In a time and space (and city) where his every move is being scrutinized a million times over, it’s no surprise that LeBron James has inspired even more conversation after signing his three-year deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Plain Dealer columnist Terry Pluto theorizes that the new deal was about more than just a ton ($100 million to be exact) of money for the northeast Ohio’s favorite son:
Most of us in the media assumed James would sign another 1-and-1 deal for a maximum salary.
LeBron’s agents — Rich Paul and contract negotiator Mark Termini — pioneered the 1-and-1 deal first signed by James in the summer of 2014. Those deals
allowed him to become a free agent after every season.
More about that later.
But here’s one of the big points being missed by many in the media.
The contract is about money, but also confidence in the Cavs. James never talked about this when he signed those 1-and-1 deals with the Cavs.
But think about the Cavs in the summer of 2014.
1. In the four years he was gone, the team had the worst record in the NBA.
2. They had just signed David Blatt to be the coach. He was a virtual unknown to James and the NBA. Blatt’s entire career was spent coaching in Europe.
3. David Griffin was a rookie general manager, having been on the job for only five months.
4. The pressure was on him to win a title for his hometown franchise. The Cavs had signed Kyrie Irving to an extension. They had salary cap room and draft
choices to trade for players such as Kevin Love. But would that be enough to win a title?
5. In July of 2014, there was no way to know the Cavs would win a title two years later. Could Blatt coach? Could Griffin make good trades? Could Irving mature into a star or be upset by all the attention given to James?
It’s two years later. The Cavs have won a title. James has confidence in new head coach Tyronn Lue. He has seen Griffin make some very smart trades. Owner Dan Gilbert will spend about $54 million in the luxury tax.
He feels much better about the situation. The Cavs have key players Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson, Iman Shumpert and Irving under long-term deals. They probably will eventually reach a deal with J.R. Smith, just as the Cavs signed Thompson a year ago.
Thompson, Smith and James are all represented by Klutch Sports agency.
If you check out the video posted by LeBron, you can sense his excitement about the upcoming season. He knows the Cavs are in excellent position to win the Eastern Conference. Golden State adding Kevin Durant and all the hype around the Warriors is fuel for LeBron to knock them off again.
From a basketball situation, this is an excellent spot for James.
It’s also home, a very important part of the story to him.
