LeBron James the Recruiter Targets Jawad Williams
Written By: Scott | Category: Cleveland Cavaliers | Comments: 50
Over the last two weeks, LeBron James has turned into an epic Voltron of Urban Myer, John Calipari and Korn Ferry International when it comes to recruiting players to join him in Miami. Not long after locking up veterans Mike Miller and Zyrdunas Ilgauskas, James has reportedly set his sights on a younger player in Cleveland’s Jawad Williams.
Unlike Miller and Ilgauskas, Williams is a restricted free agent which allows the Cavaliers to match any offers made by the Heat. Given the differing salary cap situations of the two franchises and the fact that Williams would be in for key minutes at the small forward position in 2010-11, it is anticipated that the Cavaliers would match any realistic offer that the Cleveland product would receive.
Cavs fans may be able to let go of Ilgauskas given what he has done for the franchise over the last 14 seasons, but this move will undoubtedly not sit well. As a Western Conference executive told The Plain Dealer’s Brian Windhorst earlier this week, James has done “more recruiting in the last five days than he did in the last three years.” Given that Williams is from the Glenville area and went to St. Ed’s for high school, this report definitely hits closer to home.
Williams averaged 4.2 points, 1.5 rebounds in 13 minutes per game in 2009-10. He played in 54 games, essentially fighting for minutes and a rotation spot with Jamario Moon. It is assumed that James’ exit will allow considerable playing time for both players in 2010-11.
Missing out on free agent after free agent in Cleveland, Danny Ferry was forced to make trades to acquire assets. With James waiting until July 8 to make his announcement, the team missed out on several possible additions who had agreed to terms with other teams. Chris Grant and his staff made a qualified offer to point guard Kyle Lowry, but the Houston Rockets were quick to match.
The Cavaliers have been rumored to be interested in point guards Michael Conley and Ramon Sessions. Other names that have recently been added to the mix are swingmen Ronald “Flip” Murray, Ronnie Brewer, Antoine Wright and Rasual Butler.
Author: Scott
Scott is a co-founder/editor of Waiting For Next Year who resides in Cleveland, Ohio. Feel free to follow him on Twitter or email him at scott@waitingfornextyear.com.Scott has written 2076 articles for Waiting for Next Year.
Wouldn’t mind getting Conley here. He fits the PG mold. And Rasual Butler can fill it up. Not exactly a lockdown defender, but he can score
If Jawad resigns, he’s a hometown hero who people will root for. If he goes anywhere else, he’s just a mediocre bench player fans won’t care about.
I’d think he’d want to stay here and get a chance to possibly start instead of playing behind LBJ again.
If we sign Flip Murray I will barf out of anger.
Whats Antoine Walker doing these days?
What was so wrong with the Cavs that made LeBron leave, yet try to bring all of them with him? What a god-da** scumbag
Sweep the leg!
Not only is he actually recrutiting for the first time in his carrer, but he is handpicking fan favorites (Z) and homegrown talents(Jawad)… Granted, Jawad isnt making any all-star teams, but its the concept.
I wasnt gonna say anything, but that just ain’t right!
Flip hit some big shots for us in 2006*.
*It is no longer 2006.
So apparently building a winner in Miami means taking the cleveland bench and adding it to bosh and wade….this guy is trash.
LeFraud now has his new leader DWade bashing LeBron’s former teammates in interviews with the AP while simultaneous recruiting the same guys? What a piece of garbage.
As for Jawad, if the Cavs want to keep him, they probably can. Jawad would get no playing time and less money down in MIA. Of course, if Jawad wants a ring, he ain’t getting it anytime soon in Cleveland.
I’m pretty sure Miami has little to no cap space left after signing Miller, forcing them to use vet minimum contracts to fill the roster. If they sign Jawad to an offer sheet at the minimum, it would be a no-brainer and a fairly equitable move to match it.
The current Sports Illustrated has the following LeBron quote, which he made during the Miami pep rally:
“The [Heat] organization is a close-knit group. It’s all about family, and that’s what I’m all about.”
SI also reprised a James quote from his TV spectacular:
“It is a tough decision because I know how loyal I am.”
Wow, this guy is an absolute bull**** machine.
Asking Dwayne Wade if lbj quit is like asking me if my best friend cheated on his girlfriend – of course I know he did but you actually expect me to admit it?
Lebron promising multiple championships. Lebron handpicking guys he wants on the team. Haven’t we watched this story before? Lebron reminds me of T.O. more every day. He has worlds of talent, but is a cancer to a team.
Lebron is starting to get ridiculous. I can understand the recruiting of Z. The cHeat were in dire need of a big man. It makes sense. Z is the only center on the market that would take the money the cHeat could offer. but, going after the Cavs bench players is absolutely classless. Is he going to try and convince Marc Price and Brad Daugherty to join him in South beach? Maybe he’ll wait until the Cavs cut DWest so he can start recruiting his step-dad. LBJ has proven that he couldn’t care less about the Organ-I-zation or the fans who supported him over the past 10 years of his life.
I, honestly, don’t care about him taking Z or Jawad. Neither one of those guys will help him win anything but hate amongst his former biggest supporters (US!) But it’s just starting to get ridiculous for him. He didn’t help us woo Trevor Ariza last year, and as a Cav he never committed to this team or winning. Now he’s all about recruiting players.
/true color
I can’t wait until LePuke does his dribble for 20 seconds and shoot a low percentage shot offense for the cHeat and have Wade and Bosh get upset with him!!
@JNeids-
HAHAHA, HEHE, HOHO… Good one.
@13 – The funniest part of all of it is that he said 7 championships while only signing a 6 year contract. Hilarious.
@stin,
LeShame isn’t known for his mathematics.
I actually may just start putting Le in front of all negative remarks.
.. I’m glad we got rid of LeBranyan.
Man, it’s kind of sad to see LeZ leave, but it will only hurt LecHeat
I give LeBron and his new BFFs about two weeks into the season before they give up on Z. He’s done.
It’s going to be interesting to see what kind of advertising angle Nike comes up with for The Global Icon. He’s a joke now. Who outside of Miami would buy his stuff?
I didn’t hate LeBron even after he turned into Judas, I really did not like him but I didn’t hate him. I understood, the situation he was in and people he was around (LRMR crap) turned him into an egotistical monster. I understood that perhaps we were partially to blame for helping but I don’t think we’re really to blame cuz Jordan was even bigger and didn’t turn into a monster. Anyway, now I’m officially starting to hate him and I wish him nothing but failure because it’s like he’s TRYING to hurt us? Not that Jawad would make or break the Cavs but it’s the principle of him trying to steal away another homegrown Cav.
@11 Loyalty and family in the Miami organization huh? That’s good to hear, as Dwayne Wade’s kids are saying “mommy when do i get to see daddy again?” all the way in Chicago
You people are so in denial. Lebron screwed us over in an inexcusable fashion. But all this talk about how terrible he is is sour grapes. He’ll have a fifty point game with Wade on the bench and that will be the last we hear about “Wade’s #####”. He’ll win a championship that will inevitably require a few heroics on his part, and everyone will forget that he had to sign with other stars to win.
I have nothing to defend what he did. His every recent action, combined with his constant self-descriptions of loyalty and humility, show what a (child) (clueless) (pampered) (fool) he is. But he was the best thing to happen to Cleveland in a long time, and he’s STILL the best player in the NBA. (And he’s overdue for an injury. Just saying, God, Knamean? Not suggesting anything.)
pointless on LeBron’s part here. Miami signs Jawad to reasonable deal, we might get him cheaper than if he resigned with us directly.
nothing to see here.
@21 You are wise, Roosevelt. I have felt much the same as you have just expressed. LeBron is certain to have an electric performance (or three) in any given play-off series from here on out. All will soon be forgotten (or forgiven) as ESPN will be certain to continue to shill and paper over this Cleveland “unpleasantness”.
This recruiting version of LeScumbag is really off-putting. Just highlights what a cruel, calculated, hit on our team this Queen orchestrated.
ESPN anchors have semi’s thinking about LePunk in Miami with Bosh and Wade. I can sometimes see them drooling as those mindless REbots read from the teleprompter.
Rasul Butler, Ramone Sessions, Ronnie Brewer, Flip Murray? Come one Gilbert, we are used to watching LEBRON JAMES….you expect people to go down to the Q to watch a bunch of CRAP?
Tank and start drafting….thats the only option. Hope for a lockout so Bron can’t win title, injury the next year, and maybe you’ll win before he does…highly unlikely.
Can we come up with better “Le[insert word here]” names?
LePuke, LeSuck, LeOMGiammadatyou ….not the best.
(c)Heat is funny though. Props to whoever came up w/ that one.
BTW I haven’t watched one minute of ESPN since “the decision” and I’m not missing it at all.
Its difficult to understand why some folks would defend #6. He is big, way bigger than Cleveland. But Kobe is way bigger than LA and MJ was way bigger than Chicago. He would have been bigger than the both of them had he won here. He chose not to. Possibly because he wanted to play with his friends, possibly because the three stooges have the same management team. How can it be denied that Riley didn’t tamper. Come on, when did he retire number 23 in Miami? #6 says he is going to drop number 23 at the end of the season. #6 never recruited anyone to play here and we still could have won a championship. Wow, he was really receiving some poor advise, or chose not to listen to the good advise. If this transaction is not looked into then all I can say is that the NBA is truly fixed. It is the WWE, and we root for the overthetop goliath teams (big markets) to beat up on the chumps (small markets) to help ensure revenue and ratings. I’m all for Dan Gilbert and the Cavs and hope that we put together a great team. I love that we are going to fastbreak and run the Princeton style offense, but it just makes me sick that we really thought this whole game was real. I never cared for WWE, even when I was a kid. Its a cartoon. I always preferred to watch/play real sports. You gotta wonder if the NBA is trying to be bigger than it is? Maybe there should be only six teams in the league, because only six teams have won the title in the last 27 years (seven if you you count Miami which there are some rumblings that some of those playoff games were rigged). What a joke. I’m glad I took my daughter to see the Cavs last season because if she wants to go again she is going to have to wait until she is 18 and pay for her own ticket. I’ll do my best to ignore Cavs basketball – too bad, too – it was a nice diversion. Even the national media is on this. Can the Stern really ignore this? Does Miami really care, are people who do care going to fly down to watch the Heat? Miami is in the top 10 for foreclosures, thats worse than Cleveland. Can people who live and work in Miami really afford to come watch them play? Ticket prices should be hiked up this year. Wow, what a farse. #6 spent three years not trying to recruit free agents, wore a Yankee hat everywhere, quit in the finals, all in an effort to play with a friend? Its obvious what he did. I can’t believe Clevelanders/Akronites are sticking up for him. He was selling a false product. He pimped us for three years. OH, he did what was best for his family. He won’t even marry the mother of his two children or mention her existance to the media. One more thing, about Delonte West, if the rumors are correct, why is #6 mad at him? He has a problem that he has been trying to address. An older women took advantage of him, and #6 “Team of Friends” should have told him not his teammates who he could care less about. I hope Delonte West stays, he’ll play hard for us. I can forgive him, but not #6.
@25 I’m with you one bad season while you move all of these so-called assets. Use a high pick plus these exceptions and you can turn this around after a year. Signing people like Kyle Lowry isn’t the way to go, if you ask me.
@ 21- If the cHeat wins championships it will be Dwade coming through in the clutch. He and Kobe are both better then the former king.
(I actually believe LBJ was not the best bball player in the NBA, before this offseason)
Delonte west lebrons stepdad HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAA!!!!! Good one matty
@26 My personal favorite is LeBenedict.
@Ben- It’s not very easy coming up with Le(nicknames) on a family friendly site. I want to use Le(female dog) or Le(female anatomy)but it’s not possible. I will still attempt to, but if you have any examples, please share.
Lebrona Bin Ladan.
LeLu-who-za-her (Ace Ventura Loser pronunciation)
LeRobin
LePippen 2.0
LeLarry Hughes
LeProstidude (selling himself for a quick ring)
The most shameful of all is LeBron James.
King Shames
King Lames
King Blames
Quitness
Witless
Winless
Spineless(?)
Anyone see MoGotti2 aka Mo Williams stand up for himself on Tiwtter about Wade’s comments to the AP on Lebron quitting?
/Loves it
@Ben – my personal favorite is LeFraud Shames
We need Denny to help with the nicknames….
We need Jawad.
A storybook future for Jawad is he becomes the new leader of the Cavs and the city of Cleveland. Then he leads us to defeat the Heat for Lebron’s first game back at the Q. After the game he speaks volumes about what Cleveland really means and that he wants to be the guy that will try to put our city on the map.
He doesn’t necessarily need to win us a title, but it would certainly go a long way for him to play with the pride and respect our city needs.
Jawad could provide some hope. I think he ceiling for talent is still unknown. Excited to see what he could bring to the Cavs this coming season.
Who’s he gonna recruit next? Quicken Loans? Jersery colors? Cheerleaders? Maybe even try and partition the Waterboy for a long-term deal on par with Bobby Bouchet? Stay tuned, he ain’t done yet!
Jawad is a nice story and all, but he’s not very good. First off, he’s 27, so he’s not getting much better than what he is now. Secondly, his offensive numbers last season were atrocious, 39% from the floor, 4 rebounds/36 minutes. Finally, while solid on D, he’s not the 2nd coming of Bruce Bowen.
I love Jawad’s story and hope he does well (just like Boykins). But don’t kid yourselves thinking that he’s a building block.
I hate to give him any credit, but maybe he’s trying to help out Jawad by forcing the Cavs hand to resign him. You know, since the Cavs still have yet to make a single roster move this offseason…
That being said.
LeQuitter
LeQuitHole
LeNotChosenOne
LeQueen
LeFraud
LeQuitness
LeBum
LeStiff
LeJerk
LeBiznotch
LemBarresment
LeBJ
@Arch, YAY! You reminded me of one.
LeChosen1/3
BTW TyRant,
LeChosen1/3 will also try to recruit AC, Joe Tait, the saxophone player who was in the Spiderman movie that was filmed in Cleveland, World B Free, Grady Sizemore, Calos Santana and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Then “Your HIGHNESS” will petition to change the city of Miami’s name to “Cleveland” and South Beach to “North East Ohio”, so he can say “I still love “Cleveland and North East Ohio” with a straight face.
A Cavs Fan .. and ‘was’ a Heat fan. Lebron can no longer call himself King James – as D’Wade is and always will be the Miami King. James is now what….. COURT JESTER JAMES? Apparently he also feels he needs some of his Cavs players to help him to… Z. Now my favorite team (after the Cavs) will be whatever teams is playing the Heat. I have no problem with him leaving…. as all have said – it is the way he disgraced him hometown doing it. For someone who once claimed ” I am not a ring chaser – I will bring it Cleveland ” HA! He has shown that HE can’t do it without being the sidekick to someone who can.
LeBron listens to Korn?? World’s most well-fitting JNCO jeans?
Sorry Matty, bitter nicknames aren’t my thing, even though I like portmanteaus.
i’m laughing at the thought of LeBron rocking out to A.D.I.D.A.S. in his Dre custom headphones.
Denny, I thought I liked you… You have broken my spirits.
FYI, I do it just for fun. I’m upset he left,I wish he would have had better character and did it in a more respectful manner. But I hold no ill-feelings for LeQueen.
Princess Jamie and the Three Am-Egos
that implies there are 4…Does Z or Mike Miller get included? Or is it Chalmers since he is the 2nd longest tenured Heat member (Haslem technically was FA and will resigned, so I’m giving him a reset on his clock)
1. LeFlop
1(a). LeElbow
2. LeCon James
3. Squire James n King Dwyane
3(a). LePawn
3. Benedict Arnold’s Biographer (King James Version)
4. LeFawn Craves
5. LeJealous of Carlos Santana
6. LeFlame Off
7. LeBomb
8. LeTank
9. Bronspiracy
10. George Bush
11. South Beach Strangler
12. “That piece of dirt”, credits: Bruce Drennan
14. LeBaron LoveChild (did Delonte own a LeBaron in ’84?)
15. Voldemort
16. LeBron Malfoy
17. LePalpatine
18. Darth James
19. Ouch, couldn’t use this one, because it’s not okay to say cruel things about mentally handicapped kids and compare them to people like LeBron James. But I’m sure you could figure it out.
20. Queen LeBronda
21. LeChoke
22. LeBrondwagon
23. LeNotCoolEnoughtoRecruitPeopletoCleveland
24. LeBron Dolan
25. LeThrows Games
26. LeBurculosis
27. Bronchitis
28. LeTrick
29. LeDestined To be 31 With Bad Knees and No Rings.
30. ChosenWhen?
31. Frozen1
32. Dozin1 (wow these are easy)
33. LeHype
34. Failin1
35. 5on1′in1
36. Cnofusing1
37. Conspiring1
38. LeBore Tame
39. Mediocre1
40. Usurper1