The Decision - Second Edition

[worldK]

Lst, Legacy is about rings.

Kobe is regarded as one, if not the best laker of all time for winning 5 rings. 3 of those he won as the 2nd best player behind shaq but all people will remember about kobe is he won 5 rings and made 7 finals appearance and is one of the all time greats.

Lebron won 2 already. In those two, he was clearly the best player on the team and the whole league. If he can win with the cavs with irving and love, he will still be the best player on those teams. Also, theres an added factor in coming back to cleveland and winning a title for the city. It will be redemption for him.

The way I see it, even if he stays with the heat, the stigma of him teaming with other stars to win championships will still stick with him and he actually has a lower chance of winning another one with bosh and a declining wade. Going back to the cavs will redeem his image in his home state and gives him better chance at multiple titles over staying with the heat. All more appealing to his legacy.

Also, the cavs management will be nuts to not go for love immediately if they can sign bron. Its very hard to win a championship in this 30 team league and you never know what will happen in the future and getting love right now gives them the best chance of winning 1. Boston roll the dice and won a title and rejuvenate the franchise and city for a number of years. Cleveland will want the same.

[Lipoli390]

I just visited lebronjames.com for the first time. According to Chris Sheridan, that's where LeBron will announce he's going back to the Cavs. I can report there is no announcement yet. :). But I noticed something interesting. The first thing you see when you open up the site is a photo of LeBron and the words, "just a kid from Akron Ohio." This is a guy who defines himself in a big way by his Cleveland area roots.

So make no mistake about it, LeBron is going back to Cleveland. He knows he's done all he can do in Miami. He brought the Heat four appearances in the Finals and two championships. He knows that team is on it's downward slope as Wade fades into the twilight of his career and no top free agents line up to sign on Pat Riley's dotted line. He also knows that the Cavs have nice young talent and a very good chance of landing Kevin Love. But more importantly, LeBron is not a Miami guy. He's a kid from Akron Ohio. And as he enters the third decade of his life he's about to head home to finish his career and complete his legacy.

It will be great for the NBA. And if Flip is smart, it can be great for the Wolves as well.

[TAFKASP]

I just visited lebronjames.com for the first time. According to Chris Sheridan, that's where LeBron will announce he's going back to the Cavs. I can report there is no announcement yet. :). But I noticed something interesting. The first thing you see when you open up the site is a photo of LeBron and the words, "just a kid from Akron Ohio." This is a guy who defines himself in a big way by his Cleveland area roots.

So make no mistake about it, LeBron is going back to Cleveland. He knows he's done all he can do in Miami. He brought the Heat four appearances in the Finals and two championships. He knows that team is on it's downward slope as Wade fades into the twilight of his career and no top free agents line up to sign on Pat Riley's dotted line. He also knows that the Cavs have nice young talent and a very good chance of landing Kevin Love. But more importantly, LeBron is not a Miami guy. He's a kid from Akron Ohio. And as he enters the third decade of his life he's about to head home to finish his career and complete his legacy.

It will be great for the NBA. And if Flip is smart, it can be great for the Wolves as well.

I thought you didn't care for Wiggins Lip, how can this be good for the Wolves in that case. Or am I wrong.... again?

[Monster]

Interesting perspective Lip. I'll take that a step farther. I think one narrative that played out back in 2010 was Lebron said people said to do what would make him happy. Miami seemed sort of obvious to me at the time teaming up with Bosh and Wade. Now I think going back home to Cleveland is more along those lines but of course I don't know.

One thing thats been mentioned and rightly so is that Lebron hasn't met with the Cavs and why would he leave Spolstra for a guy in Blatt who is new to the league. I just happened to see the coaching staff. Jim Boylan who has taken over 2 Scott Skiles teams in the interim. Probably a good assistant who knows what its like to be a HC. Bernie Bickerstaff is there too and that guy has been around forever and knows the game. Remember Tyronne Lue is the young guy that is getting paid alot to be the head assistant. When you look a little deeper there are some legit names there for the coaching staff as a support to Blatt. Besides if Lebron decides he thinks Blatt sucks Blatt could be gone pretty fast. They fired Mike Brown like 30 times there is no reason they couldn't dump Blatt quick if Lebron doesn't like him. Maybe Lue takes over. Who knows just something to consider while we wait. LOL

[Lipoli390]

I just visited lebronjames.com for the first time. According to Chris Sheridan, that's where LeBron will announce he's going back to the Cavs. I can report there is no announcement yet. :). But I noticed something interesting. The first thing you see when you open up the site is a photo of LeBron and the words, "just a kid from Akron Ohio." This is a guy who defines himself in a big way by his Cleveland area roots.

So make no mistake about it, LeBron is going back to Cleveland. He knows he's done all he can do in Miami. He brought the Heat four appearances in the Finals and two championships. He knows that team is on it's downward slope as Wade fades into the twilight of his career and no top free agents line up to sign on Pat Riley's dotted line. He also knows that the Cavs have nice young talent and a very good chance of landing Kevin Love. But more importantly, LeBron is not a Miami guy. He's a kid from Akron Ohio. And as he enters the third decade of his life he's about to head home to finish his career and complete his legacy.

It will be great for the NBA. And if Flip is smart, it can be great for the Wolves as well.

I thought you didn't care for Wiggins Lip, how can this be good for the Wolves in that case. Or am I wrong.... again?

SP - I love Wiggins potential. But I've said I have doubts about him because of reports that question his motor and his suspect handle. That's why I said I'd insist on getting Tristin Thompson in addition to Wiggins as part if the deal. But even if Wiggins ultimately turns out to be a flop, he's a great asset to acquire right now.

[Hicks123 [enjin:6700838]]

People think LBJ would be worried about his coach being new? Was Spoelstra a houshold "winning" name prior to adding the Big 3? Absolutely not. When you coach a super team, it is more about managing egos than anything else. LBJ will dictate what he wants, regardless of who the coach would be. Are people fooled into thinking that Spoelstra ran the show in Miami? I don't buy it.

I agree with those that thinks he goes to Cleveland. Miami is done (at least from a title perspective), and I have to believe that LBJ knows this. And LST, you are crazy if you think he will prefer untested rookies to bring along for the ride to "solidify" his legacy. That is simply not the landscape of the current NBA. Modern day free agency has killed any chance of teams building over time (Spurs excluded). Even if all of Cav's early draft picks pan out, it simply takes these young guys several years to acclimate and become major factors on a playoff type squad (take OKC as a great modern day example). A core of LBJ - Irving - Love will certainly be much more formidable because, while losing some of their young guns, they will ultimately be able to bring in proven winners for cheap (i.e. guys like Ray Allen and others) to help win these championships. There are plenty of these types waiting in the wings to jump on the bandwagon at the end of their careers and try to win that ellusive ring.

So in the end I see LBJ and Love in Cleveland, and Wiggins, Thompson or Bennett, and Miami 1st coming back to us.

[Lipoli390]

Michael Jordan announced his return to the Bulls after his temporary retirement playing baseball with the short phrase. "I'm back."

I expect a simple announcement soon from LeBron saying, " I'm headed home." I'm sure he'll also include a short thank you to Pat Riley, Eric Spoelstra, his teammates and most of all the fans in Miami. But the message will be simple and short and it will begin the next chapter in the LeBron era of the NBA.

[Phenom]

Flip mentioned something about the 11th on the last Funkadelic. I don't remember the context but it wasn't really expanded on. Maybe it all goes down tomorrow, including a Love trade. I hope so, I'm tired of this.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

This is my go-to forum for basketball talk, because I generally find the level of NBA and general basketball knowledge higher here than other options. But since we are all Wolves fans, sometimes the conclusions become a little inbred. That is, when potential trades are discussed, we tend to put on our rose-colored glasses and see things too much from a Wolves perspective. It seems to me that is clearly happening in the Cavs-Wolves discussion. I'm not positive, but I may be the only one here saying that if I'm the Cavs, I'm not making the Love deal if Wiggins is included.

Now, go over to the Cavs board on RealGM, and spend a little time in the 9-page thread about the prospect of dealing for Love. Sure, there are a few Wolves fans who are almost desperately advocating for a deal including Wiggins, but the Cavs fans are solidly against. They're intrigued with seeing what Wiggins can do, and they just aren't in favor of giving him up. They have some nice things to say about Love's scoring and rebounding, but just as many comments about his poor defense and inability to lead his team to the playoffs.

I'm not saying the deal can't happen...I'm merely saying that the internet Cavs fans are not on board and just don't seem to be very excited about Kevin Love. Maybe Cavs management think they can get away with a deal, because the fans are going to be so happy about getting LeBron. But I wouldn't want to be Dan Gilbert if Wiggins blows up in Minnesota and actually plays like the #1 pick in the best draft in years, and Love shows them his matador defense (which will make them fondly remember Thompson) and lack of 4th quarter proficiency, or perish the thought, another knuckle pushup injury. When the fan base doesn't like a deal going in to it, the margin for error is really small...Love is really going to be under the microscope.

[Lipoli390]

Long -- Trading Wiggins for Love would be a smart basketball decision for Cleveland if they end up with LeBron regardless of how much some Cav fans would like to hang on to Wiggins. The minute LeBron joins Kyrie Irving and steps on the court for the Cavs, they are a playoff team in the East. Love has shortcomings, but he's a perennial all-star and the best PF in the League. Exercise the team option on Varejao and add Love to the mix and the Cavs become a championship contender. So of course they'll trade Wiggins as part of a deal for Love. Let's just hope LeBron signs with the Cavs. If not, then Love will not end up in Cleveland.