Trevor Ariza is not changing his mind … he will go to Houston (evidently), but ESPN.com wrote this: "The Cleveland Cavaliers got some bad news followed by some potentially terrific news on Sunday. In a last-ditch effort to recruit Trevor Ariza away from the Houston Rockets, LeBron James told Ariza he would remain with the Cavaliers past 2010, according to a person close to Ariza."
Late in the story (by Chris Broussard) are these reasons Ariza chose Houston over the Cavs, for the same years and money: He has a son in LA and would be closer to him in Houston and he was promised his shots in Houston's offense. Houston told him he'd start; the Cavs told him he'd compete to start with Delonte West. Ariza chose Houston despite recruiting efforts by James and Shaquille O'Neal, and despite the fact Danny Ferry and Mike Brown flew to LA over the weekend to meet with Ariza, and despite the fact the Cavs are much closer to competing for a title than Houston.
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Why do you say "ESPN.com" wrote this, Pat? It's Broussard. The same guy who ghostwrote Aesop's Fables.
Seriously, does anybody really have to put two and two together here? Ferry duped Broussard again. For the 1,000th time. It's unbelievable. Either that, or it was a totally conscious dupe by Ferry's national media crony. Either way, it stinks to high heaven.
We have a situation where, on the very eve of the first day free agents can sign with their new team, a story suddenly rises like a phoenix from the ashes. Just like that! Coincidentally, the Cavaliers are just about to lay giant goose eggs in free agency, and suddenly there is a report surfacing that James is telling players he's staying forever and ever. Oh, come on!
So, we have only two possible scenarios here:
(A) It is complete unadulterated bullsh*t, perhaps the biggest steaming pile of bullsh*t we've read to date in the calendar year 2009 (the patently obvious scenario);
(B) It is 100% unvarnished truth, Ariza was about to be boinked, but then Ariza suddenly remembered the words to the song "Paradise By the Dashboard Light" and told LeBron to go screw himself.
Oh, and just for comedic purposes, I looked up Broussard's silo of crapola concerning, "He has a son in LA and would be closer to him in Houston."
Yes, Ariza will be virtually living next door compared to Cleveland. Average travel time on Continental from Cleveland to Los Angeles? 4 hours and 24 minutes.
Average travel time on Continental from Houston to Los Angeles? A blazing fast 3 hours and 41 minutes.
Yes, that 43-minute time reduction could potentially be a family life-saver. Otherwise, father and son could lose touch and become complete strangers.
Man, I really lost all respect for Ariza for those two lame excuses. First off, why leave your family in LA if your new team is in Texas or Ohio? The "closeness" factor? Try again, Trevor.
Second, is Ariza so unconfident in his skills that he doesn't believe he could start at either the 1, 2 or 3 in Cleveland? Does he need THAT MANY shots that only Houston was a viable option? Does he care NOTHING about winning? The answer to all three questions is a resounding "NO." He doesn't sound like a team player, so he probably wouldn't have fit here anyway. But man, what piss-poor reasons for choosing a lottery team over a potential NBA title.
They're not Ariza's lame excuses, Jason. They're the excuses of whoever is making this stuff up. For all we know, Broussard and Ferry drink beer together until 3 AM and throw random ideas out there like they're pitching a sitcom to executives at NBC.
And for the record, both of those Continental travel times are for non-stop service.
If the reports are true here, it sounds to me like Ariza is becoming a clone of Larry Hughes.
Wants his shots and his fame, but doesn't care about team success. Prefers to be a big fish in a small (losing) pond.
Not the player needed to build a championship team.
The real issue is that Lebron is hurting himself and the team by continuing to keep alive the question of whether he is staying or not in Cleveland. If he signed an extension now players would be more likely to want to commit to Cleveland. I don't see why Lebron wouldn't sign now. If he doesn, and he doesn't like the direction of the team, he can demand a trade down the road and he will get one if he doesn't really want to be here. Meanwhile, by saying he is staying he makes the Cavs a more credible landing spot for free agents. Besides, what else do the Cavs have to do to show Lebron they will do everything it takes to win? Great new practice facility, willingness to go way over the luxury tax limit, etc. I just don't get Lebron's thinking on this one. Earlier, yes. Before the Cavaliers showed they would really go after winning. But now? He is just hurting himself and the team. And as for Ariza, can someone explain to me why they would not have guaranteed him a starting job? Delonte would be better coming off the bench as it is. Just a boneheaded move to act like Ariza would have to compete for the starting job. If I were him I would have rejected that too. If they don't want him bad enough to start him then they don't really want him.