JediMaster
New member
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.
By dumping most of the overpaid players, the Cavs can't really expect to get anything in return for straight-up trades. As it's been pointed to, the Cavs only hope to compete with the Warriors is to get a true superstar 2-way player like Paul George who can defend Kevin Durant or even Klay Thompson for stretches when LeBron isn't the primary. There are a lot of young players in the league who could still develop into that type of player (i.e. Brandon Ingram), but those players are for the most part going to be safe-guarded by their respective teams in hopes that in 4-5 years when LeBron's reign finally comes to an end in the east and the Warriors inevitably fall apart as all modern super-teams do, that their current young talent will be the all-nba players of the future.
If the Cavs can't retool (a must), then I wouldn't expect LeBron to stay put if he's still chasing ghosts...
Someone who the Cavs can focus on (if getting another superstar via trade is out of the question this summer) is the Heat's Justise Winslow. Especially if the Heat can find a way to land Gordon Hayward this off-season, but Winslow is a reasonable get who can contribute some big defensive minutes and the best part is, Cavs wouldn't necessarily have to deal Love to wind up getting him.