If Dan Gilbert knows LeBron is leaving, why not trade him to Boston now?

[Warchant]

Do you remember Cavalier basketball from 2011-2014? No one would willinlgy go back to that. Im surprised Gilbert doesn't sell the team beforr Lebron leaves and the value tanks.

Yeah. A team lead by an electric score first PG that could put on a show any given night but ultimately had no shot at winning anything.

Good luck to the Blazers this year.

Ya Kyrie was electric lol...46% was his highest FG% and went down each yr so if thats electric Curry doesnt have an adjective to describe him

[SpinninHouse]

Trade him to the Bulls for Valentine, Portis and a 2nd.

[Effigy]

Do you remember Cavalier basketball from 2011-2014? No one would willinlgy go back to that. Im surprised Gilbert doesn't sell the team beforr Lebron leaves and the value tanks.

Yeah. A team lead by an electric score first PG that could put on a show any given night but ultimately had no shot at winning anything.

Good luck to the Blazers this year.

Don't kid yourself, son. Kyrie will be out the door the minute Lebron leaves. He's not staying for a rebuild. His trade demand will be Paul George x 10.

[Ong_dynasty]

This is the problem with fans today..that this is even a question. It's like if you are not the favourite to win it, just give up? And rebuild for draft picks?

No matter what anyone says, they are still the 2nd favourite to win it all..now you wouldn't take that chance to actually win a title? Come on..

[Guest202]

This is the problem with fans today..that this is even a question. It's like if you are not the favourite to win it, just give up? And rebuild for draft picks?

No matter what anyone says, they are still the 2nd favourite to win it all..now you wouldn't take that chance to actually win a title? Come on..

It's not that, it's looking towards the future. It's IMPOSSIBLE to win in the modern NBA without drafting stars. Cavs will have jack after Lebron leaves.

[nbafan38]

This is the problem with fans today..that this is even a question. It's like if you are not the favourite to win it, just give up? And rebuild for draft picks?

No matter what anyone says, they are still the 2nd favourite to win it all..now you wouldn't take that chance to actually win a title? Come on..

It's not that, it's looking towards the future. It's IMPOSSIBLE to win in the modern NBA without drafting stars. Cavs will have jack after Lebron leaves.

But why look toward the future when you're still the 2nd best team in the nba going into next season?

[nbafan38]

lol I will gladly take Lebron on my team.

It is something to atleast somewhat consider though for the Cavs to maybe trade Lebron. All the signs point to him likely leaving again. Lebron is obviously not saying it nor will he ever but again to me like the Paul George, Lebron when he first left Cleveland, Durant leaving OKC, they all seemed likely they were going to leave. If I'm them, I would possibly take a look at what teams are offering. Yeah Lebron gives the best chance for the Cavs to win another title but I give them a solid 5% chance if both sides are healthy if they much up again because I feel Golden State will be even better next year and the Cavs made zero moves in the offseason and Lebron is another year older. So yeah getting to the finals is amazing and all but if the Cavs feel like they can't win against GSW and then lose Lebron for nothing, you will then be stuck with a disgruntled Kyrie and a very treadmill team alongside Love.

But anyways I don't see this happening at all lol and the Cavs are just going to play it out. I find it dumb when organizations feel shocked their players left or want to leave like George, Durant, and the rest because the writing is on the wall. Do something bold or play the game that can possibly set your franchise back for years.

George outright told the pacers he wanted to leave so that's different and they traded him. Durant never really gave the Thunder indication he wanted to leave and they were close to contending for a title so there was no reason to trade him.

[nbafan38]

Do you remember Cavalier basketball from 2011-2014? No one would willinlgy go back to that. Im surprised Gilbert doesn't sell the team beforr Lebron leaves and the value tanks.

Gilbert selling the team is the best way to keep Lebron in Cleveland. I wonder if he'll write letter #2 if Lebron leaves.

[TheHartBreakKid]

There is a very simple reason why the scenario in the OP won't happen. Lebron, unlike George, will never outright that he isn't coming back. Even if there are alot indications that he might possibly be considering leaving, there is nothing concrete like George saying "he is definitely leaving". Further, Lebron simply gains nothing from asking to be traded right now. His best chance to win this year is still with the Cavs, so why would he jeprodize that, or jeprodize the talent around him in a future situation by asking for a trade. Add that with the fact that he has a no trade clause, and it simply won't happen. If Dan Gilbert was 100% sure Lebron is leaving, then yeah, maybe you would be open to trading him....the problem is that Lebron simply isn't 100% leaving, and he has no intention of depleting the roster of the team he ends up even if he wanted to leave.


simply put even if Lebron has decided he wants to leave, something that I believe is extremely unlikely Lebron's best shot at a title this year is still with the Cavs, and Dan Gilbert's best option for not losing Lebron for nothing is still keeping him and hoping you upset the Warriors.


As an expiring contract, we saw the power PG had regarding decreasing his value in his potential destination. He did that without a no trade clause. Best believe Lebron's no trade clause simply makes a deal worth doing for the Cavs nearly impossible. The cavs simply have to hope that they perform well enough this year to either win or closely compete against the Warriors. The rest of it comes down what Lebron ultimately wants to do, and again, the Cavs are still the second favorite of winning the title.

[RightToCensor]

Because Lebron wouldn't like being moved around from team to team like some asset. He'd completely shun Dan Gilbert, probably won't retire as a Cav, and he might not even stay in Boston.

[nbafan38]

There is a very simple reason why the scenario in the OP won't happen. Lebron, unlike George, will never outright that he isn't coming back. Even if there are alot indications that he might possibly be considering leaving, there is nothing concrete like George saying "he is definitely leaving". Further, Lebron simply gains nothing from asking to be traded right now. His best chance to win this year is still with the Cavs, so why would he jeprodize that, or jeprodize the talent around him in a future situation by asking for a trade. Add that with the fact that he has a no trade clause, and it simply won't happen. If Dan Gilbert was 100% sure Lebron is leaving, then yeah, maybe you would be open to trading him....the problem is that Lebron simply isn't 100% leaving, and he has no intention of depleting the roster of the team he ends up even if he wanted to leave.


simply put even if Lebron has decided he wants to leave, something that I believe is extremely unlikely Lebron's best shot at a title this year is still with the Cavs, and Dan Gilbert's best option for not losing Lebron for nothing is still keeping him and hoping you upset the Warriors.


As an expiring contract, we saw the power PG had regarding decreasing his value in his potential destination. He did that without a no trade clause. Best believe Lebron's no trade clause simply makes a deal worth doing for the Cavs nearly impossible. The cavs simply have to hope that they perform well enough this year to either win or closely compete against the Warriors. The rest of it comes down what Lebron ultimately wants to do, and again, the Cavs are still the second favorite of winning the title.

True Lebron seems like the type who would prefer to keep all options open rather than commit to something a year ahead of time. Puts Cleveland in sort of a tough spot but what are they realistically to do other than play it out and see what happens.

[The Bronx]

Because...he's...not...leaving...

[TheHartBreakKid]

lol I will gladly take Lebron on my team.

It is something to atleast somewhat consider though for the Cavs to maybe trade Lebron. All the signs point to him likely leaving again. Lebron is obviously not saying it nor will he ever but again to me like the Paul George, Lebron when he first left Cleveland, Durant leaving OKC, they all seemed likely they were going to leave. If I'm them, I would possibly take a look at what teams are offering. Yeah Lebron gives the best chance for the Cavs to win another title but I give them a solid 5% chance if both sides are healthy if they much up again because I feel Golden State will be even better next year and the Cavs made zero moves in the offseason and Lebron is another year older. So yeah getting to the finals is amazing and all but if the Cavs feel like they can't win against GSW and then lose Lebron for nothing, you will then be stuck with a disgruntled Kyrie and a very treadmill team alongside Love.

But anyways I don't see this happening at all lol and the Cavs are just going to play it out. I find it dumb when organizations feel shocked their players left or want to leave like George, Durant, and the rest because the writing is on the wall. Do something bold or play the game that can possibly set your franchise back for years.

George outright told the pacers he wanted to leave so that's different and they traded him. Durant never really gave the Thunder indication he wanted to leave and they were close to contending for a title so there was no reason to trade him.

Yup. It's tough to blame OKC's FO for not getting anything for Durant. Same with the Cavs FO for losing Lebron for nothing in 2010. You don't break up a contender when you have a superstar expiring, unless he explicity tells you that he's leaving, which Lebron and Durant simply didn't do. Regarding George and other stars who are rumored to want out of teams who aren't contending, I completely agree. I understand it's not so easy to let go, but the Pacers absolutely handled that situation incorrectly. PG wasn't staying, period, and they should have traded him the last deadline and made him someone else's problem regarding his FA. The writing was absolutely on the wall.

Ultimately, I just can't blame a team hanging on to a star too long if that team is contending, and the star is staying relatively quite. But if there is a lot of smoke coming out about the star leaving, and the team isn't contending, the earlier you trade said star the better, imo.

[nbafan38]

lol I will gladly take Lebron on my team.

It is something to atleast somewhat consider though for the Cavs to maybe trade Lebron. All the signs point to him likely leaving again. Lebron is obviously not saying it nor will he ever but again to me like the Paul George, Lebron when he first left Cleveland, Durant leaving OKC, they all seemed likely they were going to leave. If I'm them, I would possibly take a look at what teams are offering. Yeah Lebron gives the best chance for the Cavs to win another title but I give them a solid 5% chance if both sides are healthy if they much up again because I feel Golden State will be even better next year and the Cavs made zero moves in the offseason and Lebron is another year older. So yeah getting to the finals is amazing and all but if the Cavs feel like they can't win against GSW and then lose Lebron for nothing, you will then be stuck with a disgruntled Kyrie and a very treadmill team alongside Love.

But anyways I don't see this happening at all lol and the Cavs are just going to play it out. I find it dumb when organizations feel shocked their players left or want to leave like George, Durant, and the rest because the writing is on the wall. Do something bold or play the game that can possibly set your franchise back for years.

George outright told the pacers he wanted to leave so that's different and they traded him. Durant never really gave the Thunder indication he wanted to leave and they were close to contending for a title so there was no reason to trade him.

Yup. It's tough to blame OKC's FO for not getting anything for Durant. Same with the Cavs FO for losing Lebron for nothing in 2010. You don't break up a contender when you have a superstar expiring, unless he explicity tells you that he's leaving, which Lebron and Durant simply didn't do. Regarding George and other stars who are rumored to want out of teams who aren't contending, I completely agree. I understand it's not so easy to let go, but the Pacers absolutely handled that situation incorrectly. PG wasn't staying, period, and they should have traded him the last deadline and made him someone else's problem regarding his FA. The writing was absolutely on the wall.

Ultimately, I just can't blame a team hanging on to a star too long if that team is contending, and the star is staying relatively quite. But if there is a lot of smoke coming out about the star leaving, and the team isn't contending, the earlier you trade said star the better, imo.

Agree, I think it makes a difference when you're a contender, look if Durant had closed out GS and gotten to the finals, I think he's still in OKC right now or at least would have been through this past season, so that was a very different situation but if a player clearly wants out and your team is not close to contending get them out as fast as you possibly can when their value is at it's highest. This situation with Lebron is sort of unique and tricky because Cleveland is not a true contender because of how good GS is but at the same time Lebron is such a special talent that you almost take the chance with him anyway, You'll likely never ever have a player again this good if you're Cleveland so may as well roll the dice. Lebron being from Ohio complicates things too, I don't know if he's as likely to leave as everyone thinks, while I could see him leaving again I don't think it's a foregone conclusion by any means.

[Fencer reregistered]

Losing two starters and two top reserves is sure to disrupt team chemistry.

That would be

Amir Johnson
Kelly Olynyk
Perhaps one of Crowder/Bradley/Smart (could still be zero if it's Rozier instead)
Jonas Jerebko

The Cs should be able to bounce back from those losses fairly quickly. Indeed, it's not clear that any of Johnson, Olynyk Rozier or Jerebko was central to team chemistry in the first place.

[Fencer reregistered]

Anyhow, it's Cleveland, where losing in the Finals is one of the best sports years in most residents' lifetimes.

Am I forgetting something, or is the Cavs' recent title the city's only win since the run of 1950s NFL championships?

[udfa]

Seems logical, no? What is another loss in the Finals (if not the ECF) worth to Gilbert? With the luxury tax, will the Cavs even be in the black this year? If Lebron bolts, and the Cavs get nothing, they will be basement dwellers for the next 10-plus years.

So the Celtics should trade Brown, Tatum, both picks, Crowder, Bradley, and Smart for 1 year of LBJ before he bolts?

Then he will want Stevens fired and want to have them sign all of his friends. When they don't win, he'll claim he doesn't have enough help and the franchise has no future and he'll leave.

No thanks. Enjoy LBJ for this year Cleveland fans. I hope he goes to LA. Then it's pretty much a free pass to the finals for Boston every year, with a bright future in the picks.

So you're presuming no other team ever rises to contest the East? Philly, Milwaukee? Either might end up being better than Boston. You're taking a lot for granted believing sans-LeBron that Boston would get to the Finals "every year."

[phraoh]

Gilbert knows he is NOT leaving....where are the snippets on Lebron now that he has recruited Jeff Green and has told Crawford to come to town !!??? I don't think he is a good GM by the way, but why would he ask guys to come play here if he plans on leaving ??!! ESPN and fans just want to have a wet dream that he will be on the Lakers next year...odds are very strong it won't happen. Maybe when he is 35-36 and doesn't care if he wins anymore.

[JordansBulls]

I think an interesting trade would have been maybe CP3 and Blake for Lebron when both were with the Clippers.

[ReturnofMVP3]

Pretty sure gilbert can make a lot of money with LeBron as the face of the franchise.