Have the terms of the contract even been released? Is the $30 mill you’re talking about for a 6 year contract in Cleveland vs a 3 year contract in Miami? From what I understand, he can opt out of his Miami contract after 3 seasons. Do we even know what Cleveland offered him?[/quote]
Since the Heat traded Beasley and freed up an additional $5 mil (along with the new cap $2 mil higher than previously thought) all three should get close to max contracts. The no state income tax will make up the difference he left behind in Cleveland.
I agree with all those posters saying the supporting cast was poor. Just look at the Cavs awful record their last two years (127-37). Terrible.
LBJ doesn’t need a PG or a C. He needs a f***ing heart. LeBron could not get it done in the playoffs. He quit. Watch the tape. Instead of manning up and getting it done he tucks tail and runs. He takes the easiest way out. He was hyped as the next Jordan (HA!HA! Jordan took the team he had and won championships. He didn’t hand pick his team). However, he won’t even be the next D Wade because no matter how many titles he wins in Miami, D Wade will have more.[/quote]
Some of the drama on the Cavs might have contributed to him laying down…and you know if Delonte West was staying, he was on his way out. Jordan also had the best defender and the best rebounder in the league with Pippen and Rodman, respectively…he simply could not have done it without them. Not to downplay his legacy but that’s what all the players eventually figure out. Kobe included…he won the titles with Shaq and then when they had problems thought he could do it himself…took him a while to figure it out after that, but he did. Personally I think Chicago would have been a much better fit as far as the complimentary pieces that LBJ needs to win a championship. As has been mentioned before, the Heat now have 3 players…2 superstars, one great player and a bunch of scrubs. With Chicago he would have had a much better teammate than Bosh in Boozer and a better all around player as far as winning a championship is concerned (PPG tells me nothing). Same with Rose. With Rose and Boozer (plus Deng, Noah, and all their other pieces assuming they didnt make another trade), it still would have clearly been LBJ’s team and I’m sure Rose and Boozer would have no problem taking a backseat.
With LBJ though, it seemed more about just being with “better” players, and more importantly, friends. Since playing in China, these 3 guys (plus CP3…hmm) made a pact and always planned on trying to play together. I think that altered the decision, because Chicago was the better choice for winning a ring if you’re not thinking about joining your friends. Either way, he stabbed Cleveland in the back, a city which deserves anything but what happened…I mean when LBJ came in the league it was what the city of Cleveland had been waiting for and seemed like their only saving grace…and now they’ve fell victim to the same thing that’s happened to them in seemingly every other sport, multiple times. They definitely don’t deserve this and it was kind of a cop-out in my opinion to not stay and try to truly establish a legacy…but Cleveland didn’t do a great job putting the necessary pieces in place. They tried but again the priority is complimentary pieces, not just getting the ‘best’ players (Jamison, Mo) or other All-Stars to play with him. You need gritty veterans and complimentary players who know that the ONLY statistic that matters is being the only team left at the end. Yes, LBJ may have ‘quit’ in the playoffs, but what did ANY of his teammates ever do in the first place? Mo was horribly inconsistent and Jamison literally wasn’t even there…even when they were winning. If he had a Derek Fisher/Robert Horry type on his team…even one of them, instead of a teammate that was screwing his own mother, I’m sure they would have been fine. Yes, Shaq knows and understands his role, but that role is a very small part of what it would take to win a championship.
Either way, this Heat team is definitely designed to dominate the regular season, I still just don’t know if they have enough complimentary pieces. We shall see. The power has definitely shifted to the Southeast division though…With John Wall and Gilbert Arenas on the only team that didn’t make the playoffs last year.
