Of course they could, but would they?
Henry Abbott of ESPN’s TrueHoop suggests that if LeBron’s flirtation with the Knicks continues, the Cavs may want to investigate the idea of trading LeBron instead of getting nothing for him if/when he leaves via free agency in the summer of 2010.
First, he discusses LeBron’s recent behavior over the last few months…
Even if you want to leave all your options open, all you have to say is that you love playing in Cleveland, you’re from Ohio, and you’ll worry about your next contract when this one is done.
That would be enough to get the amplifiers turned up. Teams would still clear cap space for you, just in case. But that’s not enough for LeBron James. He’s taking it to a whole different level. His amplifier goes to eleven.
The Yankees hat, the coy talk, calling New York his favorite city … I hope Cleveland pharmacies are stocked up with Maalox this Thanksgiving, because Cavalier fans are feeling the indigestion.
In PR terms, I see that quote above, and the others we have seen like it, as LeBron James slapping Danny Ferry, owner Dan Gilbert, and Cleveland fans across the face.
Then Abbott moves into trade talk…
I hear you, I hear you. YOU DON’T TRADE LEBRON JAMES. YOU JUST DON’T.
GM 101.
I know. I agree.
And I know that there are far more Dans — Ferry, Gilbert, and the like — in this world than there are LeBrons. The superstar ultimately holds the cards, and everyone else should act accordingly.
But that doesn’t mean you stand idly by as they loot the store. If at any point the Cavaliers believe LeBron James is going to leave as a free agent in 2010, it’s time to start preparing Cavalier fans for the fact that you might trade the guy.
At the very least, it might dim the lights a little on the LeBron James flirtation show.
Or it might end up being smart to actually trade him.
If he walks, top teams will have cap space in 2010, but it’s a good bet that the premium markets will be the ones to attract the blue chip talent like Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. In other words, Cleveland’s plan B for cap space in 2010 is probably not as sexy as New York’s. So better to trade for an asset that you can then pay more than anyone else to keep.
And let’s not pretend this free agent negotiation is really going to come down to some team executives wowing LeBron James with a nice tour of the city two summers from now. The Knicks, Nets, and Pistons have made their moves. The cards are on the table. There’s no good reason the decision makers in the LeBron James camp wouldn’t already have a good idea how they’d rank the contenders at this point. The only information to come is who is going to win the championships in 2009 and 2010, and who else might gain cap space.
So my point is, if you’re Danny Ferry, and you don’t have strong private conviction that LeBron James is harmlessly flirting, don’t you have to at least know what’s out there?
I know we have some Cavs fans that are regular readers; I wonder what they think of this kind of talk.
My first thought is that you don’t trade LeBron James. You do whatever you can to keep him, because the reward is worth the risk. Nothing you’re going to get in return is going to be worth what you lost. But if the writing is on the wall, and it becomes clear that LeBron is indeed going to leave, it might be worth thinking about. However, there’s a fine line between the realization that your superstar is truly leaving and taking action (i.e. floating the idea that he is “available”) that might shut the door on that superstar potentially re-upping with your team. You don’t want to push him out the door if you still have a 10-20% chance of re-signing him.
The other issue is the availability of potential trade partners. Like Kobe’s flirtation with the Bulls last year, it’s going to be tough for the Cavs to find a team that has enough to offer in trade while still having enough talent leftover to coax James to re-sign with the team once his contract is up. James doesn’t have a “no-trade” clause like Kobe, but the implication that he won’t re-sign would be enough to keep most teams from gutting their roster in order to get him.
One thing’s for sure – as long as LeBron keeps answering questions about his future, this story is not going away.
It’s a fair question. I think a sign and trade might be the way to go if it can be worked out. LeBron might be up for this cause he would get more money and would be able to say the cavs got something in return.
Either way the situation sucks for the Cavs.
The one thing few are mentioning however is that his play is not being affected and the team is on a roll. The Cavs look like a serious contender for the title this year. maybe the cavs just sit back and take their chances.
I think the cavs failed James, and now they’re paying for it. it has taken too long to build a team around him that can seriously contest for a championship. even though they have been going far in the playoffs there was never a serious charge for a championship. as a cavs fan i’d be hoping a: they win this year, which is the best chance they’ve had ever, or b: tradfe and rebuild a serious team. 1 player won’t win a championship, teams do. even jordan had a supporting cast.
of course cavs isn’t going to let go james without a fight but it’s going to fall down to james is he going for the money or the ring because cavs can be an elite team if he stays there actually cavs already has a powerful lineup they just need experience.
You don’t trade LeBron James. All this talk is pre-mature chatter from the NY hype machine. LeBron doesn’t want to be a judas, he wants to fulfill his role as The Chosen One. He can onluy do this by winning in Cleveland.
I like the conspiracy theory that LeBron is making all this noise about potentially leaving in order to get other teams to make bad trades to clear cap space to make the Cavs path to the title easier. It’s an intriguing theory….
Whoever came up with that theory had his Cavs goggles on.
The only way Cleveland keeps LeBron is if they make the Finals again in the next two years. It would help if they didn’t get swept again.
The only other possibility is a blockbuster sign-and-trade that would bring Bosh, Amare or Wade to the Cavs. Something like what the Gasol trade meant for the Lakers.
“You don’t trade LeBron James.”
Um…why not? Clearly, you don’t want to trade him, but the bottom line is, if the Cavs lose LeBron for nothing, they’ll sink to the bottom of the league and once again be one of the most irrelevant teams in the NBA. Is that overstating the situation? Maybe, but as a Cavs fan I remember just how pathetic this franchise was before LeBron arrived and without LeBron, this current team would be mediocre at best.
A small-market team like the Cavs simply can’t afford to lose (arguably) the best player in the league without getting something in return. If the signs are pointing to LeBron bolting during the final year of his deal, the Cavs would be doing their fans a disservice if they didn’t at the very least gauge the trade market for their superstar to see if there would be a good fit. With the way the team has been playing, I actually have a little more hope these days that he’ll end up staying, and if they end up making the Finals or even winning a title, those chances would seem to improve. But who knows how the landscape will look come 2010? If the Cavs are still floundering and he gets a max offer from a team that offers him a better chance to win multiple titles, he’s gone.
That said, I believe the Cavs may actually have the cap space in 2010 to not only re-sign LBJ but also potentially sign another superstar like Bosh. JP, is that right?
“That said, I believe the Cavs may actually have the cap space in 2010 to not only re-sign LBJ but also potentially sign another superstar like Bosh. JP, is that right?”
Yes. As it stands, the Cavs are currently on the hook for around $20 million without LeBron. That includes Mo Williams, Delonte West, JJ Hickson, Daniel Gibson and Darnell Jackson. Those first four guys are probably guys they’d want to keep. If you assume a cap of $60 million, that leaves $40 million to sign LeBron, another star and then fill out the roster with $1 million-type guys.
The main problem with that theory is that for all those current contracts to expire, you’re going to have a number of guys – Wallace, Z, Varejao, Pavlovic – playing in the last year of their contracts the year before LeBron can opt-out. This is not conducive to championship-level basketball. The Cavs might still be good, but if this roster stays intact, I wouldn’t think that they’d have a very good chance to win a title because half the team will be thinking about where they’d be in a year (including LeBron).
Barring a title (or maybe a Finals appearance) in the spring of 2010, I think the LeBron camp will make its decision next summer.
i say they should trade him to the lakers. trade lebron for odom, bynum, fisher, walton. that is a good trade
I think LBJ needs to take that Yankee hat off. Sure, it’s America and he can root for whoever he wants to. BUT, it’s just not good judgement. The good people of Ohio have been behind you from the beginning. What are trying to prove or say with this ? You must have some kind of motivation. You are making a statement with that hat on King – and you know it. Bad idea !
Ohio has been your meal ticket and you wear a yankee hat with the Indians playing the yankees in the city and fans that promote you ?
Dissed in C-Land