[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by Harpospoke

That's not a problem if Lebron wanted the "easy path". He could just sign for the league minimum. Every team in the league would take that meeting with Lebron. All he had to do was call them.

Dude.. come on. That's so insanely ridiculous, I honestly don't even know how to respond.

Something is going on with the Mavs and it's not "Dirk was old". As you pointed out, that FA problem was going on a long time before Dirk got old.

Uh yeah, they never had cap room...

My theory is that it's racial. The Mavs are perceived (I'll stress that word please) as a "white man's team" going all the way back to the 80s with Don Carter and his cowboy hat (it was even on the logo), the team's obvious desire to copy the Celtics (green unis....drafting every white player they could). And if you ever watch those documentaries about Magic and Bird and Celtics/Lakers, you'll see that black players and fans hated the Celtics for that reason back in the 80s. So that was a real thing.

Since then, the Mavs have added to the perception with Dirk and Nash being so prominent. Brad Davis number retired. And they threw all that money at Chandler Parsons...a white player of course. ....And then immediately started talking about him being a "mini GM" and hinting that he was destined for the front office.

I get that most of this is just coincidence and happenstance, but that perception is certainly real. Almost none of my black friends root for the Mavs. It's just like black basketball fans in Boston in the 80s.

Now add in the perception (again stressing that word) that Dallas is a "conservative city". That translates to "racist city" in the minds of some. It's complete horse crap, but that is the perception.

You're in full blown conspiracy land now, and it's ridiculous. You think Lebron (or any other player for that matter) chose not to sign with Dallas, because they think Dallas is a racist city?????? That is INSANE. If you really want to make that argument, I defy you to show me one quote, or one report, about ANY NBA player EVER saying they chose not to sign with Dallas for that reason.

Dallas has never been an attractive destination for free agents, but I can assure you Dallas being perceived as a racist city has absolutely nothing to do with it. For pretty much all of the 2000s, the team had one of the highest payrolls in the league and very few trade assets to work a sign-and-trade. In the 2010s, Dirk and the rest of the entire team was old.

Again, if you want the "easy path"...you call them up and take a small contract to make it work. It's not hard to figure out at all. Every team would welcome Lebron with open arms.

Once again, that is flat out INSANE. You seriously think Lebron f*cking James, or ANY legit star would EVER even consider doing that????? Guys have taken pay cuts before to help their team- usually in the latter stages of their careers when they have already won a ring or two. But no superstar in the history of the NBA has EVER signed for a "small" contract, let a lone for the league minimum, let alone in the prime of their careers. You apparently have no idea how athletes think. They want to win, but they want to get paid too.

That's still putting together a new team with no idea if it will work (and we now know Love was overrated and Kyrie has injury issues and delusions of grandeur).....for an organization that he actually knew was terrible at putting together good teams. That wasn't even guesswork. Lebron already knew from experience how bad the Cavs are at running a team.

It was one of the worst places he could have gone if he was looking for an "easy path". Since he got there, that team has consistently been one of the worst teams in the league any time Lebron took a seat on the bench.

There was never any perfect situation for him to land in. Certainly nothing was ever going to be "easy." But it was pretty obvious then that Cleveland was the BEST option for him. His options were severely limited anyway. It was always either going to be coming back to Cleveland or staying in Miami. Knowing that it was really down to those two, Cleveland was BY FAR the better option.

If you really don't believe me, then I defy you to name me the other team(s) that he could have signed with that would have provided an "easy" path to a title- BARRING THIS RIDICULOUS IDEA OF LEBRON SIGNING FOR THE MINIMUM. Even now in 2018, Lebron has made it clear that he is not playing for less than the maximum and won't even entertain the idea of taking a paycut. So knowing that, this is the challenge- name the other teams in 2010 or 2014 that had CAP ROOM to take on a max contract, that would have provided a better path to a title for him than Miami or Cleveland.