What Should Cleveland Do?
This is easily the most fascinating question.
On one hand, no one could blame them for attempting to get back as much present-day talent in this deal as possible. Even by losing Irving for precisely nothing, they would still arguably be favorites in the East. If they got back, say, Eric Bledsoe and Carmelo Anthony, they could give the Warriors another run for their money.
But then LeBron, probably, is gone. And you’re in the place that no one ever wants to be in the NBA: the no man’s land of mediocrity. Even if they traded Love and Bledsoe at that point, the return they’d get would be middling at best. They’re also out a future first rounder thanks to the Kyle Korver deal, and have exactly zero intriguing young prospects on the roster.
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So what if they did the unthinkable? What if they put the best player in the world on the market?
This would obviously be preceded by trading Irving for the best package of picks and young prospects available. There’s no doubt they would get a nice haul from some desperate team (stop jumping up and down Steve Mills – we see you).
The better questions are a) would James waive his (reported) no-trade clause, b) who would trade for one season of LeBron and b) what could the Cavs get for him?
Who knows what the answer to A is, but assuming he was on board, there’s no telling who would come out of the woodwork. You could make the argument that there are at least a dozen teams who could talk themselves into being one King away from contending for a title. How many future firsts could be extracted in such a deal? Two? Three? Pick swaps?
Cleveland would demand the sun and the moon.
And why the hell not. Some team might just be crazy enough to give it to them.
Since this is a fan blog, let’s have some fun: The Wizards offer Ian Mahinmi, Markieff Morris, Kelly Oubre, cap filler and their unprotected 2019 and 2021 first rounders, plus swap rights in 2020 and 2022. Who says no?
Washington can write its ticket to the 2018 Finals, where it would stand a fighting chance to bring the franchise its first title in almost 40 years. Meanwhile, Cleveland gets to imagine a world where John Wall follows James to LA and they end up sitting on a Celtics-esque treasure trove of assets.
What about LeBron to Charlotte for Marvin Williams, Cody Zellar, Jeremy Lamb, Malik Monk and the same picks/swaps? Or to the Blazers for Allen Crabbe, Myers Leonard and Zach Collins plus all the future goodies?
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The possibilities are mind-bending to imagine, but Cleveland making such a move would be anything but insane. The fact that such a scenario could even be envisioned is all one needs to know to understand the craziness that is the 2017 NBA Offseason.