutting your roster to acquire Lebron does not accomplish that. Better to just wait until FA and join that team with most of it's roster intact (like Houston or San Antonio). But that's assuming he even takes a pay-cut in FA (which I doubt, so we'll see).

The thing with this is he's going to have to join an already gutted roster anyways if the team is to have enough cap space to sign him.  How many teams have over $30 mil in cap space next offseason?  And how many of them are better than what a "gutted" team would look like that's looking to trade for Lebron?

I dunno.  Let's all remember last time this happened, Lebron had a plan in place already and nobody heard a whisper about it until The Decision.  Maybe he's got something lined up with PG13 or Cousins or Carmelo?  But where?  Chicago?  LAL?  Philly?  I dunno. 

[KGs Knee]

I wonder if his ego could handle getting released via waivers?

That would be funny as hell.

[saltlover]

If it weren't for Lebron's NTC, I think CLE would have shipped him out by now. 

It would be the smart thing to do from a team prospective.  Move him for expiring players, a few vets and lots of draft picks.  Sadly his clause means he can negate all trades and leave as a free agent , no doubt he is leaving.  I think Cleveland needs to step up and post he's available.  Let lebron act like a baby.  He got Paul Silas fired all those years ago, they should know what he's like by this point

That would be petty and counter-productive.  A lot of this is Gilbert’s fault — David Griffin did a very good job with that team and had LeBron’s trust.  Letting him go was inane.  There are two giant egos in Cleveland, and they’re both at fault.  But at this point the best the Cavs can do is make nice, hope playoff LeBron emerges so they have one final run before the divorce.  And also help facilitate a sign-and-trade so you get something for him in the summer.

[action781]

What I don't get from LBJ's point of view is this:  If he leaves in free agency, he looks like a bad guy again.  He *chose* to leave.  If he gets traded, then it wasn't his choice to leave, it was the team's choice and he saves some face.  And behind closed doors, he got to choose his location by having the NTC.  It would look really bad on Cleveland to publicly trade him somewhere he doesn't wanna go and then have him use his NTC, so the discussion is had privately where LBJ says what teams he'll accept a trade to.

[saltlover]

I wonder if his ego could handle getting released via waivers?

That would be funny as hell.

Can the Cavs owner’s ego handle paying LeBron $35 million next year while he plays for another team for the minimum?

[byennie]

Cleveland should suspend him, and see how hard the other guys play when ownership stands up to LeBron thinking he owns the team. Imagine the look on his face when the team wins a few without him.

As for totally absurd trades, LeBron for Hayward & Morris works. Irving would looooooove it.

[KGs Knee]

I wonder if his ego could handle getting released via waivers?

That would be funny as hell.

Can the Cavs owner’s ego handle paying LeBron $35 million next year while he plays for another team for the minimum?

I'm assuming this means he has a player option.  I thought he was just a straight up free agent.

Yeah, that wouldn't work.  Otherwise, it'd be friggen awesome.