In 2014 Lebron James exercised the opt-out clause in his contract and became a free agent. Obviously a number of teams tried to sign him but he was very close to signing a contract with his original team, the Cleveland Cavaliers before the Miami Heat swooped in at the last minute and offered him the max contract he was looking for, in large part by clearing cap space by getting Wade and Bosh to restructure their contracts.
Since then it has been nothing but frustration in Miami. D-Wade is showing his age, Bosh is suffering from blood clots, and the team can't afford to sign any decent role players since so much of their salary cap is tied up with three guys. The Heat got chewed up and spit out in four games by the Warriors in 2015 and didn't even make the finals in 2016, losing to Toronto in seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Raptors then getting chewed up and spit out by the Warriors.
What would have happened if Lebron had signed with Cleveland? Despite being a bad team, the roster was (is) stocked with talented young players like Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson and Dion Waiters and Andrew Wiggins, they had plenty of cap space, and there were even rumors that Kevin Love was going to ask for a trade to Cleveland if Lebron had signed there. Of course Love asked for a trade to Golden State instead and he seems quite happy there.
Would Cleveland have been able to build a championship caliber squad around Lebron and their talented youngsters or would it have been Lebron and Seven Dwarves? A lot of people think Kyrie Irving is just another talented young player who prefers to be a stat stuffer on a lousy team and it is questionable that the team could have afforded Lebron, Irving, and Love (assuming they got him) without totally trashing their salary structure.
Thoughts on this one, it's an interesting what if.
Since then it has been nothing but frustration in Miami. D-Wade is showing his age, Bosh is suffering from blood clots, and the team can't afford to sign any decent role players since so much of their salary cap is tied up with three guys. The Heat got chewed up and spit out in four games by the Warriors in 2015 and didn't even make the finals in 2016, losing to Toronto in seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Raptors then getting chewed up and spit out by the Warriors.
What would have happened if Lebron had signed with Cleveland? Despite being a bad team, the roster was (is) stocked with talented young players like Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson and Dion Waiters and Andrew Wiggins, they had plenty of cap space, and there were even rumors that Kevin Love was going to ask for a trade to Cleveland if Lebron had signed there. Of course Love asked for a trade to Golden State instead and he seems quite happy there.
Would Cleveland have been able to build a championship caliber squad around Lebron and their talented youngsters or would it have been Lebron and Seven Dwarves? A lot of people think Kyrie Irving is just another talented young player who prefers to be a stat stuffer on a lousy team and it is questionable that the team could have afforded Lebron, Irving, and Love (assuming they got him) without totally trashing their salary structure.
Thoughts on this one, it's an interesting what if.