The Rotation is a weekly study on the NBA by one of our All-Star voices. In rotation this week is Matt Watson.
When it became clear that Jason Kidd was angling for a way out of New Jersey, nobody campaigned harder for the disgruntled star than LeBron James. Coming from another superstar's mouth, these repeated pleas might sound surprising. Why alienate the core of last year's Eastern champs in search of a trade that was always a pipe dream?
At the very least, a Cavs-Kidd deal would require shipping out four or five Clevelanders just to match Kidd's salary, and that's assuming Danny Ferry had anyone New Jersey wanted. After a deal (predictably) wasn't reached, LeBron had alienated half of a locker room full of guys he'd labeled as disposable parts.
I'm guessing LeBron didn't care. For LBJ, the choice between talent upgrades (like the ones made by Boston, Detroit and Orlando) and building around the core of 2007's Finals team was hardly a choice at all.
Note that I stress this as James' choice, not the Cavs'. Given that Ferry's primary responsibility is to keep LeBron happy, it wasn't surprising to see him pulling all the strings to put together last Thursday's massive 11-player deal. Ferry proved he could do something pro-active by turning over 40% of the roster. And that may assuage the constant fear that LeBron will someday bolt the Rust Belt for a coastal market. For now.But did Ferry improve the team's overall talent level? The computers say he did, and in Cleveland's first game with all the new pieces, the team sure looked damn good dismantling the Grizzlies.
But : 1) A post-trade energy bump was inevitable with everybody trying to make a good first impression, 2) Everybody looks like a world-beater against the Grizzlies, and 3) There's more to winning a title than putting talent on the floor.
As evidence of the last point, LeBron was easily the most talented player in the 2007 NBA Finals, but his team couldn't win a single game against the Spurs, whose recipe for success isn't all that complicated: it starts with having an All-Star (or three) and adding guys that sustain team chemistry. I'll define chemistry here as whatever makes some teams greater (or less) than the sum of their parts. Chemistry is hard to come by in Cleveland, where there's no confusing the hierarchy; having a player who's head and shoulders above his his GM will do that.
It'll be very difficult for the Cavs to learn how to play together between now and the end of the season (or whenever King James gets restless again), especially with Sasha Pavlovic and Daniel Gibson sidelined for another month.
More to the point, James has Ben Wallace, notoriously temperamental when taken for granted, to deal with. And there's no place in the NBA with sharper contrasts than the space just outside of #23's limelight. So will LeBron go out of his way to massage Big Ben's ego? Or will he resent the team's new highest-paid player for not caring enough to consistently produce?Probably a little bit (too little) of both. I just don't see this ending well for the Cavaliers. In games and sound bites alike, LeBron is more accustomed to dismissing his teammates than catering to them, oblivious to the finer points of facilitating chemistry.
And while talent can overcome a lot, the Cavs still lack the firepower of the Celtics or Pistons, and they'll almost certainly have to go through both of those teams to get back to the Finals. After coming within four games of the title in 2007, the team's likely second- or third-round exit this year will be considered a monumental disappointment.
The city of Cleveland may enjoy waxing nostalgic over its many just-misses in sports history, but that instinct is utterly alien to James. It's safe to say this is not a guy who cries into his beer. Which brings up the last issue of missing chemistry -- between the gangly bald GM and the northern Ohio region on the one hand, and the would-be Billion Dollar Man who may have outgrown the Buckeye State on the other.
Ferry has to deliver on the tangibles of talent precisely because the Cavs can't offer much in the way of intangibles. Other franchises don't have that problem.
LeBron Goes Global
Let's face it, LeBron James is already bigger than Ohio -- he's as recognizable on the streets of Shanghai as he is in his hometown of Akron, thanks to the marketing efforts of sponsors like Nike and Coca-Cola. In 2006, he talked about how going global would help him reach his goal of becoming the first billionaire athlete:
"I say all the time, and I tell my friends and teammates, that you have to go global,'' James told the Beacon-Journal. "In basketball and business.''If he realizes that learning a new language will help him become more marketable, is moving to New York, the advertising capital of the world, that far of a stretch?
[...] "It is only going to help my business,'' James said. "Once I knew the [2006] world games were going to be in Japan, I knew I was going to be on board.''
James is so serious, he is taking Mandarin lessons with the hope of being able to speak it in [Olympic] interviews by 2008.
Sorry, No Photos
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-26-2008 @ 4:20PM
JCN said...
Now and always, Northeast Ohio is doomed to wonder what might have been.
Reply
2-26-2008 @ 5:48PM
Will Brinson said...
Agreed with John on Cleveland's demise.
And maybe I'm way off base here (and it's entirely possible) but we always want to talk about the fact that Wade or Bron or whoever is the next "Jordan", but if anything, don't the Spurs and their success emulate the chemistry that those Bulls teams(presumably the pinnacle of chemistry has to involve getting Dennis Rodman to play ball) had more than anything, or at least the hierarchy?
Duncan is obviously more soft-spoken than MJ ever was (or still is), but I think that the similarities often get lost in the differences of superstar positional structure and theoretical differences in tempo and style.
Reply
2-26-2008 @ 6:08PM
Dead Weight said...
Lebron James and Ben Wallace are same size, Lebron is 6-8 240, Wallace is 6-9 240. Why is Lebron not playing power forward? He is the same size as Carlos Boozer.
Reply
2-26-2008 @ 7:43PM
Ryne Nelson said...
Will, very interesting...but I still can't see the similarities between the Spurs and the Bulls. Success doesn't always have to follow a pattern.
Reply
2-26-2008 @ 8:18PM
Trogdor said...
I find it odd that you use San Antonio's beatdown of Cleveland as evidence that chemistry trumps talent. It is true that LeBron was the most talented player in the series (although the gap between him and Duncan isn't exactly huge). But talent-wise, the Spurs clearly had players 2, 3, 4... actually, they probably had eight of the top ten. The Cavs might have had the single most talented player, but the Spurs had a much, much more talented starting 5 and bench. It wasn't even close.
Also, I don't know any of these Clevelanders who enjoy waxing nostalgic over near misses. Most of them are still quite bitter about them (and about being from Cleveland).
Reply
2-27-2008 @ 9:33AM
Ben said...
What's the point?
Ferry upgraded his talent level significantly while only giving up two wildly inconsistent starters.
And when has LeBron not praised his teammates? He was all over Pavlovic last years, saying he was a prophet cause he knew Sasha could player and look how he holds up Boobie Gibson.
His comments about wanting Jason Kidd weren't exactly inflammatory. Hey LeBron, would you like a HOF PG? Yes.
Hopefully, in two years, when LeBron can leave, he'll go somewhere for basketball reasons. As a Cavs fan, I can live with that.
Reply
2-28-2008 @ 12:58AM
Bubba said...
King James will opt out of his contract in 2010 and play in the NBA mecca known as Madison Square Garden. The Knicks know this and will purge their line up next year in preparation for his arrival. James is tired of playing for a small market team even if they do make the playoffs. He knows Cleveland can do so much. He knows that even though he might not win in NY, he will be the man and reap his rewards of being in the spotlight day in and day out. He loves NY and will love the attention he rightfully deserves.
Reply
2-28-2008 @ 1:12AM
jesse said...
When the generations changed their were a lot less jump shooters and more slashers with less fundimentals in the USA and the Spurs recognizied that and were one of the few teams that looked overseas early and built the right kind of team. So if anything do not say Tim versus Michael . It was more the organization. With the Bulls it was purely Jordan, Pippen, and Phil. ( Rodman when he acted right)
Reply
2-28-2008 @ 1:14AM
jesse said...
Look first ill comment on Will and Ryne and the part of the article talking aboud Spurs-Bulls. STOP there are so many other things that makes it incomparable. One of the main things is the competetion of the ear. Hands down the Spurs have had it the easiest . Jordan had it a LOT tougher and that is one of the main reasons that his accomplishments with the Bulls are considered so great. Not taking anything away from the Tim but the Spurs organization since 1999 is one of the smartest and best of all time in any sport and that is why they won titles. Have some more to say....
Reply
2-28-2008 @ 1:21AM
Brian said...
Eric and Ben made some very good points. As an Ohioan and a huge LeBron fan I agree with Ben that I just want to see LeBron win it all, whether it's with the Cavs or some other team. Although, I would prefer to see him win one for Cleveland, don't get me wrong, it's just discouraging to watch our sports teams blow it every time they come close to winning a championship. Especially the Buckeyes over the past year and a half, three championship games and no titles, what's the deal with that?
Reply
2-28-2008 @ 3:49AM
BigK said...
King James will opt out of Cleveland and sign with the Knicks in 2010 when he is eligible. He loves NY and will love being on center square every night. NY knows this and will be waiting to purge their line up next year in preparation.......
Reply
2-28-2008 @ 7:10PM
Eric said...
This article was obviously written by someone who
1) Had nothing meaningful to write about, so harps on blase topics that can't be determined until well into the future (trade - playoffs, Lebron signing - 2years down the line)
2) Did no background research on the Cavs/James or seeked understanding of the situation
3) Tries to be a bigger writer than he is by taking the same bandwagon approach by all the major syndicates that Lebron will leave, Lebron is too good for Ohio, etc.
Give me a break. The Cavs deal got rid of players that didn't produce for players that will (more than the ones they lost). If the players don't work out, they come off the books next year and the year after that. Deep down, Lebron cares about one thing and one thing only, winning championships. He will be wherever that is. He is big enough and the global marketplace is so open and accessible that Lebron can be a global superstar in Cleveland, China, or Hoboken, NJ. I am sure he, and Big Ben share that passion to win championships, and will put their egos aside to do so.
The move was genius and was made to alleviate errors in the past (the signings of 05) and put the best team Ferry could on the floor, period. We can't predict the future. Actually do your homework and find something new to write about.
Reply