8.27.2008

CONVENTION TYPHOID: Dream Ticket 2010



In the middle of the Olympics, it came to us. A thought bigger than LeBron in Russia, or Brooklyn, or even the mystical significance that 2010 has taken on. Thank you, Akron Beacon Journal, for tapping into the motherlode of idle basketball reflection, of lighting the way with a single observation that's the difference between bullshit Y2K and Revelations. The very simple principle, which remained hidden in plain sight like the wonder of the natural world, is as follows: The Cavs could not only re-sign LeBron, but also bring in Wade or Bosh. Or Amare, or Josh Howard, who are part of that 2010 free agent class. Cleveland has one star already, and of all the teams like that, only they will have the cap room to ink another.

Let's forget, for a second, the practical concerns of what this would do to the entire team. The Celtics worked around three gigantic contracts; I, for one, think it's just a matter of Ferry paying his usual kind of player less. Also, while you could make the argument that Boston had three grizzled, ego-less vets ready to get in line and win, thus making their situation totally different than two young superstars in their prime, don't shortchange LeBron. He only happens to be the most versatile player in the universe, and has only been reduced to a meager 30/7/7 machine by Mike Brown and his team's total paucity of everyone and anything resembling flexible talent. So fuck off, stop doubting, and return to the fold of those who believe that, with Bron in our midst, anything is possible. Like winning two championships at once while traveling back in time.

I would also like to promptly apologize to Amare and Josh Howard for not regularly including them in my assessment of the awesome force that is 2010. Howard's stock is crazy low right now, but pre-Kidd he was on the ascent. He has two seasons to get it together. I, for one, am optimistic. As for Amare, it's well-known that he can't play defense, and may never exactly regain his pre-surgery ability to instantaneous achieve lift-off. I stay up at night wondering if that's the case, and wishing the questions would stop tearing at my mind-space. Regardless, he's still an athletic as fuck big man who can score 200 ways around the hoop, and is good for some rebounds, at least on paper. Max deals have been signed for far less, and far less dominant—and more fractuous—individuals have been regarded as franchise saviors. Sidenote: The internet should erase everything anyone wrote about the Knicks after they got Randolph. It's the blogosphere's equivalent of eugenics.



What I want to do, and what I plan to do when my office gets gloomy and I wonder what it all means, is spend a lot of time thinking about how fucking awesome any of these pairings would be. Putting Bron and Wade together almost makes my brain shut down, especially after the Olympics. My meager grasp of X's and O's notwithstanding, the sheer amount of game that would harness, every night for several years without Coach K smirking on the margins, is almost overpowering. This may be faulty logic, but I've seen both of them single-handedly beat better teams many, many times, while also doing an admirable job of playing off of lesser teammates when necessary. LeBron still could become both Magic Johnson 2 and C-Webb's revenge without sacrificing his Jordan-esque opuses. Not to say that James needs to become a #2, but certainly having Wade—a more traditional SG who nonetheless knows how to involve others and boards like a motherfucker—would allow him to open up his game, instead of being forced to beg for a fastbreak, and then settle for an iso that likely ends in some Cav fumbling a pass.

James and Bosh is more orthodox, but deceptively so. It would give LeBron someone really skilled, and dynamic, to hit, feed, or set up near the basket, which would also obviate the King's much-noted lack of a post game. This is the kind of partnership that would instantly streamline, and take a lot of the rough, desperate edges off of James that have been interpreted as hubris or stagnation. The only problem, if this even is one, is that James is a one-man fastbreak, so Bosh's ability to run the floor wouldn't really matter much. Oh well. This team in the half-court would be like two tigers filled with dynamite, strapped to circling sharks, just waiting to explode and turn the sharks into ghost-sharks that would live forever and steal our daughters. I think that is a much more concrete dream for the Cavs than the Bron/James basketball orgasm whose name can barely be spoken.

Amare and Howard are, despite my doctrinary commitment to these two, lesser players. And it is not without irony that I not how cleanly this pair splits the euphoria outlined in those Wade and Bosh scenarios. From a style, swagger, and all-out ridiculousness perspective, Stoudemire and LeBron would be a joy to see together. If there's one thing James really lacks, it's a consistent sense of personality and, well, style, beyond that of history-making agent who both dutifully oversee and is in thrall to his own outsized importance in basketball. Amare, as we all know, is a one-way player, but could be a major influence—whether good or bad—when it came to unlocking a little more energy, and non-business-like vitality, in LeBron (some of which, it should be said, we saw in the Olympics). I'm not quite sure how to approch this from a basketball perspective: They are pretty similar physically; Amare has maybe an inch on LeBron, James's less svelte. But–and maybe this is my Amare fandom speaking—I can't imagine that James wouldn't welcome a chance to play with Stoudemire, who would detonate on command near the basket, as well as draw defenders from all over with his ability to slash like a forward (Note: he's better at that than Garnett ever was).



Josh Howard, recent difficulties aside, is three things: An offensive threat who, unless he's being meticulously placed by Jason Kidd, can score from all over, and a disruptive defensive presence who is kind of like Shawn Marion as a shooting guard. A more modest triumph than one of these other guys would be, and yet exactly the kind of player's player who LeBron knows the true value of. This doesn't conjure up images of a 2-on-5 stampede like the other combination do, but Howard might not bring max money, and, if there's one other decent, reasonably paid player on that roster (Mo Williams, maybe), would provide the Cavs with an excellent nucleus that wouldn't shackle LeBron or make us alternately feel bad for him and despise him for an awfully uninspired way of doing business. Good players make superstars better, usually, and Howard is one of those players. However, this one is getting way too caught up in the realm of the real, and forcing me to try and think of offensive schemes that aren't metaphors for AP Physics, so we'll stop this one here.

So let this be a celebration of basketball. Basketball that may never be, but that, on the heels of the Olympics, is a possible landing zone for the Redeem Team's staggering, but to me ultimately kind of wasted and meaningless, explosion of style, action, and consequence. Let us be as one, even if nothing comes of this and the Cavs move to Iraq. This is the new fantasy basketball, and I plan to be at its center. I love everyone.

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11 Comments:

At 8/27/2008 2:27 PM, Blogger Kaifa said...

My vote goes to LeBron/Amare. Imagine those two running towards you on the break. It's like a freight train flanked by a stampede of buffalo.

And to complete the 2010 offseason: Ricky Rubio to the Hawks.

 
At 8/27/2008 2:47 PM, Blogger Hardwood Paroxysm said...

Instead, I think Amare/Wade is even more dangerous. The Olympics showed that LeBron is neck and neck with (but still slightly behind) Kobe for the best individual player in the world, but Wade looked better in conjunction. He fed off of Paul as the splitter on the pick and roll, he worked in conjunction with Howard on rebounds, and he and Kobe were like twin tigers chasing prey on the fast break (plus the ridiculous fallling away, no-look oop). Wade has already proven that he's incredibly dangerous with a big man, imagine him with Amere's explosiveness.

But if we're talking LeBron and the Cavs only, doesn't Howard have the capability to be at least Pippen-esque for James? And what about Joe Johnson? He'll be 29. I mean, I know it's so much less exciting than Wade or Bosh, but isn't that kind of pure intense scorer with ball handling ability exactly what they've been wishing for?

 
At 8/27/2008 2:48 PM, Blogger Trey said...

I'll take LeBron/Howard/Williams. It's like a psycho version of the Bucks' Big Three with headbands.

 
At 8/27/2008 2:50 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

I will take Doug Smith and Anthony Peeler. Nice find Shoals.

 
At 8/27/2008 3:36 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wade-LeBron makes me pee myself, Bosh-LeBron gives me a goofy grin, and Williams-Howard-LeBron makes me want to reimagine the entire game. Let's just hope Ferry doesn't fuck up and accidentally sign Carmelo or something.

For the record: Howard can be a lot of things, but Pippen-esque isn't one of them. The Dallas Morning News loves to bring up these random Pippen comparisons about once a year, but in reality Howard's mid-range game is a bit more developed (all though late last year he was a bit of a stinker), less willing of a passer, and not very good at handling the ball. Joe Johnson, though...

 
At 8/27/2008 4:40 PM, Blogger A said...

All the names associated with 2010 are too sexy. LeBron, Wade, Amare, Bosh, even McGrady. But Bron is already sexy. Contrasting colors would make this a beautiful painting - think of a hard-nosed bomber like Mike Miller, or a versatile two-way player like Stephen Jackson. Throw in an Earl Watson or Antonio Daniels on the cheap, and voila! This squad needs more vet toughness and less green Boobies.

Of course, Mike Miller doesn't put behinds in seats, so my choice is Wade.

 
At 8/27/2008 6:10 PM, Blogger Sons of Big Daddy Drew said...

Great piece, Shoals. I'd love to see Wade with LeBron. He was so freakin' good at the Olympics, I only hope he could maintain it for 82+ games. What'd you mean by "C-Webb's revenge"? And excellent find with the huge bug pic...

 
At 8/27/2008 7:17 PM, Blogger Michael said...

First he hates us, now he loves us all. Your constant back and forth leaves me spinning Shoals!

Seriously, though, Rob Mahoney said it best: "Wade-LeBron makes me pee myself."

All these possibilities are as good as it could get. Having never been a Wade fan, it was life-changing to watch him in these Olympics. If we put these two together, would they start challenging themselves in ridiculous ways, the way Bird's Celtics used to?

On the other hand, Bron/Amare makes me giddy with 2-on-5 confidence; are there many teams these guys wouldn't roll over with pure athleticism, with any three JV scrubs at their sides?

That's the good stuff.

 
At 8/27/2008 7:22 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Capturing the gold with other members of the Class of '10 makes me think that at least one of your scenarios *must* happen. LBJ has now tasted not just running, but winning, with equals and will hold everyone, not just Cleveland, to bidding up for that standard.

The other day I woke up and realized that all the great modern British psychedelic bands that couldn't hold their shit together because of flaky people are back together and touring, 2010 could be much like that in the league. It'll be like "Holy shit, Amare's headlining Coachella?"

 
At 8/27/2008 8:57 PM, Blogger Jason Gill said...

I enjoy the future as much as you and the Jetsons, but Wade's renaissance- maybe even, from a stylistic prespective, his naissance- makes me shake for this season:

Wade and Beasley will be on the same team; WADE AND BEASLEY AND MARION WILL BE ON THE SAME FUCKING TEAM. Excuse my enthusiasm but they'll also have Mario Chalmers running the point. And they laugh when you ask them about a 4 or a 5. These guys are ready to run with no one over 30 including their coach.

This excites me, nothing more needed.

 
At 8/28/2008 2:03 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wrong. They are not the only team. The OKC team will have only 6 mill on the books after the 2009-2010 season and the Cavs will have 30 mill on the books. Hmmm. And with all that space the "Sonics" will still have Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, and Westbrook still under contract. So they have more then enough cap room to sign Lebron and Wade and be able to combine them with those 3 youngsters. Can you imagine that lineup??? And they are all young so it could easily turn into a dyansty. You can't tell me with a city brand new to having a basketball team and with Larry Brown coaching and ALLLLLL that cap space that Lebron and D-Wade havent thought about this.... my bet is on they sign with them....

 

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