Tequilla
Active poster
http://espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2015/story/_/id/13096193/nba-next-lebron-james-cleveland-cavaliers
I found the following section very revealing:
Ideally for the Cavs, James would come into his exit meeting with strong opinions: Sign this guy at any cost; don't worry about this guy; try to keep this guy, but don't break the bank.
No, this is not how things are supposed to be done in a classic NBA hierarchy. But the reality is the Cavs prefer James to be invested in their decisions so that everyone is on the same page. It's better than operating in a gray area, where they're uncertain of James' investment in working with a player going forward.
This is especially important in regard to Love. James very much pushed for the Cavs to trade for Love last summer, to the point where he was comfortable with No. 1 draft pick Andrew Wiggins being included. However, James and Love didn't particularly mesh well, on or off the court.
The Cavs improved vastly on defense following Love's shoulder injury earlier in the playoffs and were able to continue to excel without him. Considering Love's recent shoulder surgery and the back issues that affected him all season, the Cavs would have reason to pause before offering Love the maximum-allowed five years, $100 million.
This is why they'd prefer to have James' seal of approval. If Love's deal ends up being a burden in the future, they'd want James to share in the responsibility for it.
This is also why James wouldn't be so interested in taking part. He wants a great team and the owners to spend to get it there, but he doesn't want it to limit his future flexibility. As a once-a-generation player, he can have both.
I found the following section very revealing:
Ideally for the Cavs, James would come into his exit meeting with strong opinions: Sign this guy at any cost; don't worry about this guy; try to keep this guy, but don't break the bank.
No, this is not how things are supposed to be done in a classic NBA hierarchy. But the reality is the Cavs prefer James to be invested in their decisions so that everyone is on the same page. It's better than operating in a gray area, where they're uncertain of James' investment in working with a player going forward.
This is especially important in regard to Love. James very much pushed for the Cavs to trade for Love last summer, to the point where he was comfortable with No. 1 draft pick Andrew Wiggins being included. However, James and Love didn't particularly mesh well, on or off the court.
The Cavs improved vastly on defense following Love's shoulder injury earlier in the playoffs and were able to continue to excel without him. Considering Love's recent shoulder surgery and the back issues that affected him all season, the Cavs would have reason to pause before offering Love the maximum-allowed five years, $100 million.
This is why they'd prefer to have James' seal of approval. If Love's deal ends up being a burden in the future, they'd want James to share in the responsibility for it.
This is also why James wouldn't be so interested in taking part. He wants a great team and the owners to spend to get it there, but he doesn't want it to limit his future flexibility. As a once-a-generation player, he can have both.
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