A few things...
Monta Ellis, lockdown defense? Don't make me laugh.
Memphis is one of the worst franchises in the NBA. Their owners are cheap and unwilling to spend money apparently, and it's not really a hotbed for anything besides country music. And Javaris Crittenden got traded to Washington.
"Rashard Lewis money" would be a bargain for LeBron, considering he is miles ahead of anywhere Lewis has reached and will ever reach in ability as a player.
I think if Cleveland were to add anything, their best bet would be a Ronnie Brewer / James Posey / Shane Battier type. I doubt they could get any of those without giving up something significant, and IMO it's not really worth it considering how well they're playing at the moment.
That brings me to my next point - Why do people still act like Cleveland isn't that good a team? Statements like "he still needs an all-star teamate" and "they need to significantly upgrade their roster or he'll leave" are ridiculous IMO. Newsflash - Any way you look at it, the Cavs are among the elite teams in the NBA right now. Their championship window is open. Their time is now. Here's some numbers to back up what I'm saying:
- Winning percentage: .800% (2nd behind Orlando and LA Lakers)
- SRS (Simple Rating System, which takes into account all sorts of factors involved in winning): 10.75 (1st, significantly ahead of Boston with 9.32)
- Offensive Rating: 112.6 points scored per 100 possessions (3rd, just behind the Lakers and Portland)
- Defensive Rating: 100.2 points allowed per 100 possessions (2nd, just behind Boston)
Those number might not mean much to some people, but they are obvious measures of the Cavs' ability as a team. It doesn't matter if LeBron has All-Star teammates (as it's mostly a fan popularity contest anyway). It doesn't matter if they put up flashy stats or play flashy basketball (the Cavs are actually 25th in pace of play, so they're one of the slowest paced teams in the league). LeBron has the right teammates around him that are producing wins for the Cavs, and at the end of the day that's all that should matter, to both him and the organisation.
People also seem to forget that the Cavs can go over the cap to re-sign LeBron, and I'm sure they're not going to let the best player in the game today just slip away because they're being cheap. I've heard numerous times that Nike is more than willing to make up any salary difference that LeBron feels he deserves via endorsement money. Nothing is stopping LeBron basing his empire out of New York anyway, even if he's not playing there. But why worry about exposure and a bigger market and all that, when you can create your own big market? LeBron can put Cleveland on the map (some might argue he already has). He's the biggest star in the league. He can't get much bigger than he already is, aside from winning a championship. Chicago was an NBA wasteland before Jordan arrived, and he put it on the map as an NBA hotspot for over a decade. Sure, Chicago is a bigger city, and they had the Bears doing well in the NFL in the '80s, but Jordan made Chicago relevant on an international level. LeBron can do the exact same thing for Cleveland. Why wouldn't you want to do that for your home state, if the opportunity is there?