LeBron James‘ future after the upcoming season is a mystery even to Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, writes Marla Ridenour of The Akron Beacon Journal. Gilbert acknowledged at Wednesday’s press conference with new GM Koby Altman that the Cavs have no control over what James may decide to do in the summer of 2018. The three-year contract he signed last summer includes a player option worth more than $35.6MM for 2018/19. “I think he is very hungry for this season and he will tell you that, too,” Gilbert said. “Beyond this season I don’t know. We’re focused on this season.”
There’s more this morning out of Cleveland:
- Gilbert took issue with reports that Chauncey Billups turned down a front office position because of money, Ridenour adds in the same story. Billups supposedly interviewed twice with the team about possibly replacing former GM David Griffin, but Gilbert downplayed those sessions, calling them “informal.” He also said an ESPN report that Billups pulled his name out of consideration because of a lowball salary offer of $2MM were erroneous. “It was nothing to do with money at all,” Gilbert said. “For you guys to think that we’re in this payroll tax or luxury tax to where we are and we’re going to worry about — I don’t want to ever say a million dollars or two [million] dollars or three is not a lot of money — but relatively speaking, you know our track record and that’s not how we make decisions. It had nothing to do with money.”
- The refusal by Gilbert and Altman to admit that Kyrie Irving has asked for a trade was a strategy to preserve the point guard’s value, according to Terry Pluto of Cleveland.com. Pluto notes that Irving and his representatives have had several days to deny the rumor and have remained silent. The writer adds that getting sufficient value in return for Irving is the biggest challenge facing Altman as he settles into his new job.
- The Cavaliers have made attempts to reach out to Irving, but he doesn’t want to talk to anyone from the team, according to Jason Lloyd of The Athletic (subscrition site).
- Derrick Rose hoped to sign with the Spurs or Clippers when free agency began, but both teams passed on him, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Bucks coach Jason Kidd was interested, but the only offers came from the Lakers and Cavaliers.
Lebron is the GOAT.
You were calling him LeBum 3 weeks ago
He also said Lonzo was a bust and then later switched to him being a star. He told me back in March Aaron Gordon reminds him of Blake Griffin and is the franchise player for the Magic. He claimed Lauri to be the next Dirk and a superstar. Now Bender is going to be a star too. Those are just a handful of stupid things he has said. Also Dionis, Mr. Finance degree and master opinion, learn how to not be so condescending and maybe people would take you seriously sometimes.
I refuse to partake in your ignorance.
Then quit subjecting this site to yours.
Guy sounds like a real gem
thank you everytime I say that this site deletes my comments. Dionis has said so what if I flip flop my opinions daily in these forums. But the site allows his to troll and call everyone idiot or what they smoking. This site protects dionis for some reason. dudes an absolute moron
Lmfao savage
hahahaha
Except that he isn’t..
except most would rather take mj, Kobe, magic, Duncan, bird
MJ, Magic, Kareem, Wilt, Oscar, Bird (would be higher if not for injuries prematurely limiting him, as his peak was arguably as high as anyone ever), LeBron…
Those are the 7 guys that are inarguable answers, in my opinion and a lot of others (some people don’t have LeBron in that group yet. I put him there after last year), to Greatest All Time, in whatever order you want. Most everyone has that 1 guy they feel is higher than others, and for me, that is Michael Jordan, as it is for a lot of people. But, any of those guys can be argued in that spot, so anyone that thinks it’s one of them, I’m never going to claim they’re wrong
Lebron is better then Jordan.
LeBron’s legacy will never top jordans, but LeBron is a better all around basketball player
Calling LeBron the GOAT initiates laughter to any thinking person who’s watched the NBA longer than 15 years. How many more team changes will he need to win another ring? He’s a joke.
Do you think he at least belongs in the top 5? If not, you’re silly. Blaming him for not winning more than 3 chips is valid ONLY if he didn’t perform well across the board throughout the series. I don’t think ANYONE can honestly use the last 3 years as a negative against him if you look at the facts.
2015-16-Played a 6 game series against one of the best teams ever without Kyrie or Love.
2016-17- Avg 34/12/10 on .567/.387/.649 shooting. The only blemish was his FT shooting. Other than that, one of the best performances in the history of the NBA finals. Not sure how anyone can laugh and say “Haha…LBJ lost a finals again. What a loser”.
He wants to win rings, whats the big deal?
Stay! Retire in Cleveland! Kyrie to the Lakers for Randle And Clarkson.
if they fell for that bro I think we’d be all over that hahaha
Why not. OKC got Paul George for 2
Scrubs!
true, Clarkson and Randle were better offers in my opinion.
I don’t think Dan Gilbert knows what he is doing!
Also, for the life of me why this is the case is simply beyond me: Report: 76ers not expected to pursue Kyrie Irving
I really think he would be a great fit.
Having a three pronged attack of J. J. Redick, Markelle Fultz, and Kyrie Erving would be unbelievable
Plus, it would give Fultz a chance to ease into the rotation with Reddick, Irving, and yes McConnell getting the minutes until Fultz is ready to roll
I might be one of the few who think this, but it really is the way I feel about it!!!
And they would need to score 130 per game because none of those 3 play a lick of defense. The sixers shouldn’t sacrifice the future for Irving, especially if they weren’t a listed destination. He will just leave in 2 years. I can’t imagine what an offer would look like, but you would lose at least 2 of your 4 young core and possibly draft picks. Let the process play out. The team as it stands now could compete in the weak east and then use the cap space to sign the stars in the offseason. Simmons/embiid/saric/fultz is a phenomenal young core that rivals any in the league.
I would love to see 130 points a game, plus maybe Embiid, Saric, Holmes would make up for the defensive shortcomings of the backcourt!
And the Sixers would have Irving for 3 years, therefore I still standby that Irving would be a good fit. The Sixers would be an exciting team to watch night in and night out.
Reddick plays defense, well. Fultz is young and untrained. he definitely has the physical ability to be unreal on D. Sixers are going to be very good.
Reddick plays defense? He may play hard and work at it but opponents still shot close to 50% against him and almost 40% from 3. He doesn’t steal, block, or rebound. He is leaps and bounds better than when he came in the league but he is now older and slower. I think it’s fair to say he is a below average defender
Fultz played zero defense at Washington. He is long and an athletic freak which should translate into good defense but until we see it, you have to go on track record. I also agree the sixers will be very good which is why I don’t see the need to trade for Irving at the cost of your young core
they would have to trade fultz to get kyrie. in your comments 76ers still have all their young pieces but get Kylie, how?
Ben Simmons would be the centerpiece of the trade, not Fultz
However, all the Simmons’ fans would be upset.
So, who knows what will happen.
If the Sixers don’t trade for Irving, I think the Cavs are stuck with him and the drama!
OK, doesn’t seem to make sense, 76ers would have an abundance of point guards and bigs but no wings.
Well, Simmons is supposed to play PG for the Sixers
I am not trading Saric
So, it could work.
So it’s Simmons for Irving straight up? They keep embiid, Dario, and fultz? I don’t see a way that cleveland accepts that. I thought you were lobbying for trading the Hinkie assets. Simmons and picks is not enough. Simmons, Holmes, Covington, and multiple picks…maybe, but then the sixers have no depth and become the clippers
it’s an idea though haha
Haha…why would the 76ers not wanting Irving result in the Cavs not wanting him?
I think ppl really don’t understand the value of Irving on and OFF the floor. Not only is he one of the NBA most exciting player to watch (fans are not oohing and aahing over how well a player defends the pick and roll) but he is a marquee brad as apparent in that his shoe sales are the highest among current NBA players second to only LBJ. Any team seeking a marquee player will not only see a huge push in ticket sales but for merchandising and sponsorship too.
If this was at me, I said if the Sixers don’t want him, then the Cavs are stuck with Irving. I don’t there’s really a team out there that can pull of a trade without busting up their core.
The Sixers can do it, I think, but I don’t see too many options for the Cavs if the Sixers don’t make the trade for Irving.
I could be wrong, but I think the Cavs are stuck with Irving.
Hey lefty. I understand you better. You meant what team wants him and can afford to give up the pieces needed to acquire him? I think there are a few.
The suns and celtics have plenty to offer. It comes down to will they. It’s not sixers or bust
LeBron is Never the Goat he is the Boring more not !!! He is a looser without a super team he never win a championship!!!!!!!!
What?
? translation to English
While I don’t believe he’s the GOAT, it’s ridiculous to say he can’t win without a Super team. Did he not come back to a 30 win Cavs team and immediately make them a Championship team? And don’t tell me that Love made the a big difference either.
I’m not a fan to Bron, but he is a difference maker.
Irving obviously just wants away from LBJ. He says he wants to be the man on his own team, yet he wants to go to the most selfless team in the league, the Spurs. He says he wants to win, yet he wants to go to the Knicks. I’m imagining LBJ could be a pain in the arse, but Kyrie is the problem here.
Irving and Love for Porzingis and Melo?
lol thanks for the laugh
Dan Gilbert should be fined at least $250k for what he said about the Pacers and Pritchard yesterday. You can’t do stuff like that, if you’re the owner of another team/an important person in the NBA. That’s openly calling someone bad at their job, and is talking about another teams player, and their transaction that you had no part in. That can create a whole wave in the media, with fans, other players and organizations, etc…This is a person’s livelihood, and he just got that job. Saying what he said, insinuates he should be fired, and publicly making that claim puts out the perception that he doesn’t deserve his job, and could hurt him in the future, as more and more people continue to throw heat at him for a trade that none of them are apart of.
Also, how does he not know anyone in his organization? Lol. Did anyone hear that press conference? It was hilarious
Lol everyone knows dan Gilbert is a joke. Coming from someone who said reed is a better defender than Whiteside tho I thought you you’d be all over his nuts
Keep doing it…doesnt matter
I think people are way to critical of Gilbert. I really think he feels like he has to defend himself and this notion that the Cavs haven’t been working hard to make this team better. Maybe he should’ve taken the higher ground and made a “no comment” but I’m not mad t him saying that he felt they had stronger offer on the table. Why is it everyone can say it in the media but he can’t?
Seriously, I’ve always been a “employee first” kind of guy but there’s been so much blame placed his way that it’s ridiculous.
Let me go further. He effectively said “We went after Paul George very hard. We feel like we had the best offer on the table and it just didn’t work out”.
I don’t see anything wrong with that.
People are critical of Gilbert because he’s proven himself time and time again to be an arrogant idiot. The letter, the sooking about the cp3 trade, the way he’s never patched things up with lebron and not retaining Griffen are all just dumb. He’s the 2nd worst owner in the NBA (worst is Dolan so you’re choice of teams is pretty funny)
I lived in Cleveland when LBJ left. The entire city was pissed off, some because he was leaving, me because of the WAY he left. Dude was emotional. He cares.
What do you mean he never patched things up with LBJ? Are you an idiot? The may not be besties but they met face to face and they each apologized for their role in things and they moved on. Fans outside of Cleveland should move on too. To say he’s the 2nd worst owner is basketball is laughable. He does the singular more important thing an owner has to do. Hires a GM and then shells out the money to place the best team possible. He did it BOTH stints with LBJ and even while he was gone. You will never hear ANY NBA insider say that he’s unwilling to spend on his team,
The media has way overblown how “bad” he is. I can rattle off several owners that such both in terms of willingness to spend and making stupid decisions. Nets, Kings, Knicks, Suns, Hawks, New Orleans, Hornets (MJ), etc.
You can honestly say that the Cavs success is related to LBJ. I can also point out that LBJ announced he was leaving well after all the major FA were gone and the Cavs were stuck with a team of vets as role players at a time when star FA didn’t want to play in Cleveland with a young LBJ. But look at the trajectory in the 4 years LBJ wasn’t there. 19 wins to 21 to 24 to 33 and a team filled with young guys in Irving, Waiters, Thompson and that years #1 draft pick which ended up being Andrew Wiggins. I think that team could’ve been a 40-45 win team depending on how they put the rest together.
And just for it being said, former owners Gordon Gund and Tep Stepien were historically awful and cheep owners so the city of Cleveland is appreciative of what Gilbert has done for the city of Cleveland and the investments he’s made in downtown Cleveland.
He owns the team. Even if he was emotional you never do what he did. That letter means that no other star will sign with Cleveland after lebron leaves. Stupid.
You’re clearly the idiot if you think they’ve properly patched things up.
I hate how cavs fans always bring up the money he’s spent. The only reason he’s doing that is because lebron has made him such a ridiculous amount of money and he can’t afford to lose him. Watch cavs go to absolute garbage for 10 years after this year. (Brons definitely leaving lol)