CLEVELAND -- LeBron James fell out of bounds along the baseline and hit his head on a camera in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, once again raising the issue: Why are the photographers and TV cameras so close to the court?

Whether you buy Andrew Bogut's account of the incident or not -- Bogut claimed that James jumped into the cameraman on purpose, seeking a flagrant call from the officials -- we nonetheless have a player safety problem when there isn't enough run-off or landing space on the baselines due to the presence of photojournalists and camera operators.

During Game 2, Iman Shumpert turned his ankle while running over the baseline into the camera crew. In Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Hawks, James stepped on a TNT cameraman positioned on the sideline near the broadcast table while contesting a shot. 

One of these days, someone is going to be seriously injured in such a fashion, and if it's during a Finals game and it happens to a player whose absence alters the outcome, all hell is going to break loose.

But it's important to understand how we got here, and that, as always, money is involved.

As recently as the early 2000s, the NBA allowed 10 cameras on each side of the basket along each baseline. Depending on the magnitude of the series, sometimes you'd have 4-5 photogs creeping up the sidelines in each corner. That's 40-50 camera positions around the fringe of the court, creating a clear hazard for the players.

So a few years ago, the NBA mandated that no more than 11 camera positions would be permitted along each baseline -- five on the bench side of the floor and six on the non-bench side. On nationally televised games, this would be in addition to 1-2 TV camera positions near the broadcast table on the  baseline opposite the benches.

So the camera positions have been more than cut in half -- a big improvement, but still not ideal. And as is always the case in sports, when you follow the money, you find the problem.

Courtside seats are going for thousands of dollars each during the Finals, which means the paying customers reclining in the immediate fringe of the court are accounting for a substantial portion of the gate receipts at any given game. If any team truly wanted to take a stand for player safety, it would eliminate a row of those high-revenue seats behind the baskets.

And there's just as good a chance of that happening as, I don't know, me getting to occupy one of those seats for free to write about the game.

What are the alternatives? One proposal that has been discussed is a bunker for photographers that's a few rows off the court, not unlike the dugout setup for baseball photographers. Another would be to ensure that all new NBA arenas that are built have more run-off space around the floor.

As for the latter, the same problem would exist: When teams see more space, they see more dollar signs.

Frankly, I believe NBA courts should be widened to begin with, as bigger, faster athletes have outgrown the floor space. It might make for an even more free-flowing, wide-open game, but that's another story.

For now, just remember that if an important player (and really, they're all important) on your team gets hurt badly enough in a collision with a courtside photographer that he can't finish a Finals game, the team that you pour your heart, soul and hard-earned money into isn't entirely blameless.

Blatt's bench. The Cavs' seven-man rotation finally caught up to them in Game 4 of the Finals, with fatique being as much a part of the storyline as the Warriors' lineup change and improved pace. But with Anderson Varejao, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving -- three starters -- unavailable, what's coach David Blatt to do?

Couldn't veteran Shawn Marion, with his length, smarts and championship experience, help against the deeper Warriors? Marion, 37, hasn't appeared in the series, with the exception of a pre-game ceremony recognizing his retirement before Game 3. It was fitting, since Marion has appeared in only six postseason games, never logging more than 6 1-2 minutes. He's played in only 13 games since the All-Star break.

After the Warriors changed the dynamics of the series by inserting Andre Iguodala into the starting lineup for Andrew Bogut in Game 4, does Blatt have the inclination to dig a little deeper into his bench? The better question is this: Is there anyone left capable of contributing?

Monroe done in Detroit? The Pistons' acquisition of Ersan Ilyasova from the Bucks signals strongly that Detroit anticipates losing restricted free agent Greg Monroe this summer. Ilyasova is a better complement to Andre Drummond, and Monroe will command a max offer sheet starting at about $15 million. The Knicks are one of the teams known to have Monroe on their radar.

As for the other participant in the trade, the Bucks have opened up as much as $23 million in cap room, and speculation centers around the team pursuing Brook Lopez or Tyson Chandler. Both have a history with coach Jason Kidd -- Lopez having been coached by Kidd in Brooklyn and Chandler having been Kidd's teammate in Dallas.