CLEVELAND: Twenty thoughts for 20 second-chance points in Wednesday’s 113-104 win over the Milwaukee Bucks…
1. Another day, another dust storm created by LeBron James and the Brotherhood.
2. James told Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck in a story released Wednesday he’d love to play with BFFs Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul -- aka the Brotherhood -- before the four future Hall of Famers retire. The interview, however, took place when Beck was in town prior to the All-Star break. The story ran on Wednesday.
3. Beck is excellent, as is the story, which examines the relationship between James and Anthony more than anything. But the line about the four stars playing together grabbed everyone’s attention, particularly in light of the chemistry issues the Cavs have seemed to battle all season.
4. “I really hope that, before our career is over, we can all play together,” James said in the report. “I would actually take a pay cut to do that. It would be pretty cool. I’ve definitely had thoughts about it.”
5. James hasn’t given specifics of where or when this might happen and tried to unplug the situation after Wednesday’s game by conceding he isn’t even sure how realistic it is.
6. “It would definitely be cool if it happened, but we don’t know how realistic it could be to have us four,” James said. “If you got an opportunity to work with three of your best friends, no matter what, it’s not even about sports, it’s about being around guys that you don’t even have to say nothing, you automatically know. We just have that type of history. Can it happen? I don’t know if it can even happen but it would be cool.”
7. Wade, who can be a free agent after the season, steered clear of the topic when asked about it by Miami reporters Wednesday because the Heat are still fighting for playoff seeding.
8. “I heard it. I read it. But I’m not really jumping into the headlines right now,” Wade said prior to the Heat’s game against the San Antonio Spurs. “I’m focused on my teammates in here. So as cool as the headlines are, it has nothing to do with what we’re trying to do in here. So I’m not going to jump into the headlines.”
9. Anthony, however, is playing on a Knicks team going nowhere and was happy to participate in the fantasy. “I'd take a pay cut if it happens,” he said. “I think we all would have to take a pay cut.”
10. If you’re looking for a path to making it happen, sure, theoretically it’s possible. And since James can be a free agent this summer, he could take that pay cut sooner than expected. The New York Daily News reported during the All-Star break the Cavs, Celtics and Knicks discussed a three-team deal that would send Kevin Love to Boston and bring Anthony to Cleveland. Those reports were quickly refuted, although one source with knowledge of the situation said this week James has indeed previously pitched the idea to Cavs management of somehow bringing Anthony to Cleveland. That would require Anthony waiving his no-trade clause.
11. Asked if he would leave New York or expect the other three to join him there, Anthony hinted at all of them teaming up someplace warm – which obviously isn’t Cleveland in February. “I think by that time (in your career) you want to go somewhere warm,” Anthony said. “By that time. That’s later. That would be later – retirement -- … I’m just adding fuel to the fire.”
12. James, of course, recently purchased a house in Los Angeles. So did Wade, according to Bleacher Report.
13. As for it happening in Cleveland, a trade involving Kyrie Irving and Chris Paul has been kicked around, at least among fans and media, for years. Trading Irving, who turned 24 Wednesday and hasn’t even entered his prime, for Paul, who turns 31 in May, would quickly reduce the Cavs’ already shrinking window to win. The toughest sell could be Wade, who can be a free agent after the season, but has maintained his desire to remain in Miami. Even with the cap escalating this summer, the Cavs will be short on cap space. Wade would have to take a significant pay cut, even if James did, too. And despite the rumors and hopes of Cavs fans last summer, Wade never seemed like a realistic option then. That remains true now.
14. Of course, maybe the four could make it work elsewhere. But nobody in Cleveland wants to hear that right now, particularly with the playoffs about to begin. Timing being perfect and all, the Cavs play at the Knicks on Saturday. Stay tuned.
15. The Cavs have totaled 67 assists in their last two games, rediscovering the ball movement that tends to come and go. Why that is, no one seems to know. But when the Cavs play with pace and share the ball the way they were Wednesday, it makes them difficult to beat.
16. “We’re always better when we play with pace and play that way, drive and kick and make the swing-swing pass,” Love said. “You saw that a lot tonight and a lot of our big plays came from that. I think we play better that way.”
17. A bit of a bookkeeping matter I kept forgetting to include here: The Cavs’ first-round pick officially goes to the Phoenix Suns. It was top-10 protected, but the Cavs obviously aren’t picking in the top 10. The pick was dealt to the Boston Celtics to clear cap space to sign James, while the Celtics traded it to the Suns in exchange for Isaiah Thomas.
18. Reserve guard Jordan McRae lost his Development League scoring record Wednesday. McRae scored 61 points – against the Cavs’ Canton Charge – earlier this season while playing for the Delaware 87ers (the 76ers’ D-League affiliate). Russ Smith, also playing for the 87ers, set the record Wednesday with 65 points. McRae, however, now has an NBA contract for this season and a non-guaranteed deal from the Cavs for next season. He was two weeks away from going overseas, he told me, before the Cavs called.
19. As for all this talk of four friends and stars teaming up together, it's worth reminding folks the Olympics are this summer, which Anthony pointed out Wednesday three of the four (all except Wade) are on the U.S. men's roster. That is presuming James plays this summer, however. The Summer Olympics is when all of these plans are typically hatched, so stay tuned.
20. Every day brings something different. Can’t wait to see what a weekend in New York will provide. Talk to you Thursday from Barclays Center.