Source: LeBron James Tells Recruit He'll Stay With Cavaliers

cobrasnake44 · Post #1 » by **cobrasnake44** » Tue Jul 7, 2009 6:44 am

The Cleveland Cavaliers made a last ditch effort to recruit Trevor Ariza away from the Houston Rockets on Sunday, but they may have got some good news for their failure.

According to Chris Broussard from ESPN The Magazine, LeBron James told Ariza he would remain with the Cavaliers past 2010.

Even that wasn't enough to get Ariza, who verbally committed to join the Rockets last Thursday, to change his mind and go to Cleveland.

"Trevor asked LeBron if he would be in Cleveland after next season," the source said. "And LeBron said, 'I'll be there. Of course, I'll be there.'"

Cavs general manager Danny Ferry and head coach Mike Brown flew to Los Angeles and met with Ariza on Sunday, according to several sources with knowledge of the situation.

Ariza, according to the article, received calls from both James and Shaquille O'Neal, but was less than convinced that James will definitely stay in Cleveland.

"He thought it was just a recruiting tool," the source said. "LeBron definitely said it, but until he signs the contract it doesn't mean much."

cobrasnake44 · Post #2 » by **cobrasnake44** » Tue Jul 7, 2009 6:51 am

"but was less than convinced that James will definitely stay in Cleveland.

"He thought it was just a recruiting tool," the source said. "LeBron definitely said it, but until he signs the contract it doesn't mean much."

If he really told him I don't see why he wouldn't be convinced, this would look pretty bad on LeBron if he said he was going to stay a Cav and than didn't.

Still this does show that the fact that no one knows for sure that he isn't going anywhere has played a part in landing guys this off season and maybe more than we realize.

cobrasnake44 · Post #3 » by **cobrasnake44** » Tue Jul 7, 2009 7:12 am

Also here's the link,
http://basketball.realgm.com/src_wireta ... cavaliers/

YouthMovement · Post #4 » by **YouthMovement** » Tue Jul 7, 2009 7:16 am

lol at this lie. that's why trevor ariza didn't believe him.

as a knick fan, i just look at it as all lebron has to do is come out and say "I'm staying." Once he does that, I'll believe he's staying. But as for now, as I watch him wear yankee caps the day after the cavs get eliminated in the playoffs, as i consider his friendship with cc sabathia and infatuation with d'antoni, and as I look at how his friends wearing "I love New York" t-shirts everywhere they go, I'm inclined to believe he's leaving. Not to mention how Nike is going to lobby for NY hard.

L&H_05 · Post #5 » by **L&H_05** » Tue Jul 7, 2009 7:19 am

YouthMovement wrote:lol at this lie. that's why trevor ariza didn't believe him.

as a knick fan, i just look at it as all lebron has to do is come out and say "I'm staying." Once he does that, I'll believe he's staying. But as for now, as I watch him wear yankee caps the day after the cavs get eliminated in the playoffs, as i consider his friendship with cc sabathia and infatuation with d'antoni, and as I look at how his friends wearing "I love New York" t-shirts everywhere they go, I'm inclined to believe he's leaving. Not to mention how Nike is going to lobby for NY hard.

NY FTW...It's simply the greatest thing on this planet..

How can a player pass up playing in the MECCA... After all, it's the MECCA.. THE MECCA... I tell ya...

Post #6 » by **Rise Against** » Tue Jul 7, 2009 7:50 am

Was there ever any doubt?

yippeekiCAVSmf · Post #7 » by **yippeekiCAVSmf** » Tue Jul 7, 2009 8:37 am

It would be foolish for LeBron to commit until this season is complete and we have championship rings, that is important in the decision-making process. He wouldn't stay in Cleveland if it was going in the wrong direction. Just have to have a great season and everything else will take care of itself. It would be mentally impossible for LeBron to decide to leave Cleveland if Cleveland were the defending NBA champions

stycool24 · Post #8 » by **stycool24** » Tue Jul 7, 2009 10:06 am

YouthMovement wrote:lol at this lie. that's why trevor ariza didn't believe him.

as a knick fan, i just look at it as all lebron has to do is come out and say "I'm staying." Once he does that, I'll believe he's staying. But as for now, as I watch him wear yankee caps the day after the cavs get eliminated in the playoffs, as i consider his friendship with cc sabathia and infatuation with d'antoni, and as I look at how his friends wearing "I love New York" t-shirts everywhere they go, I'm inclined to believe he's leaving. Not to mention how Nike is going to lobby for NY hard.

HAHAHAHA, whats there in NY that he wants?? That team is a joke, the coach hates defense, and Can never win a championship. They let their best players leave, Just because he wore a NY hat, that means he is going to play in NY? haha, what a joke! :lol:

He is a Yankee fan, so he supports his team, it doesn't mean he is going to sign with NY, these fans are clowns!

netsfan2009 · Post #9 » by **netsfan2009** » Tue Jul 7, 2009 10:38 am

What a joke... he asks other players to sign up for a multiyear deal but he isnt man enough to put his name on the contract? You cant blame any FA from staying far away from Cleveland.. If LeBron bails, imagin ehow bad the Cavs will be in 2010? Who would want to get stuck in that mess?

People argue that LeBron needs to see how committed the Cavs wil be to winning before resigning... If he played with 4 stiffs he'd be in the conference finals (as he was last year).. If he had one decent player he'd be a champion. (Shaq may not count because he is old). Mo, Delonte, Anderson, etc.. are all garbage. They are only on any value because of LBJ.

Imagine if LBJ recruited ariza and then pulled a boozer.. that would be interesting to say the least!

Post #10 » by **TheOUTLAW** » Tue Jul 7, 2009 11:46 am

Yeah, the Cavs would be as bad as the Nets or Knicks were. Who'd want to play with a team as bad as that?

tidho · Post #11 » by **tidho** » Tue Jul 7, 2009 12:07 pm

LeBron has brought this on himself. He's never passed up an opportunity to flirt with the idea of leaving. Its no wonder that others would doubt him. The Ariza decision is a very obvious case of a guy not believing he'll stay at all. Barring a medical miracle that team is hopeless for two years, yet he still would rather have that than risk a LeBron-less Cavalier's team.

Post #12 » by **TheOUTLAW** » Tue Jul 7, 2009 12:15 pm

He's also said dozens of times that he's staying in Cleveland. People doubt him because there is always a story associated with LeBron wearing a Yankee hat (out of NY) while there is almost never a story when LeBron says he's staying.

Low-Ki · Post #13 » by **Low-Ki** » Tue Jul 7, 2009 12:29 pm

Hmm...Recruit Ariza away from the Houston Rockets?? I guess that ends all of the Boozer hate right? I mean Ariza's word to Houston was still up for negotiation from James. So Boozers word to Cleveland was only up for negotiation with Utah.

tidho · Post #14 » by **tidho** » Tue Jul 7, 2009 1:07 pm

Low-Ki wrote:Hmm...Recruit Ariza away from the Houston Rockets?? I guess that ends all of the Boozer hate right? I mean Ariza's word to Houston was still up for negotiation from James. So Boozers word to Cleveland was only up for negotiation with Utah.

Very different situations. Remember an educated troll is an effective troll...go do your homework.

netsfan2009 · Post #15 » by **netsfan2009** » Tue Jul 7, 2009 1:29 pm

tidho wrote:
Low-Ki wrote:Hmm...Recruit Ariza away from the Houston Rockets?? I guess that ends all of the Boozer hate right? I mean Ariza's word to Houston was still up for negotiation from James. So Boozers word to Cleveland was only up for negotiation with Utah.

Very different situations. Remember an educated troll is an effective troll...go do your homework.

The same and different. Boozer changed his mind after Utah gave him an insane contract. His decision to break a verbal commitment was financially based.

If Ariza broke his verbal commitment to Houston, it would be to join a winner and enjoy his professional career more (it has to be more fun to be on a contender than a noncontender). I dont believe his salary would chagne as he would get the MLE in both cities.

Nonetheless, both situations would involve breaking a verbal commitment. Boozer's is "worse" in that he harmed the Cavs after he agreed to resign with them (though it would be hard to pass up 31 million dollars) because they benevolently granted him RFA status.

but.. what if Ariza decided to leave Houston? In some sense, you could argue that could hurt Houston as well (for example, they would not be able to offer their MLE to another player while the Ariza offer was on the table and in theory could have lost out on someone, such as Rasheed or soemone else who signed recently). Utah's wooing of Boozer is no worse than Cleeveland's wooing of Ariza,

and btw- b4 you accuse me of trolling too, I am an NBA fan more than a Nets fan... and no I dont think Lebron is coming to NJ/Brooklyn.

Post #16 » by **TheOUTLAW** » Tue Jul 7, 2009 1:48 pm

The big difference is that this was LeBron going to Ariza and not the Cavs organization approaching him after his agreement. That is a vast difference. That being said, Ariza didn't change his mind and Boozer did. Ariza showed character and Boozer did not. Heck, there are so many differences that I am amused that you guys are actually hanging your hat on this one. The simplest and by far the biggest is that Boozer was under contract for an additional year and begged the Cavs to let him go. Did Ariza do that?

Gordon Bombay · Post #17 » by **Gordon Bombay** » Tue Jul 7, 2009 2:34 pm

just another in long list of lebron related sayings stating his allegiance to the cavs...good thing broussard used to be our beat writer or this probably would have never seen the light of day

dingclancy · Post #18 » by **dingclancy** » Tue Jul 7, 2009 3:15 pm

If he said he'll stay then sign the extension already? Can't Lebron negotiate for an extension this offseason?

Post #19 » by **TheOUTLAW** » Tue Jul 7, 2009 3:20 pm

He can but not until a bit later. But, the fact is that the reason that LeBron, Wade etc signed shorter than max contract was that they knew that the CBA has to be renegotiated at the end of next season, and they are in the belief that they might be able to get a greater percentage of the available amount available. I really don't expect any of these guys to do anything this year, although the fact that there was some concern about the cap amount might scare someone into signing this year.

tidho · Post #20 » by **tidho** » Tue Jul 7, 2009 3:20 pm

dingclancy wrote:If he said he'll stay then sign the extension already? Can't Lebron negotiate for an extension this offseason?

Not for another couple weeks actually.
Still even if he's 100% intent on staying he really has no motive to sign...other than the fact that anything less than a public declaration is hurting recruiting.
There is some concern about the next cap going down, taking his PO year could be a better financial decision.