A Time To Move Forward For Cavaliers Fans
by John Bena (aka CavsBlogger) on Jul 12, 2010 11:32 AM CDT
in Fear My Opinion
39 comments
I'm not going to tell anyone how they should handle the Lebron James situation. Everyone becomes a fan at different times. For some of you out there, you became Cavaliers fans the day LeBron was drafted. Perhaps you got hooked in 2007 when the Cavaliers got to the NBA Finals. Or, like me, it was the Price/Daugherty/Nance Cavaliers that did it. There are also the real die-hards, fans since the team was Wine and Gold the first time around. The important thing is we are all CAVS fans, not fans of a player. That is an important distinction.
I say all that because, after a weekend of reporting on every sneeze and cough LeBron James made, I am done. Not done out of bitterness, but done because LeBron James is now a member of the Miami Heat - and this is a Cleveland Cavaliers blog. The minute the Cavs agreed to the sign and trade, I was done. The minute the last piece of vinyl poster came down of that building in Cleveland, I was done.
This site is not going to become a TMZ-esque venue for LeBron James rumor and innuendo. I am not going to post every time LeBron has a bad game, nor look for every reason to rip the guy. That might be what some sites do, but not this one. I am going to be the place Cavs fans come to talk about the Cavs, the NBA, and basketball, starting tomorrow when the Cavs' Summer League team sees its' first action.
I won't ignore LeBron, or pretend his time with the Cavs didn't exist, but I want this to be a home for Cavaliers fans. In a way, the benefit of LeBron no longer being in Cleveland is the clearing out of LeBron-homers. Fans of LeBron, not of the Cavs. It was always an interesting dynamic on the site, a group of fans that could care less about the history and tradition of Cleveland or the Cavaliers, choosing instead to care about nothing more the #23.
LeBron chose to make a new start, with a new website, new twitter account, new city, new team and new number. We will as well.
We've seen Mo Williams and Boobie Gibson come out in support of Cleveland. Instead of focusing on what we don't have, let's give thanks for what we do have. Players, and people, from elsewhere that love and appreciate the city of Cleveland and us fans in a way a guy from down the street never seemed to be able to.
To all Cavaliers fans that found this site in large part because of the events of the past 4 days or so, I welcome you. If you are a true Cavs fan, you've come to the right place. Grab a stool, kick back, and let's talk about the team we all love, the Cavaliers!
GO CAVS!
0 recs |
39 comments
|
Email
Print
Comments
I do have to say I was quite surprised at the outpouring of support from other fanbases. It was one very small positive thing in all this…one that I didn’t expect but was greatly appreciated.
Agreed...
Thanks to everyone who stopped by to let us know your feelings!
FTS
SBNation's Cleveland Cavaliers Blogger
by John Bena (aka CavsBlogger) on Jul 12, 2010 11:55 AM CDT up reply actions
Lets move on to this – We need starters and offensive production at SG, SF, and C.
Current assets: $9M in cap space, a $16M trade exception, delonte’s $5M non-guaranteed contract, the Bird rights on Shaq that we could use in a sign-and-trade, and a bunch of Miami’s future picks. Also, I see Moon and Parker as cheap, veteran contracts that could be used in conjunction with our trade exception.
I root for Cleveland and anyone playing the Miami Heat
I'm with ya...
Small correction – the cap-space goes away with the trade exception. The Cavaliers chose to go that direction since the exception was more than the cap space would have been, even with Delonte getting waived. Since the Cavs went with the Exception, they also get their MLE back as well.
FTS
SBNation's Cleveland Cavaliers Blogger
by John Bena (aka CavsBlogger) on Jul 12, 2010 12:15 PM CDT up reply actions
No...
The Cavs were expected to, giving them around $13 million in Cap space. By deciding to take the exception, which was worth more, they give up the cap space…
Sorry for the confusion.
FTS
SBNation's Cleveland Cavaliers Blogger
by John Bena (aka CavsBlogger) on Jul 12, 2010 12:27 PM CDT up reply actions
so you cant be both under the cap and have the trade exception? i didnt know this. does this mean we also have the MLE ($5.8M) then?
I root for Cleveland and anyone playing the Miami Heat
Yes...
We have the MLE now as well…
FTS
SBNation's Cleveland Cavaliers Blogger
by John Bena (aka CavsBlogger) on Jul 12, 2010 3:38 PM CDT up reply actions
You can't have exceptions and be under the cap.
The trade exception allows you to use the Bi Annual Exception (assuming the Cavs didn’t use it in 09) and the Mid Level. Plus the trade exception which is more than the cap space. It could also be used to take back assets come draft time when teams are looking to dump salary before July 1.
In short, not doing a sign & trade with Miami would have been churlish for the Cavs not to do. It’s a good thing the Cavs ended up doing that.
EvilCowtownInc: Screwin Suckaz over since 1985...... On Twitter
No mistakes in the tango, Donna. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
What John meant was that the Cavs could have waived Delonte and the team would have had 13M in cap space. Instead, we can use him as an expiring deal and still use the trade exception.
Don't be afraid to fight for your rights!
Oh, OK, sorry.
So right now, we have….
PG: Mo, Boobie, Telfair
SG: Green, Delonte, Parker
SF: Jamison, Moon, Jawad
PF: Hickson, Powe
C: Sacha Kaun, Varejao
That’s not so bad. I could live with that for a year while rather than bloat up on the cap again.
You are consistent Bena. It’s Jay Culter part two.
You teach a good lesson. Team > player
World Cup officiating reminds me of Bob Slowik's coaching. It’s embarrassing when people in the spot light get promoted well beyond their level of competence.
It's amusing...
That you would be one that would see how I handle these things. And trust me, when I read Gilbert’s letter and saw things like “….wouldn’t return my calls and texts….” it gave me chills. Obviously the situations were different, but in the end, the behavior of two players that seemingly wanted out of their situations is uncanny…
FTS
SBNation's Cleveland Cavaliers Blogger
by John Bena (aka CavsBlogger) on Jul 12, 2010 12:30 PM CDT up reply actions
Amusing since...
you are on MHR as well. Several other SBN bloggers who I am friends with caught the similarities as well. It’s the only way I know…
FTS
SBNation's Cleveland Cavaliers Blogger
by John Bena (aka CavsBlogger) on Jul 12, 2010 12:31 PM CDT up reply actions
Everyone appreciates a man that is consistent, someone that states their principles and sticks to them regardless of outcome. You and I butt heads a lot, but know that I very much like this about your work.
It’s hard to say goodbye to the players you loved rooting for, but I bet Cleveland is like Denver in that TEAM is always above any player, be it Elway, LeBron, Kosar or Joe Sakic.
World Cup officiating reminds me of Bob Slowik's coaching. It’s embarrassing when people in the spot light get promoted well beyond their level of competence.
Pat Bowlen handled it better than Dan Gilbert.
Gilberts comments will do the Cavs no long term favors.
World Cup officiating reminds me of Bob Slowik's coaching. It’s embarrassing when people in the spot light get promoted well beyond their level of competence.
as long as Gilbert doesnt say or write anything else, i dont see any permanent damage. its not like we are attracting superstar free agents anyway.
I root for Cleveland and anyone playing the Miami Heat
And Gilbert not saying anything does the Cavs no favors either.
I’ve yet to see a cogent, thoughtful argument for this idea that Gilbert’s words hurt the Cavs in any way. Just a lot of drive-by fans leaving their opinion.
Art Modell gives me a hard one
Well, good… because here’s a drive-by agreement with you. ; )
With everything Gilbert’s had on his shoulders lately, people would be pretty short sighted to judge him for a few comments. To me, it looked like he was calling it like he saw it. I’d never fault an owner for speaking from his heart. He owns that right and he’s certainly a little closer to the situation than we are. I have to believe this experience is just going to drive him that much harder to scratch out a championship. I’d much rather have an owner who lets it be known he has personal skin in the game and speaks his heart than one who doesn’t.
I like Josh. But I need Ws.
by broncosmontana on Jul 12, 2010 6:34 PM CDT up reply actions
my sentiments exactly
I’ve tried not to post here too much, out of respect, since I’ve only followed the Cavs from afar (my wife’s family is from Cleveland) But I have so much respect for the way you guys have handled this, and (as a frequenter of MHR) especially you, John. Your level head brought much-needed ballast and reason to a fractured fan base in Denver during some very dark days, and your passion and drive for the Cavs at this tulmultuous time in franchise history is so gratifying to see. Good on ya, mate.
I like Josh. But I need Ws.
by broncosmontana on Jul 12, 2010 6:39 PM CDT up reply actions
I’m actually a bit more excited about the upcoming season more than I’ve been in a long time. I think we will all be pleasantly surprised with our guys. There will be no pressure what so ever on them so we will see a much more relaxed team. But if they don’t do to well in the win column, oh well, we’re in the same place we’ve been for the past 7 years, or 50+, without a championship. I’d rather have a team that surprises rather than disappoints!
by sether1 on Jul 12, 2010 12:38 PM CDT reply actions 5 recs
Rec'd
FTS
SBNation's Cleveland Cavaliers Blogger
by John Bena (aka CavsBlogger) on Jul 12, 2010 12:39 PM CDT up reply actions
I would be shocked
If the Cavs do not win 45-50 games and make the 2nd round of the playoffs. You guys need to replace Shaq, a big man is necessary. Outside of that position, i’ve always thought that Lebron had an EXCELLENT supporting cast. I hated how everyone hated on the Cavs and always made excuses for Lebron. Now is the time when we really find out what is what. And i have my money on the Cavs doing excellently.
I agree,
I would love to see a scenario where we grab Arenas and Jefferson
rebuiding completely woud only bring lottery picks who may leave after 3 years anyway
we need to stay competitive
Im the poor man's corey maggette!!!
Jefferson would be a nice pick up!
Arenas is a huge question mark… Tough to tell what to make of that guy. Great one day/game, absolutely crazy the next. For a lot less money he’d be awesome. But at a near max deal you need a lot more consistency out of the player. That said, I’m a gambler at heart, so I’d go for it!
We need a offensive minded SF...
Iggy or Deng would be easily absorbable with the trade exception…
PG – Mo
SG – Delonte
SF – Deng/Iggy?
PF – Jamison
C. – Varejao
Seems like a great team to me =]
by ap3604 on Jul 12, 2010 3:55 PM CDT via mobile reply actions
melo fan here
i truly feel for you guys. all these years i’ve been saying lebron’s a dick and that he’s got no class for running off the court whenever melo or anyone else would beat him in a game that was nationally televised. now, cleveland and baltimore are united, we hate lechoke’s guts! oh, and our baseball teams are godawful.
"Being an Orioles fan is like having very painful genital warts."
"harden the fuck up mike gonzalez."
The Signing Bonus: We're back in business.
It may take a couple years to rebuild
but at least the Cavs roster isn’t terrible. How many wins will you get without Lebron? I’m thinking 35-40.
by Stacey_Is_King on Jul 13, 2010 12:17 AM CDT reply actions
Scott can make chicken soup out of chicken you-know-what
I’ll settle for 35-40 for starters…hell, if we can get someone decent in a trade, maybe those numbers will go up!
by clevelandrox on Jul 14, 2010 8:36 PM CDT up reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on Fear The Sword
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recent FanPosts
Socialize With FearTheSword
Certain photos copyright © 2010 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
