Official Lebron watch thread! Also other 2010 NBA free agent signings

[Arik5405]

Do you think Wade, Lebron and Bosh are all going to take less than a max contract, because that's what would need to happen for all of them to go to Miami. I also think

Lebron's ego is so big that, no matter how much chips they may win in Miami, Wade would always have one more than him.... just can't see it happening...

Yeah, they will have to take a little less, but they wont have to pay taxes on that. They would be making close to the same or more than what they would if any of them signed else where. Still, I don't link Lebron is going to Miami. But I hope he does.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

KD staying in OKC. No fanfare, no drama. Staying loyal to OKC and he doesn't even have ties to OKC.
A thousand times more classy than Lebron.

 

[Imported]

Yup. Gotta love KD. Five year extension worth about $86mil.

 

[endervalentine]

KD staying in OKC. No fanfare, no drama. Staying loyal to OKC and he doesn't even have ties to OKC.
A thousand times more classy than Lebron.

wait a few years ... it'll eventually get into their head that they're that good, I don't blame them though.

 

[sjwaste]

I'd prefer he rot in NJ for $8.5/yr

I've heard that the Russian offer was actually $9 million a year, so maybe we have hope.

Oh, I'd love if NJ signed him into cap hell. I'm a Flyers fan, that would be incredible.

Kovalchuk would make the regular season race very difficult, but the guy folds in the playoffs each and every time. He's winding down when teams like Pittsburgh, Philly, and Washington are just getting warm.

He's going to get 8-10M per year, but he isn't worth that. He scores a lot of goals, but he's a typical Russian "me first" NHLer. No drive to win, just wants a big contract.

 

[Firsttime]

Haha, wrong thread^.

 

[Blackjack200]

Oh, I'd love if NJ signed him into cap hell. I'm a Flyers fan, that would be incredible.

Kovalchuk would make the regular season race very difficult, but the guy folds in the playoffs each and every time. He's winding down when teams like Pittsburgh, Philly, and Washington are just getting warm.

He's going to get 8-10M per year, but he isn't worth that. He scores a lot of goals, but he's a typical Russian "me first" NHLer. No drive to win, just wants a big contract.

Not sure where people get that idea. He's only been in once before, and he was NJ's best player in the playoffs this year. In fact, him and Zubrus are pretty much the only players that bothered to show up. Waddel was effusive in his praise of Kovalchuk after trading him.

IMO Kovalchuk at $8.5 is better than Briere or Rolston's contract.

 

[Blackjack200]

Haha, wrong thread^.

Hush now. Adults are taking this opportunity to talk about a real sport.

 

[Firsttime]

Hush now. Adults are taking this opportunity to talk about a real sport.

I'm not going to debate you there.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

They are just jealous that their NHL thread is getting no visitors.
HAHA.

 

[slayer202]

They are just jealous that their NHL thread is getting no visitors.
HAHA.

thats because the fans of the boring "sports" are too caught up in world cup

 

[Blackjack200]

thats because the fans of the boring "sports" are too caught up in world cup

At least our sport doesn't boil down to a contest of height.

 

[KeithTalent]

You know some of us actually enjoy both sports. Can we not thread crap in both threads and just leave people be to enjoy whatever sport(s) they wish to follow?

KT

 

[slayer202]

You know some of us actually enjoy both sports. Can we not thread crap in both threads and just leave people be to enjoy whatever sport they wish to follow?

KT

what fun is that?

ok i'll stop, but they started it...they must be bitter. ok now i'll stop ()

 

[Josh]

There's no doubt in my mind he's going to the Knicks. He fits much better with their players than the Bulls. Rose needs the ball in his hands to be effective, and they have no shooters.

He's not having a 1 hour conference to announce he's staying in Cleveland.

I'm thinking the opposite way. I don't think he's going to have a 1 hour special to basically say a big "FUCK YOU" to Cleveland, where he was born and raised. It would generate horrible PR in public perception and media coverage, and I think his marketing/PR team is too smart for that.

I think it will be an hour long lead up (maybe about Akron, Cleveland, etc) to him saying that he is going to stay loyal to his hometown, he loves Cleveland and doesn't plan on leaving for a long time.

Lebron wants greatness and that is not just measured in the amount of rings you have. He will be held in a much higher regard if he stays with Cleveland and under the new coach Byron Scott wins a championship, which is definetly possible (they had the best regular season record this past season - so the team ain't bad!)

If he is going to have a one hour special with a lead up to an announcement of him going to the Heat or to the Knicks, I think he will lose a lot of fans. Not only in Ohio, but some from his entire fanbase. I'm a fan of the guy but if he took the easy way out and went to the Heat to win a championship or had a special to basically say he's turning his back on his hometown for money (or what seems to be a better shot at a ring) I would lose respect for the guy and I know so would many others.

What's more important when it comes down to it, having more fans (which will generate him money forever - ask Jordan) or winning some championships and having people regard you as a backstabber or chump for taking the easy road?

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Except now he's going to have to deal with Bosh/Wade with basically the same team, which we know was a good regular season team not built for the playoffs.

Heck, he couldn't even get past the Magic/Celts.

 

[LeonarD26]

I don't see it as him backstabbing the Cleveland fans. He's given them two MVP seasons... it's not his fault the Cavs have't gotten him his 'Robin'.....

Should be interesting!

 

[vi edit]

Question....if Phil Jackson or Greg Popovich were coaching the Cavs the last year or two, would Lebron have a ring (or two)?

 

[Josh]

Question....if Phil Jackson or Greg Popovich were coaching the Cavs the last year or two, would Lebron have a ring (or two)?

Or...if Phil Jackson didn't have Jordan or Kobe would he have all the rings that he has?

 

[slayer202]

yes, and no

 

[a123456]

You generally need both good coaching and good players to win a ton of rings. Yeah, Jackson had Jordan, Pippen, Kobe, and Shaq. But those guys didn't win their rings until Jackson got there and didn't win any rings when he left. There was some stat web site that I ran across a couple months ago that tried to quantify the effect of a coach using various methods.

There are some things that are intangibles, like River's ubuntu theme that helped the Celtics bond, but things in the long run should show up in the stats.

Anyway, the conclusion was that among the top 20 coaches in the league, Jackson was ranked #1 in relative player performance. This means that while players were on a team he coached, their stats were consistently better than when they weren't on his team. It's been a while, but they also used another benchmark and Jackson ranked near the top of that one too.

I think the main effect of the coach is to motivate players to play near their max ceiling and to solve chemistry problems between crazy people, like Artest, Rodman, etc. Or you could say he just got really lucky 11 times in the last 20 seasons.

Lebron isn't moving to Miami. There's nothing there but ego problems if he has to take less pay than the others, and he won't like his legacy taking a hit saying that he couldn't win a ring until Wade dragged him along for one. Also, if he goes there, their roster will be those 3 and 12 draft picks and minimum salary guys, which makes it tough since those guys can't play 44+ minutes every game for ~100 games.

The only reason he would leave Cleveland is if there's another team with a great roster for him to slot into because Cleveland is his home and can offer him more money before the new CBA. Chicago/NJ/NY don't really fit the mold anymore without Wade or Bosh. Eh, knowing him, he could get an opt out after 3 years with his leverage so he doesn't have to sacrifice his prime if the Cavs can't get anyone to come.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

The only reason he would leave Cleveland is if there's another team with a great roster for him to slot into because Cleveland is his home and can offer him more money before the new CBA. Chicago/NJ/NY don't really fit the mold anymore without Wade or Bosh. Eh, knowing him, he could get an opt out after 3 years with his leverage so he doesn't have to sacrifice his prime if the Cavs can't get anyone to come.

NY just picked up Amare who he lobbied hard for last year.
The marketing opportunities far outweigh the extra money/year that Cleveland could offer.
The Knicks aren't as bad as their record implies. They lost a lot of close games.

The Cavs really won't be able to improve their roster. They have too many huge undesirable contracts, so they will mostly remain the same team from the previous year.
I can see your last statement happening though. Signing a short contract to not tie himself down, but he'll be wasting another few years of his prime.

But as of right now, Knicks lineup + Lebron > Cavs lineup + Lebron

 

[Josh]

NY just picked up Amare who he lobbied hard for last year.
The marketing opportunities far outweigh the extra money/year that Cleveland could offer.
The Knicks aren't as bad as their record implies. They lost a lot of close games.

The Cavs really won't be able to improve their roster. They have too many huge undesirable contracts, so they will mostly remain the same team from the previous year.
I can see your last statement happening though. Signing a short contract to not tie himself down, but he'll be wasting another few years of his prime.

But as of right now, Knicks lineup + Lebron > Cavs lineup + Lebron

But did you read the whole other part of his post? About coaching? Yea, the Knicks lost a lot of "close ones" but the Cavs had the best regular season record in the league. That's saying a lot. Maybe under the right coaching (Byron Scott - who Lebron rooted for) and another player (by trading, signing, whatever) the Cavs can do some serious damage in the post-season...

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

But did you read the whole other part of his post? About coaching? Yea, the Knicks lost a lot of "close ones" but the Cavs had the best regular season record in the league. That's saying a lot. Maybe under the right coaching (Byron Scott - who Lebron rooted for) and another player (by trading, signing, whatever) the Cavs can do some serious damage in the post-season...

True, and I believe the Scott is a better coach than Brown.

But he said that there's no reason for Lebron to leave Cleveland. My main point is that the Knicks are actually marketable and give Lebron a reason to consider them.
Knicks w/Lebron > Cavs w/Lebron.
Lebron-less Cavs would've been lucky to win 20 games last season.

The only player of value they can move is Varejao I believe.

 

[a123456]

Well, personally, I don't think that NY will give Lebron that much more money in endorsements. I mean, look at all the serious attention that he's getting now everywhere he goes when he played for the Cavs. His 1 hour press conference on ESPN is probably going to beat the World Cup finals ratings in the US.

His Twitter account has a couple of hundred thousand followers within a day of his making the account. In the world of global marketing, NY is definitely a bigger market, but James seems to transcend the local markets with how well he's known already.

I'm not a marketing person so I don't know the exact numbers, but to me, I think he'll make a ton of money no matter where he plays since he's so well-known already.

As far as teammates, yeah, the Cavs kind of suck on paper but they seem to have some winning talent as a team since they've won a ton of regular season games in the past couple seasons. I know the East is weak, but #1 seed is still #1 seed. Maybe Scott will be enough to unite them for playoff games. Maybe not. I could see him going 0 for 6 in the next 6 years with the Cavs.

Amare is a good, not great player. I think we'll see a Marion-type dropoff now that he doesn't have Nash giving him great passes. The main problem with him is that his rebounding and defense skills are a bit lacking. That and he has a rep for being injury prone. We'll see if d'Antoni can adapt to that again.