The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Schudel: Another year of speculation on James
One plus one is always going to equal three when sifting for clues on what LeBron James is thinking. So it will be for another year, as James enters the final season of his Cavaliers contract.
LeBron James, for the third time in eight years, is holding an NBA fan base hostage. He is making his legion of fans squirm and fret with every rumor floated in newspapers, on the Internet, on the radio and on television.
James put Cavaliers fans through the ringer in 2009-10. He did it to Miami Heat fans in 2013-14 and now he’s doing it to Cavaliers fans again. For the next 11 months, James is going to make the Cavaliers faithful sweat about his future beyond the 201718 season.
Rumblings that James will leave when his current contract expires at the end of next season began during the 2017 NBA playoffs. They have grown louder since then, and James has remained quiet through it all.
Chris Sheridan of ESPN on Aug. 16 tweeted “NBA source said today: ‘This will be LeBron’s final season in Cleveland. He is 100 percent leaving. Relationship with owners (Dan Gilbert) beyond repair.’ ”
That prompted this tweet response from Joe Vardon of cleveland.com: “For what it’s worth, three sources close to LeBron said this latest tweet about him is 100 percent false.”
Sheridan isn’t backing down. “One follow-up tweet on LeBron leaving Cleveland next summer: Denials from his reps are disingenuous. They will/must lie to protect his image.”
Sheridan has some streetcred because he broke the story James would re-sign with the Cavaliers in 2014 two days before the announcement was made.
I can’t get this picture out of my mind: James, sitting back on a cushy couch in one of his mansions and smirking at all the angst he creates. I guess that’s one of the perks that go with being one of the best basketball players in the world. He begrudgingly has to share that crown with Kevin Durant of the Golden State Warriors.
Rumors have James going to the Los Angeles Lakers, the Los Angeles Clippers, the New York Knicks, the Houston Rockets and who knows where else he’ll supposedly be heading before the next season ends. And, of course, he can always play superhero and re-sign with the Cavaliers.
One plus one is always going to equal three when sifting for clues on what James is thinking. On Aug. 14 he directed a happy birthday tweet to Magic Johnson: “One of the few that’s always showed love from day 1 to me,” the tweet read in part.
Johnson is the Lakers’ president, so, of course, the tweet means James will be a Laker a year from now, right?
But don’t the Clippers have the inside track after hiring Jerry West away from the NBA champion Warriors to work as a consultant? That’s one plus one equaling three again.
These rumors will just get louder as the 2017-18 season progresses. The Cavaliers media day marking the opening of training camp is Sept. 25. I wouldn’t want to bet on where James will be in 2018-19, but betting he won’t give a definitive answer to that question on media day is a very safe wager.
• Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN summed up the dilemma facing the Cavaliers perfectly. They want James to promise to stay before building a team around him that can challenge Golden State, and James wants to see the Cavaliers are serious about improving the team before committing to the Cavaliers long term.
Time is not on the side of either party. The Cavaliers are tapped out financially. They already have the highest payroll in the league.
James’ silence has the Cavaliers in a quandary. They could trade Kyrie Irving for a mix of veterans and draft picks if they know James would sign an extension. If they knew he was leaving, they would trade for younger players.
Wojnarowski reports the Cavs are zeroed in on young stars in Irving trade talks — Kristaps Porzingis of the Knicks, Josh Jackson of the Suns, Jayson Tatum of the Celtics and Jamal Murray of the Nuggets.
The Knicks are unwilling to part with Porzingis, their 7-foot-3 center, according to the New York Post. The Suns, likewise, are unwilling to trade Jackson, according to other reports.
Luck on Tribe’s side
Visions of last October had to flash through the mind of Indians manager Terry Francona on Aug. 17 when he watched his pitching ace, Corey Kluber, limp off the mound in Kansas City with a sprained right ankle.
This time though, unlike last year when the Indians had to navigate the postseason without starters Carlos Carrasco (broken hand) and Danny Salazar (forearm injury) , Francona got good news from team doctors; At worst, Kluber might have to miss one start, but nothing more.
“It’s a low ankle sprain, kind of on the mild side,” Francona told reporters. “It’s not the dreaded high ankle sprain that you always hear on the NFL guys.
“The biggest thing is how he shows up (Aug. 19). If he can make a side day (throw about 25 pitches in the bullpen in his normal routine), he’ll pitch. If not, maybe we’ll have to bump him back. But I don’t think it’s anything other than that.”
The knee injury that landed reliever Andrew Miller on the disabled list proved to be a hiccup. He went on the DL on Aug. 2 and was activated Aug. 17.
• Jay Bruce has played in nine games with the Indians since being acquired in trade with the Mets on Aug. 9. He has 13 hits in 32 at-bats with three home runs and 11 RBI. He has scored nine runs.
Run, Crowell, run
The running attack will benefit more than the passing offense for being in the same scheme for the second straight year, according to Browns left tackle Joe Thomas.
The results might not be evident in the preseason game against the Giants on Aug. 21 at FirstEnergy Stadium because the offensive line that will start for the Browns in FirstEnergy Stadium is different from a year ago, but Thomas is confident of better results nonetheless.
“Pass protections are generally the same,” Thomas explained.” We’ve got five offensive linemen. We’re going to try to block the five guys that come in some manner, some prescription. Sometimes there’s a running back blocking, sometimes there’s a tight end blocking, sometimes the quarterback’s sending us in one direction or another, but for the most part, it’s pass-blocking, whereas offensive run games have totally different philosophies from one coordinator to the next.
“You look at Kyle Shanahan’s rushing scheme vs. Eric Mangini’s rushing scheme. Totally different. The techniques were different, the concepts were different, the backs aiming points were different, and so it takes time to get comfortable in a new rushing scheme whereas you can line up with anybody in the NFL in pass pro and pretty much you’re going to do the same type of stuff.”
Shanahan, now the head coach of the 49ers, was the Browns offensive coordinator in 2014. Mangini was the Browns head coach in 2009 and 2010.
“Having another year in Hue’s system will help with the details because the run game is difficult,” Thomas said, “You have to have everybody that’s a blocker do the right thing at the same time and nobody can get beat. Otherwise, it’s definitely a lost play of zero or one yard unless your running back makes some unbelievable play.
“In order to get seven or six NFL players to defeat their man on any one play at the exact same time, the odds are sometimes slim. But the more you spend time together in the same offense, the better your chances get, the better your communication is, the more you understand how the ball is supposed to be run on a certain play, how it’s going to be blocked. I think naturally that makes you better.”
Thomas won’t play against the Giants because Jackson wants to rest him. Rookie Roderick Johnson is replacing him. Left guard Joel Bitonio is out with a knee injury. John Greco will take his spot. Center JC Tretter and right guard Kevin Zeitler were signed in the offseason. Right tackle Shon Coleman is in his second season with the Browns. He played in seven games as a rookie but made no starts.
The Browns averaged 4.9 yards a carry last season. Only the Bills at 5.3 yards had a higher average. But the Browns at 350 attempts tied Detroit for the fewest carries in the league.
I didn’t know that
…until I read my Snapple bottle cap
An electric eel can release a charge powerful enough to start 50 cars. … President William Taft enjoyed milk so much he allowed cows to graze on the White House lawn. … A cubic mile of fog is made up of less than a gallon of water. … The original Cinderella was Egyptian and wore fur slippers. … Dragonflies have six legs but cannot walk. … Bamboo can grow up to three feet in one day.