Tag: Cleveland Cavaliers (Page 18 of 53)

Who is on LeBron’s team?

Roland Lazenby outlines the team that surrounds LeBron and will influence his decisions this summer:

It’s an impressive group that tightly encircles James these days, mostly people who knew LeBron before he became royalty. Randy Mims handles logistics and travel. Richard Paul deals with image and publicity issues.

But the central figure is Maverick Carter, his older high school teammate, who returned from playing college basketball at Western Michigan to take up a main position in LeBron’s life. They have called themselves the “Four Horsemen” and quite some time ago formed LRMR Marketing to handle James’ many opportunities.

Carter’s known as one of the smartest players to ever emerge from the Akron hoops scene. When LeBron ended his relationship with agent Aaron Goodwin with a text message notice in 2005 and turned things over to Carter, there were immediate suggestions that Carter, just 23 at the time, was in over his head, that he would fall on his face.

That hasn’t happened, though. Carter has prospered in the role.

Lazenby also touches on William Wesley’s influence. Apparently, he moved into the same apartment complex that LeBron lived in as a rookie. Wesley was the one who introduced LeBron to Michael Jordan when he was still in high school.


Photo from fOTOGLIF

Cavs, Izzo have discussed deal

Per Brian Windhorst of the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

According to multiple sources, Gilbert has discussed the framework of a massive contract offer to Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo. Gilbert, a Michigan State graduate, has handled the recruitment personally and Izzo is said to be mulling the chance to jump to the NBA.

The offer is said to be worth approximately $6 million annually and would be for up to five years, much larger than the industry standard for a coach without previous NBA head coaching experience. The offer might also be loaded with potential bonuses and perks including free use of one of Gilbert’s private jets.

There is no doubt that Tom Izzo is a great coach, but a lot of great college coaches have gone to the NBA only to fail miserably or suffer in mediocrity. Without assurances from LeBron that he’ll re-sign with Cleveland, I don’t see Izzo making the move. That’s just a gut feeling.

So this could be “if LeBron re-signs” deals. If LeBron leaves, Gilbert knows that he’s going to have a tough time getting a big name coach anyway, so why not have the framework of a deal in place that he can sell to LeBron?

Source: Cavs make offer to Izzo

The News-Herald reports that Dan Gilbert has his eye on Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, and has already made him an offer.

According to a league source, they are centering their efforts on bringing in Michigan State coach Tom Izzo.

In fact, they’ve already made him an offer to be their coach, the source said.

Izzo makes $3 million a year at Michigan State, so it would take a big offer to get him to leave, especially considering that he might be coaching a Cavs team that is without LeBron James.

Even if the Cavs doubled his salary, would Izzo want to leave East Lansing to try to coax 40 wins out of Mo Williams, Delonte West and Antawn Jamison?


Photo from fOTOGLIF

Cavs GM Danny Ferry resigns

Brian Windhorst has the details:

In an interview with the The Plain Dealer, Ferry said the decision was mutual after the sides had talks about a new contract earlier this week. Ferry’s five-year deal that he signed when he came to the team in 2005 was scheduled to expire at the end of June.

Ferry will be replaced by top assistant Chris Grant, who has been functioning in the role of a co-general manager for the last several years.

On his Twitter feed, Windhorst wrote the following about LeBron’s possible involvement:

High level sources: LeBron did not play a role in decision, he liked Ferry. This was about power. Ferry wanted same level as in 2005, with the stakes [owner Dan] Gilbert didn’t want to give it. So they parted ways.

It’s very tough to judge a general manager because we’re not privy to all the details of the trades that were available to them. Things get especially murky when the team has someone like LeBron, who seemingly has his fingers into everything.

Ferry did acquire talented players like Mo Williams, Shaq and Antawn Jamison, but the pieces didn’t mesh very well, at least not at playoff time. And it’s not that tough to acquire talent, especially when your owner is willing to open his checkbook in this economy.


Photo from fOTOGLIF

Transcript of LeBron’s interview with Larry King

CNN.com has the transcript of the entire interview. Here are the highlights as it relates to his pending free agency.

On what’s important in picking a team:

JAMES: Well, I mean, to me, I think my ultimate — my ultimate goal is winning championships and — and I understand that me going down as one of the greats will not happen until I, you know, win a championship. So for me, the team that I decided to go toward (INAUDIBLE) in Cleveland, that ultimately has — has the best chance for me to win a championship not one year, but multiple years. But for me to continue to get better and help that team win, I think, ultimately, would be my decision. I’m going to do what’s best for me and my family.

On Cleveland’s advantage:

KING: All right. Do you lean at all toward the place you know the best? I mean do they have an edge going in…

JAMES: Oh, absolutely.

KING: — your home team?

JAMES: Absolutely. Because, you know, this city, these fans, I mean, have given me a lot in these seven years. And, you know, for me, it’s comfortable. So I’ve got a lot of memories here. And — and so it does have an edge. But it’s a — it’s a very — it’s going to be a very interesting summer and I’m looking forward to it.

Continue reading »

« Older posts Newer posts »