The King is All We Need
That earthquake measuring 10.7 on the Richter scale in California was OKC superstar Kevin Durant landing on the court with Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.
Meanwhile, in title town USA, Cleveland, Ohio the skies were cloudy but the climate was warm as Cavs fans continued to bask in the glory of winning the 2016 NBA Championship.
The Golden State Warriors have yet to play a game and they have already been declared champions for 2017, 2018 and beyond. They anticipate averaging somewhere around 200 points per game and more than likely will go 80-2 during the regular season.
Now, if you believe any of that I have some land to sell you. Any place you land on is yours for the taking.
LeBron James was equally as giddy after joining Chris Bosh and Dewayne Wade for a four year stint in South Beach, only to win two championships in four years.
All went going according to plan until the Heat got Texas two-stepped by Dallas and then San Antonio in the Finals.
While Golden State looks quite formidable on paper, so does San Antonio with the addition of Pau Gasol and so does the Clippers with the return of Jamal Crawford, Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordon.
The Cavs only concern should be themselves.
James will return, but at what price? The way free agency has gone so far, I would say about $100 million per season would be a good starting point.
Seriously, if Michael Conley is worth the richest contract in the history of the league at $153 million on a max deal, DeMar DeRozan is worth $139 million and Al Horford is valued at $113 million, just what is a the greatest player in the world worth?
Those deals the Cavs struck for Kyrie Irving, Tristan Thompson and Kevin Love look like Goodwill bargains now.
Unless Gilbert wants to give James 50 percent of the franchise, then I think a number that would pay him about $100 million per season makes good sense to me.
That would be a $100 million discount of what Floyd Mayweather made for a 36 minute ring waltz in his final championship boxing match.
Really, who’s more valuable to their team, or sport than King James?
Chances are that James will not command $100 to return to the defending NBA champion Cavs, but I’d say he should at least garner $35 million for one season.
The big question, in light of the Durant shocker, is what the Cavs will look like next season.
Gone are Timeofey Mozgov, compliments of the Lakers shelling out $64 million, and Matthew Dellavedova who got $34 million from the Bucks of Milwaukee.
Still floating our there is the shirtless JR Smith, a pivotal piece to the Cavs puzzle, James Jones who LeBron has promised a spot on the team forever, the flip-flopping Richard Jefferson who will return or retire, and loads of other NBA players.
The Cavs solution is easier than most because they have James, the only clear transformational player in the league today.
He is the only one who has proven that he can single handedly carry a team by himself in the most critical stages of a game on offense or on defense.
It’s not as if Durant didn’t have chances to win a title with OKC, and just ask yourself would that team have lost if it had LeBron James?
The Cavs will need a back-up center, but I would prefer a Jordan Hill or David West instead of say Roy Hibbert.
Derrick Williams is an under the radar power forward. The Cavs should peek under the hood at Leandro Barbosa and Kevin Martin, maybe even Aaron Brooks, although he can’t guard a glass of water.
However, it really doesn’t matter which way the Cavs decide to go, while everyone is overreacting to Durant, the real monster in the game of basketball is LeBron James. Worry more about what he will do…
