deacondamo
El Jefe
Mine would, but I am curious what others think. He got his two rings in MIA. The Prodigal Son returning is a great storyline. Bringing a championship to Cleveland would make him a god there (despite the Decision).
No. It would still be low.
Interesting. It would make him more likeable to me. He WILLINGLY would decide to return to a crappy town, essentially just because he grew up there. Trading SoBe for the Mistake by the Lake takes some courage.
Mine would, but I am curious what others think. He got his two rings in MIA. The Prodigal Son returning is a great storyline. Bringing a championship to Cleveland would make him a god there (despite the Decision).
Not bringing a championship to Cleveland any time soon.
Fuck that guy. I can't believe Cleveland fans want him back.
No change. He is still too chicken shit to go to a team in the West.
Returning to Cleveland voluntarily is, to me, an admission that he feels bad about the way he left, so I give him some credit for that. Cleveland sucks, and the team that they would have around him is not even that great, IMO. Potential is there, but they are very young unless they make some other moves (Kevin Love, as suggested above, for example). Houston, Clippers, Suns having better supporting casts for him, if that is his primary concern.
Read "smart"
I don't get some of the LBJ vitriol here. I don't root for the guy or the Heat for the way he bungled The Decision 4 years ago - don't get me wrong. But he's otherwise a stand-up guy who has worked hard to become the best player in the league. And he's left $$ on the table in the past in order to try to get a title. Isn't that the sort of thing we tend to applaud?
As for LBJ, he's in a bit of a pickle the way I see it. Sounds like the only probably destinations from a cap standpoint are Miami and Cleveland (Phoenix too, but they don't have near the pieces around him that Cleveland and Miami do). Miami is no longer a title contender. Wade is practically done. His legs at his age look like they're not going to permit him to be the player he once was. I think Bosh is also overrated at this point - his production doesn't justify that salary. And I think Houston actually makes more sense for his game. Miami also needs a PG and big, and they struck out on their choice at PG. Cleveland has its issues as well. First, Dan Gilbert is a lousy owner, has publicly burned bridges with LBJ and presides over a disaster of a franchise. Speaking of said disaster, it sounds like that locker room may be 1 of the worst in all of sports. It wasn't great when LBJ was there, and now it's 10x worse. So does LBJ want to attempt to preside over a group of young knuckleheads who haven't listened to their coaches in the past and try to get them on the same page?
If I were him, I'd sign a 4-5 contract with Miami and give myself an out after 1 year. IOW, see what Miami can put together next year and then re-evaluate the horizon next Summer when the options will be better. And I bet that's why he's meeting with Riles today. He's not getting Riles to fly to Vegas just to tell him he's going to Cleveland.