since we're already depressed...

[bill russell]

I had held out hope the boston and detroit would get old in a couple of years and that the young raptors -- and we are young, especially up front -- could look forward to being a contender for many years after the inevitable boston/detroit declines. Having watched Lebron again yesterday, and having seen what he did in the playoffs last year, and given that he's 23 years old, Cleveland has to be the odds-on favorite to win the east for a decade, at least once KG has his moment in the sun.
I mean, lebron is still developing, still only half serious about playing hard every night, still learning to play defense. He's going to get a lot better. And Cleveland has to at some point upgrade that sorry backcourt. He has the potential to be more dominant than MJ, and he's already very close.
So what do you think. Is it desperate, or did lebron just have a good fourth quarter yesterday.

[El Presidente]

Except that Boston and Detroit will reload. I don't see Miami sucking ass for too long either.

[Yuri Vaultin]

I had held out hope the boston and detroit would get old in a couple of years and that the young raptors -- and we are young, especially up front -- could look forward to being a contender for many years after the inevitable boston/detroit declines. Having watched Lebron again yesterday, and having seen what he did in the playoffs last year, and given that he's 23 years old, Cleveland has to be the odds-on favorite to win the east for a decade, at least once KG has his moment in the sun.
I mean, lebron is still developing, still only half serious about playing hard every night, still learning to play defense. He's going to get a lot better. And Cleveland has to at some point upgrade that sorry backcourt. He has the potential to be more dominant than MJ, and he's already very close.
So what do you think. Is it desperate, or did lebron just have a good fourth quarter yesterday.

I don't agree. His supporting cast sucks. He is in the same boat KG was in for the last 10 years. The East will get stronger.

I'm not sure I see him playing for the Cav's his whole career - he seems more money driven the Scrooge and I would not be surprised to see him become the saviour of the Knicks at some point to make more coin via endorsements and even more over exposure and hype.

[theSkinny]

decade?....what about when he walks out of Cleveland after his contract is up?

[GideonRapfan]

Agreed with Mr Vaultin. I don't see LeBron staying with the Cavs for the next decade, so I wouldn't be too concerned.

[dagger]

I had held out hope the boston and detroit would get old in a couple of years and that the young raptors -- and we are young, especially up front -- could look forward to being a contender for many years after the inevitable boston/detroit declines. Having watched Lebron again yesterday, and having seen what he did in the playoffs last year, and given that he's 23 years old, Cleveland has to be the odds-on favorite to win the east for a decade, at least once KG has his moment in the sun.
I mean, lebron is still developing, still only half serious about playing hard every night, still learning to play defense. He's going to get a lot better. And Cleveland has to at some point upgrade that sorry backcourt. He has the potential to be more dominant than MJ, and he's already very close.
So what do you think. Is it desperate, or did lebron just have a good fourth quarter yesterday.

Not every coach will refuse to double Lebron if he's hot. They will force Cleveland to make others win games, and they don't have a great supporting cast. They will have low draft picks and it will be a couple of years before they can open up any cap space. Kobe, at least, has Odom and Bynum. Cleveland has an aging big Z. In a couple of years when Z retires, they will be diminished by that. Varajeo doesn't bring the game that Z does when Z is on.

You are also putting no value on our draft picks or cap space. Let's say this season ends up as a disappointment - no playoffs for whatever reason. So we get a lottery pick, and either use it or package it. We have expiring contracts this summer for trades. We have cap space potentially in 2009. We could start next season with Ford and Garbo healthy. Ford could spend all summer building up his neck muscles a bit more and come in feeling really confident. There are so many scenarios. In the same way that injuries sometimes drop a decent team into the lottery for a year, then they rebound stronger than ever, we could too.

[ruckus]

Cleveland improving around LeBron is not a given. Look how long it took KG to get to where he is now. There are a ton of individually great players who never got close to sniffing a championship. Whether or not LeBron gets there again is really up to Cleveland's management.

[raptorsfan1985]

Cleveland? Lebron will be playing for the Knicks in 2009.