Author Topic: Lebron upset with lack of depth/playmakers on Cavs  (Read 10560 times)

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Re: Lebron upset with lack of depth/playmakers on Cavs
« Reply #15 on: January 24, 2017, 01:40:12 PM »

Offline celticsclay

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The problem for the Cavs is that they aren't the clear frontrunner for the 'ship, so that means they're not going to have first pick of ringchasers.

Second, why would a playmaker want to play on a team that already has Kyrie and LeBron? 

Guys know they're mostly going to defend, take spot-up shots, and rebound.  That's what they will be asked to do when they're playing with Kyrie and Bron.

It's easier to attract players when they can feel like even if they don't win a title, they're going to have fun and be involved.  That's what the Spurs and Warriors can offer.  Even the Clips can offer guys a chance to take a lot of shots on the second unit.


Aside from all that, the Cavs already turned a non-contributor in Dunleavy into Kyle Korver.  What's LeBron got to complain about?  The rest of the league groaned when the Cavs got Korver for basically nothing.

The Cavs leveraged future assets to get guy the last couple of years -- Mozgov, Shumpert, J.R., Frye, etc.  They can't just keep doing that forever.  It catches up.


I guess this is probably my biggest takeaway. I am not sure what moves he think or assets the Cavs have that could be used to get "playmakers." In addition to paying Love, Kyrie, Lebron very high salaries they also now have big salaries for Thompson and Jr Smith. What kind of playmaker can be brought in for peanuts?

 There is also a 16 million dollar difference between Love and Wiggins right now. Maybe the Cavs could have benefitted from having Wiggins and 16 million to spend on an additional front court player.

In 2015 Maybe the Cavs should have signed both Kyle O'Quinn (4 years 16 million) and Koufas (4 years 33 million) or Ed Davis (3 years 20 million) to give them more flexibility over signing Lebron's friend Thompson (who is a great rebounder, seemingly average defender and poor offensive player) for 5 years and 82 million


Re: Lebron upset with lack of depth/playmakers on Cavs
« Reply #16 on: January 24, 2017, 01:42:24 PM »

Offline celticsclay

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Side note I really wasn't trying to make this into "bash Lebron thread" but it seems that is what it has turned into.

Re: Lebron upset with lack of depth/playmakers on Cavs
« Reply #17 on: January 24, 2017, 01:49:45 PM »

Offline hpantazo

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The problem for the Cavs is that they aren't the clear frontrunner for the 'ship, so that means they're not going to have first pick of ringchasers.

Second, why would a playmaker want to play on a team that already has Kyrie and LeBron? 

Guys know they're mostly going to defend, take spot-up shots, and rebound.  That's what they will be asked to do when they're playing with Kyrie and Bron.

It's easier to attract players when they can feel like even if they don't win a title, they're going to have fun and be involved.  That's what the Spurs and Warriors can offer.  Even the Clips can offer guys a chance to take a lot of shots on the second unit.


Aside from all that, the Cavs already turned a non-contributor in Dunleavy into Kyle Korver.  What's LeBron got to complain about?  The rest of the league groaned when the Cavs got Korver for basically nothing.

The Cavs leveraged future assets to get guy the last couple of years -- Mozgov, Shumpert, J.R., Frye, etc.  They can't just keep doing that forever.  It catches up.


I guess this is probably my biggest takeaway. I am not sure what moves he think or assets the Cavs have that could be used to get "playmakers." In addition to paying Love, Kyrie, Lebron very high salaries they also now have big salaries for Thompson and Jr Smith. What kind of playmaker can be brought in for peanuts?

 There is also a 16 million dollar difference between Love and Wiggins right now. Maybe the Cavs could have benefitted from having Wiggins and 16 million to spend on an additional front court player.

In 2015 Maybe the Cavs should have signed both Kyle O'Quinn (4 years 16 million) and Koufas (4 years 33 million) or Ed Davis (3 years 20 million) to give them more flexibility over signing Lebron's friend Thompson (who is a great rebounder, seemingly average defender and poor offensive player) for 5 years and 82 million

Exactly. They not only unwisely used up large salary cap space on role players, they also traded away their future by trading two first round picks for Mozgov and trading away Wiggins for Love who they could have signed later on and who didn't fill a major need.

Re: Lebron upset with lack of depth/playmakers on Cavs
« Reply #18 on: January 24, 2017, 02:02:47 PM »

Offline Moranis

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Lebron is clearly whining a bit, but he isn't asking the Cavs to go out and acquire superstars.  He is asking them to sign some vets to the bench so that he can coast a bit more in the regular season.  Obviously if Smith and Anderson don't get hurt, I don't think Lebron is belly aching this much about back-ups.  I mean the Cavs back-up PG is a 5'9" rookie that was the 54th pick in the draft.  How many defending champions have someone like that as the only back-up PG on the roster?

This strikes me as James venting because he is playing a ton of minutes and he doesn't want to be out of gas come the NBA Finals.
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Re: Lebron upset with lack of depth/playmakers on Cavs
« Reply #19 on: January 24, 2017, 02:08:32 PM »

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Thompson and Love making SO much money and play the same position was a big mistake and used up all there cash, which they could've spent on good role players. Also trading 2 1st round picks for Mosgov, who they just let go, was a waste. All that said they are still easy favorites to win the East, unless they have to play their top guys so many minutes that they are burnt by the playoffs. That situation might force Danny's hand in making a trade for a win now player. It will be interesting going forward...

Re: Lebron upset with lack of depth/playmakers on Cavs
« Reply #20 on: January 24, 2017, 02:09:36 PM »

Offline GratefulCs

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Side note I really wasn't trying to make this into "bash Lebron thread" but it seems that is what it has turned into.
it turned into a bash thread cuz he sucks!

Stupid lebron
I trust Danny Ainge

Re: Lebron upset with lack of depth/playmakers on Cavs
« Reply #21 on: January 24, 2017, 02:11:18 PM »

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What does he want them to do?

If they trade Tristan Thompson, I think that drastically changes their team. His physicality and effort is one of the biggest struggles for the Celtics. If they trade him, it only improves our chances, unless they get another all-star back.

I don't really want Thompson, but if we traded him for Bradley or Crowder, that matchup changes significantly.

That leads me to JR Smith. Does anyone want him? Doubtful.

That leads me to Shumpert. Does anyone want him? Doubtful, but if they do that changes our matcup with the Cavs significantly too. Thomas struggles against Shumpert, but he is a little better against the other guys.

What are they going to do?

If they could get two playmakers for Love, would they? Would they trade Love for Bledsoe + versatile forward playmaker?

Confusing comments by James, unless he is frustrated because he knows of some trades that almost happened but haven't.

Re: Lebron upset with lack of depth/playmakers on Cavs
« Reply #22 on: January 24, 2017, 02:11:33 PM »

Offline moiso

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Lebron is clearly whining a bit, but he isn't asking the Cavs to go out and acquire superstars.  He is asking them to sign some vets to the bench so that he can coast a bit more in the regular season.  Obviously if Smith and Anderson don't get hurt, I don't think Lebron is belly aching this much about back-ups.  I mean the Cavs back-up PG is a 5'9" rookie that was the 54th pick in the draft.  How many defending champions have someone like that as the only back-up PG on the roster?

This strikes me as James venting because he is playing a ton of minutes and he doesn't want to be out of gas come the NBA Finals.
Asking the Cavs?  I didn't know it was the Cavs that he was talking to last night.  I thought it was the media.

Re: Lebron upset with lack of depth/playmakers on Cavs
« Reply #23 on: January 24, 2017, 02:18:48 PM »

Offline celticsclay

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Lebron is clearly whining a bit, but he isn't asking the Cavs to go out and acquire superstars.  He is asking them to sign some vets to the bench so that he can coast a bit more in the regular season.  Obviously if Smith and Anderson don't get hurt, I don't think Lebron is belly aching this much about back-ups.  I mean the Cavs back-up PG is a 5'9" rookie that was the 54th pick in the draft.  How many defending champions have someone like that as the only back-up PG on the roster?

This strikes me as James venting because he is playing a ton of minutes and he doesn't want to be out of gas come the NBA Finals.

Who can they sign though? Is there a playmaker that is out there that is an unrestricted free agent that would provide what James wants? Would the Cavs have to trade someone? Who?

Re: Lebron upset with lack of depth/playmakers on Cavs
« Reply #24 on: January 24, 2017, 02:21:24 PM »

Offline Ed Hollison

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This would be a good time to remind everyone that ESPN recently ranked Lebron #3 all-time, and Bill Russell #7.

Being an all-time great isn't just about individual talent. It's about maximizing the chances for your team to win.



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Re: Lebron upset with lack of depth/playmakers on Cavs
« Reply #25 on: January 24, 2017, 02:22:41 PM »

Offline celticsclay

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What does he want them to do?

If they trade Tristan Thompson, I think that drastically changes their team. His physicality and effort is one of the biggest struggles for the Celtics. If they trade him, it only improves our chances, unless they get another all-star back.

I don't really want Thompson, but if we traded him for Bradley or Crowder, that matchup changes significantly.

That leads me to JR Smith. Does anyone want him? Doubtful.

That leads me to Shumpert. Does anyone want him? Doubtful, but if they do that changes our matcup with the Cavs significantly too. Thomas struggles against Shumpert, but he is a little better against the other guys.

What are they going to do?

If they could get two playmakers for Love, would they? Would they trade Love for Bledsoe + versatile forward playmaker?

Confusing comments by James, unless he is frustrated because he knows of some trades that almost happened but haven't.

Bradley alone is a huge overpay for Thompson. He has had some big games/moments on prime time TV but he is not nearly as good a player as Bradley is. He also has not really improved at all, and seems to have even slightly regressed on offense. The idea of trading Bradley and Crowder for the Celtics would be a trade the Celtics could not recover from for many years and would immensely help Cleveland for years to come.

Related to the idea of trading Love for something like Bledsoe, Barbosa and Chandler would certainly be interesting if the salaries somehow worked.

Re: Lebron upset with lack of depth/playmakers on Cavs
« Reply #26 on: January 24, 2017, 02:31:14 PM »

Offline Moranis

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Lebron is clearly whining a bit, but he isn't asking the Cavs to go out and acquire superstars.  He is asking them to sign some vets to the bench so that he can coast a bit more in the regular season.  Obviously if Smith and Anderson don't get hurt, I don't think Lebron is belly aching this much about back-ups.  I mean the Cavs back-up PG is a 5'9" rookie that was the 54th pick in the draft.  How many defending champions have someone like that as the only back-up PG on the roster?

This strikes me as James venting because he is playing a ton of minutes and he doesn't want to be out of gas come the NBA Finals.

Who can they sign though? Is there a playmaker that is out there that is an unrestricted free agent that would provide what James wants? Would the Cavs have to trade someone? Who?
Mario Chalmers and Jarret Jack are both unsigned.  They went unsigned over the summer because they were hurt.  Not sure their current injury status, but either of them would be a perfectly fine back-up PG if healthy.
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Re: Lebron upset with lack of depth/playmakers on Cavs
« Reply #27 on: January 24, 2017, 02:31:57 PM »

Offline Moranis

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Lebron is clearly whining a bit, but he isn't asking the Cavs to go out and acquire superstars.  He is asking them to sign some vets to the bench so that he can coast a bit more in the regular season.  Obviously if Smith and Anderson don't get hurt, I don't think Lebron is belly aching this much about back-ups.  I mean the Cavs back-up PG is a 5'9" rookie that was the 54th pick in the draft.  How many defending champions have someone like that as the only back-up PG on the roster?

This strikes me as James venting because he is playing a ton of minutes and he doesn't want to be out of gas come the NBA Finals.
Asking the Cavs?  I didn't know it was the Cavs that he was talking to last night.  I thought it was the media.
Of course he was asking the Cavs.  The whole point of his rant was to put pressure on Cavs management. 
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Re: Lebron upset with lack of depth/playmakers on Cavs
« Reply #28 on: January 24, 2017, 02:35:31 PM »

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What does he want them to do?

If they trade Tristan Thompson, I think that drastically changes their team. His physicality and effort is one of the biggest struggles for the Celtics. If they trade him, it only improves our chances, unless they get another all-star back.

I don't really want Thompson, but if we traded him for Bradley or Crowder, that matchup changes significantly.

That leads me to JR Smith. Does anyone want him? Doubtful.

That leads me to Shumpert. Does anyone want him? Doubtful, but if they do that changes our matcup with the Cavs significantly too. Thomas struggles against Shumpert, but he is a little better against the other guys.

What are they going to do?

If they could get two playmakers for Love, would they? Would they trade Love for Bledsoe + versatile forward playmaker?

Confusing comments by James, unless he is frustrated because he knows of some trades that almost happened but haven't.

Bradley alone is a huge overpay for Thompson. He has had some big games/moments on prime time TV but he is not nearly as good a player as Bradley is. He also has not really improved at all, and seems to have even slightly regressed on offense. The idea of trading Bradley and Crowder for the Celtics would be a trade the Celtics could not recover from for many years and would immensely help Cleveland for years to come.

Related to the idea of trading Love for something like Bledsoe, Barbosa and Chandler would certainly be interesting if the salaries somehow worked.

Just to be clear, I said Bradley or Crowder, not Bradley and Crowder. I agree with you on the and.

I'm not interested in that trade either, but I was throwing out a possibility of something the Cavs would be interested in.

Re: Lebron upset with lack of depth/playmakers on Cavs
« Reply #29 on: January 24, 2017, 02:40:14 PM »

Offline Monkhouse

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If you guys want to give us Kevin Love, you can certainly have Rozier, Amir Johnson.  :angel: Just saying.
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