After an awful 2010-2011 season, thanks mostly to LeBron James’ departure, the Cleveland Cavilers were selecting in the lottery this draft instead of the mid- to late-twenties where Cavs fans have become accustomed to picking over the past few seasons.
It is apparent from the lack of talent on the Cavs roster that Cleveland will not have a playoff team anytime in the near future.
After the aftermath of “The Decision” it became obvious to the public that LeBron James never had any intentions of returning to Cleveland after the 2009-2010 season. And because LeBron never alerted the Cavs before the “The Decision” appeared on ESPN that he was “taking his talents to South Beach”, Cleveland wasn’t able to sign any free agents or make any transitions because they still had to save a roster spot and money to pay LeBron if he had decided to return.
Throughout the 2009-2010 season LeBron James did make it clear to everyone that he intended to become a free agent after that season. But he never said that he wouldn’t return to Cleveland, even though, as mentioned, it seemed like he never planned on doing so. There have been numerous reports that he had been planning on being a member of the Miami Heat, or at least teaming up with Dwyane Wade, for quite some time.
Now let’s say that at the beginning of the 2009-2010 season LeBron announced that he had no intention of signing back with Cleveland after that season, kind of like what Carmelo Anthony did with Denver. But still he planned on giving his team and his city all he had for his last season to try to bring them a championship.
Lets fast forward to around the ’09-’10 trading deadline: Cleveland has one of the best records in the NBA because they know LeBron will leave after the year and they’re busting their ass every night because they know this is their best chance to win a title. Also, LeBron is playing hard because he doesn’t want to get the reputation as a guy who quits on his team, and he might as well try to win a title now because he has a pretty good team in Cleveland and he made a promise to the city to try to bring them a title. The New York Knicks, not wanting to lose LeBron in free agency, offers Cleveland the same deal they offered Denver for Carmelo Anthony (Anthony, Billups, and a bunch of stiffs to New York and Denver got Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, cash, a 2012 second round pick, a 2013 second round pick, and a 2014 first round pick).
In this fictional New York-Cleveland deal Cleveland gives up LeBron and Mo Williams and stiffs X and New York gives up Chandler, Felton, Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, cash, a 2012 second round pick, a 2013 second round pick, and a 2014 first round pick.
I am asking Cavs fans and NBA fans would you accept this trade or would you keep LeBron for the remainder of the season?
Before you choose here are some key points that you have to remember before making your decision.
- You can’t see into the future. So you can’t trade LeBron just because you know that LeBron will quit in the Boston series or do “The Decision”.
- Remember when LeBron played with Cleveland and people actually liked him. So you have to use whatever mindset you had on had on LeBron during ’09-’10 season. What I mean is did you think he was a trustworthy person who would stick buy his promise and give it all he had every game, and you can’t involve any of the dumb shit LeBron has done over the past year to alter your choice.
Another thing you can do before making your decision is think of the pros and cons if Cleveland made the trade.
If Cleveland Makes the Trade
Pros:
- If LeBron says he is going to leave at the end of the year then the Cavs might as well try to get some talent to replace him so they won’t be awful in the future. Chandler, Felton, Gallinari, and three picks are better than nothing.
- Cleveland would still make the playoffs that season and have enough talent to make the playoffs in the future.
Cons:
- By trading LeBron, Cleveland would lose their best chance of winning a title. There’s no way that Cleveland would win a title with Felton, Chandler, Gallinari, Hickson, and Varejao as their starting line-up.
If Cleveland would have made this trade with LeBron, they would be have a roster with solid players that would make them a playoff contender, but they would never have enough talent to win a title. If they keep LeBron then they still have a chance to win the NBA Finals that season but they won’t get anything in return after he leaves.
So what would you do? Would you keep LeBron or would you trade him?
Now, because I am a Cleveland fan and I have suffered many years without a championship team, I would have kept LeBron. As I mention above Cleveland would lose their best chance of winning a title by trading LeBron. I understand that after LeBron left Cleveland’s roster would be decimated, but Cleveland would never win a title with the players they would have got in the trade. Also, I would have a slim hope that if Cleveland won that season LeBron would have resigned. If you’re that close to winning a title you have to go for it, especially if you’re Cleveland.
What would you do? Would you keep or trade LeBron? Feel free to leave a comment below on what you would do.
