Can Danny!
After the Celtics won the title, I changed the picture at the top of my now defunct hoops blog to a picture of Danny Ferry. I knew that he wouldn't make me look bad and turn the team around (or in his case, get it to the next level.) And Danny didn't let me down.
What Danny Ferry learned this year is the truth in the age old adage: If something seems to good to be true, it probably is.
Ferry's team is built up by a bunch of castoffs. The Bucks wanted to dump Mo Williams. The Suns were looking to dump Shaq. The Wizards just wanted to get rid of Antawn Jamison. Now Danny knows why. Shaq is toast, Mo is sporadic at best, and Jamison is ridiculously soft.
The main difference between Danny Ainge and Danny Ferry is that when it came time to give up something of value to fulfill a plan, Ainge would pull the trigger while Ferry would hope a "better" deal came along. Danny Ainge rolled the dice by making arguably the worst trade in Celtics history (Ratliff/Telfair for Raef/Brandon Roy) in order to get an expiring contract. He gave up the #5 pick to get Ray Allen, a player that many people were ready to write off. Ferry? He wouldn't give up JJ Hickson to get Vince Carter.
If the Cavs want any chance of keeping LeBron James, they have to dump Ferry. Especially now because the team basically has no expiring contracts and it's going to take some risky deals and fancy maneuvering to bring in some legit talent. Honestly, I'm not sure he'll be able to do it (unless Christian Eyenga, the Cavs 2009 draft pick, is a LOT better than the woeful numbers he put up overseas).
Now this isn't to put all the blame on Ferry. LeBron James isn't leading his team like an alpha dog and one of the best examples of it is actually Big Baby Davis.
There were two moments in the game that showed the difference between Kevin Garnett's Celtics and LeBron James's Cavs. The first was when the camera showed Big Baby talking to KG on the bench and KG was just shaking his head know. It was obvious that Baby was a bit annoyed and trying to plead his case but KG was there to set him straight. I don't think we've ever seen a moment like that out of LeBron.
Moments later, after Big Baby screwed up badly, the camera cut to him and you could see him looking at the bench (where KG was jawing) and yelling, "I fucked up! I fucked up! I fucked up!" He was pissed off but, at the same time, you knew damn well that he realized how he messed up and wasn't going to do it again. LeBron James doesn't ever do this. He seems like he wants to be everyone's friend. He needs to get meaner. Why doesn't he? I blame Kobe.
I think that LeBron has seen all the shit Kobe gets and how a lot of people don't like him and he believes that is the reason Kobe's never gotten to be as big as Michael. Obviously, this is speculation on my part but it seems to me that LeBron would rather be loved than feared because it's better for his brand. The thing he's missing out is that you HAVE to be feared in order to win. Michael Jordan had a great image but behind the scenes, many of his teammates didn't exactly care for him. He was absolutely brutal with his trash talk. If you think his opponents got it bad, his teammates got it worse.
He called Will Perdue "Will Vanderbilt" because "he doesn't deserve to be named after a Big Ten school."
Michael to Horace Grant: "You're an idiot. You've screwed up every play we ever ran. You're too stupid to even remember the plays. We ought to get rid of you."
During a game, he yelled to his coach about teammate Scotty Hopson, ""Your boy doesn't want to play. I'm tired of bailing his ass out."
"It's a hell of a lot easier to make Earl Monroe look good than it is Brad Sellers."
And perhaps the quote that LeBron needs to take to heart the most...
"I want to prove the critics wrong...I want to see some serious moves from management, which I really haven't seen that much of yet, and I want to see more serious attitudes from my teammates this year when it comes to the playoffs. In the past, it's been more or less a joking thing, sort of a 'Well, we're here, so let's have a good time.'"..........
The question is: will LeBron ever become this type of personality? Part of me thinks he won't. He'll be like Paul Pierce, a talented player but one who needs an alpha dog like Antoine Walker or Kevin Garnett to really take the reins of the team and be the vocal leader.
If that's the case, the next question is: who is out there that can play that role for LeBron? And that's a tough answer. Chris Bosh showed signs of life when he was frustrated this year but I'm not sure he's got that fire. Amar'e certainly isn't that guy. Neither is Dirk. If you look at the team vying for James's services (Chicago, New York, New Jersey, etc.) None of them have it. The one guy who I think could fill that role is Dwyane Wade and I don't think LeBron is going to be willing to go to Miami, to Wade's team, in order to win his ring. That's not what Global Icons do.
LeBron's mind is likely going to be made up for him. If Cleveland doesn't fire Mike Brown and Danny Ferry, there's no reason to go back. If New York can't get another legit free agent to sign, that's dead. If Chicago can't move Luol Deng for a great power forward or shooting guard, I'd cross that off the list. What New Jersey does with their lotto pick could determine their fate.
It's going to be an interesting summer in the NBA. But if the Cleveland Cavaliers don't fire Mike Brown and Danny Ferry, it's likely to be a long, depressing season.
As for where I think LeBron will end up. I think the people of New Jersey are gonna be singing, "Woke up this morning, got myself LeBron."
