Cavs have about $17,000,000 to spend next summer if they sign that player before they attempt to resign James. They can go over the cap to resign him. So they would have to sign whoever they can first, then present James with a contract. I believe that is how it works, and why signing this summer was actually not in the team’s best interest. If he resigned this summer that money on the books would be hard and not offer them the ability to take Lebron off the books only to put him back on.

You gotta believe the Cavs’ front office is thinking along these lines or else they wouldn’t put themselves in a position with no flexibility.

and what I mean is this…(assuming a 50 million cap level which could change)

This summer the Cavs have 32 million on the books if James opts out (which is assumed he will). They can sign whoever they can get as long as the number is under $50 million. They can’t break $50 million. After they sign that player, they can now offer Lebron his max deal and go over the $50,000,000 to do it.

If he resigns before that (like this summer, tomorrow, or next month) the Cavs basically lose the ability to add $17,000,000 worth of talent. They would only be able to add that money through a trade….which is not being flexable. As it is, the Cavs are going into the offseason with the ability to look at both trades and free agents. So everyone who was calling for Lebron to sign an extension this summer were forgetting that he was actually doing the Cavs a disservice is he did that.

My numbers might be off a tad, but the general concept is sound. That is how the Cavs are looking to go into the off season

Does anyone know if Dolan and the knicks can legally offer Lebron a max contract + stock or a small percentage of ownership in cablevision? I read somewhere, possibly here, that this scenario has been discussed among Knicks brass. If this is allowed it’s a genius plan but it just seems way too illegal and unfair to me but i’d take what I can get. Myles, Tommy can you shed a little light on this?

I honestly think that if the cavs don’t win it all this season bron will be out. I don’t think hell lay it all on the line like that and i don’t think hes basing the whole decision on that one aspect but that should be the big blow that takes him out of Cleveland. As we all know he wants to win, win, win some more, win again, win another time, and then maybe win again. Can Cleveland give him the pieces he needs? If so, can they do it in a timely fashion? People talk about “LeBron will never go to a team that is rebuilding like the knicks” but if the cavs don’t make it this season wont they have to take a look at the roster and make some impact moves as well? Doesn’t that put them in almost the same boat as the knicks? It is obvious to many that the Cavs simply don’t have the talent required to win a championship, let alone 2 or 3 or 5. If it’s obvious to us it’s gotta be obvious to LeBron as well. Not only will the Cavs be in the same boat as the knicks, the knicks are willing to go over the cap and pay luxury tax to put a championship caliber team out there every night. Doesn’t every player want to be on a team that is willing to go above and beyond to make big things happen? isn’t that why so many baseball players want to play for the yankees?

I know there are a lot of people who say the market of the team isn’t a big factor anymore because of new media and whatnot, but i beg to differ. A city like NY is expected to live up to a certain level. We are expected to be great, we are expect to not only win a championship, but win them often. Because of the pressure of the NY fans/media the knicks are sometimes forced to make things happen. They made a horrible attempt with all the terrible moves they made under Isiah, but they did add the salary because they thought it would get them a championship. Although it turned out to be the complete opposite of what they wanted, it still shows that they were willing to spend the dough to win. A city like Cleveland does not have the same pressures as NY. What happened to the Browns when times were tough? Moved to Baltimore. It doesn’t work like that in NY.

In the end, if you think of this as a compare and contrast graph between NY and Cleveland, you have agree that the knicks have the advantage in many of the important factors column. Sure he can make a little more money in Cleveland but is that small amount of cash substitute not winning? Cleveland has “Home town” and “slightly more money/years” to offer.. thats about it. This is why im am so confident that the King will move his throne to NYC…. Hit me up on Twitter and we can discuss this stuff all day every day