thedynasty1998;533156 wrote:Because Lebron didn't leave them in the dark anymore than Dwayne Wade left Miami in the dark. Lebron let Cleveland know that he was going to explore other options and once he did he made a decision immediately. It's the nature of free agency, it wasn't a unique situation to Cleveland. If he would have said, "I don't plan on exploring free agency" and then did, that would have been different. But he was as upfront with Cleveland as everyone else. It didn't stop the Knicks, Chicago, Miami and all the others from pursuing other free agents while awaiting his decision.
While I agree with that, the situation definitely affected FA. A lot of free agents were waiting to see what LeBron did before committing to Cleveland. Had LeBron said at the end of the season "I'm not returning to Cleveland" (which most people feel he knew he wasn't at that time) then the Cavs could've pursued free agents who knew what role they'd have on the Cavs and how much money they could get. With LeBron dangling them along for that much time, they couldn't give that answer to players and therefore it affected their free agent strategy. Not to mention, by the time LeBron signed with the Heat and that no longer became a question, most of the free agents that would fit the new long term plan were gone.