http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/mavericks/post/_/id/4669245/fantasy-gm-working-out-a-deal-for-lebron

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The Bottom Line: The Mavs can get LeBron if he wants to come here. Who knows if Dallas is even on his radar. But if Cleveland plays it right, they could be competitive quickly. Which is all you can ask when you lose one of the best players in the world in his prime.

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i just dont think roddy b and some cap releif is enough. even if they throw in 2 1st rounders they are likely going to be in the late 20's so they dont really have alot of value either

It's cool to think about but there's just not enough incentive for LBJ to sign a 5-6 year deal to be stuck in Dallas with a bunch of 30 year olds.

Dirk, Kidd, Marion, Jet, Haywood, Butler, Damp will all be 30+ next season. Those 7 guys make up about 98% of the minutes played in the rotation. Damp will be traded/cut, Dirk only has a couple useful years left, Jet is already unworthy of his contract, Kidd will retire soon, Marion's contract is laughable + he plays Lebron's position, and to get LBJ here we'll have to give up the one useful young player we have.

I would feel much better about a big FA acquisition if we could keep RB3, but that's not happening. We need a PG who the defense can't completely ignore. Losing Beaubois means we lose any offensive threat at that position. The curse of the DH trade strikes again.

I'm not saying he's on the decline now. A better way of saying it would have been "he only has a couple years left until his skills start to deteriorate".

Maybe that's not true. He plays a lot of minutes and has a lot of mileage. KG found the fountain of youth this postseason so who knows. I love Dirk and hope he remains relevant for as long as possible.

you guys must be on crack to think there's any chance he's coming to dallass.

I know that's a troll, but try reading every once in awhile. I don't think he's coming to Dallas.

Not a chance. You know you have no shot to get LeBron when you have the leader of the free world pushing him to go to Chicago.

Great article with some advanced trade scenarios. It all hinges on LeBron wanting to come to Dallas. Judge is right that Cuban has to sell him on a long term plan that goes beyond Dirk's prime. Cuban has to convince him of his competency to put together a championship caliber team over the long term. It would be easy to just go join Chicago and play with Derrick Rose for 10+ years, but look how their management has effed things up over the past decade. Few teams have done less with more than the 00's Bulls.

Pathetic how ESPN still has Chris Broussard saying the Cavs would kill their cap flexibility if they do a sign and trade with Dallas. Hopefully more analysts will take time to understand the Dampier contract before they spout off ignorance.

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Few teams have done less with more than the 00's Bulls.

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I agree that few teams did less than the 00's Bulls. But how did they do less with more?

Referring mainly to the mid 00's moves after they assembled the Baby Bulls - they did a great job assembling that team, along with the cap space and extra lottery picks. But they completely screwed it up. All those assets and nothing to show for it until they were bailed out by winning the lottery.

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It's cool to think about but there's just not enough incentive for LBJ to sign a 5-6 year deal to be stuck in Dallas with a bunch of 30 year olds.

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Ding Ding Ding, we have a winner.

If Lebron comes to Dallas, it will be because he thinks that playing with 2 first ballot HOF's (Dirk and Kidd) and a PG who could be Rondo v2.0 and a solid supporting cast and a great owner will give him his best shot of winning 3 titles in the next 5 years.

If he goes to Dallas it will be because he leaves money on the table salary wise, and Dirk will do the same when he renegotiates this summer to make it happen. There's no way he'd force the team he goes to to gut itself in a sign and trade so he could increase his net worth by 4%. So all the talk about how it could work from a salary cap perspective is a moot point IMO.

As for the team being old. Well, yeah. But you don't think some younger guys would find a way to come to Dallas in 3-4 years to play with him?

I just don't think NY is a sure enough bet to win it all in the next 5 years, and in Chicago he'd always be in Jordan's shadow. If he can live with the Jordan thing, then maybe Chicago would be the smart move.

My money is on him staying in Cleveland.

LeBron's not going to sign a 5-6 year deal with anyone that doesn't have an opt out after 2-3 years anyway.

If he goes to Chicago, where are the Bulls going to get the money to re-sign Rose when his contract is up in a couple of years?

I also don't see how Lebron and Rose would coexist together since both players need the ball in their hands so much.

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Referring mainly to the mid 00's moves after they assembled the Baby Bulls - they did a great job assembling that team, along with the cap space and extra lottery picks.

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Meh. Lots of overrated players if you ask me. That bandwagon got heavy quickly, but of all the players Chicago has had in the last decade Rose is really the only star to speak of.

Gordon, Hinrich, Deng, Duhon, Nocioni....all had good years here and there but none are superstars. IMO Hinrich and Duhon were highly overrated players on that "baby bulls" team.

Anybody can technically sign LeBron, whether through free agency or sign-and-trade. I can make the argument that he would sign with Houston because it'd give him access to the productive big man he's never had, several efficient outside shooters, a hall of fame coach, the smartest GM in basketball, a great hands-off owner who pays to win, and an enormouse earning potential in China.

enormouse, that's my favorite kind of mouse!

Anyone who says "the mavs don't have enough to offer" or any variation thereof doesn't understand how it works. The ONLY way he comes to Dallas is if LBJ tells Cleveland "I'm leaving and I want to go to Dallas". Then it's up to Cleveland to work a deal so they get something back instead of him walking for nothing.

Doesn't matter if the Mavs can only offer, in an NBA Live sense, 25 cents on the dollar for him. They either get something or nothing at that point. And, if he's dead set on leaving, why not send him to the West?

If it were 5 years ago, with the same Mavs team in place, it would make a lot more sense. On the other hand, if I'm him, I don't want to stay in Cleveland, don't want to go to NYK with a lesser squad than CLE unless Bosh is coming with me and other moves are in the works, don't want to go to Chicago and live in Jordan's shadow. Maybe Miami if he wants to share the spotlight with Wade, in which case he'd always have 1 less ring? Don't forget egos. Nothing is clear cut, should be fun to watch.

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Anyone who says "the mavs don't have enough to offer" or any variation thereof doesn't understand how it works. The ONLY way he comes to Dallas is if LBJ tells Cleveland "I'm leaving and I want to go to Dallas". Then it's up to Cleveland to work a deal so they get something back instead of him walking for nothing.

Doesn't matter if the Mavs can only offer, in an NBA Live sense, 25 cents on the dollar for him. They either get something or nothing at that point. And, if he's dead set on leaving, why not send him to the West?

If it were 5 years ago, with the same Mavs team in place, it would make a lot more sense. On the other hand, if I'm him, I don't want to stay in Cleveland, don't want to go to NYK with a lesser squad than CLE unless Bosh is coming with me and other moves are in the works, don't want to go to Chicago and live in Jordan's shadow. Maybe Miami if he wants to share the spotlight with Wade, in which case he'd always have 1 less ring? Don't forget egos. Nothing is clear cut, should be fun to watch.

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Absolutely untrue. If Lebron told the Cavs that he wanted to go Dallas, the Cavs could easily tell him: "Good luck, hope you are willing to play for the MLE."

The Cavs don't have to do a sign and trade. They can refuse all sign and trades and force LeBron to play for at least $30MM less and have a smaller pool of less attractive options. The Cavs WANT Lebron, so he's probably going to have to take a paycut and sign without a Sign and Trade OR the Cavs are going to have to get an extremely favorable deal. Think about it -- the Cavs aren't going to replace one of the best, most marketable players in the world with $23MM+ in average players.

If I'm Cleveland I state from Day 1 that we will not be doing any sign and trades. Lebron can either sign with Cleveland or take a $30MM paycut for a lesser or equal team.

Considering his overall income from every single source, I'd be willing to bet that his salary isn't going a very big concern of his.

Then why wouldn't he just play for the MLE or for the league minimum?

If he's that desperate not to play for Cleveland, he may just very well leave $30MM on the table. I guarentee it's a big consideration in his mind, though.

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Think about it -- the Cavs aren't going to replace one of the best, most marketable players in the world with $23MM+ in average players.

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This is correct but in the specific case of Dallas it would only be about $10MM, as Damp's contract is an instant dump. I think the appeal is that you save yourself a huge chunk of money and get quality players for cheaper.

Lebron probably doesn't care much about his NBA salary, I agree, but he's still going to pretty much require that he's paid what he's worth. If it was between making $20MM on a contender or $23MM on a scrub team he would obviously forgo the $3MM but he's not going to play for much less.

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you have the leader of the free world pushing him to go to Chicago

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What even more laughable is that Hussein is the leader of the free world. How pathetic.

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This is correct but in the specific case of Dallas it would only be about $10MM, as Damp's contract is an instant dump. I think the appeal is that you save yourself a huge chunk of money and get quality players for cheaper.

Lebron probably doesn't care much about his NBA salary, I agree, but he's still going to pretty much require that he's paid what he's worth. If it was between making $20MM on a contender or $23MM on a scrub team he would obviously forgo the $3MM but he's not going to play for much less.

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If saving money were the main concern, they would simply let Lebron walk.

I believe the most he can sign in free agency is $17MM AND he can't get that extra year on the contract that he could if he re-signed with the Cavs.

LeBron's starting salary will be ~17mm, and Dampier's contract will be worth up to ~16.5mm in a trade. Dallas would throw in the obligatory 2 1st round picks and cash. Cleveland can take the instant cash savings or flip Dampier's contract for a trade exception to further help rebuilding. No other over the cap team can offer Cleveland a package that doesn't contain bad contracts (and compared to LeBron, *any* veteran player Cleveland receives back is a bad contract).

Houston is intriguing because they can offer those Knicks draft picks, but Cleveland will have to take back a bad contract. That's where you start negotiating including an expiring contract for Jamison, Gibson or Varejao

[This message has been edited by InternetFan02 (edited 6/1/2010 11:28a).]

What bad contract would they have to take back? The Rockets could offer Kevin Martin, Chase Buddinger, Jordan Hill, and the Knicks draft picks and that's a bunch of good contracts and something Cleveland might actually want to do.

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The Rockets could offer Kevin Martin, Chase Buddinger, Jordan Hill, and the Knicks draft picks and that's a bunch of good contracts and something Cleveland might actually want to do.

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Cavs owner at press conference: "Sorry we couldn't keep LeBron, but we traded him for the best player on the Kings, AND we get to pay him 35 million the next 3 years"

I think they would prefer the instant expiring contract, plus LeBron could demand that Martin stays in Houston or he refuses to sign. He wouldn't go to a team that has to trade too much of their talent.

[This message has been edited by InternetFan02 (edited 6/1/2010 11:39a).]

Uh, the Cavs owner would be saying, "Look, it sucks to lose Lebron, but we're trying to stay competitive because we landed a guy that's been a top 10 scorer in the league 3 of the last 5 years and is an efficient scorer, plus we have 2 of the best rookies in the league from last year with high upside, plus we have two high draft picks. That's a ton of capital for a team to rebuild itself quickly. A hell of a lot more than Roddy Beaubois.

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If I'm Cleveland I state from Day 1 that we will not be doing any sign and trades. Lebron can either sign with Cleveland or take a $30MM paycut for a lesser or equal team

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Considering that Cleveland stands to lose about a quarter billion in net worth of their franchise vs. Lebron losing around $30 mil of his, Lebron holds more cards than you think. If Lebron opts to leave, Cleveland almost has no choice but to oblige that so long as they get some decent assets in return. Let's say Lebron were to ask to move to Dallas. Dallas sends the 2 draft picks, Roddy, and Dampier (waivable salary). All of a sudden they have some assets and money to attract a free agent or 2. Cleveland might not be great, but if they kept the rest of their team in tact and added somebody like Joe Johnson, that'd be a playoff team w/ a some decent future assets in the East and likely salvage a ton of that lost Lebron value.

Part of the reason the sign and trade was created was so that lesser market teams wouldn't be left high and dry... it is just another way for owners to maintain and hedge the values of their franchises.

In other words, I'm thinking that if you were to know Lebron walking would automatically destroy your net worth $200 mil, I'm fairly certain you wouldn't do it that way and work with Lebron to retain as much of your personal value as you could.

[This message has been edited by ATM9000 (edited 6/1/2010 11:52a).]

Right, so that would include not getting fleeced by the Mavs by giving up Beaubois and Dampier for Lebron James when there are likely better sign and trade deals on the teable. You can tell Lebron no to the Dallas deal, but that you would accept deals to go to Portland, Houston, or Oklahoma City. I don't know how it's all going to shake down, but the Cavs don't have to roll over and do Lebron any favors.

The problem it all poses is Lebron leaving $30 mil poorer doesn't leave even CLOSE to the dent it'd leave the Cavs in. They need to get something back for him and while the packages you are throwing out there would be better for Lebron, if Lebron doesn't want to play there, he won't and the Cavs suffer much more collateral damage to their franchise than Lebron does. Cleveland holds some cards, but if Lebron wants to go somewhere, it'll happen be it more teams need to get pulled into the trade. That's the best part of being the most coveted free agent on a market where there are lots of buyers.

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Look, it sucks to lose Lebron, but we're trying to stay competitive because we landed a guy that's been a top 10 scorer in the league 3 of the last 5 years and is an efficient scorer, plus we have 2 of the best rookies in the league from last year with high upside, plus we have two high draft picks.

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Kevin Martin leading the charge for the Cavs = horrible team again... at least with the Mavs, they'd have the optionality to waive Dampier and grab another big time player. On top of that, remember that the 2 'draft picks' are only the right to switch picks. Considering the Knicks likely actually do nab at least one of the big named players, I'd say the liklihood of that mattering at all to a Kevin Martin/Jamison led Cavs team would be pretty small.

[This message has been edited by ATM9000 (edited 6/1/2010 12:43p).]

The 30 Mil figure isn't totally incorrect, but extremely misleading. He loses some on the life of the 6 year deal he could take elsewhere if he signed outright, but that doesn't account for the "7th year"/1st year of the new deal he would get after that. Extremely misleading, sir. Lowers the 30 Mil figure significantly.

That said, I'd bet my bank account and left testy he doesn't go anywhere via sign and trade. My point was that arguing "Team X doesn't have enough to offer via sign and trade" is stupid. If LBJ said, "I want to go here, make it work", Cleveland would be stupid not to try to work a deal where they get draft picks, young + cheap assets with potential and expiring/voidable contracts in return.

Or they could let him walk for nothing in that scenario. Don't think it happens that way, but if LBJ decides he wants to go to a team without the cap space to sign him outright, makes no sense whatsoever for Cleveland to squash it. Unless they think, by refusing to accomodate that, he would cave in and stay. Which is absurd to me.

[This message has been edited by funky07time (edited 6/3/2010 1:56a).]

Addendum: LBJ could also say "I want to go here (Team X needs a sign and trade to make it happen), and if you don't accomodate that, I'm going to NY/Chicago/Miami/NJ". I'm moving on". Doubt it happens, but at that point he has them over a barrel. Then, Cleveland has the choice to get cheap assets/potential guys and draft picks back or let him walk for nothing. Only if he wants to go to a team w/o the cap space to sign him outright.

Again, don't think it comes to that, but if it does, Cleveland doesn't have much of a choice.

Also, why the hell would LBJ want to go to Houston? I give Dallas 50-to-1 odds, it's just a wet dream, but why Houston? To play with Brooks (slightly better version of Mo Williams), Scola, and a broken Yao? And why would Cleveland want Martin and 3 more years of a fairly big contract as part of that deal? If you're Cleveland and LBJ leaves, aren't you blowing it up and pretty much starting over? As for Budinger and Hill...how fast do the Mavs hangup the phone if both were offered for Roddy B?