2019/20 Players' Transactions: Breaking News , Trades, Free Agents, And Rumors

Without getting into the financials behind that, we can all agree to make it so that LeBron could reach Houston, they'd have to gut the roster, right? That means no Capela, no Ariza, basically none of the role players that made the team viable. They'd have to get rid of some picks in order to dump Gordon and Anderson so their future would be limited as well.

So in the end you end up with LeBron, Harden, and Chris Paul and nobody else on the team. The same Chris Paul with a long injury history and the same Harden that has choked every year of his career? I'd be okay with that.

So the real question is: why would LeBron want that over where he is now even? Or the Sixers or Lakers who have room to grow and future flexibility and current competitiveness? If he picks Houston, he's digging his own grave and guaranteeing he'll have to carry the team the same way he's been carrying this one when the lights shine in the playoffs.

 

The financials don't work that way. We've covered that so much.

Even if they trade Gordon/Anderson for LeBron (awful trade), with Chris Paul's and Clint Capela's cap holds, the Rockets are at 121.6 million. That's without Ariza and just accounting for Capela's Cap Hold, not what he'll get in RFA.

So they'll lose two key role players in Ariza and Gordon (Gordon kept them alive the last few games), and then they'll match that RFA on Capela (could get up to 20 million) and have a salary of near 140 million dollars mostly divided between Harden, a 34 year old half-broken Paul, and LeBron? I'm okay with that. That's about as top heavy as you can get, weak depth, LeBron is just another tweaked hamstring away from a similar team he had in Cleveland. That'd be a pretty lame choice and would honestly broaden the pool I think.

Honestly I can't imagine they'd match on Capela and jump to 140 if they got LeBron. Approximate Capela with Tarik Black and some other cheap bigs.

 

Okay hold on...

1) I've been making that guarantee to @abeer3 (aka beerstrodmus) for months. So I said it first!
2) It's definitely possible to get it done without massive paycuts (I outlined it above ^), it's just highly unlikely and would require a much weakened roster.
3) I agree it's not going to happen.

 

Boy, it's going to be an interesting summer. I agree that Lebron going to Houston is a massive long shot given the shenanigans that have to happen with moving salaries out in order to fit him. Then you have a gutted team as well, not the one that got you 65 wins and to just one game away from the Finals. I don't think it makes much basketball sense in that regard. Then again their other option is to pay CP3 big money knowing that he's going to get injured at least every other year if not annually. They've got some tough decisions and chasing Lebron is extremely complicated and a huge gamble.

All of this when he can come here and sign outright for the max. Also if he does come here I feel like we've got a great shot to add PG with him. I don't know, I like our chances.

If he does go to Houston so be it, then I can just continue rooting against him and that works for me too!

Oh yeah, and Philly looks like a $&!^ show right now. Plus Lebron is a better fit here with our roster anyway. Too redundant with Simmons doing the Lebron-lite thing over there.

 

My question is, which roster is best suited for LeBron's future?

Philly-
Simmons/McConnell
Fultz/
Covington/Anderson
Saric/Holmes
Embiid/

LA (let's just for the sake of argument say we can't keep Randle, because honestly at that point it's unfair)-
Ball/
George/Hart
Ingram/
Kuzma/
Lopez/Bryant

Houston-
Paul/
Harden/
Tucker/
Nene/Black

That's basically what he's looking at. The Lakers have another draft pick they can add for more depth as well, but the option to me is clearly between Philly and LA in terms of providing LeBron a team with depth where the onus isn't on him constantly to be successful. There's other players capable of pulling weight on those teams, even off the bench. Houston would be extraordinarily top heavy and Golden State just suffered quite a scare for that same reason. The Lakers in 04 lost for that same reason. He needs a landing spot where there's depth and youth so that he's not constantly having to move mountains to win.

Let alone the idea of playing with another MVP ought to rankle him, not excite him. Look at the heat Durant just took and he was one of the more likable players in the league before that move. LeBron teaming up with another MVP to try to win a title... Sheesh.

That's not to mention the extras attached to Los Angeles that support LeBron's off-the-court interests. He's got two houses in LA, one that he just spent hundreds of thousands renovating, adding a wine cellar, adding a basketball court, adding a pizza oven. His entertainment company rents an office on the Warner Brothers lot in Hollywood. You can even see it if you take a tour of the studio. We already know LeBron has broken into acting a bit in that Amy Schumer movie not too long ago, but how about movie producing with Channing Tatum? These are all interests he can do anywhere, that's absolutely true. He can spend his summers in LA at the 20+ million dollar second mansion he bought and then go back to Cleveland or go to Houston during the season, there's nothing restrictive about it. It's also undeniable that LeBron intends to break into entertainment and business ventures after basketball and there's no other place like Los Angeles that offers him the ability to do that. Not only is LA the best place for an athlete to excel off the court, but we've got two examples of that; one of which just won an Emmy and the other is the President of Basketball Operations. We are uniquely built to help him realize his visions off the court.

 

Very true, I just don't see Gilbert doing it. But you never know.

 

No, @abeer3 is saying they trade Gordon/Anderson/millions of picks for LeBron. That all happens with or without cap hits.

@abeer3 assumption is that Houston will pay the massive bill it'd take to have a roster of Paul, Harden, LeBron, flunkie, Capela as well as find ways to fill out their bench. The Rockets were already thin this year off the bench. I think making all those moves to get LeBron would take Morey and Gilbert being insanely friendly with each other as well as cost them significant depth pieces (Ariza is more than a minimum player).

It's possible, but in my opinion it is highly unlikely.