Podcast 328: LeBronwatch, Day 8453
2026-07-13You might think it hyperbole, but we’ve been been on watch for where LeBron would end up playing for almost 8500 days. That’s right, 8453 days ago, we were watching our TVs for the NBA draft lottery when one LeBron James fell into Cleveland’s lap on that fateful day in 2003. We’ve been tracking his movements around the NBA ever since, and here we are one more time, supposedly waiting for the King to decide between Cleveland, Miami, Philadelphia, and Minnesota. So much smoke for one more grandstand: I won’t even say it’s the last grandstand because given the King’s longevity, we might all be doing this again in a year or two. Anyway, Eli, Chris, and Nate climbed up to the podcast tower to scan the horizons for any sign of the King’s return to Cleveland.
Will he be back? Will he take his talents to South Beach yet again? Does Minnesota have a chance? Is Kevin Love along for the ride? We pondered all these questions and more, and to wile away the hours, we broke down some Sumer League action, and pondered what roster moves the Cavs might make if LBJ returns or if he declines. With no real intel to be gathered from our tower’s spotlight, we looked around the NBA and graded the offseason for the rest of The Association, which is very much still in limbo as their front offices wait for word like the rest of us. Who crushed their offseason? Who is lost at sea? Who is best positioned to take advantage of Adam Silver’s nutty new rules? Who stole the stationary from the desk of Koby Altman? We mused idly as our long watch continues.
As always, catch us below, download the full audio file, or listen on Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, or Spotify.
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IS DeROZAN OUR BACKUP PLAN IF WE DONT GET WATSON / KUMINGA
MEDIA SAYING BUCK s HAVE THE “ EASIEST/ BEST “ ROAD-CHANCE OF OBTAINING WATSON—- ALSO SAID THAT IT MIGHT NOT HAPPEN UNTIL SEPTEMBER
OUCH RAOUL——- NEW PLAYER s / FACES—- YET SWEPT BY THE METS 🤬
not a good series, and against a tanking team
Quite the debut for Angel Genao.
Quite the way for the Guards to find a way to lose.
Again
T’was awful!
READ THAT ALSO ——REMEMBER RAOUL – CONSIDER THE SOURCE/ KJG
about 1 in 10 KJG posts are worth reading, and this seems to be one of them.
the Hezonjas contract appears highly unusual. in fact, the entire Hezonjas episode seemed funny from the get go: high NBA pick way underperforms, goes to Europe, appears to get a lot better, and now is back on a min contract? WTF?
I don’t find it all that crazy. With taxes the pay rate is about 1.8 mil versus 1.5-1.7 in cle. Plus he gets free agency to go anywhere after one year or being released. Plus Cleveland paid his buyout to get a potential contributor with no risk on a minimum and no cap hit on the buyout. This is a win win win for Cleveland worth the million dollar investment ment with no cap hit.
that sounds pretty good
Hezonjas scam?
https://kingjamesgospel.com/mario-hezonjas-contract-with-cavaliers-fishy-hints-at-ulterior-motive
Are they paying a million dollars just to pay a million dollars? Seems doubtful
MY BAD NATE “ OL MAN SYNDROME “ STRIKES AGAIN— WHICH IS A DAILY OCCURRENCE WHEN ATTACKING “ THE MRS NOMAD s HONEY 🍯 DO LIST “ 😜………..TIME FOR………….. “ MORE BEER 🍺 PLEASE “
MAN BEGINNING TO SOUND AS IF THE PURSUIT OF WATSON ( or KUMINGA) IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE PER CHRIS FEDOR ————HOW IN THE HELL DID THE LAKERS ALWAYS “ SIDESTEP “ THE RULES TO AQUIRE WHOMEVER LEBRON WANTED 🤬
Nah. That’s not what he said. He said that the path to getting BOTH was difficult
HOPEFULLY KOBY CAN WORK SOME “ CREATIVE GM MAGIC “ TO OBTAIN WATSON
Let’s go Sirens!
Hate it. NGL
ahhhhh I’m good with it. Always thought Rockers was a little corny.
DAMN THAT SUCKS
Salary Cap issues with Watson:
https://cavaliersnation.com/2026/08/03/why-the-cavs-peyton-watson-pursuit-just-ran-into-a-wall-denver-built-itself/
Yeah. This is obvious to anyone whose looked at the cap. Whoever takes Watson has to find a home for Nnaji or Julian Strawther to get Denver under the apron after the trade. Strus gives them a player now, but Schröder gives them a stretchable contract (or the Cavs).
AGREED JMAY
The more I watch clips of Watson’s game the more I’m willing to part with draft capital. Get him.
HEY RAOUL——KJG —- REINCARNATION OF THE 3 ( or more ) STOOGES
HaHa: in the last couple years KJG has posted 50 or 100 posts recommending trading Jarret Allen for anyone who can walk, hop, or crawl. today they switched sides with “Cavaliers need to shut down Jarrett Allen trade rumors for Evan Mobley’s sake”
Any chance off-season acquisitions include a great assistant coach (or two)?
“THE “ MRS NOMAD SAID SHE NEVER KNEW WHAT HAPPINESS WAS UNTIL SHE GOT MARRIED…………..AND THEN IT WAS TOO LATE 🤪😜
*tip of the cap*
🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏PATRICK——— VALID POINTS 👍
DITTO—- NOT SURE IF BLESSING/ OR CURSE——MARRIED ON SAME DATE AS ME AND “ THE “ MRS NOMAD——— YES SHE HAS TOLERATED ME FOR 48 “ WONDERFUL “ YEARS———- SHE IS A SAINT—— ALWAYS TOLD HER “ I AM HER TICKET TO THE PEARLY GATES “ ……..” MORE BEER 🍺 AND YEARS PLEASE “ 👍🙏
In this one specific instance, perhaps the more years request comes before the more beers? Congrats on 48!
Congrats Coco and Donovan!! 🎉 Even had Brunson there to celebrate.
WATSON OR KUMINGA—— I CHOOSE WATSON—- GO FOR IT KOBY 👍👍
Me, too. He can defend on the perimeter better (guarding guards), block shots, and is a competent outside shooter. 40% in Denver though that is getting peak good looks with Jokic & Murray. He isn’t that durable and will likely cost more in terms of assets. IDK how much 4 he can play being that skinny.
Kuminga is beefier, plays decent D, and will attack the rack more. But played his way out of a perfect situation in GSW and the Hawks do not seem to keep on keeping him either. Not sure the light bulb is on there.
WELCOME “ TO THE LAND “ MARIO 👍💪🏀
“ HE SAID-SHE SAID – THEY SAID “—- ALOT OF MEDIA PEOPLE “ AFTER THE FACT “ WILL HAVE THEIR “ STORYLINE “—- TO GARNER ATTENTION—- FACT or FICTION— YOU DECIDE!!—— ME I SUPPORT KOBY “ NOT “ MAKING STUPID TRADES ( aka MOBES for BROWN ) JUST TO INTICE AN AGING LEBRON AND STILL NOT GARANTEED HE WOULD STILL COME BACK———- I AM MOVING ON FROM THE “ LEBRON DRAMA “ AND LOOKING FORWARD TO SUPPORT THE CAVS
same
Yeah, I think LeBron realized there was no way he was ever topping 2016, and once that realization hit and Philly made those moves to accommodate him… it was a wrap.
Honestly agree with him, and rather see the current quartet try to climb that mountain now.
with the Cavs, LeBron would have had a decent shot at a title, and it would have been an exciting story and a storybook ending.
with the 76er’s, LeBron has a better chance at a title, but will look like a ring chaser in any event, and downright foolish if things implode.
Agreed.
LeBron would have helped, but we needed more help to really contend. Glad we did not give away the farm to try and get him.
So Shams said that we are the only team to have an in-person meeting with LeBron. I think he really wanted to be back here as long as he sees he has a better chance of winning here. That’s a win-win for us too.
Our inability to make moves is the real culprit I guess.
We missed out on being a significantly better team this offseason (unless Leek is the real deal)
hard to know what LeBron really wanted. many think that the key item is that the 76ers have one Klutch agent (Maxey) and the Cavs have zero (after tradeing DG). so you can blame the Cavs FO for ignoring the 0.1% chance that LeBron would leave the Lakers and play for the min to chase a ring.
I doubt it was anything to do with Klutch honestly. I think the Sixers just give him a very good shot at another ring. He’ll get to be seen as a savior for another franchise that hasn’t won in forever. He gets to live in New York and push his brand there (and with the Knicks fresh off a championship he won’t be a villain). I genuinely bet that it was a tough choice for him, there was an obvious great storyline going back to Cleveland, with a reasonable chance to get another ring, but better odds with the Sixers… Read more »
I think the only reason he had a face to face with he Cavs is history, he has a buddy working there, and he was in town.
sounds right
I CAN LIVE WITH THAT NATE —— TYSON WOULD BE THE ONE I WOULD “ SUFFER “ TO SEE TRADED —- BUT THE RETURN WOULD BENEFIT CAVS PLUS WE -“ SHRED THE SHREDDER “.
REPORT HAWK s WANT JA FOR KUMINGA———GGF !!!!! / “ POUND PUD “ 👎👎👎
notice some of the Hawks starters saying they would be EC contenders if they get JA.
Apparently Peyton Watson’s asking price has dropped. Do we have any shot?
Thoughts?
looks like the Cavs salary would go up. is the money going to work?
As much as I hope Jaylon Tyson has another leap season this year, I just don’t know if it will be big enough. I think if something like this is on the table, we have to take it. We need those 6-8 wings badly.
Agreed.
Also, apparently another reason why Harden hasn’t resigned is to let the Cavs “poke around” Watson.
Goodbye 2031 FRP (protected) – but Strus and Tyson are the kind of smart players Joker likes.
They will look great next to him. His passing will get them so many great shots.
JUST READ (LIKE ANY MEDIA POST— FACT OR FICTION) — CAVS ARE RELUCTANT TO GIVE UP / MAKE “ SHRED THE SHREDDER “ IN POTENTIAL TRADE TO BRING KUMINGA HERE———- WTF / HOPE THAT IS FICTION——- “ SHRED THE SHREDDER “ 👍
Heh. I mean, Kuminga isn’t likely moving the needle for this team. The Hawks didn’t want to re-sign him. The Hawks!
JA is a plus starter. Kuminga is a negative/neutral bench player.
Obvious no there.
today’s LBJ signing update: the real reason is that LeBron is moving to NYC and Phily is within helecopter commuting range.
LOL. Had nothing to do with the roster. Nothing. Just distance between NYC and Philly. I love “news” media.
Cavs salary cap details from Bobby Marks:
https://roundtable.io/sports/nba/cavaliers/news/bobby-marks-details-cavaliers-apron-room-with-james-harden-still-unsigned
CAVS – ALONG WITH OTHER TEAMS- POSSIBLY PURSUING DEROZAN ———- THOUGHT s ——-
Sure – maybe? I figured Miami was his destination.
HESONJA /2.8 MILLION—- WADE / 10 MILLION——- COST SAVINGS ——— YES WADE PLAYED THE “ D “ BUT IN 4 YEARS HE PROVED HE WAS A LIABILITY ON OFFENSE——-HESONJA WILL GIVE YOU AN OFFENSIVE PRESENCE—————AM SURE I WILL TAKE ALOT OF HEAT FROM THE WADE SUPPORTER s HERE——- I COULD NOT JUSTIFY 10 MILLION/ YEAR——- SORRY JUST MY OPINION
When we see how poor the perimeter d is, I think $10M will seem like a reasonable price.
I could, but it would require Wade being as good and available as he was last year, which is possible but not probable…his production wasn’t some huge outlier, but contract year production tends to be about as good as it gets for role players
Yes his limited availability has to be factored in. Wade across his whole career (six seasons as a mostly or full-time rostered player with the Cavs) has averaged only 55 games played per season, and that’s remained consistent even after he’d established himself as the team’s best wing defender, and despite a modest per-game load averaging 20 minutes. It’s not something you’d expect to get better as he’s turning 30.
Solid points – I hadn’t factored in his age.
If the strategy this off-season was mainly to bank on continuity and player growth (versus significant roster changes), why wasn’t Dean Wade signed for $10m a year? Cap issues? Thats the one thing I’m confused about.
Same here. Maybe he really wanted to leave? I’m not across all the gossip and articles on it, but yeah it doesn’t make sense as things currently stand.
I think they low balled him and he didn’t want to wait around. Doesn’t feel that complicated.
avoiding bad trades is a good thing.
What does that have to do with not re-signing Dean Wade? LOL
a key part of “continuity” is not making dumb trades. most of the Cleveland sports talk crew is us in arms because the Cavs did make any trades.
Again, what does that have to do with NOT re-signing Dean Wade? I’m talking about continuity with this question, not “big trades”.
Wade maybe had no growth left? iono, seems like he was just done
Don’t get me wrong. I think Wade’s availability was a pretty big issue. But for $10m a year on a team that is hurting for height and switchability? Doesn’t seem terrible.
Yeah I’d probably have done it but for maybe a bit shorter – I don’t think the Cavs were unreasonable I just prefer to keep guys. But 4 years of 40-ish games at 20mpg for years 30-34 as a role player…look at Dorian Finney Smith’s drop off, those guys fall to vet min status fast when they do.
WHEN HE PLAYED AT LEAST 20 MINUTES/ GAME – HIS AVG WAS CLOSE TO 10ppg ——IS AN 80% FT SHOOTER——HAS SHOT 34% from 3’s ——— CAN CREATE HIS OWN SHOT / GOOD CT VISION/ HARDEN WILL MAKE HIM A BETTER PLAYER—— AN UPGRADE FROM WADE OFFENSIVELY
He’s been a good to very good shooter in Europe.
OK. He was around 31% from deep in Euro League. Better in Spain and MVP of La Liga. Even there, like 36/37% from deep.
He is a more willing shooter than Wade, for sure. And takes tougher ones.
But you are losing D bigly. You cannot start him with Harden & Mitchell. Too porous. And Kuminga makes no sense offensively. Maybe defending PFs he will be better, though the glass could ne an issue.
It has to be Strus or Tyson and we will just continue to struggle vs taller wings.
PROBABLY ALSO AN “ INSURANCE SIGNING “IF THEY CANT GET KUMINGA
WILL FILL THE WADE VOID WITH MORE OFFENSE PROBABLY LESS DEFENSE —— CAVS STILL GOING TO PURSUE KUMINGA??
probably
Is Hezonja still a rotation caliber player?
Signed for 1 yr at $2.8M
We will see. Has been pretty good for Real Madrid.
The defense will be what tells the tale.
Still need more forward help.
I was slightly hoping, and expecting, that LeBron would pick the Cavs. but this is OK, we all know getting LeBron is a 100% chance of being a pain in the butt, and far from a guarantee of winning it all. LBJ has won it all 4 times in 23 tries, around 17%. I think his best stat is being in the finals about 7(?) times out of 8 in his Heat + Cavs2 run. as for now, the 76er’s are nowheres near as good as those Heat and Cavs teams were. I will bet $5 that either the Cavs… Read more »
He made the finals 8 straight years during that run (8 for 8). But only once more in the 8 years since.
FTS HAS A GREAT/ VERY ACCURATE ARTICLE ON LEBRONS DECISIONS / IMAGE
SO TRUE RAOUL —THINK THE “ RING CHASING “ – MORE OR LESS DEMANDING THE GM WHO TO GET TARNISHES HIS IMAGE
by joining a “seemingly loaded” 76er’s team, LeBron is clearly in ring chasing mode. if things don’t go well, he will find out that this is the town that boos Santa Claus.
LMAO RAOUL 😂
LOVE IT BOB SPONGE——- FORGETFUL/ HELL YES ——WHAT WAS YOUR POST AGAIN 🤪😜——- ……” MORE BEER 🍺 PLEASE———-LESS LEBRON DRAMA PLEASE “ 👍👍👍
Now that LeBron has made his decision, I’m left with a couple questions:
1. Does NOM🍺D know his caps lock key is stuck?
2. Does NOM🍺D know there’s a reply button?
Just kidding. Couldn’t resist 😏
NOMAD had the caps lock off for a couple days several years ago, and the world about stopped spinning!
It was very disturbing.
ALOT OF MEDIA “ TURNING UP THE HEAT “ ON CAVS/ KOBY NOT SIGNING LEBRON —- WHICH IS TOTAL BS
much of the media are idiots. they don’t even try to make sense because most of their base are clueless.
I think they deserve a ton of heat. I called this as a consequence of the Garland trade in Feb. Additionally, not making any moves in anticipation of getting LeBron was a miss. They’re kind of on the outside looking in right now. Also losing wade sucks. Wade allows LeBron to not have to play down low.
did you know the Cavs were over the second apron?
Yeah this is a very underrated reason.
Having Garland or a Klutch player in the roster was a significant factor.
I bet that losing Wade will be offset by Bron bringing in Love back.
No Lebron, no Jaylen Brown ( who evidently helped Lebron decide on Philly.) No Giannis….Not much left. It’s not a great look for a team that Dan Gilbert referred to as “nowhere near contending”.
you and others were very pro-Garland trade though! i suppose you could pretzel yourself into being right coming and going, but we aren’t even sure Garland (who I love) was going to be healthy going into this year.
Lol. No I wasn’t. I hated the trade.
so what are the “moves in anticipation of getting LeBron” you were in favor of, and do you think they would make any difference, and how would they look after he went to the 76ers?
Two and a half years of wanting to dump Garland, we have it on tape. Lol your aunt Fanny.
So much pretzeling…every other Nate comment for years culminating with “tee hee Schroder is the end of the Garland era” fell into that bucket.
Lying on main-ugly!
yeah, this was just an unexpected choice by Bron. Both Heat and Cavs FOs acted in their own best interest and made reasonable choices
ESPN / WINDHORST SAYING IF CAVS WOULD HAVE MADE THE TRADE- BROWN FOR MOBES — CAVS POSSIBLY COULD HAVE LANDED LEBRON —- SO GLAD THEY DIDNT———- SO HAPPY THE “ LEBRON DRAMA “ IS OVER —— NOW WE CAN FOCUS ON SUPPORTING OUR CAVS !!!!!!
he might be right, but it would be a terrible trade. back when this trade was “in the air”, I was an interview with Rich Paul who said the Cavs would never make such a bad trade.
it’s just blame shifting / PR by the Bron team who knows our fanbase hates life and themselves and will jump on the opportunity to be misery merchants
AM ALL IN WITH CHARLIE/ JASON AND OF COURSE MY MAN RAOUL
Glad we didn’t make any stupid trades to lure LBJ. It would have been kind of fun having him back, but whatever floats his boat is fine with me.
I really enjoy the guys we have on this team. I’ll miss Dean Wade more than regret LBJ not coming back. I don’t really care if we win a championship or not, as long as the team is competitive and playing good, watchable basketball.
Hopefully the offense will take a step forward with a full year of Harden getting integrated in.
I second those thoughts. Great post.
same
yes! let’s just watch some good ball. Have to be incredibly fortunate to WIN the title, the Knicks did it through just some absurdly good trades but most teams sort of luck into a generational Superstar and then build a competent team around him.
We have a very solid core, some nice young players and the Cavs should be competitive this year and win around 50 games.
Your view is by far the healthiest to have 💯
My (much less healthy…and warped? 😅) view is that team management thinks too highly of the talent they have and this will prevent them from taking the risks they need to take to contend.
there are not very many trades that will make the Cavs a contender. not making a dumb trade is a lot better than making a dumb trade.
last great trade the Cavs made was with the 76er’s: Roy Hinson (?) for the #1 pick in the draft, that became Brad Daugherty. Barkley said that was the reason he did not resign with Phily.
I agree with your warped assessment. Either the organization is brilliant and they’re really gonna pop when all this “internal development” shows up, or they missed the bus entirely and the core is just getting older and not turning the corner.
I fear that the team will struggle developing Leek of they have 3 mouths to feed the ball ahead of him.
Never been a fan of the Harden signing. Is there any way to ship him out for a real floor distributor?
He’s a legitimately awesome floor distributor.
Make sense.
Especially to the bigs in the paint.
Uhm no.
His assists are more of spot up find the open man which is great for 3 and D guys.
We need a floor general* – I think I should’ve termed it that way.
A more traditional PG that will let Leek have the ball in his hands to create on his own, put Leek on spots where not he only he can spot up but also be a factor on off ball, backdoors etc.
We have seen Harden’s career not to be that.
Yo yo, this Hype on Leek is fine. But, my guy have you watched the NBA? Rookies rarely make a huge impact, rarely make a net positive impact. That’s just the way of the league. Pump the brakes and let’s see if he cracks the rotation.
You won’t see unless you give him a fair chance.
Worst case he is a trade chip, best case we found another cornerstone beside Mobley. Whats in it to lose where we are not clear top 4 this upcoming season.
Yep. He has warts, but that ain’t one of them.
We need two legit forwards. 6’7″ to 6’10” types. Not SG/SG guys at 6’4″-6’6″.
They need to be able to defend and contribute offensively somehow. Floor spacer, driver, distributor, mid range. Something.
Good thing the Cavs didn’t just let one of those tall wings sign with another team in the East 🙃
THAT IS SO TRUE RAOUL ——- WE KNOW MORE HERE AT CTB THAN THE “ SO CALLED EXPERTS “———— SOMEONE POSTED EARLIER THAT THEY WILL BE HAPPY WHEN THE “ LEBRON ERA “ IS OVER ( along with Durant )
the best part of the entire saga was a month of listening/reading all the self appointed experts give the “inside scoop” on what was going to happen. shows that most of them just make up crap and act like they know something.
PROBABLY TRUE SPONGE BOB —-JUST SO THEY / KOBY CAN SAY “ THEY DIDNT STAND PAT “ DURING THE SUMMER
What’s the over/under on regular season games Embiid plays? 50?
I think thet is a pretty good guess. 50-55 tops. No B2Bs for him. Or Bron, I’d reckon.. Let Brown/Maxey eat more when Embiid/LBJ sit.
AGREED RAOUL—-GMs ARE “ BURNING UP THE PHONE LINEs “. ——- WITH “ NO GREAT EXPECTATIONS “ NEXT YEAR——MIGHT BE MORE ENJOYABLE/ KA NEEDS TO GIVE THE YOUNGSTER s MINUTES AND HOPEFULLY “ WATCH THE GROWTH “. 👍🍺
Hey! what’s-his-name signed with the 76ers.
saw the update around noon, and thought “Eh, just as well”.
WHERE DOES KOBY PIVOT NOW—— PURSUE KUMINGA ——- “ SHRED THE SHREDDER “ —— SIGN HARDEN ——— WHAT OTHER OPTIONS—-
you can bet every team has all hands on deck, going thru options and making calls. probably a lot will happen yet today.
I think Kuminga is talented but a concern. Atlanta doesn’t want to sign him? Kerr wouldn’t play him? But the Cavs will trade for him and give him $20m a year?
yeah, Kuminga is a big ???, and a couple teams have now bailed. if it turns out there is no market for him, maybe sign him for a big discount.
Kuminga is a replacement level player at 24 (which is better than a minimum contract) and doesn’t shoot from deep particularly well. But he is an athletic longish young wing who can get his own shot and may still have 2-3 years of growth I haven’t watched him a ton. If he’s DeAndre Hunter 2.0 no thanks, but if he’s willing to buy in on D, and be a team player, he’s not the worst. You could build a bench offense around him. He also rebounds I also don’t think his salary is $20 mil, which I don’t think the… Read more »
He is much more of a PF/SF type than the big SG that was Hunter. Not a shooter from deep. But will attack the rim.
I don’t hate it as much as Green. We need a forward. But both GAW and ATL bailing says something. Johnson is clearly better in ATL.
I’d rather they had re-signed Dean Wade 🤷♂️
COMING IN LATE ( IMAGINE THAT)………… ONLY THING TO SAY……………… “ MORE BEER 🍺 PLEASE “ 👍🍺
uncle buck called that one.. bullseye.. said lbj no go 216 (why would he do that ? way too many holes to contend for the brass ring).. and heading to either philly or miami..should be fun to watch.. now, what does koby do ? push ? or shove more chips into the pot (and to what end ?) ?
both of those teams have just as many holes, Miami probably the most
yeah, this is a disappointment for us but a legit disaster for Miami and GS
I am not that disappointed. LeBron ALWAYS brings plenty of “pain in the butt” and he is catching up with Methuselah. there is a good chance this will be a disaster for Phily
I think the pain in the butt would have been well worth it. He’s still damn good and for a team this hamstrung for ways to add significant talent, to get a player of his caliber at that price would have been huge. Oh well.
on the bright side. the youngins koby has brought in recently seem to all top-flight prospects with upside.. so.. honor is due on that score.. they need some muscle to replace wade.. in the meantime, let the kids rock ‘n roll on the floor.. they aren’t in the hunt for the brass ring, and perhaps a tear-down makes sense mid-year.. mitchell not getting a ring in the 216, sadly..
What an over thought, over worked, tacky and shallow move. So tired of being “handled” by Klutch in the media. Thanks for 2016. Now retire already…
I want to see Tyson, Meleek, and Proctor all fully in the rotation and trusted to make mistakes and grow.
SAME !!!
Hopefully the coach makes this happen. Unfortunately past pattern is garbage time or no time.
Coaches tend to only do this if they think they’ll be rewarded for doing so. Most get rewarded for wins over player development.
that’s why no one wanted to hire Jordi Fernandez and Jordan Ott
Amen
Similar to Jason, I can’t get resentful at the Sixers (unlike most other East rivals). Good moves. Also not heartbroken for the Cavs, bc I would have hated trading Mobley for Davis just to get Lebron to come back. And re-teaming LeBron and Kyrie 11 years later seemed like reaching too far back in the past for a departed moment, although Kyrie’s stats still look great when he’s healthy.
This definitely makes more sense than Miami. Now Philly has both a great backcourt and a 3-man forward rotation that’s as close to perfectly complementary as you could assemble: elite scorer in his prime, elite man defender who’s just fine to never touch the ball, and a do-it-all veteran backstop who load-manages better than anyone but just proved he can still carry a team past round one without the team’s other stars, even at 41. They’re a contender even if Embiid’s injured come April.
also two great young players (Maxey and Edgecomb) who will now never get to touch the ball, and have to put up with TWO egotistical, me first, small forwards. they might soon be looking to get out.
as much as there was “only one ball” criticism for a prospective pairing of Harden, Bron and Mitchell, Brown and Maxey led the east in FGA by a pretty wide margin.
Agreed – that is the big risk they’re taking. Even bigger if/for as long as Embiid is healthy.
Brown and Maxey will get to eat more when LBJ and Enbiid sit, which will be often.
That will make it easier for them to share when all 5 are available.
LBJ will essentially be the PG. He can defer. For a half at least.
Long term, this could be good for the Cavs. They will go as far as the growth of Mobley, Tyson, (and hopefully Meleek) takes them Maybe this will light a fire under their asses. Maybe Allen finds a reason to be pissed off. Outside of Harden and Schröder I still love this team, and they needed an edge.
agree with Nate!
Agree also.
Agree even though I think this roster is flawed and (without a LOT of luck) won’t contend as constructed.
Nope,can’t see them seriously contending either.
every roster is flawed.
and, the Cavs will need to be lucky to contend.
I don’t see a lot of flaws in NY or OKC. Any, really.
agree about OKC. but I think NY got on an ultra hot run last year, and that will be VERY hard to repeat, and they lost someone
This won’t be popular, but if it was not gonna be us, I am glad it was Philly.
I grew up a Dr. J fan, so when Doc moved to Philly after the merger, the 76ers were instantly my favorite team. Doc. Chocolate Thunder. World B. Free. McGinnis. Bobby Jones.
The have not won it since Moses in ’83 (Fo Fo Fo). Have not been to the Finals since 2001 AI MVP season. The Dubs, Heat, and Cavs all have fairly recent titles/Finals trips. Nuggets as well.
Only silver lining for me is that it wasn’t GS or Miami.
Embiid is kind of a knucklehead, so I do not onow how that will work. But LeBron can be more of a facilitator there from PF. Wade & Brown can take the hard defensive wing assignments.
I hope it fails spectacularly.
It could. If the Celtics analytics are right on Brown, Embiid & LBJ could have health issues, and Maxey & VJ could just devolve into chuckers.
But the Cs won more games than we did last year with Brown as the #1, no appreciable bigs worth a damn, and White regressing. And he has a deserved Finals MVP in his pocket. Maxey & VJ is more help than he had in Boston last year. Plus Wade & Simons. If LBJ & Embiid can give anything come PO time. Lookout.
For me, the East right now:
1. NY
2. Philly
3. Toronto (with Kawhi)
4. Detroit (Duren back)
5. Cavs
6. Boston
———-
7. Miami
8. Indy
9. Atlanta
10. Orlando
we’re better than Detroit.
Duren wants 5/287. May be a long summer in Detroit
yeah, but we won a lot more games than Philly did last year. now they have added two ego driven small forwards who will demand the ball all the time. good luck with that.
and they will look like buffoons in the not unlikely event they flop
It made the most sense basketball wise. LeBron wants to win and outside of joining San Antonio or OKC, this move gives him a decent chance at doing that.
It’ll definitely be interesting to see how all the personalities on this 76ers team work together – or not.
They’re one or two injuries away from being in the play-in games. Very shallow bench. Hukporti is a poor Embiid replacement.
I’m ready for a post-LeBron NBA.
💯
The Celtics really screwed this one up for everyone. Doubt Bron goes there if they didn’t sign Brown. So much for this “not being about chasing rings”. Lame.
Say he were to win two more at age 42/43. The LeBron stans will claim he was better than Jordan for sure.
FWIW, I still have him 4th/5th. MJ 1st. Russell/Kareem 2nd/3rd. LeBron/Wilt 4th/5th.
The rest of the top shelf, chronologically but a half step down from the top 5: Mikan, Bird, Magic, Shaq, Duncan, Kobe, Curry.
The Big O probably the best of the rest. Him or the Logo.
To me it wasn’t really even about whether or not he won another championship or two here. It was about a homegrown GOAT candidate choosing the area. Choosing to end it where it started. The fans who were there on day one getting one last run with him in a Cavs uniform. Would have been a blast, was already making potential plans to get me and my brother-in-law back to Cleveland for one last LeBron game. Now he’s going to not win a championship in Philly for what? I’m not surprised. It fully fits his other decisions and who he’s… Read more »
Clearly not a sentimental decision.It’s a ring chasing decision, and he’s entitled to do that. It would have been fun to take a run at it here, but that’s not the way it worked out…..Definitely someone to root against, and it’d be great if they failed spectacularly….
I think LeBron has earned the right to chase rings at this age, lol.
He has the right to do whatever he wants. I’m not one of those people who feels like we are “entitled” to anything. But he we are talking about our opinions on it and mine is that ring chasing with the Sixers is a bummer.
This sucks really felt he’s coming home.
I think I quote our very own Tom Pestak: “”He never really got it.’” in relation to Lebron’s attachment to Cleveland.
That said, I think this is better long-term for the Cavs.
This is the best explanation. Tom is absolutely correct. “He never really got it.”
I guess time to focus on Leek. Kid’s got potential.
A lot to like
2 years, $8 mil.
The Knicks are still the best team in the East. But Philly is clearly 2nd. Brown, LBJ, and Wade for PG13 & picks. Totally rebuilt the wing rotation to fit around Enbiid, Maxey, & VJ.
That is how you go all-in. Way to go Gansey.
I just had a feeling he would not come back.
Definite hat tip to Gansey.
Honestly, less about Gansey and more about the Celtics blowing it with Brown. It’s not like that trade wasn’t a no-brainer for the Sixers.
But he knew who to call. I mean getting off PG13 would have costvthem assets, I’d have thought. And it did here, but they got a better player back.
And Wade & Simons are nice work as well.
Shrug, the signings are nice but I have a hard time not believing that the Brown deal was circumstance. Right place, right time.
Luck is 75% preparation and 25% opportunity.
Look at you out here “trusting the process” haha
🤣
Gansey joined the 76ers and was like, “LET ME COOK!”