Friday, July 09, 2010

The mistake by the lake

Wow. LBJ wanted out of Cleveland so bad that he left over $30 million on the table to join Wade and Bosh in Miami.

I give a lot of credit to Pat Riley and Wade for making this happen. Riley for the dealing and salesmanship and Wade for unselfishness, pushing for guys that are going to lower his own stats.

At least with this move, I think LeBron has improved his chances to get to the conference finals!

It remains to be seen who else will come to Miami and play for peanuts to try and win with the new "big 3".

6 comments:

Sean said...

This big 3 is far better than Bostons. Garnet in his prime may have been better than Bosh but Allen and Pierce were never close to Wade and Lebron. More importantly, these 3 are in their prime while the other 3 were acquired later in their careers. Boston won a championship; have to say Miami is the favorites to win one, even if they come hire me and my grandma to play. They already signed Mike Miller.
Is a championship in Miami more valuable in the long-run than the added contract money offered? Assume he stayed at Cleveland for and didn't have a ring at 31. On the other hand, suppose he wins 2-3 with at Miami. While its more risky to rely on uncertain variables as opposed to guaranteed money, his move to Miami may be the more profitable one in the long-run.

Jim said...

Looks like LeBron took the easy way out to me. Taking on the challenge of winning a title for his hometown in Cleveland would have been worth several championships with the new, stacked "Big Three" in Miami. He should have stayed the course in Cleveland, and his popularity would continue to soar, as well as his income!

Jim said...

I mean, of course he's getting a fat sum from Miami, that is nothing compared to endorsement money. And fans everywhere lost respect for him leaving cleveland, not as popular = not as much endorsements.

Anonymous said...

What about differences in state income taxes? IN NYC he has ~3.5% city tax and ~6.5% state tax; that's 10% more in Miami than in NY. And in Cleveland he has a ~2% city tax and a ~6% state tax. Florida? 0% state income tax. These numbers add up. Did they make the difference? Probably not, but you can bet he was aware. I am really surprised that nobody is mentioning this fact.

John Thacker said...

He actually didn't leave the full $30 million over the table, since Cleveland ended up doing a sign-and-trade. They may have hated it, but it was either get two 1st round picks, a 1st round pick swap option, and two 2nd rounders, or get only compensatory 2nd round picks.

Angus said...

Hi John: yes I saw that. He gets a 6th year that way too. No state tax on 1/2 his salary or on his endorsement income and a 6 year close to max contract when the new CBA after next season will probably lower future big contracts. LBJ did aaight for himself!