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Gilbert puts return to Finals at top of list of concerns for Cavs
By Brian Windhorst
Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Monday, Feb 25, 2008
CLEVELAND: One of the first things Dan Gilbert said when he bought the Cavaliers was that ''money follows, it doesn't lead.''
It's one of his so-called ''isms'' from the way he operates his businesses. He's backed that up for three years now. In fact, his third anniversary of taking over the franchise is this week. But it was certainly personified in last week's major trade.
Gilbert doesn't speak with the media often, but he did before Sunday's game to explain his thinking about giving the green light to expand his payroll and luxury tax bill to bring aboard the four new players, including Wally Szczerbiak and Ben Wallace, who make a combined $27 million this season.
''I thought it was pretty important to do something,'' Gilbert said. ''We got to the Finals with this team, but the competition got harder and it was going to be a bigger challenge than last year.''
Gilbert said that he's not spending as much as people think. Because the Cavs are just responsible for paying the new players for the final 27 games of the season, he's only actually paying about $1.2 million more in the prorated salaries than he would have before the trade.
However, the Cavs will have to pay luxury tax on the entire additional $4.7 million added to their total payroll and that is a dollar-for-dollar penalty. The Cavs payroll is currently about $80.85 million — third in the NBA. The NBA's ''soft'' salary cap is $57.63 million and the luxury tax threshold is $67.865 million. That puts the current tax bill, the first-ever in franchise history, at a shade under $13 million.
''We are trying to build something here,'' Gilbert said. ''You pay $375 million for a franchise and then break even for a couple years. You can't start getting cheap now. It's a big commitment, but before we even look at money, we look at what is right basketball-wise first. If you do it money first, you may start getting (the front office) gun-shy even thinking of ideas.''
In the locker room
• As a part of team chemistry building, the Cavs hosted a late-night dinner Friday following the victory over the Washington Wizards. LeBron James got up and gave a passionate speech/toast welcoming his new teammates and describing his hopes for great things in the future. Several players were still talking about it a day later.
• Wallace knows he's taken some heat for the Bulls' struggles this season and for not living up to the huge free agent contract he signed in 2006. His response: ''If someone wants to throw me under the bus, that's fine,'' Wallace said. ''I've been there before, I know what it smells like.''
• The Cavs gave each fan a poster welcoming the four new players, a last-minute gesture that was complicated to pull off. Also, the Cavs brought out the famous Big Ben chime when introducing Wallace. It was a sound effect in Detroit when he was with the Pistons and one the Cavs used to mock when he missed free throws in Cleveland.
Brian Windhorst can be reached at bwindhor@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/cavs/.
CLEVELAND: One of the first things Dan Gilbert said when he bought the Cavaliers was that ''money follows, it doesn't lead.''
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