NBA / Jul 14, 2010 / 11:45 am

Cavs Replace LeBron James (Or At Least His Roster Spot)

You knew they were going to have to make a move sooner or later, but I’m sure Cavs fans were hoping for something a little more substantial. According to numerous reports, Cleveland has signed Kyle Lowry (a restricted free agent) to a 4-year, $24 million dollar offer sheet. At this time, there’s no indication whether or not the Rockets will try to retain him.

Does this mean Mo Williams is on his way out of town? Potentially. Either way, Lowry is only 24 and looking to have a breakout season. Last year with the Rockets, he averaged 9.1 points, 3.6 rebounds and 4.5 assists.

What do you think? Is this a good signing? Will the Rockets match?

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29 Responses to “Cavs Replace LeBron James (Or At Least His Roster Spot)”

  1. Alex G. says:

    To be fair, he’s won as many championships as LeBron.

  2. Heckler says:

    I expect the Rockets to match.
    But dont the Cavs already have daniel gibson and bassy telfair under contract?

    mo williams is safe for now. if Houston doesnt match, i’d say it means either boobie or bassy is done in cleveland.

  3. Luigi Bros says:

    Kyle Lowry is a solid PG with good PG skills. He is a good passer and is a fiesty defender. However, at 4 years and 24 million ($6 million per year), the price is a bit steep and seems like a desperation move by the Cavs to salvage what is left of the FA class of 2010. While the Cavs could definitely use the help Lowry, they definitely reached on the bid price. Being a Rockets fan, it’ll be interesting to see whether or not the Rockets decide to match as Lowry had solidified himself as Aaron Brooks backup. However, if the Rockets match the Cavs offer at $6M per year, they would essentially be forced to offer Aaron Brooks somewhere in the neighborhood of $8M-$10M per year (starting) after his rookie contract expires, and THAT my friends is somewhat of a scary proposition given that he is essentially a shooting guard trapped in a midget’s body. While Brooks is good, he certainly isn’t $10M a year good. My guess is the Rockets DO NOT match.

  4. PG13 says:

    Why don’t the Cavs sign Richard Jefferson? It make sense to reunite him with Coach Scott, will come cheaply and he plays LeBron’s position.

  5. Chilirey says:

    he tended to give the Lakers fits….

  6. SJ says:

    The way I see it, when your best player leaves, it provides the opportunity for someone else to step up and show what they can do. I expect at least one Cavs player to have a breakout season. Of course, you don’t get one person that has LBJ’s numbers, but you will see an increase in production/worth from several people.

  7. SWAT says:

    @luigi-are u serious? brooks isnt worth 10 mil a yr? he single handely won games for us with his decision making and scoring. he took the starting spot from Flip midway thru a season and nvr looked back. he is def worth 10 a yr!
    the rox have stated before that they will match any offer sheet for scola and lowry-thy better match this for lowry! he was a very good back up and gave us a spark off the bench.

  8. Rangerjohn says:

    #3 pretty much summed it up.

    I don’t see the rockets matching, it puts them in a scola or lowry position, and scola 1st and foremost. 6 mil for a back up pg behind a 2mil guy is crazy. By not matching they also set themselves up to resigning Brooks for less. Brooks at 6 mil yes, Lowry not so much.

  9. Rangerjohn says:

    Swat, flip was never a rocket, you mean rafer?

  10. SWAT says:

    lol sorry typo-meant skip

  11. Luigi Bros says:

    @SWAT-Rajon Rondo has a 5-year, $55million dollar deal on a championship caliber team. So when i ask myself, “Do I think Aaron Brooks is worth $10M?” The answer is: F*CK No. $10M would be the starter and assuming that figure climbs with each passing season, do I think Aaron Brooks is worth more than that? Again, the answer is F*ck No. I’m as big of a Rockets fan as they come, but honestly $10M for Aaron Brooks is WAY TOO MUCH. First off, Aaron Brooks isn’t even a true PG and the fact that he is a tweener even at his position isn’t going bode well in the future when he loses his quickness and athleticism. Couple that with the fact that he is a complete liability on defense, do I think he is worth $10M? HELL NO. People also tend to forget that Yao Ming all of last season and you couple that with the fact that Kevin Martin was in and out of the lineup, it’s easy to see why Aaron brook’s numbers were so inflated. Don’t get me wrong, Aaron is a talented player, but he isn’t worth $10M per. Not even close. I’m just happy that you, SWAT, aren’t running this franchise, and good ole DM is.

  12. SWAT says:

    haha ranger u kno wht i meant!

    and 6 mil and 10 a yr for ur floor generals, who are battle tested, is really not tht much based on wht these other teams pay for mediocrity.

  13. Rebo says:

    Kyle Lowry and Aaron Brooks, battle-tested? What, are you serious? Aaron Brooks has been in the league what 2 years? Kyle Lowry being int he league 5 years, in which 2 seasons he played more than 50 games. I don’t know what you are smoking, but gimme some of that and calm down man. You have no clue what you are talking about. $6M for a backup PG and $10M for a guy who has been in the league two years…

    Shit, if the Rockets were my franchise, you sure as hell aren’t running it hahaha

  14. Luigi Bros says:

    @SWAT- Rajon Rondo has a 5-year, $55million dollar deal on a championship caliber team. So when i ask myself, “Do I think Aaron Brooks is worth $10M?” The answer is: F*CK No. $10M would be the starter and assuming that figure climbs with each passing season, do I think Aaron Brooks is worth more than that? Again, the answer is F*ck No. I’m as big of a Rockets fan as they come, but honestly $10M for Aaron Brooks is WAY TOO MUCH. First off, Aaron Brooks isn’t even a true PG and the fact that he is a tweener even at his position isn’t going bode well in the future when he loses his quickness and athleticism. Couple that with the fact that he is a complete liability on defense, do I think he is worth $10M? HELL NO. People also tend to forget that Yao Ming all of last season and you couple that with the fact that Kevin Martin was in and out of the lineup, it’s easy to see why Aaron brook’s numbers were so inflated. Don’t get me wrong, Aaron is a talented player, but he isn’t worth $10M per. Not even close. I’m just happy that you, SWAT, aren’t running this franchise, and good ole DM is.

  15. SWAT says:

    rebo-do u watch basketball? the rox were the only team tht tested the lakers a couple of seasons ago and who was their PG…oh yea aaron brooks. lol. who is this cat? whn YAO went down it was brooks and lowry holding it down this season and the rox were damn in the playoffs until the last month or so. thy are worth the money IMO.

  16. SWAT says:

    @ luigi and rebo yall cats are nuts! brooks is like the 5th or 6th player in nba history to make over 200 3′s and 400 assit. not to mention he got the most improved player of the year-avg 19.6, 5.3 asst and 2.6 reb. again while Yao was out, ariza was up and down all season and we didnt get martin until mid way thru the season. so brooks and lowry, along with some very good bench players and scola were fighting the whole time. lol yall two cats can miss me with tht nonsense.

  17. Bdiddyfan says:

    I think McGrady would be a great signing for them….it would allow him to be the face of a franchise again and know he is a shell of himself but he can still play too…

    Hey Mo Willams, Mcgrady, Hickson, Jamison, Varejo, is not a championship contender but is not horrible either

  18. Luigi Bros says:

    @SWAT- Dude, you are totally missing the point, or you simply can’t comprehend the words that I am typing on this page. Aaron Brooks numbers look the way they do because Yao Ming was out and Kevin Martin was in and out of the line-up. Rajon Rondo will be making on average $11 million over the next 5 years, on a championship caliber team with 3 future HOFers putting up the numbers that he is putting up. How can you possibly justify paying Aaron Brooks $10M on a team that didn’t even make the playoffs and playing with the caliber of players he actually played with. You simply can’t. Aaron Brooks is talented, but he isn’t worth $10M. In a league with no salary cap limitations, you can possibly consider it, but $10M is simply too much. I’m a Rockets fan, but even I know crazy talk when I hear it. Aaron Brooks is not even the caliber player that Rajon Rondo is. It’s not even close. Rondo performs at both ends of the floor and he likewise makes his teammates better. The same cannot be said about Aaron Brooks.

  19. SWAT says:

    luigi-we r obviously missing each others points-brooks was solid thru out the whole season and like i said before it wasnt until the last month or so tht we were counted out for the playoffs. the 1st few months of the season we were the sleeper team and it damn sure wasnt bcuz of chuck hayes. brooks ranked 1st in the stats you want ur PG to be 1st in-his PPG may have dipped if Yao was healthy ,but with the inside outside game the rox won he still would hv put up very solid numbers IMO. my question to you is do u think rondo could hv done better if thy switched teams and Yao was still down? I kno brooks would hv actually made a shot and not been scared to shoot in the championship games wher boston couldnt seem to find a bucket. yall cats forget when we pushed the lakers to 7-brooks had his hands all over tht. besides 10m was a number u threw out thr-do i think tht rox wil give him tht at first? No, but plenty of other teams will and the rox will match. thts why this discussion even started-the cavs thought lowry is worth 6m and Morey already said he intended to match offer sheets for scola and lowry. Man sorry cats like duhon, ramon sessions, morrow, and farmar are all hot commodities bcuz of the lack of talented pg’s.

  20. Luigi Bros says:

    @SWAT- Hypothetically speaking, if you were to give Lowry $6M, you would have no choice but to pay Aaron Brooks, am I right? The $8M-$10M figure now seems kind of generous doesn’t it? In your own words:

    SWAT says:

    @luigi-are u serious? brooks isnt worth 10 mil a yr? he single handely won games for us with his decision making and scoring. he took the starting spot from Flip midway thru a season and nvr looked back. he is def worth 10 a yr!

    No, Aaron Brooks is NOT worth $10M dollars. Again, you simply can’t justify paying $10M to a tweener PG on a team that couldn’t even make the playoffs. By handing $6M to Lowry and roughly $10M to Brooks, it would significantly restrict the Rockets ability to sign other key players with the majority of the payroll going to these two PGs, an oft-injured Yao Ming, and same goes with Kevin Martin. You keep saying the Rockets took the Lakers to 7 games, but if you look up and down the roster the Rockets certainly aren’t the same team anymore (i.e no Carl Landry, Ron Artest, etc.) The Rockets NEED Yao Ming to stay healthy. They NEED Kevin Martin to stay healthy, before they can even THINK about making noise inthe playoffs. Simply put, your don’t hand $10M to a player on a team that is a borderline playoff team when an All-Star PG on a championship team (i.e. Rondo) is making $11M and is EASILY the better player.

  21. Stunnaboy09 says:

    I actually like that move for the Cavs if they are playing run and gun as Lowry is a speedy guy whose a decent shooter. The Cavs had to overpay him in order for the Rockets not to match. All that’s left now is to trade Mo for a decent wing.

    And Brooks is in that 9-11 mil range. No doubt hes got mad skill, but Rondo pulls down 11 and hes the best player in a championship contending team.

  22. Charlie says:

    Rockets have apparently matched the offer for Lowry. This inevitably increases the value of Aaron Brooks on the open market. My guess is Aaron Brooks is going ot get moved sometime in the near future as his stock has climbed to a point where it is overwhemingly higher than his true value. Some GM is going to bite and DM is going to make him look like a fool.

  23. tahir says:

    calm down houston already matched the offer!

  24. SWAT says:

    i see wht ur saying-i agree to disagree. i am saying tho a team will pay brooks tht money-u may not think he’s worth it but tht dude can play and has shown he can lead a team if it’s main guy goes down.

  25. SWAT says:

    lol i guess the rox think that their 2 pg’s are worth 6 and possibly 8-10m a yr.

  26. DizzyDutch says:

    Aaron brooks is as good as gone by the trade deadline

  27. futuristic handgun says:

    rockets will match this. good try cavs. lowry can actually play defense unlike any of your other pgs

  28. russ says:

    Lowry is a decent shooter? That is BY FAR the weakest part of his game. If you had a wet jumper he would be a problem. Love his game otherwise though. Plays hard and aggressive all the time. But they do seem to have a bunch of 1′s in cleveland now.

  29. dagwaller says:

    10 mil is a lot for Brooks. I’d give him 7, 8, or 9 mil for a season or two to see if he’s “the future” and not just a stopgap.

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