jbk1234 wrote:gino_giode wrote:Dante80 wrote:My take on this.
There is an objective difference between the value someone has as a basketball player, and the value he represents as an (trade) asset to the team he is contracted with.
The second Kyrie leaked/made known that he wants to be traded/no longer wants to play for the Cavs, his objective market value plummeted. It also forced the new Cavs FO to start searching for trade avenues, at a time in the off-season when major FA and trade transactions/moves were already concluded.
Keeping the guy on the team won't do them much good. The more he stays, the more his trade value drops. Moreover, keeping a player on your team that does not want to be there any more has consequences, both for him and for the team as a whole. Especially if you add in the whole Lebron James aspect.
As is natural, Cleveland - being put in a bad situation - wants to extract the best it can out of this. At the same time, teams that view Kyrie as a possible/notable/worthy addition, will want to extract Kyrie for the lowest price possible. That is the norm for any and every trade negotiation in the NBA.
As expected, the trade value that Kyrie has right now is objectively much, much less than his value as a player, due to the circumstances at hand. So, I don't really think that the Cavs can reach a good deal here, given the specifics. And I don't think that the circumstances will change for the better if they decide to wait. There are a lot of unknown unknowns in that situation (injury, team chemistry, trade value sabotage by the disgruntled player, market changes etc etc).
Knowing the above, I think that the only realistic option the Cavs FO has is to try and negotiate the best available deal they can get, before the season (or even training camp) starts. And to not try to keep the player against his wishes, under no circumstances (it is impossible to get more than cents on the dollar from trading him).
Completely agree with everything but the part about Kyrie being the leaker. But either way the news would get out eventually once FOs got calls with his name on the block.
One more thing, the Cavs and rival GMs are playing chicken that the Cavs simply cannot win. First off, Kyrie's value has been dragged through the dirt with media pundits discussing his flaws ad nauseum. Yes he plays **** defense and has won less than a handful of games when without Bron. And clearly him leading a team has only amounted to being in the lottery every year.
Ppl talk about him as if he's peaked his potential. They also question his character for starting **** up despite being on contract and not being a happy camper and enjoy the LeBron ride while it lasts. If you're teammates with the great LeBron, MJ, Kobe then you're expected to take it up the butt and smile amirite?
Then there's the growing social media grumblings from their star LeBron, who they're desparately trying to placate in order stay when history has already shown us that he's not loyal (even to his BFF) and will go wherever allows him to chase after MJ's legacy. Teams know the Cavs can't risk having unhappy campers go after another chip, especially when one's as moody and passive aggressive as LeBron.
The longer the Cavs wait the more likely these deals keep getting downgraded. The Cavs are also screwed because of precedent. Jimmy Butler and PG13 are legit all NBA players better than Kyrie, but each was gotten for bags of peanuts. Cavs indeed will not get fair value, but at least they get SOMETHING unlike what they got for LeBron when he left and possibly next year as well.
I disagree that offers will only increase. You're applying a set outcome/motive to 20 different teams who made offers for Kyrie. Each one of those teams will have their own unique circumstances.
Setting that aside. if teams are low balling you, then you should at least see if you can work it out. Promise Kyrie you'll trade him for the best draft pick you can get next summer and ask him to be a good soldier this year.
Finally, if the offers are bad enough, there's really no harm in waiting. The Kings, who everybody railed on, got a player selected in the lottery that year and a lottery selection in the upcoming draft for Cousins at the deadline. They also took back no bad salary. That's objectively a better offer than what's been floated so far.
I think the sense of panic for the Cavs will be starting a season with all this tension/drama between your best players, the team knowing there's no unity at the top and that one of them is getting shipped at any moment. On a bad team this internal drama is accepted because the FO is thinking of different things. But on a championship contender I'm not sure if the Cavs want to start out with a handicap.
In all honesty, I can see the Cavs convincing Kyrie to come off the bench for Rose if they don't move him by the season. Just so there's a seamless transition for the starting 5 and so they don't risk Kyrie getting injured. Honestly, on almost any other sports team I'd say it's fine to have some inner conflict, but not when LeBron is at the center of it. The man has been perpetuating a narrative since forever that it's never his fault. Having these 2 start camp together will be worse than Kobe-Shaq. And if it gets to that I think teams will sit back on their offers and wait for LeBron to demand Kyrie be shipped for peanuts.
