NBA Free Agency: Chris Broussard Talks LeBron Staying in Cleveland
June 30, 2010Breaking Report: Byron Scott, Not Shaw To Be Cavalier Coach
June 30, 2010
The moment is upon us. Tonight at 12:01 am, LeBron James will become a free agent, and for the first time since he entered the NBA in 2003, the Cleveland Cavaliers will no longer have sole rights to him. He will officially be up for grabs.
It’s hard to imagine that sitting here on a Wednesday afternoon, this could be the very last day LeBron James is ever a Cavalier. But this is the reality we find ourselves in, and for anyone who was actually able to ignore the rumors until July 1st, well, it begins now for you as well.
So the rumors and speculation aren’t slowing down any time soon, and one topic that has been the subject of much conversation and speculation has been the prospect of the sign and trade. While Toronto GM Bryan Colangelo has stated that he would be open to a sign and trade involving Chris Bosh, many Cavs fans have been wondering about a sign and trade involving LeBron should he decide he wants to leave.
There has been some confusion about exactly what the sign and trade is and why the Cavaliers should or would use it. Some have said the Cavs should use it because it’s better to get something than let LeBron walk and get nothing. Other have said the Cavaliers should use it to get a Trade Exception, which is like “trading for cap space”.
The truth of the sign and trade is slightly different, at least in terms of practical application and how it is actually used in the NBA. As most know by now, if you are over the salary cap and you make a trade, you cannot bring back more than 125% of the outbound salary. In other words, the salaries have to match. This is true in one type of trade, but there are actually two types of trades involved in the Traded Player Exception of the CBA.
Teams who are under the cap can trade at will, but those who are over (or will be over after the trade is completed) must use an exception to do any trades. The most common one is the Traded Player Exception.
The first type of trade in this exception is the simultaneous trade, where multiple players can be included and the salaries must more or less match. The second type is the non-simultaneous trade. In this type of trade, only one player may be included per team, and the salaries do not have to match. The team who takes on less salary will then have one year to use make up the difference by taking on additional salary in a different trade. This is what is commonly called the ‘trade exception’.
For example, if the Cavaliers did a sign and trade with LeBron where they signed him to $17 million this year and traded him to Chicago for, say, Taj Gibson who makes $1.1 million this year. That would leave the Cavaliers with a $15.9 million ‘trade exception’. Within the next year, at any point the Cavaliers could make a trade and take back a player up to $15.9 million regardless of how much salary they were sending out.
It’s important to note that you can’t combine the salary of the player you send out in the trade to your trade exception amount. So, for another example, say the Cavs wanted to use Delonte West plus their trade exception to bring back another player. In this scenario, they can’t combine Delonte’s $4.5 million with the $15.9 million exception to bring back a player making $20.4 million. Instead, they would have to match up Delonte’s salary with one player and then take on another player who makes up to $15.9 million. However, what they could do is trade a draft pick (which has $0 value in trades) and then just take back a $15.9 million player, thus saving a team $16 million while getting a presumably good player for nothing more than a draft pick.
It’s important to note, though, that getting a trade exception is not like “trading for cap space”. It does allow you to create cap space for other teams when you use it in trade, but it doesn’t create any extra cap space for yourself. The best way to create cap space for yourself is to let a free agent walk away, at which point you get 100% of his cap space back.
The though of why the Cavaliers should or should not do a sign and trade then depends on your opinion of how the Cavaliers should rebuild in a post-LeBron era. If you believe the Cavaliers should just keep spending right away and fight for perpetual mediocrity, then the Cavaliers should absolutely do a sign and trade and try to get a trade exception back.
On the other hand, if you believe that rebuilding through the draft initially and then using cap flexibility along with your successful draft picks is the better way to rebuild, then it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever for the Cavaliers to use a sign and trade.
John Krolik had some interesting thoughts about rebuilding earlier this week on Cavs: The Blog:
A good rebuilding process generally takes 2-3 years. Those are the years where you get lucky enough in the draft to snag a superstar and pick two or three other young players to grow with him, forming the “core” of the franchise. “Core” players are generally lottery picks, although there have been some later-draft miracles as well. (I’m thinking of San Antonio here.) Think about how Oklahoma City has built its team, Rose and Noah on the Bulls, Nelson and Howard on the Magic.
[…]
When a rebuild is successful, the team is now in contender mode. When a team has a real chance to make a deep playoff run, they cannot afford to think in the long-term; NBA championship windows are too small. Moves can be made, even significant ones, but the chances of adding a “core” piece are extremely slim when a team doesn’t have lottery picks any more. Considering that winning a championship with only one “core” player is nearly impossible, it’s important not to screw up the chance to get some “core” guys during the rebuilding years.
And that’s precisely the point as to why the Cavaliers should not (and almost certainly will not) use a sign and trade to let LeBron leave. The only way it makes any sense to do so is if you can get a true core player back in the S&T. Otherwise, you’re only limiting your draft position and your future ability to add core players. Guys like Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant, Dwight Howard, etc are almost certainly never going to be available for just a trade exception. It may be possible to get 2nd tier core guys if the situation is just right, but they are extremely rare in the NBA.
The fact is, using a sign and trade is really just a great way to keep your team continuously on the fringe of relevance. Good enough to maybe get in the playoffs, but not good enough to be a true contender. When you look at what Chicago or Miami have to offer the Cavaliers in a sign and trade, there’s nothing there. All the Cavaliers are going to do is tie up cap space in the near future by using a trade exception to take on even more salary. That technique was fine in the ‘win now at all costs’ environment of LeBron. Without him, though, that philosophy makes much less sense and is questionable financially.
If this world has even the slightest bit of good to it, none of this will matter. LeBron will stay with the Cavaliers, sign a long term contract, and the Cavaliers can get back to building around him.
The only thing I know for certain is that when 12:01 am hits, while many will be checking Twitter and ESPN for immediate updates, I will be sound asleep. I can only take so much of this, and the thought of counting down the minutes on LeBron in Cleveland is too much for me to bear.
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ESPN has late breaking news that LeBron, Wade and Bosh will indeed play together. In an unprecedented move the three will form their own team rounding out the roster with Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan. The new super team will play all home games on the moon. Chris Broussard confirms via Twitter.
In a related story, after an exhaustive interview process Ronald McDonald has agreed to a 3 year contract to become the Cavaliers new head coach. He will be introduced at a formal press conference held in a submarine below the Atlantic Ocean. ESPN’s Rick Bucher has more to follow.
Great article, Andrew. Thanks for explaining those details, and I definitely agree with your take.
stephen a. smith has sources who have confirmed that lebron, wade and bosh will be playing in uranus.
OH COME ON….WE SHOULD JUST LET HIM LEAVE FOR NOTHING? THINK OF ALL THE TERRIBLE CONTRACTS THAT WE COULD BE GETTING BACK!
Very nice Andrew. Count me in the camp of people that would rather suck for a couple of years, pick up a lottery pick and early round picks.
Thank you! This is exactly always been my sentiment and what I was expressing in yesterday’s post du jour.
If LeBron goes, its best to bottom out as quickly as possible and hope we can strike gold in the draft. I have no inclination to watch the Fratello era Cavs again.
In the NBA, you have to suck enough to stop sucking.
Well thought out, although I feel you’re forgetting a pretty substantial piece of the puzzle: Dan Gilbert. Gilbert has lost money on the Cavs the last two years (and that’s with Lebron James and some of the best attendance/local TV ratings/merch sales in the NBA.
My guess is that he doesn’t think this team can afford a rebuilding project from scratch – and the subsequent apathy that would set in about a team that’s always been a distant third in the hearts and minds of Clevelanders. He knows that if loses the fans/corporate sponsorships/suite owners over the next three years, he may have lost them permanently – which would be devastating to his ownership.
Prediction: this is going to be a long month
O/U on date LeBron actually makes a decision… July 23rd?
Great write-up. I spent the past month + ignoring all the conjecture flying around (aka not watching Sportscenter) but I finally caved today and the gravity of the situation hit me. I obviously hope he stays, but if he walks we’ll just have to pick ourselves up and hope that Gilbert keeps the team in Cleveland and Grant is able to put a solid team together over the next 3 years. I’ve been ‘seriously joking’ about this for the past few months, but I think the Browns are the best shot Cleveland fans have at seeing a title in the next 10 years.
I dont really agree with your reasoning for not trading for young talent and draft picks. I posted earlier today on another post that with a Dallas scenario, we could possibly get Butler, Dampier (both expiring contracts), Beaubois, and as many first round draft picks as allowed, while unloading a expesive, multi-year contract. My ideal scenario involves trading Butler and Dampier to contenders for more yound talent and draft picks. Worst case, we let them walk at the end of the year and save the money from the multi-year contract we got rid of.
I just think the more draft picks we have in the draft, the more chances we have to get something right. Arenas, Parker, Boozer, Blair, Redd, among many many other good NBA players have been drafted outside of the lottery. Heck, not everyone needs to be an all-star, just a productive role player. Give ourselves opportunities to succeed
Also, wouldnt we consider trading Mo Williams, Delonte West, and Antwan Jamison for young talent, expiring contracts, and draft picks. Why not LeBron?
This is entirely dependent on the notion that he refuses to return
The other element of this is forcing LeBron to walk away without getting a max deal. As much money as he makes, I think it will be tough for any of these players to knowingly leave money on the table to go somewhere else. Of this group of FA’s, Bosh appears to be the only one who’s definitely leaving and it sounds like that will be a S&T so he doesn’t leave money on the table. Windy has been saying it all along and its true – don’t ignore the impact of cash on all of these guys. I think we could end up seeing a lot less movement than many of ESPN’s talking heads are predicting. For instance, if Joe Johnson is offered the max deal from Atlanta and Atlanta tells him we’re not doing a sign and trade, I think Johnson is staying in Atlanta.
I also said yesterday… dont give him a max deal in a sign and trade. Give him market-max, not Cavs-max. The sign and trade would just give him the flexibility to go to a team without cap space that he couldnt go to otherwise.
I am all for the Cavs bluffing that they wont S&T LeBron so that he does not feel he has more options, but when it comes down to him walking for nothing or trading and jump starting your rebuilding, I will take the latter
I dont know why Jamison and Mo have not been involved in trade talks. They both cant preform under pressure, and make tons of money. Both could be used in a sign/trade to surround LeDiva with more talent.
So you want to play for draft picks? Yes, that’s sums up everything wrong with the NBA
@ Alex – um, because they’re not expiring contracts, and because nobody would want players who “cant preform under pressure, and make tons of money”? Doy.
The Cavs have supposedly been in trade talks today. We don’t know who they’re talking about trading. So, maybe those guys are involved.
Stephen A. Smith’s source is Allen “Jewelz” Iverson.
“I heard Lebron was going to Miami yo”
I wouldnt sign and trade LeBron if he decides to leave, if only because i would NEVER want to be the guy that traded away Lebron James.
And if he goes, good riddance. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out. Why would I (Dan Gilbert) want to facilitate anything for a guy who just turned his back on me?
The only “big time” free agents who are definately leaving their current teams are Bosh and Boozer, because they have already burned too many briedges. Money talks, specifically $30 million. Bosh will get his money in a sign and trade. The Jazz dont want Boozer back. Everyone else would have to give up some serious cheddar to go elsewhere.
if we get back Dampier and Roddy-B, then I propose throwing those guys directly at NO for Chris Paul. I still don’t think NO trades him, but if they do, the best possible scenario involves Dampier (whoever has him and his get-out-of-jail-free $13mil contract).
if we can’t get him, then we get to cut $13mil for free.
I just hate the idea of getting back CaRon Butler and having Jamison. I mean, we really want to be an older, worse version of the Wizards team that couldn’t get out of the 1st round in a weaker version of the East?
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Otherwise, I have no qualms about letting LeBron just walk if he forces his exit and rebuilding. According to BW, neither do the Cavs. Rebuilding can be a little more aggressive than just bottoming out (trading for young pieces, draft picks and adding younger vets with bigger contracts like Iggy at the trade deadline when you’ve guaranteed your spot in the lottery)
@8
I will take the under. I think LBJ owes it to the other free agents to make a decision in a decent amount of time.
Also, the fact that he is not traveling to all the spots has got to make it go quicker.
@8 I’m with you if LBJ decides in under a month I’d be shocked. It’s already been a long month and it won’t be getting any easier any time soon.
I hate, hate, hate, hate the notion of acquiring Erick Dampier. It’s so incredibly asinine that it makes my head hurt. Explain to me how picking up an expiring contract when we would already have an expiring contract in LeBron by default makes ANY sense.
Quite frankly, we aren’t going to flip Erick Dampier for anything that is going to help the Cavs improve in the long or short term with his contract. We had three “attractive” large expiring contracts the last two years in Wally Sczerbiak, Z and Ben Wallace and netted us an aging Shaq and Antawn Jamison.
And if the suggestion is that it could net us somebody like Andre Iguodala a.k.a. a guy who is currently murdering the 76ers cap space and can’t lead them to an 8th spot in the godawful Eastern Conference than we might as well just give up.
You have to acquire a superstar to win big in the league. And the ONLY way a team like the LeBron-less Cavs is going to do that is to bottom out and hope to get lucky in the draft.
It’s LeBron or bust. Deal with it, guys.
@8 and 22 – BW has said that LeBron’s camp has been told by Stern/NBA to make haste with his decision to not hold up the entire league. They will likely make their decision pretty quickly (likely by the July 8th date) as you don’t want to bit teh hand that feeds.
@23 – Dampier’s contract is non-guaranteed $13mil, so it comes off the books without any harm done.
we can either use it in a trade up until October to a team who wants to dump a contract or we can release him ourselves and save that $$$.
it’s really the only option that would make sense for a team like NO if they HAVE to trade Chris Paul. unlikely, but if their sale falls through and they HAVE to trade him, all of a sudden we are the #1 attractive team.
I for one am going on record before anything goes down to say that I hope Lebron DOES NOT sign with the cavs and that they do not do a sign and trade. Lebron has been in the league for 7 years and all those years it has been another team that won the title. Sure its been fun but because he has not commited they have been unable to improve in the off season. He is not a winner (See Kobe) at least not up until now and with the cast they have now it won’t happen. While rebuilding we won’t win now but we can eventually. Begging him to stay won’t ever.
Doc, the thing about bringing back an expiring deal like Dampier is the ability to flip it for picks to bad teams over the cap. Send Dampier to say the sixers for a pick and/or one of their young guys like Thaddeus Young still on their cheap rookie contract, and suddenly it adds up to more than just the cap space that LeBron would leave.
However, if the choices are Miami and Chicago, forget it. They offer nothing, the draft picks they will be giving up will be late 1st round picks anyway. The only way I do a SnT is with a team that can give me one big expiring deal (like Dampier) and a young piece still on his rookie contract. That’s it.
MeandH, do you know the history of the Cavaliers. We haven’t won ever. Our best shot has been with LeBron. There is no chance whatsoever we will ever get a player like him again in the next 30 years. You hold onto that as long as possible.
Ran out of room. I certainly won’t be upset if they sign him but you have to be able to move on and not let this break the franchise. Is he commited or not is what it comes down to and up until right now it seems he is not. Been following for years in the heart of New York and would love nothing more in sports than a Cleveland parade but he cannot be the end of this franchise.
being able to move on and hoping he doesn’t resign are 2 completely different things.
yes, we will move on and losing LeBron will not be the ‘death to the Cavs’ as ESPN likes to pronounce. however, there is little reason to hope that he leaves either.
also:
“He is not a winner (See Kobe) at least not up until now and with the cast they have now it won’t happen”
This is complete crud. Was Kobe being a team commitment player when he was trying to force a trade out of LA? Or when he threatened to sign with the Clippers to the point they thought they actually were getting him?
It’s all spin. All players want to win and all players want to make as much money as possible. Different players have different priorities on those 2, but the elite guys realize that their earning potential is tied to championships, so it is completely intertwined.
“He is not a winner (See Kobe)” waas referring to his killer instinct. He simply doesn’t have it. And regarding loyalty, Kobe to the Lakers and Lebron to Cleveland are light years apart. This is loyalty to a city that was told that he will light it up like Vegas. The only loyalty to the lakers that Kobe needs to have is to earn a paycheck.
And Kobe not signing with the Lakers does not impact the Lakers like Lebron leaving the Cavs impact them.
Sigh. LeBron doesn’t have a killer instinct, eh?
Like the Wizards series his first playoff appearance with all those game-winning shots? Or the Pistons that year, the next year 7-game series, or game5 of 2007 when he absolutely willed the Cavs to wins. Heck, even against the Spurs in the 2007 Finals where he did everything he could to keep the games close to give us a chance to win (why oh why did AV not pass that ball back out?).
Or, we can go into more recent history examples of the Boston 7 game series with game winning shots, or game7 where he did everything possible to win (and it ended up being PJ Brown of all people who solidified the win for Boston). Or last year against Orlando where we matched up so poorly, yet were a Delonte rebound-oops-turnover from forcing game7.
Or the fact he is the 2nd best NBA player each of the last 3 years in crunchtime according to 82games.com (Carmelo is #1)
No, we have to point to game5 this year against Boston where something obviously wasn’t right. That one game doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a killer instinct. Sorry, that is just not valid with me.
“This is loyalty to a city that was told that he will light it up like Vegas. The only loyalty to the lakers that Kobe needs to have is to earn a paycheck.”
No, this is not true. LeBron has no need for loyalty to the Cavs than Kobe does the Lakers.
The problem is that we, as fans, probably have more loyalty and attachment to LeBron than any other fanbase to their star. Because of the bad era before him. Because he’s homegrown. Because he’s been so hyped and delivered (everything but a championship).
And, if you don’t call what he did for our franchise lighting it up like Vegas, then I don’t know what to tell you. He didn’t get us a championship (yet), but we’ve never been so close (and I loved the early 90’s Cavs teams).
I didn’t even have to mention Kobe quitting on his team against the Suns in game7 the year before they got Gasol?