LeBron James, Dan Gilbert At Odds Over Cavs' Spending

Post #1 » by **RealGM Wiretap** » Thu Jan 26, 2017 4:16 pm

LeBron James and the leadership of the Cleveland Cavaliers are at odds over payroll spending.

James and team owner Dan Gilbert have different viewpoints on the issue, and it has been straining the relationship.

When James was considering returning to the Cavs in 2014, he pressed Gilbert on if he'd be willing to spend unconditionally on talent regardless of the luxury-tax cost, sources said. Over the course of several meetings with James and his representatives, Gilbert agreed, and James subsequently signed with the team.

Gilbert paid $82 million in salaries and $7 million in luxury tax in 2014-15. Last season, Gilbert paid $107 million in salaries and $54 million in luxury tax. Currently, the Cavs are committed to $127.6 million and $27 million in luxury taxes for this season. The team has spent more than any other NBA team over the three-year span.

James has been frustrated by how the Cavaliers have slowed new spending this season after winning their first title.

Earlier this week, James may have been referring to the team's recent money decisions when he said: "I just hope that we're not satisfied as an organization."

James followed that up, saying in a series of tweets that he was not upset at management: "I not mad or upset at management 'cause [general manager David Griffin] and staff have done a great job...I just feel we still need to improve in order to repeat...if that's what we wanna do."

The comments angered Gilbert, sources said, because James appeared to imply it was an organizational choice whether to improve or not.

Via Brian Windhorst/ESPN

Dominator83 · Post #2 » by **Dominator83** » Thu Jan 26, 2017 4:27 pm

What the hell is he whining about? Spending should be the least of his complaints

Post #3 » by **Slava** » Thu Jan 26, 2017 4:28 pm

Didn't take long for Uncle Scrooge to tighten the purse. Gilbert needs to put all his sub prime mortgage money where his mouth is.

Bentley1225 · Post #4 » by **Bentley1225** » Thu Jan 26, 2017 4:32 pm

Seems to be same situation LeBron went through in Miami. The Cavs are already deep enough into luxury tax and dont have any quality assets left to facilitate further trades to improve roster/dump salaries.

Dan Gilbert should just sell high on the Cavs, buy his hometown Pistons with that new building and let another owner deal with LeBron and the luxury tax bill

.

Heat3 · Post #5 » by **Heat3** » Thu Jan 26, 2017 4:36 pm

Shouldn't have traded Mike Miller :lol:

MaxRider · Post #6 » by **MaxRider** » Thu Jan 26, 2017 4:40 pm

WTH He is already spending tons of money
he also gave JR Smith a big contract like you wanted
what else do you want him to do?
give you his paycheck?

hyberx · Post #7 » by **hyberx** » Thu Jan 26, 2017 4:49 pm

LeOwner has spoken! Hey Dan, spending more money for a playmaker can help us play better defense against bottom teams!

Yankeeknickfan · Post #8 » by **Yankeeknickfan** » Thu Jan 26, 2017 4:57 pm

He makes tons of money with lebron there

A couple of extra luxury tax payments won't affect him

MJallday59 · Post #9 » by **MJallday59** » Thu Jan 26, 2017 5:01 pm

I get he's frustrated with the record but if three stars aren't delivering wins..then maybe it's on you guys. You have a top 5 PG and an all star big man. Great role players at each position except PG...which can be solved after the trade deadline. (Chalmers, Cole, Nate Robinson)

MegaK · Post #10 » by **MegaK** » Thu Jan 26, 2017 5:05 pm

Lebron is right. The only team the CAVS should be gearing up for is the Warriors. Now that Durant and the Warriors are on the same page, they are the favorites to win the title this year. If the Cavs want to compete and win a chip this year, they need to bring in someone like Melo, or Paul George or someone of that caliber that can also match up with Durant. Expecting Lebron and Kyrie to play 40 plus minutes a night on a high level on both sides of the floor is a recipe for disaster. If either one of those guys get injured the CAVS are screwed. They need to trade Love.

MegaK · Post #11 » by **MegaK** » Thu Jan 26, 2017 5:08 pm

Any one taking Gilberts side clearly doesn't understand how much money Lebron generates for the franchise. The luxury tax the CAVS are paying is nothing compared to the money Lebron generates for the team. The least the team could do is listen to the guy who basically gets to the Finals most of the time. Lebron knows what the team needs more than anyone in the organization.

Psubs · Post #12 » by **Psubs** » Thu Jan 26, 2017 5:36 pm

Slava wrote:Didn't take long for Uncle Scrooge to tighten the purse. Gilbert needs to put all his sub prime mortgage money where his mouth is.

They're the #1 team in salary by almost $10 million.

likashing · Post #13 » by **likashing** » Thu Jan 26, 2017 5:38 pm

LeBron's tweets mean he has no problem with Griffin etc, his target is Gilbert not giving enough resource (ie $) to the management team.

The way this is heading, I can totally imagine LeBron putting together a group and kick Gilbert out once he retires (or even before he retires!?). Gilbert can choose not to sell but he will be as popular as Donald Sterling.

Post #14 » by **Reeko** » Thu Jan 26, 2017 5:48 pm

Mama there goes that man... trying to whine his way to another championship. Until the Warriors solve their 4th quarter offence, the cavs are still the best team in the league. Lebron is just nitpicking with ownership, and he comes across as petty.

F Saunders · Post #15 » by **F Saunders** » Thu Jan 26, 2017 6:06 pm

MegaK wrote:Any one taking Gilberts side clearly doesn't understand how much money Lebron generates for the franchise. The luxury tax the CAVS are paying is nothing compared to the money Lebron generates for the team. The least the team could do is listen to the guy who basically gets to the Finals most of the time. Lebron knows what the team needs more than anyone in the organization.

What do you want Gilbert to do? You can't just go and sign a player right off another team. Any trade has to work out cap-wise he can't just take on more money that way.

The only thing you could really say is they should have kept Delly, which (when factoring in the Luxury Cap penalties) would have costed about $30 million/year. Are you really going to blame Gilbert for not spending $30 mil/year to keep a backup PG?

12footrim · Post #16 » by **12footrim** » Thu Jan 26, 2017 6:17 pm

Psubs wrote:
Slava wrote:Didn't take long for Uncle Scrooge to tighten the purse. Gilbert needs to put all his sub prime mortgage money where his mouth is.

They're the #1 team in salary by almost $10 million.

Almost 12 million when I checked yesterday.

12footrim · Post #17 » by **12footrim** » Thu Jan 26, 2017 6:20 pm

F Saunders wrote:
MegaK wrote:Any one taking Gilberts side clearly doesn't understand how much money Lebron generates for the franchise. The luxury tax the CAVS are paying is nothing compared to the money Lebron generates for the team. The least the team could do is listen to the guy who basically gets to the Finals most of the time. Lebron knows what the team needs more than anyone in the organization.

What do you want Gilbert to do? You can't just go and sign a player right off another team. Any trade has to work out cap-wise he can't just take on more money that way.

The only thing you could really say is they should have kept Delly, which (when factoring in the Luxury Cap penalties) would have costed about $30 million/year. Are you really going to blame Gilbert for not spending $30 mil/year to keep a backup PG?

seems Lebron and the people backing him here wanted Gilbert to resign Delly and Mozgov at their ridiculous numbers and then pay 2.5 times that or whatever it would add up to in luxury tax. I think it would have cost them like 90 million in salary and tax or something crazy whatever it is. That's just ridiculous to even expect him to pay that for two guys that hardly played in the playoffs last year.

12footrim · Post #18 » by **12footrim** » Thu Jan 26, 2017 6:21 pm

12footrim wrote:
Psubs wrote:
Slava wrote:Didn't take long for Uncle Scrooge to tighten the purse. Gilbert needs to put all his sub prime mortgage money where his mouth is.

They're the #1 team in salary by almost $10 million.

Almost 12 million when I checked yesterday.

over 12 actually

http://www.basketball-reference.com/contracts/

Maybe they haven't factored in Mo Williams yet.

RaptorRed · Post #19 » by **RaptorRed** » Thu Jan 26, 2017 6:42 pm

F Saunders wrote:
MegaK wrote:Any one taking Gilberts side clearly doesn't understand how much money Lebron generates for the franchise. The luxury tax the CAVS are paying is nothing compared to the money Lebron generates for the team. The least the team could do is listen to the guy who basically gets to the Finals most of the time. Lebron knows what the team needs more than anyone in the organization.

What do you want Gilbert to do? You can't just go and sign a player right off another team. Any trade has to work out cap-wise he can't just take on more money that way.

The only thing you could really say is they should have kept Delly, which (when factoring in the Luxury Cap penalties) would have costed about $30 million/year. Are you really going to blame Gilbert for not spending $30 mil/year to keep a backup PG?

NOthing to do with Delly , ... Lebron wants Gilbert to use his trade exception before the trade deadline to acquire a player which I don't think he wants to do according to reports because they are already paying the repeater luxury tax

youblewwit · Post #20 » by **youblewwit** » Thu Jan 26, 2017 7:13 pm

I'm not a financial person so I don't know what any of this means, but Windorst said the other day...before Lebron got there, Gilbert (he owns Quickens Loans) closed $2 billion in loans. Last year, he closed $80 billion in loans. And as a cherry on top, Gilbert also got casinos built there.

Having Lebron as your 'employee' has a lot of benefits, all you have to do is keep improving the team so you can win the title. It doesn't matter if you have the highest payroll, are in luxury tax, if your rival just added the 2nd best player in the league, you should probably spend the money to get a backup PG.