The LeBron James Thread

[USF11]

Looking back... How lucky are bulls that they landed Rose in that lottery?

Seriously, without Rose they would be the worst team in the NBA.

[Altimus]

That 1.7% chance *might just equal a dynasty.

[USF11]

Who was suppose to land Rose that year? I dont remember.

[brahmagoul]

Quote: Originally Posted by BaselineBakes

In hindsight that's very poor dealing by the Cavaliers, for the past couple of years they've had so much flexibility with there roster during off-seasons(which Danny Ferry has done a great job at) and now the biggest summer of all they are basically sitting ducks. Poor situation.

They did everything in their power to improve "now." Who wouldn't have made that Antawn Jamison move? That's the one that really hurts their flexibility this summer, but I think you have to make those deals when an owner like Dan Gilbert OK'ed it. Why? Because of all this uncertainty about LeBron. I'd rather go for the title when you know you can than leave anything for chance.

Now, that right there makes it a shame if LeBron leaves Cleveland. That franchise has done everything in its power to win. Yet Cleveland gets so discredited because Chicago and Miami can bring in two max players. As Ric Bucher said, Cleveland had the best record the last two years. They also were at their best with the roster that's slated to come back (that means without Shaq and Z).

LeBron has just as good of a chance to win next year in Cleveland as anywhere. And once that window starts to close, the Cavaliers will have flexibility to bring in new talent with LeBron.

[OSUFan_88]

Quote: Originally Posted by brahmagoul

Who wouldn't have made that Antawn Jamison move?

Me.

I didn't like the Jamison move from the start, and then got sucked into the hype after the fact.

It was a stupid trade and Ferry convinced himself that Jamison "fit better" than Amar'e.

It's why Ferry is on the unemployment line.

[ex carrabba fan]

OSU, I'm going to look up the thread where Jamison got traded, to see what you said. I'll be back.

1. How much of that regular season success was due purely because of James' brilliance? I would wager more than a lot that you couldn't just plop any other SG or SF in that situation, and that if you did, CLE would struggle to have home court advantage in the first round.

They built around James the best they could, but it all goes back to the fact that they had not much to work with at the beginning of the LBJ era. So it was more of makeshift moves to get help "now" as you put it. That sentiment I agree with, it's sooooo obvious that you do the Jamison deal at that point. You had to risk it, Jamison could have finally been his Robin. Alas he's not, he's more of a third wheel.

2. No, CLE doesn't have just a good a chance as ORL or BOS [if they stay together]. They aren't far behind if they keep James, but they aren't on that level at all from top to bottom, coaches and players.

I've been repeating this exact post for a while now so it's pointless to keep this up, I apologize.

As I've said, James masks a lot of problems, because he is simply that good. The regular season means nothing, James is the perfect regular season player. He has a lot of issues [giving up in the playoffs for some inexplicable reason] and once the bright lights hit, the bigger issues of his teammates/coaches were exposed.

Just because "they had the best record two years in a row" doesn't mean they have an acceptable cast of characters. What it shows is how good James was during the regular season.

[wwharton]

Quote: Originally Posted by OSUFan_88

Me. I didn't like the Jamison move from the start, and then got sucked into the hype after the fact. It was a stupid trade and Ferry convinced himself that Jamison "fit better" than Amar'e. It's why Ferry is on the unemployment line.

I have no facts but I'm pretty sure LBJ and Shaq's presence had more to do with Jamison over Amare than anything. Even still, it's hilarious that people are acting like Jamison's a dud. It's always a crap shoot that a new player will gel immediately... he didn't. In that offense, I'm not surprised. Only a spot up jump shooter could jump right into that offense and have success. I think he still has value if LBJ stays. He can't play D... but everybody knew that already. Honestly, Amare's D is pretty suspect too.

[ex carrabba fan]

Quote: Originally Posted by wwharton

I have no facts but I'm pretty sure LBJ and Shaq's presence had more to do with Jamison over Amare than anything. Even still, it's hilarious that people are acting like Jamison's a dud. It's always a crap shoot that a new player will gel immediately... he didn't. In that offense, I'm not surprised. Only a spot up jump shooter could jump right into that offense and have success. I think he still has value if LBJ stays. He can't play D... but everybody knew that already. Honestly, Amare's D is pretty suspect too.

Are we going to have this same discussion all over again?

Jamison is far from a dud, still not sure who said he was.