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The free NBA agency is on the horizon and LeBron James reportedly informed the Cavaliers of his decision to give up his player option for next season. The Lakers being the alleged favorites, the Open Floor team is looking into some of the options that Cleveland should consider in case James leaves.
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(T The following transcript was edited and condensed for clarity )
Andrew Sharp: One thing I want to address is the initial Woj report that leaves the idea that LeBron will not go to LA without the involvement of Paul George or Kawhi Leonard before it's over. # 39; commits. I do not necessarily think that's true. I think the Lakers 'allure this summer for him is that they have rich trumps and that they will have the opportunity to build a team around him with stars that' s the best. he has somehow picked it by hand; whether it's Paul George or Kawhi this week, we do not know, but LeBron can easily go and then three weeks later, they negotiate for Kawhi.
This is very similar to the move to Cleveland in 2014; where the outlines of a good team is there and LeBron will make a leap of faith. I think LeBron probably trusts Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka more than anyone in the Cleveland office and that could be the deciding factor.
Ben Golliver: S 'he goes to LA and Paul George is not in tow so I want my money on this ESPN three-part series on the decision of the free agency of Paul George
Sharp: (Laughs)
Golliver: If you need three parts of a video to re-sign with Oklahoma City: give me pause. We are not already the biggest Playoff P fans in the world here.
Sharp: We really are not. He does not help himself (laughs).
Golliver: If it takes him 18 minutes of behind the scenes filming for him to come back to play with Russell Westbrook, give me a break. May I comment on LeBron's decision? I'm not sure everyone did it. It could go along with what you just said when it goes to the Lakers, they are able to be solid in the future. When you look at all the teams in the LeBron James derby most of them will be OK if they do not land LeBron.
You can even make the deal that the Lakers, even if they hit on those big stars, because of this young core, they will at least enter the next season with a positive momentum. It would be embarrassing if they did not receive any of these three guys, there is no doubt about it but they would not be devastated.
The only exception here is Cleveland. If LeBron leaves Cleveland, I do not think we've had enough time to discuss how they will be decimated and how they could position themselves to become the worst team in the league. So let's consider this: Let's say that LeBron is leaving and that they are not getting anything in exchange for him, all they have to do is put Kevin Love in a commercial scenario maybe in Oklahoma City.
Gregory Shamus / Assume that Paul George travels to Los Angeles and that LeBron travels to Los Angeles and that they exchange Kevin Love in Oklahoma City and leave him alone. press Russell Westbrook to take over simplistic contracts and draft picks that they could seize at that time. your best band is George Hill, Sexton Collin, JR Smith, Tristan Thompson. You are already a team of 22 wins at that time and you can do an auction and move Thompson to a competitor who needs a big versatile. Maybe you can try selling Kyle Korver. You can get to a point if you are Cleveland with two phone calls; You can be a team of 15 wins next year very easily.
When LeBron left the first time, he was a team of 19 wins after the first year of his departure and that allowed them to get the Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson lottery selections. This strategy basically worked for them in the past and not to mention the fact that selling cheap and selling as many contracts as possible would surely attract Dan Gilbert given that he had these huge luxury tax bills that he has funded in the last four finals in a row.
The potential backfire if LeBron James leaves Cleveland is huge but I think it could end up being a very clean disassembly if you're a fan of Cavs. I think if you are a fan of Cavs, that's what you should be looking for. Boom-or-bust. Boom if LeBron stays but busting he leaves. Swap Kevin Love within 24 hours and you have this craft ready to go and you are the worst team in the league and you will try to catch everyone by 2020 when you will still have some lottery choices to make.
Sharp: I am not a fan of Cavs, so I do not want to speak on their behalf, but I have to imagine that after the last four years of weekly melodrama, it would be kind of relief and that I would be like that, we will tear everything up and win 15 games and gun for RJ Barrett at the top of the draft. This is not the worst thing in the world. The Cavs fans with whom I have been interacting over the past month or so all seem to be in a good position with all this and I am happy for them. They are the most emotionally balanced fan base of anyone who is in the mix over the next few weeks.
Golliver: What I would do if I was a Cavs fan, if all this is played as their worst case scenario here, I'd spend the whole of next season watching the NBA Finals 2016 again and even. And I said to myself that Collin Sexton was the best player
Sharp: The final of the NBA 2016 was so cool that if it happened to me as a fan, I could live for 20 years without worrying about anything else. This is partly why they are strangely ripe for everything else because it was so cool that nothing else matters.
Golliver: This is how you spend the time if you are. It will become ugly. 15 wins are not going to be fun. You could have visions of Byron Scott flashing through your memory bank, it could happen. But you will go out in a better place if you have just missed everything this summer. That's my plan for Cleveland if LeBron walks.
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