Wanted: One Superstar Basketball Player July 26, 2010 By Dan Battaglia

If you reside on Mars or under a rock as the cliché goes, LeBron James is gone and the Cavaliers are struggling to pick up the pieces. Despite Dan Gilbert's infamous letter the night of "The Betrayal" in which he promised the Cavaliers fans an NBA title before the Heat can achieve one, the Cavs have yet to score a free agent this off-season and the pickens have become quite slim.

The free agency market is essentially closed, and for the Cavs, being the last ones holding cash in the door hasn't helped their case. Waiting on James to make his decision (which we now know had been already made years ago), the Cavs took themselves completely out of the running to land any free agents that could keep the franchise competitive without James in 2010-2011.

The NBA is a sport unlike any other in the United States. We became so accustomed to the phrase here in Cleveland, "LeBron can't win it alone." Perhaps that was true because LeBron didn't actually win anything in or for Cleveland in his 7 years. However the NBA is a paradox, while you can't win with a superstar alone, you also can't win in the NBA without a superstar. Simply look at who has controlled the NBA Title in the past 30 years and you will see a lot of repeated names of teams and players.

In baseball, 1 superstar can only bat once every 9 times and has a 1/9 chance of having the ball hit to him on defense. In  football, the offense is reliant on the defense and vice versa. Basketball is the ultimate star making sport because 1 player has the ability to control both the offense and defense for his team and we watched LeBron do so in his stay in Cleveland.

The concept of the "superstar" in the NBA has become synonymous with the sport and winning championships. Every veteran and/or star NBA player in the modern era is literally in an arms race to collect as many rings as possible. Matt Barnes signing with the Lakers and the Heat finding a way to fill out their roster is indicative of the system the NBA has become. The league has been reduced to a small collection of big market super teams...and everyone else is just along for the ride. If you are an NBA player who isn't playing for one of the superpowers, then you can kiss your title hopes goodbye. If I had one question for David Stern it would surely be, how did you let a league with a hard salary cap literally kill all parity?

So if Dan Gilbert needs a new superstar to rebuild his franchise, where is he going to come from? That's the question that may haunt Mr. Gilbert and his letter for years to come. Half the league's stars already play for a group of teams that could be counted on one hand, and those who don't are wishing they did. Even if they Cavs clear enough cap space down the road for a superstar, that alone isn't a guarantee one will arrive. The New Jersey Nets had enough money for two max contracts and failed to land anyone of relevance this summer.

How about the draft? While it is possible, there are no guarantees in the draft as well. For starters, the fan base is going to lose interest in the franchise if they find themselves fighting for another #1 overall pick. Secondly, the Cavs winning the lottery to land LeBron James was an aberration. The worst team in the NBA hardly ever receives the top pick in the draft. Finally, if the Cavs do score a high pick, there is no guarantee the talent at the top of the draft is going to be superstar caliber, remember Kwame Brown?

So that leaves trades. This is the most realistic option for the Cavaliers, but players often dictate where they wish to be traded and will just eventually leave any situations they find themselves in that make them unhappy. Trades can often saddle a team financially very quickly as the Cavs are now seeing with Mo Williams and Antawn Jamison. Trades will also cost a team the majority of its youth, making them the riskiest of all propositions.

LeBron James decision to leave has certainly made things complicated for the Cavaliers and the future of the franchise. While he may have acted childish, conceited, and selfishly behind the scenes during his time in Cleveland, the fans of the city were willing to accept that in hopes of winning an NBA Championship. Those hopes now seem further away than ever for a team that spent the last 3 years being ever so close. We may never again see an NBA player the caliber of James in Cleveland, and it will be a hard adjustment for the fan base that became so passionate over the last 7 years to accept. Dan Gilbert has the money and the passion, but can he overcome all the obstacles in his way to bring the Cavaliers their next NBA superstar?

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