Thanks, that makes more sense, so him opting in could drag this out for the long run. Well, I guess we will know soon enough. Maybe by 5:45 tomorrow!
@basketballholic I mean even you would have to agree that there needs to be at least an ounce of smoke soon.. you expect deals of this magnitude to happen in a couple of hours? I have this at 1%
If LeBron opts in, he wouldn't be able to leave for zero compensation. His leverage would be out the door. Cleveland could simply say "that doesn't work for us," and since LeBron is under contract, there's not much he could do. And quite frankly, I really don't think most front offices/agents would be that upset with Gilbert, if that's the scenario that happened. If LeBron doesn't get his wish afterward, it's pretty simple what he could have done differently -- get the trade arranged in June, the same way CP did in 2017. Not that hard.
I just don't buy that an opt-in without a trade agreement in principle would FORCE anything, other than Cleveland having the game's best player under contract for next season and without any recourse to leave (other than retiring). There'd be no scenario for Cleveland superior to keeping him. You might be right, I obviously can't prove it. I'm just extremely skeptical.
We're all debating this as though it's LA or HOU when reality is it might be he's either signing with LA OR if they don't get what he wants in time he's opting in with Cleveland just to stick it out one more year and preserve his salary where it's at. I'm still not 100% why he would do that though. Logic would seemingly dictate that if it's LA or Cleveland he would just opt out and re-sign with Cleveland if LA can't work out what he wants. That would eliminate the whole timeline issue all together. He opts out, tells Cleveland and LA that they both have to compete for him, see who lines up what he wants, and bam. If LA can work out deals he signs there for 4 year max. If they can't he signs a 1+1 again in CLE. The opt-in deadline being used as leverage is odd to me. Who is he leveraging that against?
And that's why I think we have to hear something about him opting in and getting a trade within the next several hours if it is going to happen. Basically if the clock strikes midnight without hearing anything about Lebron opting in and getting traded, then he's either opting in and staying or throwing away his career in LA.
Why is he opting in with Cleveland? I hadn't really thought about this, but why would he create this artificial deadline if it's either CLE or LA?
So not only has to opt in but put on his GM has and put together a trade. Yeah, this definitely ain't happening. I'm lowering my odds from 95% 0.001% to 0.000% He should definitely opt out.
Generally agree. I'd say there's a small chance of an early-morning leak, like what happened with PG today... but either way, if we're sitting here after lunch tomorrow without any concrete leaks, it's not happening, IMO.
I think he'd opt in to stay in Cleveland if he didn't think he could get the trade to a place he wanted to go and if he didn't think LA was a sure thing. He'd basically just be wasting another season at home and giving it a go next off-season. To be clear, I'm only thinking this is the case if he really can't make up his mind and he dislikes all of his choices....but I guess it really wouldn't matter.
Disclaimer: I'm not arguing with you I'm working through this with dialogue Why opt out though to stay in CLE? The CLE option isn't going ANYWHERE, so if he wants LA it seems like his best option is to opt out and give LA the freedom to try to build a roster. If they can't he can re-sign 1+1 with CLE. He never loses CLE as an option. The only thing that disappears with the deadline is a deal to Houston.
I can't imagine his mindset is anything other than, "If I leave, I MUST be in a GOOD championship situation." It would be stupid for him to leave and be on a team thats decent but clearly not a title contender, he can get all of that in Cleveland without creating a bunch of drama.
Alright, we're going in circles here. Maybe if we were at a cafe we could talk more, but no use repeating ourselves on a msg board.
What if it all goes down with seconds to go before midnight, just like the Verlander deal? There's still hope!
(Shelburne) "The Lakers have discussed the possibility of trading for a different all star besides Kawhi if they feel like the Spurs will not deal with them." just reported on KSPN - ESPN radio 710 AM. Lakers are unsure if the Spurs will deal with them. Does LeBron go to LA for any other stars besides Kawhi and PG?
slight correction: The deadline is midnight tomorrow....ie, before June 30th Players have all of June 29th to send in Player Option Opt-In paperwork.
