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By Patrick McManamon
Beacon Journal sports columnist
POSTED: 07:24 p.m. EDT, Jul 07, 2009
So perhaps this magnet that the Cavaliers hold isn't as powerful as everyone thinks.
Or maybe, just maybe, there are other more powerful magnets.
Something seems up with the Cavs as they pursue free agents to make their team better. The thinking when they got Shaquille O'Neal was that the combination of O'Neal and LeBron James would lure the best of players to the Cavs.
And ... some guys might even leave money on the table to join the Cavs.
The last element of that conventional wisdom really wasn't so wise. It ranks up there with the ''world is square'' syndrome that dominated until Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
Players will always follow the money.
As a wise coach once said to me, ''It's about the money.''
Really? I said intelligently.
''It's always about the money,'' he said.
But what about when a guy says it's not about the money?
''It's always about the money,'' he said.
OK then.
It was nice to think that the notion of playing with the Most Valuable Player, of being close to a title, of joining two future Hall of Famers would have been attractive.
So is harmony among nations and the end of global warming.
Free agency in any sport is the ultimate exercise in ''me.''
It's all about the free agent, and he will play where he wants, on a team that recruits him like he's a high school sophomore, for as much money as he can possibly make.
One NBA free agent reportedly was impressed the coach of his new team took him to lunch three days in a row.
Hoo hoo.
A date at Applebee's turned the tide.
Does anyone really believe this stuff? For the majority of the more prominent guys, it's about finding a town he likes, an offense he believes will increase his scoring average — and money. They rank in reverse order.
A player like Charlie Villanueva was not going to leave $2 million per year on the table to play for the Cavs.
Think the Cavs ever had a chance when the Detroit Pistons offered more than the Cavs could even consider, thanks to the salary cap?
Scratch Charlie V.
The Cavs turned to Ron Artest. He's a player with a strong defensive presence who can shoot. He brings risks, but the Cavs tried to sign him.
The Cavs and Los Angeles Lakers offered Artest the same $5.8 million mid-level salary cap exception (who comes up with these terms?) to join their teams.
Artest lives in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles has sunshine and beaches.
The Lakers are the defending champions.
Artest chose the Lakers.
The Cavs turned to Trevor Ariza, a younger version of Artest (if you will). The Cavs and Houston Rockets both offered the $5.8 mid-level exception, for five years. The money (again) was the same.
Ariza chose the Rockets.
This seems the oddest of the oddities. The Rockets are a team in flux. Yao Ming might not play this season. Tracy McGrady might be traded. They do not seem to be close to a championship.
In fact, they seem a long way from one.
The Cavs are close, and presumably since they got O'Neal they are closer.
During the weekend, James and O'Neal both phoned Ariza. General Manager Danny Ferry and coach Mike Brown flew to L.A. to meet him.
This is called the late full-court press.
None of it worked.
Not even James telling Ariza he was staying in Cleveland after 2010 (according to ESPN). Ariza considered it a recruiting tool.
What happened that made Ariza pick the Rockets? Ariza's agent, David Lee, did not return a phone message.
There's the story that Ariza wants to be closer to his child in L.A.
This might make sense, except the flight from Houston to L.A. is only one hour and 19 minutes less than the flight from Cleveland to L.A.
There was Ariza's role with the team. The Rockets promised him he'd start. The Cavs didn't. The Cavs have this guy named James who plays the small forward (aka the ''3'').
Ariza would play guard (the ''2''), and for some reason he balked because he'd have to compete with Delonte West.
With the Rockets, he'd get his ''touches'' and ''looks.''
With the Cavs, he'd have to work for them, and he'd probably be the third or fourth option after this guy named James, O'Neal and Mo Williams.
So it sounds like Ariza turned down a 66-win team for one with an uncertain future because of his stats, his numbers, his shots.
All the talk about playing with James, about wanting to win a championship ... it all really became pretty irrelevant.
It's about money.
If it's not about money it's about shots and stats.
It's the ultimate force that repels the ultimate magnet.
Patrick McManamon can be reached at pmcmanamon@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his blog at http://www.ohio.com/mcmanamon/. Follow Pat on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/patmcmanamon.
So perhaps this magnet that the Cavaliers hold isn't as powerful as everyone thinks.
Or maybe, just maybe, there are other more powerful magnets.
Something seems up with the Cavs as they pursue free agents to make their team better. The thinking when they got Shaquille O'Neal was that the combination of O'Neal and LeBron James would lure the best of players to the Cavs.
And ... some guys might even leave money on the table to join the Cavs.
The last element of that conventional wisdom really wasn't so wise. It ranks up there with the ''world is square'' syndrome that dominated until Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
Players will always follow the money.
As a wise coach once said to me, ''It's about the money.''
Really? I said intelligently.
''It's always about the money,'' he said.
But what about when a guy says it's not about the money?
''It's always about the money,'' he said.
OK then.
It was nice to think that the notion of playing with the Most Valuable Player, of being close to a title, of joining two future Hall of Famers would have been attractive.
So is harmony among nations and the end of global warming.
Free agency in any sport is the ultimate exercise in ''me.''
It's all about the free agent, and he will play where he wants, on a team that recruits him like he's a high school sophomore, for as much money as he can possibly make.
One NBA free agent reportedly was impressed the coach of his new team took him to lunch three days in a row.
Hoo hoo.
A date at Applebee's turned the tide.
Does anyone really believe this stuff? For the majority of the more prominent guys, it's about finding a town he likes, an offense he believes will increase his scoring average — and money. They rank in reverse order.
A player like Charlie Villanueva was not going to leave $2 million per year on the table to play for the Cavs.
Think the Cavs ever had a chance when the Detroit Pistons offered more than the Cavs could even consider, thanks to the salary cap?
Scratch Charlie V.
The Cavs turned to Ron Artest. He's a player with a strong defensive presence who can shoot. He brings risks, but the Cavs tried to sign him.
The Cavs and Los Angeles Lakers offered Artest the same $5.8 million mid-level salary cap exception (who comes up with these terms?) to join their teams.
Artest lives in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles has sunshine and beaches.
The Lakers are the defending champions.
Artest chose the Lakers.
The Cavs turned to Trevor Ariza, a younger version of Artest (if you will). The Cavs and Houston Rockets both offered the $5.8 mid-level exception, for five years. The money (again) was the same.
Ariza chose the Rockets.
This seems the oddest of the oddities. The Rockets are a team in flux. Yao Ming might not play this season. Tracy McGrady might be traded. They do not seem to be close to a championship.
In fact, they seem a long way from one.
The Cavs are close, and presumably since they got O'Neal they are closer.
During the weekend, James and O'Neal both phoned Ariza. General Manager Danny Ferry and coach Mike Brown flew to L.A. to meet him.
This is called the late full-court press.
None of it worked.
Not even James telling Ariza he was staying in Cleveland after 2010 (according to ESPN). Ariza considered it a recruiting tool.
What happened that made Ariza pick the Rockets? Ariza's agent, David Lee, did not return a phone message.
There's the story that Ariza wants to be closer to his child in L.A.
This might make sense, except the flight from Houston to L.A. is only one hour and 19 minutes less than the flight from Cleveland to L.A.
There was Ariza's role with the team. The Rockets promised him he'd start. The Cavs didn't. The Cavs have this guy named James who plays the small forward (aka the ''3'').
Ariza would play guard (the ''2''), and for some reason he balked because he'd have to compete with Delonte West.
With the Rockets, he'd get his ''touches'' and ''looks.''
With the Cavs, he'd have to work for them, and he'd probably be the third or fourth option after this guy named James, O'Neal and Mo Williams.
So it sounds like Ariza turned down a 66-win team for one with an uncertain future because of his stats, his numbers, his shots.
All the talk about playing with James, about wanting to win a championship ... it all really became pretty irrelevant.
It's about money.
If it's not about money it's about shots and stats.
It's the ultimate force that repels the ultimate magnet.
Patrick McManamon can be reached at pmcmanamon@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his blog at http://www.ohio.com/mcmanamon/. Follow Pat on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/patmcmanamon.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
Posted 10:41 PM, 07/07/2009
wow i am first! Any hoo Patrick seems that us in the under 75K per yr crowd are not as spoiled as say someone who can dunk a basket ball or hit .255 BA or say break tackles on sunday we prefer to toil 50 hrs per week or more play sports for the fun of it and complain to no one in particular just to say we would play for free for the love of the game! By the way was that a flying pig i just saw or some NBA ers EGO :) till next time there you have it
Posted 07:49 AM, 07/08/2009
Cleveland equals:
Small market
Unattractive town
Relatively high taxes
Horrible winters
These, and more, are reasons why the Cavs can't lure talent here and why LeBron will go the large market, bright lights and and adoring fans of "The Big Apple". Heck if you're gonna have snow..wouldn't you rather have it in Central Park than Edgewater?
Toledo, Oh
Posted 08:03 AM, 07/08/2009
Why care at all...really?
Posted 08:25 AM, 07/08/2009
Artest released a statement yesterday that the cavs never even contacted him....nice accurate reporting once again McMoron...you think maybe that little brawl in Detroit a few years ago that spread into the stands had something to do with that as well??
Akron, Oh
Posted 08:46 AM, 07/08/2009
I agree, why care at all. The NBA talent pool:
overweight, overpaid, over indulged and over rated!
Stow, OH
Posted 09:08 AM, 07/08/2009
One thing is for sure ,after watching Mo take a mental dump in the playoffs ,they need another person who can shoot from the outside.If that wasn't enough to wake up Ferry and find a shooter nothing will.
Fairlawn, oh
Posted 09:14 AM, 07/08/2009
I don't understand why Gilbert won't just hire you guy's, because you know everything. It's a reason why they make the big bucks and you earn $20,000.00 a year.
We have a very long season, so we don't need to jump out of the frying pan into the fire and lock ourself up with a heavy contract for the next 4 or 5 years. Remember Damon jones? How about Ira Newble? What about the lazy clown who ran out on the floor with his warm ups and wife beater on "D Marshall", so let's just take our time and do it right, that way we can create a dynasty!
torrington, ct
Posted 11:34 AM, 07/08/2009
ariza aint no young artest far from it . that sounds like the time artest said james was a young version of himself. i like thinking next year we may land a bosh or stadamire 4 get all these ok players . we got what we need bring wally world back maybe trade for some one but as long as james is on this team we will always be around the top and if its always about money lebron cleveland has more then anyone else to offer
Akron, Oh
Posted 12:39 PM, 07/08/2009
jay: Bring Wally back? Are you kidding me? That guy is finished and was totally useless in the playoffs! Hurts us more than helps us. Get someone else!
akron, oh
Posted 09:40 AM, 07/09/2009
I agree.. Wally reached his peak years ago. trade him for someone with equal talent thats younger & cheaper.
AK, Oh
Posted 12:27 AM, 07/10/2009
Listen nobody wants to play with Lebron... ask Gooden, Hughes, Brown... people knows he is a CRYbaby... and Cleveland is known for losing and cold weather. What million aire wants that?
