The Madness of King James

I’m not a shrink, and my title doesn’t refer to any mental illness on the part of the king, but boy does something make him grumpy in January. This year, James’ drama king controversies revolve around his apparent dissatisfaction with the roster. While it will probably blow over by March, It’s been the highlight of the NBA hot take news cycle the past few days. His rant after the Pelicans’ loss was downright hyperbolic. The Beacon Journal’s Jason Lloyd pieced together the threads as well as anyone…

“We got f—– with that,” [Mo Williams retirement] James said.

10.Tyronn Lue has been piecing together his rotation ever since, trying to bring along second-round pick Kay Felder slowly at times. But James made clear Monday he doesn’t believe Felder or DeAndre Liggins, both untested to this point, can be counted on in the postseason.

11.“No disrespect to DeAndre and to Kay, you think we can rely on them to help us win a playoff game right now?” James asked. “And it’s no disrespect to them. But it’s like, it’s not fair to them.”

12.James praised the progress Felder has made as a rookie. “He’s gotten better,” James said. “I commend him.” But James asked if Dellavedova, who went undrafted in 2013, could’ve been ready to step into a postseason series as a rookie.

13.“It’s tough for Coach because we’re in the process of trying to win a f—— championship,” James said. “It would’ve been unfair to Delly to ask him his rookie year to play on a championship-level team. So that’s why you got guys in front of him that allows him to (grow). We telling Kay to be a backup point guard to a f—— superstar right now, instead of being a backup point guard to a guy that’s proven in the league. You know what I’m saying?”

14.None of this, James insisted, will come as a surprise to the Cavs’ front office. James and General Manager David Griffin have gone back and forth publicly. While James has been vocal in asking for more playmakers, Griffin said the trade market right now doesn’t match the Cavs’ needs. That’s just the reality of the situation.

15.“I ain’t got no problems with the front office,” James said. “I told (Griffin) to his face, so it ain’t like I’m telling y’all to put it on record. I see Griff all the time. One thing about me, if I got something to say, I’m going to tell it to your face. We need a f—— playmaker. I’m not saying you can just go find one, like you can go outside and see trees. I didn’t say that.”

What to make of all this angst? Many have mentioned that this may all be a way for James to “motivate” his teammates, or maybe it’s a way for him to test which teammates have enough mental toughness to be tempered in the fire of his withering criticisms. But all these quotes over the past several weeks just make LeBron sound petulant, unprofessional, and self centered, especially when analyzed next to his recent play, the current NBA landscape, and the conflicts and problems James himself has created.

There’s an elephant in the roomt. LeBron’s play has gotten worse the more minutes he has played. LeBron’s (and apparently Ty Lue) insist that he needs to play high minutes for the Cavs’ to have a chance to win. The analysis of recent games just doesn’t bear that out. Taking the New Orleans game as an example, LeBron’s defense was mostly bad and he barely gave an effort on multiple possessions. During the slump (the Cavs are 2-6 starting with the night the played in utah) James totaled -46 plus/minus (-32  of that was against the Warriors), and is averaging 5.3 turnovers to 8.9 assists. His turnovers are killing the Cavs. Against Sacramento, he had two of the three biggest turnovers at the end of regulation and overtime (a bad inbounds pass to Love at the end of regulation, and a lazy pass out of the post which put the Kings up 113-110 and pretty much lost the game). Against the Spurs, his two turnovers at the beginning of the fourth and one in overtime killed all the Cavs’ momentum. James played 45 minutes and went -16 against the Spurs and 44 and -10 against the Kings, all while putting together highlights for a “Demotivating Body Language” training video.

And yes, I hold LeBron to a higher standard than every other player. And while I bemoan Kyrie’s defense (or lack thereof), Uncle Drew has been outscoring opponents when he’s been on the floor (+27 during the slump). Love is +21 during the slump (+26 of that against the Spurs). James is a bigger culprit, and much of his ineffectiveness has come with the LeScrub lineup where he’s forced to play with Frye, Jefferson, Korver, and Liggins or Felder. That’s a horrible defensive lineup and (as Ben Werth noted), unless LeBron asserts himself, the Cavs are at a huge disadvantage athletically there. So it’s incumbent upon Lue to tinker with the lineups to both get LeBron’s minutes down and the team’s bench units’ up.

But much of LeBron’s cantankerousness seems to be completely misplaced and disrespectful of his teammates. Much of this comes from the little regard he seems to hold for Liggins or Felder. On Liggins, James seems to be missing what Liggins does well. DeAndre is simply the Cavs’ best defender right now (except for the last two minutes of every game when James starts actually playing defense). Liggins is posting a DRPM of +1 which dwarfs Shumpert’s -.3, and is tops on the Cavs and top 10 in the league among guards. Instead of coaching up Dre’s confidence and offense, James is destroying it. Despite being a poor finisher, Liggins is still shooting 39% from three, but he’s terrified to shoot now.

As far as Felder, we’ve noted his deficiencies, but also noted LeBron’s refusal to change his game to help the guard out. If James would be an effective roll man in the pick and roll, like he did for Delly, it would help out Felder immensely. Instead, the Cavs run insane sets where Felder actually screens for LeBron or sets where LeBron just uses the p/r to post 22 feet from the basket. This isn’t helping. I’d wager that LeBron has a disdain for Felder’s game and his pet project status with Gilbert which causes James to throw Kay under the bus. Yes, Kay is a bad fit next to the King, but James isn’t doing him any favors.

Much of this is on Lue who needs to figure out how these two and the rest of the Cavs can be effective. The question is, can the Cavs win with 35 minutes of fully engaged LeBron and 13 minutes of meh play when he’s not on the court, or do they have to settle for 40+ minutes of bleeding points with Bron as he tries to conserve energy? But let’s make this crystal clear. The Cavs didn’t lose the last three games because they don’t have enough “playmakers.” They lost them because of poor defense, turnovers, and free throw shooting. Only turnovers have anything to do with playmaking. The Cavs are scoring points. They need LeBron to be a defender and a leader more than they need him to score and facilitate right now. There’s enough offense to go around. There’s not enough defense.

But this all belies a key point: much of this roster was constructed at LeBron’s behest. James seems to ignore guys like Liggins’ defensive contributions if they can’t pad his assist numbers. Meanwhile, the Cavs have constructed a roster filled with poorly defending jump shooters like Frye, Korver, and (at times) Irving and Love. James seems to be chafing at being made to lie in the bed he’s made.

Further, recent reports by Brian Windhorst have LeBron at odds with management over what he perceives as penny pinching. There’s some high comedy in this.

On Monday, James mentioned that veterans like Raymond Felton and Michael Beasley signed contracts for the league minimum with other teams in the offseason. He also referenced veteran Dahntay Jones, who was on the Cleveland roster for the playoffs and was released in the preseason.

Hey. Good on Beasley for having a great year so far. But this is the same Michael Beasley who was a giant distraction and got kicked off the team for his marijuana habit when Bron was with him in Miami. James certainly didn’t seem like a big fan then. And LeBron may the first guy in 10 years to pine for Ray Felton. While Ray is having a solid year for the Clips, do any of us seriously think that Ray would do anything to counter the current Cavalier malaise (especially defensively)? As for Dahntay Jones, Bron has a bit of a point, but the management chose to stick with guys they thought had more upside and could grow into roles. LeBron isn’t helping the young guys do that, and seems to be obsessed with Jones’ very low ceiling. Dahntay Jones got Cleveland five much needed points and a gravy foul on Braymond in the first half of game seven, but Dahntay aint a needle mover.

Also, when it comes to Mo Williams, James is wildly out of line. Mo’s decision to show up and get surgery boiled down to the fact that he’s probably unable to play due to his knee, and the Cavs wanted him to retire and forfeit his contract guarantees. There’s an old saying in the NBA that you don’t count another man’s money. LeBron is the Vice President of the Players’ Union, and he’s irritated at Mo Williams for trying to earn maximum compensation?! That’s the height of selfishness and an abdication of James’ role in the union. It further speaks to the swirling vortex of conflicts of interest that James ignores as he bitches about the Cavs’ roster. Because a fifth of this roster and 46% of its payroll is dedicated he and his Klutch sports clients, Tristan Thompson and J.R. Smith whose holdouts fueled much of the last two years. (Full disclosure: I don’t know the actual depth and involvement of James’ ownership stake in Klutch – that’s a much different discussion, but the dude sure doesn’t seem to shy away from repping it). Those salaries are a reason the Cavs lack financial flexibility. James is once again complaining about choices he pushed for, that got his friends paid, and put money in his pocket.

So yeah, maybe James just wants to inflict all the financial pain he can on Dan Gilbert. “Eat the rich,” I say, but don’t throw your teammates under the bus to do it. But while complaining about the roster, LeBron seems to be clinging to “alternative facts” about the current landscape of the NBA. First, it is much harder to trade now. The salary cap is so much higher than it was that teams just aren’t up against the cap and luxury tax lines like they were. Teams just aren’t dumping salary just to dump salary like they used to. They are not giving up pieces unless it’s to remove a problem, gather assets, or get appreciably better. So since the Cavs have few assets, they’re going to have to take on a problem like Rondo. The Cavs will have to give up something to get something, and unless you’re giving up one of the Cavs’ current starters, they don’t have anything anyone wants. This forces Cleveland to either go out and find a free agent or wait till contract buyouts come (if they do come). But once again, teams aren’t buying guys out just to do it, and with so many teams in both conferences within striking distance of a playoff spot, there aren’t gonna be a lot of buyouts of guys the Cavs would want.

Second, the trade market isn’t going to heat up till the all-star break when the GMs are sitting net to each other bored out of their minds during the rising stars challenge.

Third, The Cavs should fill that 15th roster spot. LeBron has a right to be irked about that. But the counterargument is that to fill it now with a d-leaguer or a vet minimum and then cut a guy or move him would be a jerk move. The spot is open to ensure flexibility for a roster spot.

Fourth, this seems like the exact opposite way to motivate Griffin (and just about everyone else) who has always valued keeping things in house and who has plugged all the media leaks that plagued the Cavs during the Chris Grant era. Grffin has also always insisted that he’s the GM and not James (a statement James agreed with). He also called James’ comments with regards to the organization “misguided” and not “appropriate” with regards to James’ teammates. You can cajole Gilbert, but you’re never going to get the best out of Griff by calling him out and complaining.

Finally, much of this just seems to be James complaining about fate. As Barkley said below (It’s a most watch), “Does LeBron want to play with every player in the league?” Durant went and did what he and Bosh and Wade did. No matter what the Cavs do, they may not be able to compete with the Warriors. Maybe this all stems from LeBron’s realization of this after Cleveland’s MLK day drubbing. Or maybe  LeBron’s mad at himself for his lousy play at times lately. I know I’m always the worst to everyone else when I’m dissatisfied with Nate Smith. Or maybe James need to go see a counselor or get an SAD therapy light. Lord knows, that helps me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enCBX1RusRk