How did the cavaliers mess this up so bad

[illuminati666]

LeBron not committing for the future handicapped management's options and several stars weren't going to come without knowing what LeBron was doing for the long term

Like who?

Kyrie

[Optms]

100% Lebron

Runs David Blatt out of town. Puppet coach put into place allowing him total control of the offense. Gets his friends huge contracts thereafter. Eventually Kyrie forces trade out because of the pending Lebron fiasco that is about to be carried out this Summer. They were in a great position flexibility-wise until Lebron came back. So you can't really say "Bad management" and leave it at that.

Sure, Cleveland management is mediocre. But they are more spineless than anything else.

[Pharmcat]

trading kyrie was horrible, just terrible ...ruined their chances and will be the reason lebron leaves

[abark]

LeBron not committing for the future handicapped management's options and several stars weren't going to come without knowing what LeBron was doing for the long term

Like who?

Paul George. It's already been mentioned.

[Cactus Jack]

Isnt this obvious? Its only been stated like 1,000 times in this forum.

The main thing is the salary cap. Signed lebrons buddies JR smith, TT to horrible deals. Love's deal was also crap.

They picked Bennett, and TT and Waiters. The only one they truly got right was Irving and Wiggins who they traded . Just bad front office combined with Lebron forcing the cavs to sign his friends

Who's a better GM, MJ or Lebron?

[pwrshft99]

Cavs didnt mess up, were they gonna say no when LeBron decided to come back?

Players have the power in this league. LeBron wanted control, Gilbert gave it to him because it was good business. LeBron picked the wrong guys.

[Dupp]

Four finals appearances and a title in 4 years is a pretty great return for a team that drafted Bennett, waiters and TT with #1 pick and 2 x # 4 picks

[giberish]

First, they had a good run, winning a title and 4 finals in 4 years. That's the sort of run teams try and build for.

Granted, with all their picks in the 2011-2014 combined with getting LeBron back it's a bit disappointing. They could have drafted better with their high picks. They didn't pick up anyone notable with later picks (trading 3 top-35 picks for Zellar then salary dumping him for instance). Just getting a couple decent young role players with those picks would have helped. IMO they also overpaid for Love. He wasn't that elite, yet they gave the current #1 overall pick and then added a future 1st (or 2?) in the deal. That's more then guys like Butler or Irving got last summer with 2 years left on their contracts. I'm not sure Love was the best target though I'm not sure what the other options were even with Wiggins as a trade chip.

They overpaid some secondary players to keep them which makes their current luxury tax situation worse but that's minor.

[flintsky21]

In an alternate universe, the Cavs picked the "other" Thompson with the 4th pick in the 2011 draft. Without 1/2 of the Splash Brothers, Golden State's meteoric rise never happened. LeBron returns in the summer of 2014, and Cleveland wins 4 straight championships.

[Phreak50]

Every team without a championship would swap their situation with the Cavs’.

[C3H6N6O6]

They did great with what they had.
No front office in the league predicted KD to Warriors.

We would not even be talking about this if KD isn't on the Warriors.

[axeman23]

should have kept wade and rose this year. hell even should have waited out its injury

I don't think Wade/Rose matters in the grand scheme of things.

I think with Wade they take at least 1 game maybe 2.

And what kind of trophy do they get for "won 1 or 2 games"?

[axeman23]

They were a championship team up until they traded Kyrie. I still think the front office did a pretty decent job of surrounding LeBron with talent bc LeBron's lack of commitment left their hands pretty tied up. Had to make every move with a contingency plan in mind in case LeBron left.

How so? LeBron was committed, what the hell are you talking about son?

He kept on signing 1 year deals. That's not a commitment to the team. It also gave Kyrie a chance to force his way out early so he wouldn't be stuck with this mess of a roster after LeBron bails.

While I somewhat agree with you, Lebron "committed" to the Cavs for the first 8 years of his career, and what did they repay his faith with? Larry Hughes, Donyell Marshall and Eric Snow?

[Johnny Tomala]

Good article from Zach Lowe about Cavs moves after winning 2016 title http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23603617/zach-lowe-lebron-james-future-cleveland-cavaliers-nba-playoffs

IMO they really shouldn't have traded Irving and especially not to Celtics and for injured Thomas. That was terrible trade for Cavs which ruined their present and future.

[Froob]

Four finals appearances and a title in 4 years is a pretty great return for a team that drafted Bennett, waiters and TT with #1 pick and 2 x # 4 picks

Was TT that bad of a pick? He’s been a monster in the playoffs.

[Boarder Patrol]

If the best team ever doesn't develop they probably win at least two which is the same success as the Miami big 3. Enter drafting would have definitely helped though, especially for the upcoming post-LeBron years.

[Boarder Patrol]

Four finals appearances and a title in 4 years is a pretty great return for a team that drafted Bennett, waiters and TT with #1 pick and 2 x # 4 picks

Was TT that bad of a pick? He’s been a monster in the playoffs.

You can always draft better unless you get a real star but I agree. TT was a worthwhile pick for the 2016 finals alone.

[lambchop]

trading kyrie was horrible, just terrible ...ruined their chances and will be the reason lebron leaves

the situation was irreconcilable. Kyrie was willing to go on a sabbatical or do some work and travel in southeast asia just to avoid playing with bron. Now BOS is in that same situation with a injured point guard, who might be a headcase, wants the max - wich he is not worth - and teams don't think he has much value because it is still unclear what he is without bron or stevens.

[Dupp]

Four finals appearances and a title in 4 years is a pretty great return for a team that drafted Bennett, waiters and TT with #1 pick and 2 x # 4 picks

Was TT that bad of a pick? He’s been a monster in the playoffs.

He helped us win a title. Had we drafted klay or Kawhi we could be talking up to 3-4 titles as Kawhi is great and no klay on warriors.

But yeah it worked out fine. He just sucks now.

[MrSparkle]

Well, they didn’t expect the Warriors to come up out of nowhere. Let alone the Durant addition.

But it all stems from a combo of drafting poorly but also having bad drafts. In the end, it hurts to come away from 3 tank years with A. Bennett, D. Waiters and A. Wiggins as your catches. Even TT was mediocre for a #4 pick.

They overpaid for Love in terms of asking price, but atleast they gave up a bunch of trash.