LeBron James, NBA Finals, Edge of Tomorrow and more with Ben Cox – WFNY Podcast – 2014-06-15
June 15, 2014David Blatt to meet with Cavaliers Wednesday
June 16, 2014Happy Monday, kids. Hope you enjoyed your Father’s Day weekend. We’ll have some Tribe talk in just a bit, but for now…
With yet another dominating win, the San Antonio Spurs simultaneously thwarted the hopes of conspiracy theorists and fans of collusion with one fell swoop. Showing that team play willâmore often than notâtriumph over the sporadic style that comes with clinging to the play of the few (or, in this case, the one), Timmy and Pop and Manu and Tony (and Patty and Tony and KawhiâŠ) didn’t just win four games. What the Spurs did to the Heat will be talked about for years, an outright clinic that was one two-point game away from being a sweep of the Mighty Heat. What the Spurs did, what with winning their fifth championship in the Tim Duncan eraâthe star and the coach winning rings 15 years apartâwill be talked about as long as the NBA continues to exist.
Say what you want about Bill Simmons, but it was the Grantland.com Editor in Chief who was not only quick to point out the Cleveland corollary that came with LeBron James being forced to step up in the absence of 11 others, but also that there will never be another 15-year stretch for an NBA franchise to accomplish what the small market, whip-smart Spurs have done. The league isn’t set up to reward teams like the San Antionio Spurs thanks to the rules that encourage player movement. Perhaps its this, the total omission of the easy way, that makes this Spurs dynasty that much more special. Perhaps it’s the way that the Pop-led franchise slices and dices the opposition, playing much of their game below the rim. Perhaps it’s the way general manager RC Buford pieced together this unit, focusing on fit more than outright athleticism and star qualityâthe championship podium had more flags draped over shoulders than an Olympic ceremonyâthis version of America’s team ironically being the most diverse. Perhaps it’s all of the above.
The next month or so will be filled with discussions over what this means for the two-and-a-half deep Miami Heat. For those hoping for a window of opportunity for LeBron James to return to Cleveland, the 2014 NBA Finals could not have gone any betterâthat window is as open as it has ever been. For now, however, it’s should undoubtedly be about the San Antonio Spurs and a 15-year run that has come to fruition without any help from the Collective Bargaining Agreement or collusive players looking for an easier route to the Holy Grail. Built, not bought.
Required on-deadline reading:
- Wojnarowski: How the Spurs’ road to championship redemption began in Miami
- Flannery: This is what a Spurs championship sounds like
- Adande: Spurs’ fifth title elevates them among the greats
- Young: Spurs break loose with title party
- Berger: With annihilation of Heat, Spurs’ masterpiece defines greatness
- Mannix:Â Spurs get ultimate revenge by mauling Heat in Finals
***
Speaking of the Spurs… Veteran big man Boris Diaw is an unrestricted free agent this summer. Diaw and Cavs general manager David Griffin have a lengthy history, dating back to their time spent in Phoenix. I know that the stars are aligned for Griffin to be reunited with Alvin Gentry, but I’d be hard-pressed to not give a look to Diaw who is one of the many heroes to have played a role in the team’s fifth championship. So what if he’s a bit out of shape. Let’s forget that he came into the league as a point guard and realize that those days are well behind him. He’s a savvy passing big man who can only serve to aid in space. It’d be a tough sell to get him to leave an incredible organization forâwellâwhatever we have in Cleveland, but he’d be one of the first phone calls I make come July.
***
If you missed this weekend’s “Hey, Mary,” Cavs beat writer Mary Schmitt Boyer was inundated with some of the most absurd levels of fan questioning in the history of mailbags. The perpetual undervaluing of a 22-year-old two-time All-Star is incredible.
***
The Money Phone is the new Bat Phone. Can you hear me now?
***
Welcome back, David Chappelle. You’ve been missed.
***
And just because: Celebrating prolonged greatness.
49 Comments
I wish I could adequately describe the scene at BW3 last night…totally packed…45 minute wait for a table…extra security…
The bravado of the Miami “fans” was met en-masse by the LeBron haters, errr, Spurs fans.
When Ginobli drove the lane and threw down the dunk in Bosh’s face, the roof actually lifted off the building. And when he drained the 3-pointer immediately afterwards, the place was in total pandemonium.
Near the end when the crestfallen Heat “fans” were serenaded with a bar-wide chorus of “Na na na na hey hey hey GOODBYE”, it was glorious! Glorious!!
Easily, hands down, the greatest non-Cleveland sporting atmosphere I’ve ever experienced.
Those “Hey Mary” questions tell me two things:
1) The average basketball intelligence of Cleveland sports fans is far lower than the average football intelligence;
2) The intelligence of someone who writes to “Hey Mary” is even lower than the above average.
that sounds like a decidedly Cleveland sporting atmosphere đ
and because I am always intrigued by the off the court stuff, here comes the LeBron has to leave bandwagon articles đ you know, because he’s a 90s Cowboy, Yankee, and Seminoles fan. he has to be on the favorite team or it’s just not good enough. well, he can certainly get on a team better overall than the Heat this summer, so he’s got to do it because it’s too hard to try to win with the Heat
and yes, I’m reveling in it. shall we dip our toe in these waters? why yes, yes we shall.
personally, I think LeBron opts-in for 1 more year (many more teams will be open this time next year and he’ll get to play roster manipulator more too with them).
but, if for some reason he doesn’t, then there are many intriguing scenarios (and I am assuming Wade & Bosh opt-in on their deals as they would lose too much $$$ otherwise):
(1) If he wants to go to Houston (Harden & Dwight), then do we help out by taking Asik and Lin off their hands (possibly get some draft picks back for our trouble)?
(2) Will he steal Chicago from Carmelo? (obvious place for Melo as they are a defensive team that needs a go-to scorer with or without Rose)
(3) Could he shock the world and go to what might be the perfect landing spot for him in a major media market with crazy fans that people try to pretend is not a big market? That would be Golden State (and yes, it would require either Miami or another team taking Iggy & David Lee off their hands, but to get Iggy they had to do financial gymnastics, I wouldn’t rule it out)
(4) Or will he just try to team up with the best other player in the NBA because he wants to continue to rig the system (could you imagine if he approached Presti? and Miami would have to take Westbrook back, but they would as that is the best possible return they could get for him anyway)
And yes, I put those last 2 examples in there because they are sort of crazy on the surface, but wanted to demonstrate that LeBron would drive it, not the teams. Teams are basically hog-tied on what they can do as you pretty much have to take a player of his caliber and Miami cannot afford to lose him for nothing (and if they get guys back like Iggy or Westbrook plus assets they could keep things competitive in the weak East).
the question from Mitchell Schwartz made sense, but I’m not sure the answer was even to that question. my head hurts now.
Very true. Although, his question ought to have been “Hey Mary, is there any chance I start at right tackle this year?”
Also, while the questions really made fans look bad/dumb/whatever, remember that MSB chose which questions to answer. Which means she just pulled a simultaneous hit-job on both Kyrie and Cleveland fans. We’ve more or less reached the lunatic fringe.
heres my theory: Since LBJ, Bosh and Wade can all opt out, I think they opt out, re-sign for less (and Wade realizes he is what he is at this stage and gets 5 million per), and Carmelo comes to South Beach
Is it possible her editors tell her which to answer? Since they’re all about clicks?
And since they’re in the East, they will continue to get the free pass to the Finals for the foreseeable future.
I canŽt wait for the PD to start a ŽŽask Jodie Valadeš section. She represents the paper all too well.
I doubt it. Bosh doesn’t like being the third option, let alone being the 4th. Do you realize how hard it would be to get all 4 of those guys to leave tens of millions of dollars on the table? I just don’t see why it would be worth it to any of them (other than James). Maybe Bosh opts out and Melo replaces him. Maybe none of them opt out. But I think after that shellacking, something will give.
that would be a question for a different Mary altogether
http://files-cdn.formspring.me/photos/20121223/n50d6ab494cea2.gif
Aw, poor Bron Bron. It’s so hard to win with only two other all-stars in the line-up. The Miami front office isn’t giving him any support. It’s just not fair.
Hey, Bronnie, you ain’t Michael Jordan and you never will be. So see if you can find some other host organism to attach you parasitic talents to.
No way Wade is taking a pay cut. He is too close to retirement to not collect as much money as possible.
I don’t know what is worse, the anti-Kyrie crowd or the “I wouldn’t take LeBron back” people.
I will always laugh at the Tangled-MKC gifs.
Oh the anti-Kyrie crowd is much much worse. The LeBron haters are the finest kind of chaps, the salt of the earth, simply marvelous people.
yeah, I understand part of the reason for why Kyrie isn’t completely beloved (he isn’t as good as LeBron/Durant and the word “max” contract sounds bad in that context), but Kyrie has accomplished a ton and should continue to get better as he’s still 5 years from what should be his peak. And, people forget that the rookie extension “max” is not the same as the full “max” too.
ah well, hopefully, we figure out how to build this team and Kyrie has a Stephon Curry breakout year and all of this seems silly in retrospect.
hey, possibly. but, man, that just is a degenerative cycle for the NBA. it helps market short-term, but really is cringe-worthy for most fans.
I miss the days when the only star-hopping was past-their-prime ring chasers (like Gary Payton & Karl Malone teaming up with the Lakers — oh, and getting stone-walled anyway).
Your confirmation bias is showing
alternative solution:
each of LeBron, Wade, and Bosh take around $10mil/year. then, the Heat fill the rest of the roster with youth and veteran talent that is undervalued by the NBA, but extremely useful in specific roles. then, develop a system that undercuts the overall value of the stars, but creates an amazingly efficient system that is nearly unstoppable because it has so many moving parts and no specific player or play to focus on.
of course, that could never happen in the NBA, right?
#PopovichLaughsAtMiami
since Bosh is taller with better lateral movement and Miami gets pretty much what they need out of offense from him, wouldn’t replacing him with Melo actually be a net loss?
taking LeBron back would dampen any championship won with him though. I guess I am not so desperate for a championship that I yearn for it at any cost. I greatly appreciate the journey and the journey would not be much fun if it happens.
not that it matters. he isn’t coming back (until his knees or something is shot and he comes back as a last hurray type of deal).
(1 & 3) – Those two best options – HOU & GS could only happen in sign & trades sending big back salary to MIA since any other trade, they’d just be getting back equal salary & not clearing cap space.
(2) – Chicago could sign him or Melo, but would have to amnesty Boozer (yay!) But would either of them really want to rely on a broke down Rose?
(4) – Ugh.
(5) – He could also sign w/the Lakers & they trade Nash/Gasol for Love or Melo.
(6) – The Spurs could theoretically sign him straight up, if they amnestied someone like Splitter (but I don’t think they’d do that).
Other than those & CLE I don’t really see many great fits right now. The Cavs have to be attractive, since their star is still on his rookie deal & therefore they have more salary room to maneuver with. Signing James + orchestrating a sign & trade for Melo or a deal for Love leaves a solid team of supporting players.
it’s just too perfect to let the running joke die đ
Maybe, but if they can’t stop Bosh from leaving, they need to replace him w/something. Namely Melo. I think Bosh wants to be the big fish in a little pond again.
Houston and GS could ship salary away with draft picks on a team with cap room. That is how the Warriors got Iggy.
Chicago isn’t about relying on Rose. It’s about having a great defensive team to bank on with their offense and if Rose comes back at 75%, then great.
I think Kobe is toxic to the younger generation of stars and is the biggest reason the Lakers have struggled to attract the caliber of guys they expect to always attract. Signing him to an extension was the biggest confirmation of the mismanagement of the team since the good Dr. gave up control.
Pops + LeBron = hilarity. I hate reality TV, but would absolutely watch a reality show that followed those guys around together.
Cavs are not attractive without another star. We couldn’t even make the friggin’ EC playoffs. I think we have a ton of young talent, but it isn’t proven yet and LeBron is only going to “championship NOW” teams. If we could somehow get Bosh or Melo or Love with LeBron, then yeah, but it would be harder than the other scenarios presented above (and part of that is the players picking Cleveland, sadly).
but, could Bosh get more than $22mil from another team? I think he opts-in and figures that out after next season.
I don’t see all the questions about trading Kyrie a sign of ignorant undervaluing. If he doesn’t want to re-up asap Gilbert will and should be concerned that Kyrie might want out no matter what. And the current trade murmuring will be nothing compared to what we’ll hear in just a few months if Kyrie and his agent make non-committal wait and see noises.
Kyrie has not done anything to dispel doubt about whether he’s an untouchable, the guy you keep even if he might walk on you. Sure, you employ a cost-benefit analysis of letting it play out as the franchise overhauls its philosophy again versus risking losing him for nothing. But his trade value at any given time is part of that analysis, and a legit topic of discussion by fans.
LeBron James… the ONLY player on earth that can score 30+ in a Finals game and look god awful doing it.
dampen any championship.
TOTALLY… I WOULD NEVER WANT LEBRON BACK BECAUSE HE IS A JERKFACE LIAR.
……we still get the championsip though right?
true. but, Kyrie is a RFA who we should not be afraid about matching ANY offer he receives elsewhere as it would be significantly less than what we offer even if we don’t go all the way up to our max (and we should go to that level).
so, Kyrie’s leverage is that he can whine and cry his way out of town. that is a real option for him, but he would lose a ton of his national appeal as so far he is pretty untouchable outside of Cleveland.
and, many of the cries about Kyrie are actually suggesting the team is better without him or that Waiters is the better PG or some other absurd notion.
Russell Westbrook is now pouting at being disrespected.
Yep – your right, salary dumps could make any of those scenarios possible, I was kind of blanking on that.
Asik+Lin for next to nothing could be interesting, but they’re both 1 year rentals.
The Cavs could dump some combo of Jack/Zeller/Karasev w/draft picks and sign Melo & James outright. Along with Kyrie, Embiid, Waiters, Thompson and Bennett that’s a decent supporting cast. I’m not sure if they’d have to renounce their rights to Deng/Andy/Hawes. But if they could resign any of them, that’s a pretty solid team.
Slim chance – but I have to dream about something!
we still get the championsip though right?
that is part of it. not necessarily. the Spurs just demonstrated a well-constructed team can dismantle a LeBron-centered team. OKC is a young-potential-juggernaut built more than just on their superstars too. A team could rise in the East.
so, we are strengthening our odds for a championship sooner, but not guaranteeing it by any stretch. and, we honestly have a lot more we need now if we would want one soon.
I am a “journey enjoyer” and would not much enjoy the journey with LeBron. I honestly don’t know fully how I would react if he signed back, but it could be the final nudge I need to buy Spurs gear. My sons are already Spurs fans first (whereas they are Indians fans first in baseball though they enjoy the Astros if we ever get to watch them).
It’s my opinion on it, but it is what I have.
they would have to renounce their rights.
again, Cleveland is a factor here. do you think Melo’s wife is signing up for a life in Cleveland? it may be unfair, but it is a significant factor.
Johnny Football Fat Stacks Manziel
http://extramustard.si.com/2014/06/16/johnny-manziel-stack-of-cash-telephone/?eref=sihp
What is the value of “national appeal”? Locals put stock in all-star game performances. Not so sure GMs do. Team owners might want him to goose fan interest but GMs who will get canned for losing, not so much. And anyway the commercial appeal of the young puppy with dazzling skills will fizzle soon enough if they don’t help his team win so many games. Here’s my point: I haven’t given up that he is a franchise-altering player. But I’m hardly convinced that he’s anything but Iverson with better manners and a softer, less competitive nature.
Btw, whining and crying to get out of town is a very effective technique, maybe the best one. Matching a contract doesn’t change the player’s attitude or his game. It will certainly kill the coach, and probably the GM too.
I saw that. Have another drink, Johnny.
Clearly, the man child give’s not a rat’s arse about what people say. I shall interpret this as a positive trait for a future team leader until proven otherwise. But won’t be surprised if compelling evidence to the contrary is imminent.
yes, whining and crying can be effective, just noting it is not without cost.
also, Batum whined and cried, signed with Minnesota and whined to not have it matched. Portland matched and he’s been great for them. “Most” players understand they cannot afford to quit on their team because they would lose their next contract too.
the value of national appeal is huge since it is the biggest reason that Kyrie has the Pepsi-Max contract and Nike is investing in him being one of the few athletes with his own shoe-line rather than just his own shoe.
yes, he could gain it back if he went somewhere else and won a championship by being one of the main guys, but, as also mentioned, he’s not LeBron, so that is not nearly as likely.
Training camp reveals all. đ
Just win baby.
Allow me to confer with my secret insider sources…
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj166/rev920/thread%20bombs/8Ball.gif
Was my link in the actual post not good enough?
Nice F mouth, JFF. You stay classy.
How about this one instead?
http://coed.com/2014/06/14/johnny-manziels-new-girlfriend-could-be-colleen-crowley-28-pics/
Charlie Frye once won a starting job in training camp. True story.
I hope you’re using that term loosely.
Hey, he held that job for an ENTIRE half of football and wasn’t traded until after the game.
It is still crazy that the last good year of football we have seen from the Browns started that way.