Why? Michael didn't have pull? Magic?[
Sure. When MJ suggested that it would be good to get a low-cost role player like Steve Kerr, the Bulls agreed. Wade is not a low-cost role player like Steve Kerr, though. He would be a major acquisition that would have huge ramifications up and down the roster.
Its not as if LeBron is advocating us trading Kyrie, Love, Mozgov or TT for him. If he's advocating anything at all, its just that we reach out and explore options to see if a deal is even possible. No harm in that and he has earned his right in the NBA and in this organization to yield that type of suggestive power as long as it does't become irrational demand vs. just suggestion of due diligence on a player he knows well
I'm putting this in the context of Max' specific remark. That the Cavs have no real interest in paying Wade anything near max money, have "huge durability concerns", and are "not nearly as excited about Wade as the fans here, particularly after injuries derailed our season." Doesn't sound to me like the Cavs are exactly neutral about him.
Dwayne Wade is not some relatively unknown or minor role player about whom the Cavs would be just kicking the tires at LBJ's request, and would come at little cost. He's as known a quantity as any player in the league, and the Cavs (again, according to Max)
already have evaluated his potential worth to the team. It's the apparent willingness to overlook what they think about the guy that I find depressing.
But if all that would "obviously change" just because LBJ asks for Wade, then yeah, I see that as a problem. Now if we're talking about some bizarre scenario where Wade just agrees to come here for the MLE or something, that may be different. But I don't think that's really within the realm of reasonable possibility.
And just to emphasize, whether or not you agree with the Cavs evaluation of Wade isn't the point. The point is that they already have made their evaluation., and shouldn't toss that out the window just because he's LBJ's bud.
LBJ is the world's greatest player, and maybe he's also a good evaluator of talent. I remember he was a huge fan of Steph Curry at the draft, and he turned out to be right.
But I question his judgment more when it comes to personnel decisions that affect
him as a player. He apparently pushed for very hard for Love in particular, yet I don't think anyone would argue that relationship has been as synergistic as LBJ might have hoped. I suspect he's a bit of a prisoner of his own perspective in that regard -- he wants guys who he thinks will help
his game, but is a bit blind to seeing how well that player's game will mesh within the overall team. He also has shown that he's just as susceptible to biases based on friendship as anyone else, which I think was an issue with Boobie, and is probably showing up with respect to his "shooting coach" Damon Jones as well.
I'd just prefer that the Cavs stick to their own judgment when it comes to major player acquisitions.
