LeBron James is unhappy. And there is a pattern here.
As ESPN's Brian Windhorst recently wrote, citing sources, James is upset because Cavaliers majority owner Dan Gilbert promised to spend unconditionally on talent, regardless of the cost.
That promise must be understood in the context of James' evident frustration with the Miami Heat using the amnesty provision of the last NBA collective bargaining agreement to waive Mike Miller before James' final season in Miami, one that ended in a loss to the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals.
But is LeBron right? Or did he take the wrong lesson from the Heat coming up short?
Miller mistake?
Less than a month after Miller played 19 minutes in the deciding Game 7 of the Heat's 2013 Finals victory over the Spurs for their second consecutive championship, Miami waived the 33-year-old forward and used the amnesty provision to clear his salary from the team's books.
From a financial perspective, the move was a no-brainer. While the Heat still had to pay Miller's $6.2 million salary (plus $6.6 million the following year), removing him from luxury-tax calculations saved Miami nearly $15 million in luxury-tax payments in 2013-14 and helped the Heat ultimately avoid the tax entirely the following season.
By that point, however, James had already departed. "LeBron thought it was an unnecessary change," Miller told Chris Haynes after reuniting with James in Cleveland the following summer.
When Miami decided to use amnesty on Miller, he had played no more than 59 games and 900 minutes in his three seasons with the Heat, largely because of injuries. (The lockout-shortened 2011-12 schedule was also a factor.) So it surely added to James' annoyance that Miller went on to play all 82 games for the Memphis Grizzlies in 2013-14, posting a career-best .602 effective field goal percentage.
The contrast with Miami's bench, which was ineffective against San Antonio in a lopsided Finals loss, was stark. James may have concluded that the Heat prioritized saving money over maximizing their chances of winning.
A different view of the Heat's demise
Even with Miller's departure, Miami's 2013-14 roster was one of the oldest in the league. Weighted by minutes played during the regular season, the Heat's average age at season's end was 31.3, making them one of the oldest teams of the past four decades (the 24th-oldest team since the ABA-NBA merger in 1976).
Of the five Miami reserves who played at least 20 minutes in the 2014 Finals, only Norris Cole was younger than age 34 by series end. And three Heat players (Ray Allen, Shane Battier and Rashard Lewis) never played again after the Finals.
While Miller might have helped staunch the bleeding, Miami's bigger problem was an inability to develop young talent to complement its big three of James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade. So as supporting talents such as Allen and Battier aged, only Cole -- who is now out of the league himself -- was able to help fill the void.
With the Heat and now the Cavaliers, James has encouraged his teams to fill out their roster with veterans he trusts such as Miller and James Jones. And Cleveland now finds itself heading in a similar direction to Miami.
Though the Cavaliers' roster is younger than the 2013-14 Heat at a weighted age of 29.8 at the end of this season, that still makes Cleveland the league's third-oldest team behind the LA Clippers (30.9) and Spurs (30.4). The Cavaliers' bench is dotted with graybeards. Richard Jefferson and James Jones are both 36, and newcomer Kyle Korver will turn 36 in March, while Channing Frye will turn 34 during the postseason.
Cleveland's starting lineup is much younger than Miami's was, with 24-year-old Kyrie Irving and 28-year-old Kevin Love joining James in the All-Star Game. And 26-year-old Iman Shumpert is a younger reserve in a key role. Still, Cleveland hasn't developed any of its own young talent since James' return.
Only one way for Cavaliers' youngsters to gain experience
Overshadowed in James' ranting about Cleveland's need to add a "playmaker" were his comments about the younger players the Cavaliers did acquire last summer: guards Kay Felder and DeAndre Liggins.
"No disrespect to DeAndre and to Kay; you think we can rely on them to help us win a playoff game right now?" James said. "And it's no disrespect to them. But it's like, it's not fair to them."
Reading that quote, I was reminded of the post-credits scene of the 1994 Coen brothers film "The Hudsucker Proxy," in which the new college graduate played by Tim Robbins can't find a job because the entry-level positions require experience. The same catch-22 seems to apply to Cleveland's bench, which can't play and gain experience because it needs more experience.
Granted, the 28-year-old Liggins -- who has spent extended time in the D-League and overseas since pleading guilty to a domestic-abuse charge in 2014 -- isn't exactly the kind of young talent who can be a long-term contributor for the Cavaliers. But Felder, drafted 54th overall last June, is precisely such a player.
The 5-foot-9 Felder has his warts. He isn't a pass-first point guard and has predictably struggled to finish around the rim against NBA defenders, shooting just 52.5 percent inside 3 feet, according to Basketball-Reference.com. At the same time, Felder has shown the ability to create his own shot and enough 3-point range (he's shooting 36.8 percent beyond the arc) to play off the ball alongside Irving or James.
If James wants to maximize his chances of winning more championships in Cleveland, adding players on the back end of their careers searching for rings can't be the solution. To avoid the same fate that befell the Heat, the Cavaliers will have to develop young contributors. And it will be hard to accomplish that goal if James insists on playing with experienced veterans.