The Cavaliers were forced to do an about-face in their future planning in 2010. Once, they figured they'd have enough money to sign a major free agent next summer. Majority owner Dan Gilbert even bragged about it once when some in the national media were talking about LeBron James going elsewhere.
"Those other teams ought to worry about us signing LeBron and another major free agent in the summer of 2010," he boasted in roundabout terms. There will be no major free agent.
It was fun to think about adding a player of the caliber of Chris Bosh, but it's not going to happen.
The league's salary cap will be about $58 million in 2009-10. The league office has warned teams that the cap could drop to the $50 million to $53 million range in 2010-11. That means the Cavs will not have cap space.
Once they signed Anderson Varejao, Jamario Moon and Anthony Parker in free agency, their space went up in smoke. They also have massive cap "holds" on Shaquille O'Neal and LeBron James' contracts.
They are also a team chasing an NBA championship. They couldn't afford to sit back and wait. They had to be aggressive in free agency -- which they were -- and go after front-line talent. They only have the $2 million bi-annual exception remaining, along with a few hundred thousand left of the mid-level exception. And, they are still pursuing the remaining talent left on the board.
They had to show reigning MVP James that they were serious in their pursuit of a title. Remember, he holds all the cards. If he thinks the Cavs aren't trying to get better, he can walk away next summer.
But they should be poised to go after the franchise's first NBA championship in 2009-10. O'Neal wants his fifth ring, and who's going to tell him he can't have it?
