OT: LeBron to Cleveland?
Lots of rumblings from NBA insiders that LeBron could be headed back to Cleveland. This seems to be confirmed by Cleveland's salary-cap clearing "trade" today. They ditched Jarrett Jack and his $6.3MM salary, along with Tyler Zeller and Tyler Zeller and Sergey Karasev, for nothing but cap space.
In my opinion, I think this is a great move from both a team and money perspective.
From a team perspective, Cleveland stands in stark contrast to Miami. Rather than being full of bloated salaries and past-their-prime stars, they're loaded with young talent and have the potential to be very good in the coming years. Add LeBron to the mix with Kyrie Irving (somewhat overrated but still solid), a Wiggins (who would benefit by easing into a high-level role), and Tristan Thompson, and you've got a squad that can easily contend for a title in the East.
From a money perspective, LeBron is going to make the max no matter where he goes, so salary isn't the deciding factor. Endorsements are. Now that he's the biggest star in the NBA, it doesn't matter if he's based out of Cleveland or New York/LA/Chi. The name LeBron Jame name recognition is global and his endorsement deals won't decrease just because he plays in a secondary market. If anything, being on a team with young talent may help increase his longevity as a title contender and thus his relevance in the league, keeping his endorsement money flowing at a high level through and beyond his prime years.
Everyone here seems very skeptical of this hapenning, and I'm not saying it definitely will, but there's definitely a shot it does. There have been rumblings of this for a while, and non-ESPN based rumblings.
If this does happen though odds are Cleveland will try to land Kevin Love. Love has said if Lebron goes to Cleveland he'd be willing to be traded and sign an extension there. If the Cavs give up some combination Thompson, Varejao, Bennett, Waiters and some draft picks, you could very realistically see a Cleveland team built around Lebron, Love, Irving and Wiggins for years to come which would be very scary.
I wich Lebron would just go away, but barring that I guess Cleveland is as good a place as any.
ESPN just bought a ton of real estate in Cleveland. If Lebron signs with the Cavaliers, ESPN will move their studios to Cleveland. With Johnny football, Lebron James and Tim Tebow working at a local Burger King, ESPN would never have to leave the city of Cleveland
Sure they would. Either leave Cleveland once in a while or convince the Yankees and Red Sox to move all their games to where the Indians play.
I see know reason why he'd go to Cleveland unless he's really worked up about some legacy crap. Irving looks to be an All Star but his ceiling seems lower than Wade's, and Thompson and Bennett are not going to replace Bosh or his production. Wiggins could be great, but right now he's strictly a defensive guy and who knows if his offensive game will evolve. I'm sure Cleveland could win 50+ games with Lebron, but they aren't any closer to winning a title.
I think he may be really worked up about the Legacy crap.
Go back to south beach Bron Bron