Yeah it seems a bit odd to say to say the least. One source says its a done deal and he's calling to round up a coaching squad, others say nothing new to report.
"The medium for the bad news was ESPN, which figured. The network represents much of what is loud, obnoxious and empty in sports today."
Knicks say Joe Johnson better fit than Lebron. Really? Either someone is real bitter that Lebron is likely not going there, or the Knicks really do see it that way, and that is why they are what they are right now.
Quote: I don't think the Knicks are bitter about LeBron not coming. I also don't think they truly believe Joe J. is a better fit.
I think it's simply that they have moved on to Plan B, and are saying what Joe J. wants to hear.
This is probably true. That I perceived bitterness is probably me hoping they are bitter. That is hypocritical of me, but I have gotten sick and tired of hearing "why would Lebron stay in Cleveland when he could live in NY?" A lot of the articles out of the NY media have been simply that; they couldn't fathom how Lebron wouldn't go there just b/c its NY.
Kobe Bryant will be in a Lakers uniform next season, Dwight Howard will continue to star as Superman in Orlando and beyond that not too much is certain among the NBA's superstars.
Paul Pierce and Dirk Nowitzki have decided to join the most illustrious gang of NBA free agents ever, and now one more big name may be up for grabs besides LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
The Denver Post says the Nuggets may be forced to begrudgingly make Carmelo Anthony available for trade, if he declines to sign the three-year, $65 million contract extension they're offering.
Writes the Post's Mark Kiszla:
At a salary of $17 million, Anthony is committed to play for Denver during the upcoming season. But here's the rub. Anthony can opt out of his contract next summer, and free agency might appear all the more tempting after seeing the league-wide groveling James has instigated.
As a proactive move, the Nuggets have quietly tried to secure the services of Anthony through 2015 before losers in the pursuit of this talent-laden class of free agents can begin dreaming of Melo.
Quote: I don't think the Knicks are bitter about LeBron not coming. I also don't think they truly believe Joe J. is a better fit.
I think it's simply that they have moved on to Plan B, and are saying what Joe J. wants to hear.
i think it's either that, or none of that is true. i tend to believe the latter. i don't think they have given up on lbj just yet.
maybe they are paving the way for plan b though, you never know.
i just find it hard to believe, that a team, even as bumbling as the new york bricks, believes joe johnson is a better option than lbj. and would be stupid enough to put that out.
The NY Knicks are trying to convince two stars to come with the alure of next season adding another top FA with a max deal once Curry is off the books.
"The medium for the bad news was ESPN, which figured. The network represents much of what is loud, obnoxious and empty in sports today."
Sports business titan sees long marriage for Cavs' Gilbert, LeBron June 29, 2010 By Ken Berger CBSSports.com Senior Writer Tell Ken your opinion!
Everyone has an opinion about where LeBron James is going and who's joining him. To that point, the LeBrons from the TV commercials were alive and well this past weekend, having reportedly been in Miami, New York and Chicago all at the same time.
It's the height of silly season in the NBA, and the start of the most anticipated free-agent period in league history is still more than a day away. But one person is perhaps most uniquely positioned to speculate on LeBron's future. That person has been on both sides of the fence in LeBron's relationship with Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, and he also was willing to speak freely and on the record when I reached him on the phone this week. No sources, no confidants, no private moments, no agendas.
Dan Gilbert didn't buy the Cavaliers to watch the franchise's most valuable asset walk away. (Getty Images) Dan Gilbert didn't buy the Cavaliers to watch the franchise's most valuable asset walk away. (Getty Images) That person is Steve Greenberg, son of the late Hammerin' Hank Greenberg and undisputed king of the sports transaction as managing director of the New York-based investment firm Allen & Co.
"The irony about this whole media circus is that, if you look at what LeBron has done in Cleveland and what Dan has accomplished in Cleveland with the Cavs, I believe had they won even one championship -- let alone multiple titles over the past two or three years when they really were deemed to have a shot -- we probably wouldn't be going through this exercise," Greenberg said. "My point being, the Cavs and LeBron, Dan and LeBron, and LeBron and the Cavs are the perfect sort of triangle and match for one another and ultimately will bring a championship -- and probably multiple championships -- to Cleveland. They just haven't done it yet. And had they, I don't think anybody would be talking about going to Chicago, Miami, New York or another place. I think that has helped fuel the speculation."
There are those on the team side of things willing to speculate on their chances of landing LeBron. There are those from various, competing factions of LeBron's camp who are willing to do the same. But only Greenberg has the kind of experience as a stakeholder with both Gilbert and LeBron, so his words carry considerable weight in this breathless debate about where James will decide to spend the prime years of his career as an athlete and icon.
Greenberg, whose Allen & Co. brokers the biggest sports deals, worked with Gilbert on his attempted acquisition of Rawlings in the early 2000s, advised him on his attempt to buy the Milwaukee Brewers from the Selig family and finally helped him close the deal to purchase the Cavs. When James' agent, Leon Rose, had his practice bought by Creative Artists Agency -- which now represents the top three NBA free agents, James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh -- Greenberg acted as an informal advisor to Maverick Carter, the CEO of James' marketing company, LRMR Marketing.
Greenberg knows Gilbert well, and also has experience with other NBA owners involved in the chase for LeBron -- namely Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan. (He calls Reinsdorf a "friend," but declined to comment on Dolan because he has been on opposing sides of past business dealings with him.) But he also has come to know LeBron and what makes him tick. Whereas most NBA players think Allen & Co. is another name for the Celtics' Big Three, when Greenberg first met LeBron, he was astonished that the budding superstar associated the name with the firm's annual conference for titans of industry in Sun Valley, Idaho, and wanted to attend.
All of this has helped him form an opinion about what James will do -- an opinion more than worthy of inclusion in the vuvuzela-like drone of speculation that currently has America covering its collective ears.
"It's sort of like [Derek] Jeter," Greenberg said. "When his contract comes up, people don't say, 'Gee, I wonder if Derek is going to go play for the Giants in San Francisco.' He's so intertwined with the fabric of those pinstripes, and has been for so long with such success, and has been so comfortable in that environment. You used to be able to do it more, but [Cal] Ripken has done it. Jeter has done it. ... Despite all the craziness, I suspect Kobe [Bryant] is going to be a Laker for life. Those are few and far between in sports, but when you look back, those tend to be the players that have the greatest impact on the game.
"What's really extraordinary about LeBron's situation is, it's actually his hometown -- not just the team that happened to draft him -- and it happens to be not one of the top five markets," Greenberg said. "I kind of liken it to Warren Buffett. If Buffett lived in New York or the Greenwich, Conn., suburbs or San Francisco or Chicago, I actually think some of the mystique of being the Oracle of Omaha might have been diminished. The fact that he's lived in the same house in Omaha and it is his hometown tends to lend to the legend. So if you can do it in Cleveland or Chicago as opposed to New York or L.A., that only adds to it."
It is no secret, of course, that Buffett has become one of James' most influential mentors. So while I believe James could wield far more influence on the NBA -- and enhance his goal of becoming a billionaire and international icon -- by moving his one-man corporation to a major market, Greenberg is on the other side of the argument. All you have to do when deciding how much weight to give his opinion is look at his track record. He's usually on the right side of the biggest sports deals, and has experience with both parties who will be making (or not making) this one.
"Dan is the ultimate entrepreneur and the ultimate people person," Greenberg said. "If you look at any of his organizations, starting with Quicken Loans, there've been a couple of keys to his success. One is his sort of vision and leadership, but the other is his ability to attract, maintain and incentivize key executives over long periods of time."
Now, Gilbert chases the most important executive of his career.
"I imagine that Dan would want to have a multi-decade relationship with LeBron James," Greenberg said. "That's how he's thinking, and that will go for as long as Dan owns that franchise. That's going to be his approach. I know it's been his approach the last five years."
How does he do it?
"That is part of Dan's secret sauce," Greenberg said. "From a long time hanging around the sports industry, I've seen all kinds of owners; the good, bad and ugly, the smart and the not so smart. And over a period of time, the quality of ownership does tend to affect the way an organization thinks, acts and performs on the field or on the court. Dan is one of those guys. He's a winner, a winner in life, a winner in business, and he's going to be a winner in the basketball business, as he has been."
That's where we are, 36 hours from the biggest transaction of Gilbert's career. Greenberg said that if you asked 100 people to tell you the first thing that comes to mind when you say, "Cleveland," 50 of them would say LeBron James. If LeBron leaves, and you asked 100 people to tell you what comes to mind when you say, "Dan Gilbert," he would be the guy who let LeBron James get away.
We are days away, maybe even hours, from a transaction that will define them both. Greenberg, sports' biggest deal maker, isn't in a position to bet against either one.
Well I heard Adam Morrison, Rafer Alston, Darko Milicic have their own free agent summit in Fargo to discuss future plans. Not seeing this story get any publicity.
"The medium for the bad news was ESPN, which figured. The network represents much of what is loud, obnoxious and empty in sports today."
was at a pizza joint at lunch and on the tv, they had chris broussard saying slight edge to cavs. guess he changed his tune too.
it was just friday where he said the bulls were a clear favorite because of the hinrich deal, although i bet he did not do his homework thursday night, because it's now well known that the knicks are still the only team that can offer 2 true max deals. not the bulls, and not the nets. although i think the nets leapfrogged the bulls with the yi trade, that i am not sure of.
Cavs will consider sign and trade of Lebron. Not likely. Rather Lebron walk.
No Lebron; not attractive to free agents. Make trades with cap space. Trade Jamison. Rebuild.
Gilbert will be an agressive rebuilder.
That right there is beautiful to read. Hope it is real. I still think it is likely that LeBron stays, but if he does go, I want that plan in place. It is the one that makes the most sense in the NBA (rather than become a perennial 6-10 seed)
we can't even get free agents to come with a sort of commited lebron (see artest, ariza) why would anyone think we'd get them without lbj? not unless we get a situation like we did in 2005 when we were the only ones with money, and even then, allen, and redd the 2 biggest names, took the money and stayed home...
the way to do it is get your guys through the lottery. it takes a bit of luck and great scouting, but it is the way to go. you hope to land 2 or 3 good players and from there you can just make small signings and maybe go after a big fish.
if we lose lbj, i don't want gilbert to keep going over the tax. go over the tax when the time is right, like he has the last few years. can't knock him for that, even if it didn't work, even if we lose lbj and still don't have a chip.
Quote: it was just friday where he said the bulls were a clear favorite because of the hinrich deal, although i bet he did not do his homework thursday night, because it's now well known that the knicks are still the only team that can offer 2 true max deals. not the bulls, and not the nets. although i think the nets leapfrogged the bulls with the yi trade, that i am not sure of.
And wasn't it 3 days ago when he said Miami was the front-runner? They can't make up their mind.
Guys in the press are also reporting that Miami can sign THREE guys at the max if they can unload Beasley ... I'm not sure that can be true. I thought the "max" was 33% of your salary cap, so unless they have NOBODY signed, I'm not sure how they could sign three guys and stay under the cap.
Just checked their roster ... they have James Jones on the hook for $4 million. If a max contract is 30% of the cap, then I guess they could actually do it. The crazy thing is ... would that actually work? You would have Wade, Bosh, James, Jones (who's a SF) ... and then what? They would have the mid-level exception and maybe the bi-level exception to get a center and a point-guard ... and would have to fill out the other 7 roster spots with minimum level contracts.
Interesting question though ... could Lebron, Bosh and Wade alone win a title?
Here are their salaries for next year, Chalmers is still on his rookie deal (not sure why ESPN isn't up to date on that): http://hoopshype.com/salaries/miami.htm
Didn't Curry just sign an extension a day or two ago? I thought I read that he did and everyone was surprised by it but I may be thinking of someone else.
"All I know is, as long as I led the Southeastern Conference in scoring, my grades would be fine." - Charles Barkley
Quote: Didn't Curry just sign an extension a day or two ago? I thought I read that he did and everyone was surprised by it but I may be thinking of someone else.
he picked up his option, which was expected, but a buyout is possible.
don't have a link yet, wojnarowski is reporting they are setting up the 6 yr bird rights, says jj wants to stay, and windy actually said earlier that he thinks those that are writing off jj staying are making a mistake.
I found the article I was thinking about and it looks like I just remembered it wrong. It said he picked up his option for next year, not signed an extension. My bad on that one.
I am going to make a free agency eve prediction though. I think we re-sign LeBron James and we make a trade for Chris Bosh. Unfortunately I think this costs us Anderson Varejao and some smaller pieces like Delonte's contract and maybe Telfair's contract too, and probably Christian Eyenga. I really like Andy and would be sad to see him go, but for Bosh you have to do it. They also scouted Eyenga heavily and were annoyed at us when we drafted him at #30 overall and would be glad to get him as a throw in to sweeten the pot.
Brian Windhorst has been saying the Raptors have had their eyes on Andy as compensation for Bosh pretty much since they conceded they were going to lose Bosh and would try to get something for him instead of letting him walk for nothing. Between needing his contract to help make the money match and his value on the court, Andy seems like the logical piece we'd need to give up to me, as much as I wish it weren't the case.
Also think Hickson is a possibility to trade for Bosh, but I don't see us giving up both. Bosh is an elite player but the Raptors are not in a position to get equal value, they are just trying to get something instead of nothing. I really wish Ferry were still here, he's made a career out of looting teams through trades and I'd be more confident in it happening if it were him on the phones.
But anyway, I'm putting down in writing I predict we get LBJ and Bosh but lose Andy or Hickson and some other pieces.
"All I know is, as long as I led the Southeastern Conference in scoring, my grades would be fine." - Charles Barkley
Quick recap of the chat that took place with Brian Windhorst today at noon: -Brian Shaw not 100 percent yet
-Byron Scott not out of it in Cavs eyes but Byron feels he is
-Concerns about a first year head coach from Windy
-Gilbert feels experience is overrated for head coach position. They hired MB because they felt he was a better coach.
-All of those teams have about the same cap space. If they went to Miami they would have to take ALOT less
-Windy believes Bosh will be with LeBron or Wade (no duh). Windy believes Cavs have assets to make a sign and trade with Toronto.
-Raptors really like J.J. Hickson. Very interested in Andy, wanted him for years. Delontes contract is valuable.
-LeBron has to sign first for Bosh to want to come here. Cavs could have momentum for Bosh if Bron signs in CLE.
- No guys worth giving up assets for in the draft.
-LeBron might take a long term deal because of new CBA rules coming out. More likely than the 3 year deal.
-3 year deal not healthy for the franchise and LeBron probably realizes that.
-Windy believes that if LeBron will literally leave the Cavs and devestate Ohio, it would be to go to the Knicks, that is why the Knicks are still in the running.
-But Knicks don't have much to offer LeBron player wise. Knicks will become a really good team if LeBron and Bosh/Joe Johnson sign there but not a championship contender.
-Jordan legacy thing is BS and LeBron would like to play in Chicago anyway.
-Doesn't know if LeBron likes Bulls coach and owner. Bulls don't have shooters. Doesn't know how Rose and LBJ would co exist.
- Windy says Nets have no chance whatsoever. Less than 1 percent chance. Doesn't think Bron would like Avery Johnson. Nets won't move to NY in at least 2 years.
- Cavs handcuffed because they dedicated themselves to LeBron and winning. Other teams have commited to just clearing cap space. Cavs have proven they built the team to win.
-They would have to let LeBron leave because there aren't good enough players to sign and trade him for to the Bulls, Knicks, Heat etc..
-If LeBron left, they would rebuild and trade Antawn. Dan Gilbert would be an aggressive rebuilder though.
-LeBron will make up his own mind. Might be upset at WWW for overstepping his boundaries. He fired his previous agent because he was over controlling.
-Windy feels LBJ will sign with CLE when all said and done. He would inflict to much damage to CLE if he left. It is still possible he leaves but nobody knows.
"All I know is, as long as I led the Southeastern Conference in scoring, my grades would be fine." - Charles Barkley
