Links to the Present: Getting LeBron? Updated Edition
2014-07-07
Last night Twitter almost exploded, as the rumor factory was working overtime talking about the Cavs and LeBron James. The stories started on Twitter and stayed there for the most part. Joe Lull, a Cleveland radio guy, started it off.
Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert is currently en route to south Florida.
— Joe Lull (@LullOnSports) July 6, 2014
Update:
Who knows what to believe about all of the Tweets last night. Jason Lloyd is calling out the talk about Big Z going to Miami. If no one was one the flight from the Cavs organization, what does that say about all of the subsequent Tweets about LeBron favoring Cleveland?
Sources: Z was not aboard Sunday's mysterious flight to South Florida. Story: http://t.co/I1aVI5sZB0
— Jason Lloyd (@JasonLloydABJ) July 7, 2014
So naturally, people assumed Dan Gilbert was headed down to Miami. Gilbert denied this, and it seems he wasn’t on the plane. Big Z, however, was on the plane and headed down to Miami to likely talk LeBron into coming back to Cleveland.
Been working on this for two hours but can now confirm from second source that LBJ’s friend and former Cav Zydrunas Ilgauskas was on plane
— Anthony Lima (@AnthonyLimaFAN) July 7, 2014
The story remained strong because big names kept commenting and supporting the idea that the Cavs might have their King return.
Planes, trains, taxis … It doesn’t really matter. But I will say this: I get the impression it’s showtime for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
— Sam Amico (@SamAmicoFSO) July 7, 2014
Cleveland has replaced Miami as my frontrunner to land LeBron James…
— Chris Broussard (@Chris_Broussard) July 7, 2014
In pursuit of max slot for LeBron James, Cavs searching for team to take Nets’ Marcus Thornton in deal to unload Jarrett Jack, sources say.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 7, 2014
I’m not saying LJ to Cavs is done deal or I know 4 a fact; just my gut feeling based on many conversations I’ve had around this story…
— Chris Broussard (@Chris_Broussard) July 7, 2014
These convos aren’t sourced enough 4 me to report as fact. But I’ve heard enough to believe “the wind is blowing” LJ back home. We’ll see…
— Chris Broussard (@Chris_Broussard) July 7, 2014
I’m told, by multiple sources now, LeBron agent Rich Paul told Cavs he’s impressed w what they’ve done and what they can still do to roster.
— Sam Amico (@SamAmicoFSO) July 7, 2014
Throughout this Tweeting, Cleveland fans and NBA fans added their 140 characters into the mix too. A seemingly large majority of outsiders wondered what Cleveland fans would do about their LeBron jerseys.
I kinda hope LeBron signs with the Cavs just to stimulate the economy when everyone who burned his jersey goes out and buys a new one. — Rashidi (@Real2KInsider) July 7, 2014
This morning Brian Windhorst and Marc Stein wrote a piece for ESPN forwarding the idea that LeBron may be coming back to Cleveland. The Cavs have met with James’ agent and are hoping for a face-to-face meeting with James this week.
Sources say that the Cavs’ pitch made to Paul last week — which they also hope to make this week to James in their own face-to-face meeting — revolves around Kyrie Irving and the other young prospects they have, in addition to the numerous options Cleveland possesses to add to the roster over the next year.
The Cavs also believe they have made the greatest move yet this summer, convincing Irving to sign a five-year maximum contract extension in the first few hours of free agency. With No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins under control for the next five seasons as well, the Cavs are pitching youth and roster stability to James, who played on one of the oldest teams in the league last season.
The team may have to move some contracts to get the right amount of money available for James. As mentioned above, Jarrett Jack is probably going to be moved to help the money situation. Furthermore, Dion Waiters is a pretty hot commodity according to ESPN Insider, so moving him may be a possibility too if it gets a team to take Jack.
The team is leaving no doors unopened in their quest for the King. The “Letter” that answered “The Decision” has been removed from the Cavs’ website. The next step is probably going to be hiring one of those brand management companies to bury any Google search results for “Cavs Letter.”
Brendan Bowers stated on Twitter yesterday, during the rumor fest, he was talking with Krayzie Bone of Bone Thugs ‘N Harmony about LeBron James. He came through with a great article about this for Stepien Rules this morning.
“I strongly believe that had Cleveland done more to keep him the
first time then he could’ve stayed,” Krayzie said. “It always felt like they should have brought more players to Cleveland to play around him. If help is what he wanted, then they should have went out and got him help. I strongly feel like that. So I was disappointed when he left but I was never upset.
Krayzie is a lot more sophisticated than most Cavs fans. However, I still picture him probably burning any LeBron Jerseys he owned when LeBron left.
Craig Lyndall of Waiting For Next Year has a short thought piece up about LeBron possibly returning that details the feelings many fans have had, since he left. Jacob Rosen, also of Waiting For Next Year, has a good summary of Twitter last night:
So what was the result of the Bloody Sunday on Twitter? Nothing really. Everything happened and nothing happened all at the same time. We know very little of what could happen within the next few days. Sure, a Cavs-affiliated plane was in South Florida last night.
Sure, Chris Broussard and others have “hunches.” Sure, LeBron plans to meet face-to-face soon with Miami. But that’s not actual concrete information that changes the probabilities or expectations of this madness. We don’t know yet.
And, that thought brings me to what I’ve been thinking for a couple of hours now. What if people named their sources when Tweeting instead of just saying “sources?” Reporters could use the hashtag, “sourceincluded,” and Twitter would get even crazier than it gets now. Of course, if there was nothing to report, there would probably be no Tweets, which might be a bad thing.
Sounds like Bosh wants to stay in Miami per Woj.
What do they say in Vegas?
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11187651/cleveland-cavaliers-attracting-bets-vegas-books
10-1 to win it. That means we are at least 1-3 to get him right? I cant see us being better than 3-1 with just LBJ. Maybe they are already booking Love joining but I doubt it
I realize I put that backwards
I think it is pretty clear what is going on. LeBron and Wade want Bosh gone so they can sign Melo. Lebron and Melo get the max salary and Wade takes what is left.
I think it is a terrible idea basketball-wise, because I don’t think that team can win a title.
On the bright-side, when this “new big 3” fails to win a title, maybe this will be the end of players being the GM.
(I know… wishful thinking on my part)
Don’t subscribe to the Steven A. Smith faulty logic. Don’t think there’s any way the Heat can pay LBJ and Melo max money and still have enough to pay Wade and field a full team. Both LBJ and Melo have been pretty adamant about getting max money. Most likely scenario still has the big three going back to Heat. It’s nice to believe that LBJ wants to come back to Cleveland, but like most things in Cleveland sports, it’s just too good to be true. Maybe he signs a two year deal (with a player option for year two) for… Read more »
Steven A. was right 4 years ago…
If that was true why hasn’t Melo agreed to sign with a team yet? What is holding him up?
LeBron isn’t going to LA or NY, so those teams aren’t waiting for LeBron. They want to sign Melo right now. Melo is the only one holding-up his own free agency. What is he waiting for?
I hope I’m wrong, but I guess we’ll see.
Steven A. was wrong 4 years ago. He said it was 100 percent that LBJ was going to the Knicks.
Agreed – unfortunately, I think the most likely scenario, by far, is Lebron signing a two-year deal with a player option for year 2. That way, he can opt-out again if the Heat don’t win a championship and he’ll have a pretty good idea if the Cavs are an option. With Wiggins, Blatt, etc there are too many unknowns for Lebron to jump to the Cavs this year.
A lot of this is sounding really good for LeBron coming back. I just hope we aren’t all getting our hopes up for nothing. However, it’s difficult not to when guys like Chris Broussard are saying they believe he’s coming back. I didn’t realize how great of a trade it was to get Hayward back. The balloon salary for next year is great. $15M? That could be huge for a team trying to blow things up and get younger. I’m not sure who we’d be able to get in return, but if LeBron does come back, that could be a… Read more »
It could just mean the Cavs plan on using Haywood to get a large trade exception. That give them the ability to choose who to take and that players salary won’t count towards the cap basically. Considering that with Lebron, our cap space would be pretty full next year. We could definitely use a boost like that.
I don’t think anyone really believes Lebrun would go out west…that’s suicide by comparison. If Bosh leaves for Houston yes Miami will have $, but to sign who exactly? Melo doesn’t make sense. They don’t seem to have enough to offer him and if Spoelstra thought designing an offense with wade and James was tough…yeesh.
Without bosh, I think the cavs are more attractive than the Heat for many reasons beyond our unproven roster. Blast makes such a huge impact I think. Can’t wait for this week to play out
From the moment the Heat lost the championship and LeBron’s wife tweeted the map of Akron with the words home sweet home (or something like that), I thought the Cavs had/have a chance to get LeBron. More and more reports that come out seem to just confirm that – the Cavs have a chance. By no means is it a done deal, nor does that mean we are even close, but a realistic posibility that some seemed to think wasn’t a possibility just a few short weeks ago. I don’t think much has really changed. LeBron still wants rings and… Read more »
Dallas for LBJ makes sense to me. Dirk has signed for a pittance (10M/year!?) so could be enough cap space. They have Tyson Chandler to play some D. I think part of moving to the Heat was to upgrade the front office from CG, etc. to Riley. I think he leaned a lot by hanging with Riles, but bumped into the issues with the owner. Now he can upgrade to Cuban. Nice to see the Cavs are in the mix. For me it will be a great day if he came back. If not, well, we still have an exiting… Read more »
Charlie E:
“Nice to see the Cavs are in the mix. For me it will be a great day if he came back. If not, well, we still have an exiting young team to watch. Basically I’ll be super happy if he returns, but not disappointed if he doesn’t.”
That’s where I am.
ESPN radio had one of the four owners who met with LeBron’s agent saying the meeting was a farce…the blunt language suggests it was Cuban….does that sound that they are in the front-running? In the running at all?
July 8, 2010 Lebron announces he’s leaving for Miami.
July 8, 2014 ???
As Red said in Shawshank: Hope is a dangerous thing…
However it hasn’t stopped me. I saw the twitter photo of Lebron carrying that giant tire down that sidewalk. You know what I thought? Goodyear, Goodrich symbolism. Akron was the tire industry! It’s a sign! Lebron is carrying the weight of Akron!
I must continue working my job…
espn sports nation ( I know there are thousands of so called experts ) have the MAVS AS THE FRONT RUNNERS FOR LEBRON—– DON’T KNOW HOW THE GRANGER/ MCROBERTS SIGNING WOULD INTICE LEBRON TO COME BACK TO MIAMI ?
I think the 4 Finals and 2 Titles are what entices them to go back. If they all go back they are instantly the East favorites again.
@Greg Siesel – it’s pretty simple, actually. Lebron has a much better shot at making the NBA finals next year if he stays at Miami (assuming the Big 3 remain) than he does if he returns to Cleveland. They have made it to the finals 4 straight years. If Wade can stay healthy they are still the team to beat in the East.
Looking at the Cavs – they were a mess last year. Beyond Kyrie and Varejao, they are all potential rather than proven players.
There are probably eight teams in the East that will be the favorite to win the East if LeBron joins. There have been several comparisons of the players in Miami (minus LeBron) and the Cavs published. The Cavs win in a landslide.
The Heat are not getting the old days Wade, they are getting the old man Wade.
Mia is in no way “the team to beat in the East” next year. Supposing they even came out of the
East, they got beaten by HISTORIC margins in the finals! There are at least 4 teams in the West who beat Mia in a finals match-up.
Sigh. I don’t know what to believe anymore.
Well, it looks like Riley finally made his move by signing Josh McRoberts. Is that enough to right the ship for the Heat? I’m not convinced. But my opinion doesn’t matter.
Looks like we’ll be waiting until the end of the week to see if the pipe-dream of The return is a reality.
And the Heat just signed Danny Granger as well. #yawn
Maybe I’m crazy, but I don’t see LBJ being overly impressed by signing old, past their prime guys. I’m sure McRoberts didn’t hurt, but Granger is a waste.
Is it so hard to believe that LBJ wants to come to a younger, super talented team to help them get better, lead them, and eventually become the old man? Too much to ask?
The biggest problem is that Wade’s body is breaking down. McRoberts is a useful player, but he’s not going to change that.
I saw Big Z at the CLE airport about a week ago and he said he didn’t think LeBron was coming back… What a difference a week makes.
http://www.ohio.com/blogs/cleveland-cavaliers/cleveland-cavaliers-1.275356/sources-ilgauskas-was-not-aboard-mysterious-flight-to-south-florida-1.502408
DA PLANE … Z was not on it. Nor apparently any other member of the Cavs front office.
To which Lima reports:
Stephen A Smith said this morning ( ESPN ) that bosh is the key ( his decision will set all others in motion ) he indicated if bosh leaves that james is probably back with Miami pending they now have the money to get MELO ( DON’T KNOW HOW THAT WORKS )—– feel things are going to break open soon
It doesn’t work. Melo isn’t taking anything less than the Max since both LA and NY are offering it to him.
Stephen A. wants to be different and have his own ‘sources’ of information.
Don’t forget that four years ago Steven A had 100% info that LeBron was going to the Knicks. Steven A is fun to listen to, but he appears to have no idea what he is talking about.
This is completely wrong. Stephen A was the first one to report that the big three would be in Miami.
Yeah, like a week before it happened.
Looks like Houston made an offer to Bosh:
From ESPN “Sources: Rockets offer Bosh max deal of 4 yrs, $96 million. After weekend convo with LeBron and low offer from Heat, Bosh considering offer”
Hard to imagine Bosh turning that down, but you never know. If he does take it, would LeBron return? Seems doubtful.
Nice. Go Houston. Great signing for them.
Do it Bosh. Don’t turn down tens of millions of dollars. Houston’s a good team.
It’s now being reported as a 4 yr, $88M offer from the Rockets.
Please make it so. Come on back Leb.
Apparently Sam Amico deleted his tweet from last night which is still displayed above:
“Lebron James has informed Dan Gilbert of his intent to join the #Cavs, multiple sources confirm.”
Very interesting.
That was not a Sam Amico Tweet. Note the last character is a 0, not an O. It was a fake account.
David should probably remove that tweet from the story.
Yep, agreed. Take that tweet down. I just put two and two together (see below).
Hold on. Something fishy here. If you click on the Sam Amico Twitter link for the tweet that I mentioned above it takes you a different Sam Amico profile than the other Sam Amico tweets above. The one with the tweet in question only has 6 tweets on that Amico account. The others are on an Amico account with over 19K tweets. At first, I didn’t understand because they are the same Twitter handle. But, upon closer examination, they are NOT the same Twitter handle. The account with 6 tweets is SamAmicoFS0 (FS-ZERO). The account with 19K+ tweets is SamAmicoFSO.… Read more »
Fixed it, I’ve been had!