NBA 2014 Off-Season Thread

Lasch_sl said:

Why do you think the cavs have turned themselves around as an organization (beyond lebron coming back).

Their drafting?
The firing, hiring, and then firing of Brown?
the jack contract?

they have won some pingpong balls...

edit: forgot about Bynum and Deng.

Click to expand...

Mike Brown was a mistake. I think there were good intentions with hiring him back but he simply didn't work out. Obviously Blatt is an unknown but I think he shows some promise. We'll really have to see with him though. I also think Griffin shows a lot more promise as GM than most of his predecessors.

Finally, as much as I don't care for him as a person, I really do like the tone of Lebron's letter to Cleveland. I doubt he wrote it personally but I'm sure he signed off on it before it was released. He sounds much more humble and acknowledges that winning won't be an over night thing but that it will take time and effort. The concept of having to work for everything is something that resonates well in Cleveland because we are such a shithole and we've had to work for every scrap. Very little is simply given to us so his letter did a lot to repair the damage of his leaving. And again, as a Clevelander, I can tell you first hand that most of us were never upset with him leaving. A lot of us expected him to leave. The thing that upset us was HOW he left (and that's a point that can't be stressed enough). But on the face of things he truly does sound more humble. And from a practical side, despite what I just said about Cleveland having to work for things, he's turned us into a playoff contender over night. Especially with how weak the Eastern conference is right now.

Last point: One interesting tidbit I heard was that if Lebron wanted the greatest chance to win the Finals in 2015, Miami was the team to stick with. If he wants the greatest chance to win the Finals in 2016, 2017 and 2018, the Cavs are actually in the best position in the East to give him that chance. The Cavs have ENORMOUS potential with Iriving, Thompson, Waiters, and Wiggins. The biggest problem is that they're all young guys and they lack discipline. Hopefully that starts to turn around starting yesterday.

Well LeBron won't win anymore championships, God hates Cleveland.

OKC signs Morrow with 3 yr, 10 million (team option on the 3rd)


Crown the Thunder.

Shaq does realize Los Suns and Phoenix are the same team right?

Djay_sl said:

I personally witnessed the last game LeBron played in a Heat uniform...that's awesome.

Click to expand...

People in Cleveland once said the same thing, once D Wade decides when he will retire LeBron will opt out of Cleveland to go be with his buddy.

Foggy_sl said:

Shaq does realize Los Suns and Phoenix are the same team right?

Click to expand...

I'm sure he does, but without them it wouldn't have been possibly to make that sick ROYGBIV image.

Also, I apparently have not followed basketball in a long enough time to know that Shaq actually played in Cleveland and Boston. Mind is somewhat blown.

LBJ's deal is only for 2 years and he can opt out next year if he wants.

Robert Baratheon_sl said:

I'm sure he does, but without them it wouldn't have been possibly to make that sick ROYGBIV image.

Also, I apparently have not followed basketball in a long enough time to know that Shaq actually played in Cleveland and Boston. Mind is somewhat blown.

Click to expand...

"Played" is being pretty generous.

I literally would have said he retired after his second act in Miami winning the title with Wade. With total certainty, too.

LeBron,Wade,and Bosh should have just did the 3 Amigos tour, traveling the country signing 1 year deals trying to see how many different teams they could have won championships with. They could have started with the Sacramento Kings.

They might not even make the playoffs in the west

So LeBron is going to have a career ending injury in Cleveland on this two year deal, right? Isn't that how Cleveland works?

Foggy_sl said:

So LeBron is going to have a career ending injury in Cleveland on this two year deal, right? Isn't that how Cleveland works?

Click to expand...

No, they'll choke in the Eastern Conference Finals against America's Team, the Bosh lead Heat.

Salary cap rules and collective bargaining agreements are changing in 2016 so Lebron wanted the shorter contract for the ability to renegotiate at a higher rate when that happens. According to reports from him, his plans are to stay in Cleveland long term but he wants to stay in Cleveland making as much money as possible.

Of course with that being said, it's always possible that we'll have Decision 3.0, 4.0, 5.0 and so on. And it's also possible that things don't work out and he leaves in a year or two. But, right now, all indications is that the deal was written so that he can stay at whatever the max salary is for the next few years even if it changes.