Lebron to LA

 
:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

People have lost their minds. He has NO reason to leave. His roots are here. His kids go to school here. His foundation is here. He has more money than he can ever spend. His remaining years will be solidifying his legacy. That means championships. There are about 2 teams with a real chance to win a championship, and he's on one of them. No way does LeBron leave again, especially to a rebuilding Lakers team. Everyone loves to stir the pot.
Had GSW lost the Finals, this would be about Durant leaving.
 
I personally don't think he leaves but it seems like there is chatter that he will. Not sure if there is merit behind it or clickbait
 
Personally, I'm hoping James Harden, Russell Westbrook, and LeBron James all head to Golden State. If the NBA thinks these "superteams" are good for the league, let's give them the best one possible...
 
How would you combat the super team problem? Hard salary cap?

I'm not sure it's possible. I think that players are different today and the amount of money being paid is so incredibly high that they can take pay cuts to play with whatever team that want.

A hard salary-cap would probably be the best start but I'm not sure it would work. I would bet you would still have super teams and the weaker teams would be overpaying their stars just to get to the salary minimum.
 
:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

People have lost their minds. He has NO reason to leave. His roots are here. His kids go to school here. His foundation is here. He has more money than he can ever spend. His remaining years will be solidifying his legacy. That means championships. There are about 2 teams with a real chance to win a championship, and he's on one of them. No way does LeBron leave again, especially to a rebuilding Lakers team. Everyone loves to stir the pot.
Had GSW lost the Finals, this would be about Durant leaving.

Agreed.

People talking about the Lakers...they are a disaster from the front office down. Not to mention he'd have to go through the Warriors just to get to the Finals.

He's on a ready made contender that has proven it can win a title, a relatively young core under contract for the foreseeable future, great chemistry...and oh yeah it's home.

He's not going anywhere, unfortunately the Cleveland sports mentality is stuck in sky is falling mode. And outside of Cleveland you have fanboys and Cleveland haters rooting for him to leave.
 
He won't leave. Anyone who thinks he will is just a freaking idiot. He just wants the absolute max deal and for people to beg and beg him to stay and do other places to clamor over him. He just wants the attention. He will be back with a vengeance and bring the title back next year.


That you can guarentee.

So let it be written, so it shall be done.
 
Personally, I'm hoping James Harden, Russell Westbrook, and LeBron James all head to Golden State. If the NBA thinks these "superteams" are good for the league, let's give them the best one possible...

I may have missed the NBA's official statement on this. Link?
 
I see 2 things happening:
1) LeBron finishes his career in Cleveland, a dying king winning no more titles. They just aren't getting past the Warriors sans injuries to one of their 4 stars. While Love is a capable star on a bad team, he isn't a great 3rd option. Good 3rd option, not great. No one will be willing to trade another star straight up for him and Cleveland doesn't have enough assets to make a deal. Someone will say "JR!" And then I'll point out how difficult it will be to trade JR who is coming off his worst year in a while. Not to mention the Cavs can't take on more salary than what they send out. So they can't even take on bad contracts. They have no worth while picks to send out either.
2) LeBron make 3ish more finals runs with this Cleveland team and then he finally starts to wear down at 35. He goes accepts he will be a #2 and win a few rings with some currently young team who has their core hitting their prime in 3-4 years (ie Timberwolves, Suns, 76ers) or to San Antonio. If injuries ever finally catch up to LeBron, don't count out the Suns. Best medical staff in the league.

I'd be more than happy to be wrong and see him winning 2-3 more titles in the next 5 years and then retiring after winning his last title for Cleveland at the age of 37.
 
He won't leave. Anyone who thinks he will is just a freaking idiot.

Woj is probably the most connected reporter in the NBA, if he says it's a possibility, it almost certainly is.

I think he leaves after next year. Cleveland loses to Boston in the ECF after they add Hayward or Butler.

Other than Kyrie & Thompson, the rest of the Cavs are either clearly regressing(Love, Smith, Shumpert) or ready for retirement(Jefferson, Frye, Williams.) They've backed themselves into a cap situation where they have little to no flexibility to add a significant free agent, and their trade-able assets aren't in demand. They also have virtually no 1st rd draft picks for the foreseeable future.

He will have a decision of either riding out his career as a 2nd banana in the East and watching the Warriors and Celtics battle in the finals for the foreseeable future. Or he can try and add himself to a young team who's close to getting over the hump.

Who he goes to depends on how some of these young guys develop. If they all pan out to their maximum potential, a Lakers lineup in 2019 of
Ingram
Randle
Lebron
Russell
Ball

is pretty formidable.

That said, I don't think at least half those guys will end up being much more than serviceable players.

The Clippers I don't see being in a good position. Their big 3 is either going to get broken up or be a shell of its former self by then.

San Antonio is always a possibility for any big free agent, but I'm not that familiar with their cap situation to know if that would even be possible in 2 seasons. I'm sure he respects Pop, and teaming with Kawhi would be an insane combo.

If he stays in Cleveland, it will strictly be a decision about his brand and/or a sense of loyalty. Because they do not offer the best chance to win a title past 2018.
 
It is very difficult in 2017 to be highly touted, get drafted by a team, and live with the day to day, season to season scrutiny of the fan base and media.

Kevin Durrant was the face of OKC. The best player of their franchise, yet he was pushed out of town. There is an expectation that all franchise players win championships, which is so unrealistic. Only one team wins the championship each season.
 
Between Griffin and LBJ, they saddled the team with a lot of dead weight and a few bad contracts. They got one championship out of it, and so far...three Finals trips, so it has not been a failure, but GS is built to sustain their run, while the Cavs are not. They will have to get creative to win another.
 
Id have to think GS will come into a problem with their contract situations

It'll definitely be interesting to see how they all handle it. Durant, Thompson and (I believe) Green have all said they like being part of something bigger than themselves, would love to keep playing there or would take a pay cut to stay. We'll find out soon with Steph, his contract has expired. The Warriors got incredibly lucky last time. He had only played 2 full seasons and missed about 2/3 of his 3rd season due to an ankle injury when he signed his extension. He immediately took a jump the same season he signed.

For anyone interested:
Steph's contract just ended. He's only (relative) made $56.7 million, pre tax.
Durant's contract has a player option for this upcoming season. However, he can opt out. If he opts out he is able to make up to $32 million, I believe. He just finished his 10th year, which is when players can start ending the absolute max deals.
Dryamond's contract doesn't end until the 2019-20 season.
Klay's contract expires after the 2018-19 season.
 
It is very difficult in 2017 to be highly touted, get drafted by a team, and live with the day to day, season to season scrutiny of the fan base and media.

Kevin Durrant was the face of OKC. The best player of their franchise, yet he was pushed out of town. There is an expectation that all franchise players win championships, which is so unrealistic. Only one team wins the championship each season.

Durant was pushed out of town? Lol.
 
It is very difficult in 2017 to be highly touted, get drafted by a team, and live with the day to day, season to season scrutiny of the fan base and media.

Kevin Durrant was the face of OKC. The best player of their franchise, yet he was pushed out of town. There is an expectation that all franchise players win championships, which is so unrealistic. Only one team wins the championship each season.

Pushed out?
 
Woj is probably the most connected reporter in the NBA, if he says it's a possibility, it almost certainly is.

I think he leaves after next year. Cleveland loses to Boston in the ECF after they add Hayward or Butler.

Other than Kyrie & Thompson, the rest of the Cavs are either clearly regressing(Love, Smith, Shumpert) or ready for retirement(Jefferson, Frye, Williams.) They've backed themselves into a cap situation where they have little to no flexibility to add a significant free agent, and their trade-able assets aren't in demand. They also have virtually no 1st rd draft picks for the foreseeable future.

He will have a decision of either riding out his career as a 2nd banana in the East and watching the Warriors and Celtics battle in the finals for the foreseeable future. Or he can try and add himself to a young team who's close to getting over the hump.

Who he goes to depends on how some of these young guys develop. If they all pan out to their maximum potential, a Lakers lineup in 2019 of
Ingram
Randle
Lebron
Russell
Ball

is pretty formidable.

That said, I don't think at least half those guys will end up being much more than serviceable players.

The Clippers I don't see being in a good position. Their big 3 is either going to get broken up or be a shell of its former self by then.

San Antonio is always a possibility for any big free agent, but I'm not that familiar with their cap situation to know if that would even be possible in 2 seasons. I'm sure he respects Pop, and teaming with Kawhi would be an insane combo.

If he stays in Cleveland, it will strictly be a decision about his brand and/or a sense of loyalty. Because they do not offer the best chance to win a title past 2018.

San Antonio only has Kawhi Leonard on the books starting 18/19... They will have a LOT of flexibility to add LeBron and maybe another 1 or 2 bonafide star-caliber players and fill in the rest from there.. I wouldn't respect LeBron any less for going, especially knowing full well the challenge he would face in going through Golden State just to get to the finals.. Its very plausible
 
San Antonio only has Kawhi Leonard on the books starting 18/19... They will have a LOT of flexibility to add LeBron and maybe another 1 or 2 bonafide star-caliber players and fill in the rest from there.. I wouldn't respect LeBron any less for going, especially knowing full well the challenge he would face in going through Golden State just to get to the finals.. Its very plausible

Has any bigtime free agent signed with the Spurs in the Pop era? SA has some charm as a city, but it is not a glam location.
 
Has any bigtime free agent signed with the Spurs in the Pop era? SA has some charm as a city, but it is not a glam location.

LaMarcus Aldridge. Although he's not been great for them. But he was probably the biggest real FA on the market in 2015. LeBron was obviously returning to Cleveland, Kawhi and Timmy weren't leaving SA and Marc Gasol wasn't leaving Memphis.
 
LaMarcus Aldridge. Although he's not been great for them. But he was probably the biggest real FA on the market in 2015. LeBron was obviously returning to Cleveland, Kawhi and Timmy weren't leaving SA and Marc Gasol wasn't leaving Memphis.

Thanks. Forgot he was a free agent. I thought he was acquired in some sort of trade. He was a bigtime free agent, for sure.
 
Lots of ludicrous, speculative statements on this thread. Trying to predict where players will be in 2019, and which teams have 'no chance' is like trying to catch smoke in a net. Salary cap takes a major jump next year and players will be moving like crazy.

But my guess is that LeBron stays in Cavs uniform as long as Gilbert keeps being supportive of the championship chase. Dump most of the overpaid old guys in supporting roles (JR, Deron, Frye, both Jones, Korver). I say keep Shumpert. Plays hard every possession. Find some young hungry wing guys that can defend and hit the occasional 3. Find a young athletic big who can defend and rebound and backup Tristan.
 
National media can't stand the fact that a "flyover" city is a title contender. The speculation happens every year after the season.
 
National media can't stand the fact that a "flyover" city is a title contender. The speculation happens every year after the season.

While they only reached the Finals once with LeBron, they were very much title contenders from 06-10. And have been since he came back. Thunder were contenders for a few years. In baseball the Cardinals. Football has had the Packers, Colts and Broncos in recent memory.
 
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