Do Clippers fans really want Lebron?

[Hon-essim]

I know the guy is the big jackpot according to most people but a lot of teams aren't factoring the pressure that comes from having Lebron James.

I'm not saying they aren't considering it but consider this:

If Lebron leaves the Cavs, any team must not only stay competitive but must match Danny Ferry's ability to improve the team constantly or the organization gets the blame and suddenly every player except Lebron James gets the fan blame of "holding back" the King and that's a major distraction to team chemistry no matter how well Lebron's passes get to his teammates' hands.

Factor in that this is the West and not the East and if Lebron suddenly can't go back to back Finals and the staff especially any gm who makes the mistake of actually making the team worse rather than better, you're left with the same black hole rebuilding situation the Bulls got when the Jordan Dynasty team disbanded except that team has not only won several championships but it was apparent that Jordan didn't need so much the pieces (he really didn't play that way, just ask Larry Bird) as much as he just kept playing and he made any pieces work. (He didn't want Scottie Pippen and Pippen was a none factor early in his career and no one would consider a team with Dennis Rodman or Horace Grant or all the other teammates Jordan played with as a complementary piece to a playoffs team much less championship caliber.)

Now Lebron fans would argue that Mo Williams, Boobie Gibson and Varejao are similarly not pieces that would allow Lebron to win the championships (until they trade for 1 all-star and suddenly their the favorites again) but I'm not trying to deter anyone from wanting to get him.

I just think you all should be looking at Wade.

Pieces-wise, yes you have a history of being bad and you aren't exactly considered a winning team to go to right now but if you look at Wade's history with the Miami Heat, he also didn't play with what should be considered a top tier team for most of his career but if Wade is leaving Miami he would have a team that can be said to over-achieve under him.

Most importantly, he would most likely be leaving because Pat Riley didn't make any trades happen.

Only his reputation as a star is what causes people to think that his situation is like Lebron's where he wants to move to a team with a better chance of winning it all.

Of course the guy wants that too but the Clippers also have something he is familiar with: a team that is most similar to the Miami Heat out of all the teams with cap spaces. (assuming you keep your current roster)

All he needs is a guarantee that the Clippers would listen to his feedback and the chance to aggressively seek talent and less of the waiting game and he's in.

But the real reason he's better for your team is that he has a history of helping players similar to your roster improve.

Lebron might be considered the better passer by some and he might get your players more numbers, but if you look at how mentally either team has improved, Wade has shown more on-court leadership to boost his teammates' confidence in themselves before this free agency.

Since the Clippers are really a question mark team (are they rebuilding, are they tanking, are they playing well but they are just that bad because of horrible management), that kind of guy is what you want to lose because even if he leaves 2-3 seasons from now because the Clippers management didn't get it down, the mentality he will be leaving on this team will far outshine any ticket sales or playoff appearance from merely getting a star player to a long contract.

[PlinkingPanda]

Yes. We have been active and improving the team. The only issue was that Dunleavy has been holding back that talent he brings in. That issue is already solved. LeBron loves Lucas, so if he sticks around or manages to get the head coaching spot, I don't believe there will be any issues there.

[mattfish]

It's tough out West. I'm blanking right now, but can anybody think of players who were traded or moved from the East to the West and led their team to a more successful level than their previous East team? I think of players like Billups who appeared in the Finals for the East a few times, but hasn't been able to get to the Finals while he's been in Denver.

[RiversideClips]

I think That as "GOOD" as Chauncy is, he is not LeBron.
I am not a big Lebron fan, yet I will concede that if he wants to RULE Corporate America he needs to come out WEST. He has the Eastern Fans & Eastern Corporate America in his pocket. If he is a Marketing Genius, why not take on an AGING Kobe is his town? He can garner more press than a Hiedi Fliess Black Book.
While one D Wade's friend is already on the Clips, I just don't like D Wade. He is selfish and passes only to who he wants to ( D Wade may actually mean more playing time for Novak!) I say we let Wade slide.

Can you imagine a Clipper Core of : Head Coach- John Lucas / J.V.G / Sammy C
Lebron, B Diddy,Steve Blake, Blake Griffin, DeAndre, Kaman & a 1st Round Pick???
We may even keep T.O. Law for fun

[RiversideClips]

I forgot about E.J. #10/// My BAAAADDDDD!!!!

Add him to the mix & why wouldn't the Clips look attractive to Lebron?
Max Contract, Music + Hollywood Connections.

Lebron has an ego. If he is not thinking Clippers,then he is crazy!

[Hon-essim]

That's more because there aren't a lot of stars that are being traded but that also depends on your perception of value based on contribution.

Haywood and Butler for example this season did wonders but because they don't bring the leadership aura of a star, they aren't despite Butler being an all-star similar to the level of Chauncey except because Detroit were Finals contenders and Chauncey being the one Piston traded that has had major success, it gets a bit over-inflated. The same case can be said for Jefferson and McDyess. Players brought in to lead a West team to the championships with a declining Duncan but aren't really part of the big 3 so even if they did help this team more than they did this season, they still wouldn't be considered leading their West team.

To the other poster, I wouldn't be sure you can call yourselves improving yet.

Which of your players has flat out exploded and is a candidate for most improved player after Dunleavy stepped down?

Yes, the team is improving but so are many other teams. It's not like Lebron doesn't like it in Cleveland, it's just that he hasn't gotten a ring despite all the improvements of the team.

Cleveland during that time they got Lebron can be compared to the Clippers so even if you consider this to be Lebron's favorite team to switch, what long term success do you realistically expect from having Lebron except ticket sales when the Cavs couldn't satisfy Lebron despite building him a roster that is consistently the favorite to win it all?

[Hon-essim]

Can you imagine a Clipper Core of : Head Coach- John Lucas / J.V.G / Sammy C
Lebron, B Diddy,Steve Blake, Blake Griffin, DeAndre, Kaman & a 1st Round Pick???

On paper, that team doesn't look much better than Cleveland two years ago (maybe even worse) and there's no one theme that sticks out when you think of that roster.

You're still not as good as Denver (which is alright because any team that wants Lebron wants Lebron anyway) but when you have question marks on what direction that team is supposed to take then it's merely a case of the Clippers finally getting a good/great coach and a superstar and not much else.

At best that team can blow up in the same way Phoenix blew up those past few seasons but look at the trouble they had now when their roster didn't pan out. (And they had alot of good things happen to them, their Blake Griffin, Amare used to be the man they were building their future around. They ended up with a great coach. Nash might not be Lebron but you could still argue they got an MVP-type player. Every other player they had weren't big problems either. Kaman and Diaw back then for example could've been a wash.)

[mattfish]

The way I see it is, the Clippers haven't really had a chance to land a big name player like this since Kobe-Gate. Lebron is a player that will bring excitement and success to the team no matter what. He's capable of leading the team and winning games, and that pride / swagger has been missing since Cassell left. Cassell never gave a crap what people thought about the Clippers. That's an attitude that's refreshing and essential to this team when you hear things about players like Chris Kaman's "Oh well, we're the Clippers, we're supposed to suck" mentality.

[mj_shoefanatic]

This team lacks leadership. Lebron would give us that and more.

[mkwest]

Yes.

[Hon-essim]

The way I see it is, the Clippers haven't really had a chance to land a big name player like this since Kobe-Gate. Lebron is a player that will bring excitement and success to the team no matter what. He's capable of leading the team and winning games, and that pride / swagger has been missing since Cassell left. Cassell never gave a crap what people thought about the Clippers. That's an attitude that's refreshing and essential to this team when you hear things about players like Chris Kaman's "Oh well, we're the Clippers, we're supposed to suck" mentality.

Lebron does give a crap at what people think of his team.

Did you forget his actions during last year's playoffs and his recent comments about his teammates not being in All-Star games and so on and so forth?

Every superstar you get, regardless be it James or someone else, is going to help you win games but they aren't Sam Cassell.

In fact you shouldn't expect superstars to have the same mentality as role players like Cassell. It just doesn't happen that often and even in that discussion Wade has shown more Cassell in him than Lebron has.

You're talking about a wide gap between a guy that was spoonfed rosters around him throughout his NBA career and becomes an isolation-type ballhog when his team is playing poorly in the playoffs vs. a guy who was still making hustle plays and chasing MVPs despite playing with young guys like Mario Chalmers, Daequan Cook and Udonis Haslem and still getting them the ball and has a history of playing within the flow of the game regardless of who's he's surrounded with whether it be during the Olympics, this year's All-Star game or just watching the Miami Heat from their rise as play-off contenders, fired coach then championship and then fall-out.

It's one thing to want this guy but come on, the guy who's going to replace Sam Cassell? I don't think so. Sam played with that kind of mentality regardless of the team he's at and if he's in a team like Cleveland, he wouldn't bail out when the team can not only compete but also had a general manager that's doing everything he can to make the team relevant.

[mkwest]

There isn't really a team in the league that wouldn't want LeBron. There are some Clipper fans that don't want him because they dislike his personality/antics or they would hate the idea of a ton of bandwagoners jumping aboard. There are a vast majority that want him because he provides all that this team has needed all rolled into one.

Bonafide Superstar (on the court and off the court)
A player that puts butts in seats (Sterling will love that)
A leader
A go-to-guy in the 4th quarter
Starter Quality 3 that can defend, shoot and pass
A player that can score in transition as well as in the halfcourt.
etc.

The bench would be a little (understatement) thin the first season, but the starting line-up would be one of the most talented in the league. I think he's going to stay in Cleveland as they have a team that is tailored to him with the exception being that he lacked an adequate running mate. Williams is decent and Jamison is good (but going on 34 years of age). If he decides to leave, he has some great complements out here that can grow old with him. Would we be championship contenders right away? Well, that would depend on a lot of things. There would be a huge improvement in our play/record and we'd be one of the best teams in the league.

[Roscoe Sheed]

The CLippers team with LeBron is better than the current Cavs team with LeBron

[donemilio21]

I like Dwayne Wade better than Lebron, but Lebron is a far better player and whoever wouldn't want him on their team has to be missing at least half of their brain.

[GrapeApe]

There is one reason why Lebron will not sign with the Clippers and that is Donald Sterling. Sure, he has loosened the purse strings a little over the years. But the Clippers still have a reputation of being a bad organization. I would love to see Lebron or Wade sign with the Clippers I just don't think it will happen.

If LeBron wants to be in L.A. he will have a sign and trade worked out with the Lakers. :puke:

[bbsee1]

You'd have to be crazy to not want LBJ on your team