:: Official 2010 NBA Free Agency Thread ::

[duba169]

Debunking Broussard’s Flawed Anti-Knick Logic
Authored by Louis Roxin - May 13, 2010 - 8:29 pm




Chris Broussard wrote a piece taking aim at the Knicks, New York City and Madison Square Garden, and this was supposed to have something to do with the LeBron James Sweepstakes this summer.

Chris, I’ll debunk the flawed premises and logic in your piece.

First things first. Your apparent desire to put Knicks’ fans in their place has caused you to go off on an irrelevant rant about how LeBron does not need NYC. That’s true. LeBron has done just fine in Cleveland, emerging as the best player in basketball and a marketing success. But you’re answering the wrong question.

The fact that LeBron does not need NYC is not the issue. The issue is whether he wants NYC and can benefit from being in NYC. And there is more than enough reason to believe that the answer to this key question is a resounding yes.

Winning a championship in New York would rocket LeBron to heights that he could not achieve anywhere but a major media market and none carries more weight than NYC. It would make a far greater impact on the fortunes of the league and basketball itself if LeBron came to NYC and led the Knicks to one or more championships.

Do you know who is on record as having agreed with the above statement? You.

I wrote a a story that touched on your appearance on “Outside the Lines

 

[billy hoyle]

Originally Posted by YEEUPP

Originally Posted by mrtramericanjr

^^

has that stopped any other athlete

shouts out to dwade,shaq, jodan, kobe, magic , ewing, LT, arod etc

i hate you

 

[billy hoyle]

Originally Posted by Laced Up Jordans

Originally Posted by TheShoe1010

http://espn.go.com/blog/t...the-bulls-3-gms-think-so
Boston Celtics fans were chanting "New York Knicks" during Thursday's Game 6 every time that LeBron James went to the foul line. Maybe they should've been chanting "Chicago Bulls." 

Within minutes of the Cleveland Cavaliers' elimination at the hands of the Celtics, the speculation about LeBron James' next destination resumed in full force. 

In the space of five minutes I heard from three NBA GMs via text, e-mail and phone. All three said that based on the information they have, they believe LeBron will leave the Cavs. 

More surprisingly, all of them said they believe the destination will be the Chicago Bulls. Two said they believe that John Calipari will be the Bulls' new head coach. 

One GM went a bit further in a phone call a few minutes later. "I think the Bulls are really going to go for it. Look for them to offer the Cavs Luol Deng in a sign-and-trade for LeBron. That will allow them to retain most of their cap space. Then they'll go after Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh as well." 

I'm sure we'll hear various scenarios involving the Knicks, Nets and Heat over the course of the next month. But it's hard to come up with any other scenario that would be quite as appealing for LeBron.

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[font=verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Hmmmmm.... [/font]

Luol Deng for LBJ?
Cleveland and Danny Ferry are dumb but not THAT dumb.

If LBJ leaves, it will strictly be a FA move. Cavs will never agree to a sign and trade

its called getting something in return, no one is gonna sign with the Cavs if they have no Lebron. If Lebron arguably the best player in the world cant win a championship with the Cavs then who the hell else can? Wade? Johnson? yea right. Cleveland will be at the bottom of the ranks in the sports world and will never be talked about in about 2 years hopefully. The only people who will sign their will be desperate players looking for max contracts AKA free money with no intentions of contending for a championship EVER.

 

[got shoes]

what teams besides Cleveland and New York of course have a lot of cap space

 

[coryturner]

Originally Posted by AntBanks81

LeBron doesn't need you, New YorkNot all stars pine for NYC or the Knicks -- and the King is plenty big, as isEmail Print Comments300 Share219 Retweet41 By Chris Broussard
ESPN The Magazine
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The notion that every player -- or at least every star player -- in the NBA wants to play in New York tickles me.



In the early 2000s, while a Knicks beat writer for the New York Times, I remember being baffled because many of my colleagues and readers thought every skilled free agent was headed to New York -- even though all the Knicks could offer such max-salary talent was the mid-level exception. They thought Grant Hill would leave Detroit for the Knicks (for less coin) and Chris Webber would spurn Sacramento for the Big Apple (and chump change).



Now, New York assumes it's getting LeBron James. At least the Knicks actually have the salary cap space to pull this off. But while New York has a decent shot at LeBron, the idea that LeBron -- or any other great player -- needs New York or harbors this intense desire to play there is a joke.



LeBron, an endorsement king, is already the face of the NBA despite being ringless in tiny Cleveland. The Internet and globalization have largely made where a player plays irrelevant in regards to marketing and popularity. So to suggest LeBron needs New York is nuts. The only thing that can make him bigger is a title, not a town.



New York is not the center, err, mecca of the basketball universe, as advertised. Sure, every player who traipses through the Garden while helping his team wax the Knicks praises the city, telling the local media he'd love to play in New York. But many free agents, not wanting to burn any bridges, do that in every palatable NBA city. Yet in New York it becomes a back page and hysteria ensues.



And where did this idea that the NBA needs the Knicks to be good come from? (Of course, having a contender in the nation's biggest market would be nice, but the league seemed to do pretty well in the 1980s and 2000s when the Knicks were doormats.)



[+] EnlargeAP Photo/Mary Altaffer
LeBron James at a Knicks news conference: Don't assume it'll happen this summer.That idea led the conspiratorially minded to think David Stern would fix the lottery to make sure Yao Ming and then James ended up in New York. How'd that theory work out?



Don't get me wrong: I love New York. It's a fabulous city. But that doesn't hold much sway when the best basketball players are deciding where they want to play, especially when someone else can pay more.



Look at last summer. Steve Nash, who lives in New York in the offseason and owes his hallowed status in the game to Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni, toyed with the Knicks but re-signed with Phoenix. Ditto for Hill, who took less money to return to the Suns, and Jason Kidd, who seemed to use the Knicks to get a richer deal from Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.



I did not grow up in New York. Neither did most NBA players. And for people who don't grow up in New York, the Knicks are not on their radar. Growing up as a basketball fan, the Knicks were about the 13th team I thought of when it came to the NBA. If I had been an NBA-caliber player, playing for the Knicks would have been the furthest thing from my mind.



I was digging the Lakers, the Sixers, the Bulls, the Pistons, the Spurs -- you know, teams that won. The Celtics, Rockets and Blazers were higher on my list of good franchises than the Knicks.



Why should anyone outside of New York have been a Knicks fan? They were horrible in the '80s, Michael Jordan's punching bag in the '90s and an embarrassment in the 2000s.



When the modern Knicks did reach the Finals in '94, it became a slugfest, Exhibit A for non-artistic, unwatchable basketball.



Even New York's rep for producing great players is overblown. First of all, there only a few recognizable players in the league who are from New York City -- Lamar Odom, Ron Artest, Sebastian Telfair, not to mention Stephon Marbury (just to name a few). And many of them are viewed as underachieving or troubled.



So why in the world would today's young stars grow up dreaming of playing in New York?



Sure, guys love New York, but it has more to do with its hip-hop roots than its hoop roots -- and even its place in hip-hop has waned over the years.



And before you get hyped about LeBron or any other player wearing a Yankees cap, realize that boys and men all over the country are wearing them. Though LeBron is a fan, it's a fashion statement -- like Jay-Z said, he "made the Yankees cap more famous than the Yankees did" -- that often has nothing to do with New York.



I was talking with a couple of NBA guys last year, one a current star and the other a high-profile former Knick. We were talking about where LeBron might go as a free agent. Both insisted he'd stay in Cleveland.



This surprised me because I expected the former Knick to push for New York. But he made it clear, in no uncertain terms, that the only reason to go to the Knicks was if they were paying more money.



"What about playing in the Garden, and the fans, and the prestige of being a Knick?" I asked.



He laughed, then mumbled a curse, then said LeBron should stay in Cleveland.



So much for that Knicks mystique.



You also must realize that Madison Square Garden, the World's Most Famous Arena, is not exactly helping the Knicks' cause. I've heard players, executives and coaches trash the Garden as a dump.



And compared to the new, state-of-the-art arenas that most every other team has, it is pretty unimpressive. Quite frankly, it seems dark and dingy. (This is not lost on Knicks ownership: To its credit, it's spending roughly $800 million on renovations that will be completed in 2014).



The crowd can definitely get hyped, but the only real draw there is that famous actors, actresses and rappers are often in the front row. Otherwise, to most 20- and 30-somethings, it's the place where MJ dropped a double-nickle and where Reggie Miller burned the Knicks in eight seconds.



This may sound like an anti-Knicks column, but I choose to think of it as a reality check. New Yorkers need to realize that nobody's checking for the Knicks; not like the Lakers, the Bulls, the Celtics and others.



The arrogant claims that the life's dream of a kid born in Akron, Ohio -- or Dallas (Chris Bosh), or Chicago (Dwyane Wade) -- is to play for the Knicks just makes you look foolish and out of touch.



Like one of your native sons, Mark Jackson, would say, "You're better than that."



If LeBron comes, more power to you. Enjoy him and support him. And if he brings New York the title, or titles, it's been waiting 37 years for, then maybe, just maybe, the Knicks will become a team youngsters throughout America grow up dreaming of playing for.

I hate Chris Broussard but i agree with what he said 

 

[big j 33]

Chris Broussard is a moron, flip flops on his arguments and clearly biased against the Knicks, there was a great breakdown article that was posted on the last page detailing the flaws in his logic and argument.

 

[CJMcfly26]

 

[h3at23]

The LeBron James Power Rankings

The Summer of LeBron launched quite a few weeks earlier than expected with Cleveland's elimination in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Teams 30 to nine are listed almost strictly for entertainment purposes, but here are the LeBron James Power Rankings, examining where he might end up signing this summer.

The Untouchables

30. Jazz: The Jazz are over the cap without even accounting for Carlos Boozer, plus it might be the market LeBron is likely to find least appealing.

29. Pistons: It is somewhat ironic that the Pistons were once mentioned as a possible landing spot for LeBron James or Chris Bosh, because they practically are a mathematical impossibility now. Detroit dove into a wormhole and into the future by electing to have cap space in the 'illustrious' free agent class of 2009 and scored Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva, ending their playoff streak at eight.

28. Pacers: Indiana is in a similar situation as the 02-03 Cavaliers, except they're a longer shot to win the lottery to draft John Wall as their franchise savior. They also have over $60M in committed salary for the 10-11 season and no appealing sign-and-trade candidates except for Danny Granger.

27. Raptors: Not happening unless the Cavaliers are willing to take back Hedo Turkoglu and Jose Calderon.

26. Bobcats: Stephen Jackson very nearly became LeBron's teammate in Cleveland, so could it happen under Michael Jordan's ownership? The Bobcats don't have the cap space and would need to use Tyson Chandler's expiring contract.

25. Bucks: Scott Skiles and company gave the Hawks a surprisingly difficult seven-game series in the first round, but they do not have cap space and are also a small market club. The Bucks, similar to the team ranked first here, have an excellent point guard/big man core in Brandon Jennings and Andrew Bogut.

24. Grizzlies: Memphis had a surprisingly successful season, plus enough pieces to be competitive with big men like Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol, in addition to a second iso scorer in O.J. Mayo. They could potentially get a deal together given their cap situation and Rudy Gay, but it is a difficult scenario to imagine having even the slimmest possibility of actually happening.

23. Celtics: Normally, a classic franchise like Boston wouldn't be dismissed so easily in a situation this unique, similar to how they acquired Kevin Garnett, but there aren't enough young pieces beyond Rajon Rondo to be appealing at all for a player at LeBron's stage of his career to hitch to for the long haul. To be fair, the fact that they eliminated the Cavaliers from the postseason makes it even a bigger stretch.

22. Nuggets: The Nuggets are in cap hell and would need the Cavaliers to be desperate enough to take back Kenyon Martin's expiring contract, plus Ty Lawson and another asset or two to make something happen.

For the sake of dreaming, combining Carmelo Anthony and LeBron on the wings, with a big like Nene and another season or two of Chauncey Billups sounds like a team that would win immediately and win multiples.

The Impossibles

21. Hawks: I kept saying this season that if we mythically traded Joe Johnson for LeBron James, the Hawks would have an excellent chance of winning the title given the quality of bigs like Al Horford and Josh Smith, along with vets like Mike Bibby and Jamal Crawford.

Cleveland and Atlanta would actually have to do a sign-and-trade of these two players for LeBron to end up with the Hawks.

20. 76ers: The Sixers are well over the cap and would need to consolidate a few of their overlapping pieces to build a competitive team around LeBron.

19. Spurs: It would be difficult to find a coach/GM combo to trust more than Gregg Popovich and RC Buford, but the Spurs are ever the cap and realistically don't have any pieces that could be converted into a sign-and-trade unless it was Tony Parker.

18. Wizards: The Wizards will have plenty of cap space to sign LeBron and a second asset or two, plus they have cheap young bigs in Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee, along with whatever is left of Gilbert Arenas.

17. Wolves: David Kahn has the cap space to sign LeBron outright, plus he has a ton of assets in Al Jefferson, Kevin Love, Ricky Rubio, Jonny Flynn, Ramon Sessions and their high lottery pick. Minnesota would have to do some rearranging of deck chairs, but it is a place where he could have a good chance of winning long-term if he didn't have any objections to the market.

16. Suns: A great NBA market, plus a few more seasons of Steve Nash and Grant Hill as elder statesmen, a scoring big in Amare Stoudemire and another athletic wing in Jason Richardson, but a frugal owner undoubtedly would scare off LeBron.

15. Warriors: Even though Golden State did win a title in 74-75, they have been one of the most tortured franchises in the NBA ever since. Everyone knows how much a title would mean to this fan base by witnessing the Dallas upset in the first round of the 2007 Playoffs, plus the Warriors could have a billionaire owner in Larry Ellison within a few months and enough leftover assets to put together an attractive sign-and-trade for Cleveland to find acceptable. A nucleus of LeBron, Stephen Curry and Anthony Randolph has clear question marks, but could be a perfect enough blend of talent to be devastating.

14. Blazers: You have the Nike factor, the motivated billionaire factor, plus enough leftover assets to make a sign-and-trade a feasible scenario. If Greg Oden had just played a completely healthy and dominant season, this could have been a possibility worth contemplating, but not at this stage.

13. Hornets: New Orleans got a taste of winning this year with the Saints' Super Bowl, but they certainly still deserve a whole lot more. Plus, Chris Paul is one of the best five or six players in the game and would be a scary player to combine with LeBron and is one of the few players that could enhance him on the offensive end of the floor. The Hornets are over the cap, so they would have to send back the expiring contract of Peja Stojakovic and probably Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton to make it happen.

12. Kings: Sacramento has the cap space, an iso stud in Tyreke Evans, plus several effective bigs in Carl Landry, Jason Thompson and Spencer Hawes. If they played somewhere else it would be more plausible, but if the market was too small for Chris Webber..

11. Rockets: Similar to the Blazers with Oden, if Yao Ming was coming off a healthy and productive season, then the Rockets would be in the conversation. They have a really nice collection of role players that have higher upsides than he's had with Cleveland, plus it's a great market and has no state income tax. The Rockets have a great winning tradition, but it isn't an overwhelming one like the Lakers, Celtics or Bulls.

The Improbables

10. Magic: Teaming two physical freaks like LeBron and Dwight Howard would almost surely result in titles in each of the next five or six seasons. The formula of a dominant big and the game's best wing is one that simply works every single time throughout NBA history. The Magic are so devoid of assets that the Cavaliers would realistically accept in return, however, that it is almost completely implausible.

9. Clippers: I considered the Clippers were a semi-legitimate candidate for LeBron until this season when I finally covered one of their home games. A proven Blake Griffin to go with Chris Kaman, Eric Gordon and Baron Davis would have caused LeBron to give it more than just a quick dismissal, but if you've ever been to a Clippers a game, you would know why they are deservingly in The Improbables section,

The Not Beyond The Realm Of Possibilites

8. Mavericks: The shrewdness of Mark Cuban's foresight to have that incredibly valuable Erick Dampier non-guaranteed contract should be taught in every class of NBA GM 101, but I don't think playing with his buddy Jason Kidd, Dirk Nowitzki, Caron Butler, a re-signed Brendan Haywood will be enough. The lure of playing half a dozen games per season in Cowboys Stadium will be enticing, but it is difficult to realistically see it happen.

7. Thunder: Joining Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka and a whole host of other quality role players would be a no brainer for the under the cap Thunder if they played in just about any other city in the NBA. For the sake of argument, if the Thunder were still the Sonics and still playing in Seattle with this situation, don't you think they would be a legitimate LeBron contender?

If LeBron cared about only winning titles, wouldn't he have to go to the Thunder? I think the only thing that would give him pause (under the assumption he doesn't care about the market) is the unproven history of their ownership. But realistically, I think having LeBron, Durant and Westbrook falls under the special circumstances of spending every dime it takes.

6. Heat: The culture would change if LeBron was suddenly inserted there, but Miami's inability to sell out every night with a player of Dwyane Wade's caliber speaks volumes about Miami as a sports town. He can join Wade, however, free and clear, but there isn't a whole lot else there, as Michael Beasley hasn't come close to meeting his second overall pick expectations. Pat Riley is one of two or three coaches in the NBA who has proven championship success in multiple locales and you know he'd come down from the front office if LeBron comes down from Akron.

5. Nets: New Jersey has been taken off the board by a lot of smart, connected people, but I don't see how they aren't in the picture if they win the lottery and therefore have John Wall? He will be in Brooklyn within a couple of years and the combination of Wall and Brook Lopez arguably has as much upside as the point guard/big man from the top ranked team.

4. Lakers: The Lakers have all the necessary ingredients to be a legitimate contender for LeBron; immediate success assured, a youngish second star to grow old with in Pau Gasol, a Hall of Fame coach, a huge market, the best stage in the NBA right now, a proven championship pedigree over several generations. Andrew Bynum undoubtedly would be the return for Cleveland, an excellent bailout plan for the Cavaliers to build around.

The Genuine Candidates

3. Cavaliers: The Cavaliers have the inertia and home state factor, which absolutely counts for a lot in this decision. LeBron must also surely trust Dan Gilbert's unwavering dedication to spending money by the truckload to bring in any player that could conceivably help their chances, but their core has proven to be underwhelming and is also aging.

Cleveland had a chance to have cap room for this coming summer, but went all in with the double-down strategy and it is difficult to see how they can get more than just incrementally better from year to year.

We all know it doesn't work this way, but if LeBron could be simply handed titles over the next half decade and he was also given his choice of where he would do it, I sincerely believe it would be in Cleveland.

2. Knicks: Answering the same question, I believe New York would be LeBron's first preference after Cleveland; his obsession with the energy and culture of New York is palpable and is unlike anything we've witnessed from a star of his magnitude.

He knows the Knicks will spend as much as possible and give him every accommodation in the world, plus he will conceivably bring along Bosh or Wade, but how much trust does he have in Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Toney Douglas and whatever they can get back for Eddy Curry's expiring contract? Conceivably, that would eventually be enough for the Knicks to win a title(s), but LeBron fully knows now that there are no guarantees. The second superstar makes all the world of difference compared to the last two seasons with the Cavaliers, but it could still not be enough firepower, depending on how other teams evolve.

1. Bulls: The nucleus of Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah seems tailor-made for a superstar wing and Chicago also has Luol Deng as a fourth option, or even Bosh or Wade if they do a sign-and-trade using Deng. Add in Kirk Hinrich and Taj Gibson and the spectra of MJ's statue becomes less of an issue than it seemed a few months ago because LeBron would have the cleanest path to a title in Chicago.

If John Calipari is hired, LeBron and Rose will be able to run Vance Walberg's dribble-drive offense like it is on steroids and you won't see the kind of offensive inconsistency we saw against Boston. It will be an endless loop of dribble penetration of two unstoppable athletes and an endless loop of championships.

The Conclusion

Not to take away from the incredible upset of the Celtics, but I do wish the 09-10 season would have ended in a different was for the Cavaliers.

LeBron should have two primary takeaways from what ended up happening.

1. For how excellent of a ballplayer he unimpeachably is, he is also an incomplete ballpalyer. He needs to develop a post game and he also must improve his mid-range jumper. If he had even one of those capacities, he would be nearly unstoppable offensively and wouldn't be prone to the inconsistencies we saw against Boston.

2. He can't get too cute with his decision this summer. If I were him, or simply advising him, I'd be very selfish with this decision in terms of being in the absolute best possible situation to win championships. LeBron might be the best player of his generation, but he isn't good enough to win a title without a supporting cast that is just marginally above average-- that has now been proven.

If the sting of the second round elimination doesn't make him intimately feel those two things, I'm not sure what will.

 

 

[hellomarco]

i wonder what would happen to cleveland if lebron leaves?

 

[seymore cake]

Originally Posted by Billy Hoyle

Originally Posted by Laced Up Jordans

Originally Posted by TheShoe1010

http://espn.go.com/blog/t...the-bulls-3-gms-think-so
Boston Celtics fans were chanting "New York Knicks" during Thursday's Game 6 every time that LeBron James went to the foul line. Maybe they should've been chanting "Chicago Bulls." 

Within minutes of the Cleveland Cavaliers' elimination at the hands of the Celtics, the speculation about LeBron James' next destination resumed in full force. 

In the space of five minutes I heard from three NBA GMs via text, e-mail and phone. All three said that based on the information they have, they believe LeBron will leave the Cavs. 

More surprisingly, all of them said they believe the destination will be the Chicago Bulls. Two said they believe that John Calipari will be the Bulls' new head coach. 

One GM went a bit further in a phone call a few minutes later. "I think the Bulls are really going to go for it. Look for them to offer the Cavs Luol Deng in a sign-and-trade for LeBron. That will allow them to retain most of their cap space. Then they'll go after Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh as well." 

I'm sure we'll hear various scenarios involving the Knicks, Nets and Heat over the course of the next month. But it's hard to come up with any other scenario that would be quite as appealing for LeBron.

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[font=verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Hmmmmm.... [/font]

Luol Deng for LBJ?
Cleveland and Danny Ferry are dumb but not THAT dumb.

If LBJ leaves, it will strictly be a FA move. Cavs will never agree to a sign and trade

its called getting something in return, no one is gonna sign with the Cavs if they have no Lebron. If Lebron arguably the best player in the world cant win a championship with the Cavs then who the hell else can? Wade? Johnson? yea right. Cleveland will be at the bottom of the ranks in the sports world and will never be talked about in about 2 years hopefully. The only people who will sign their will be desperate players looking for max contracts AKA free money with no intentions of contending for a championship EVER.

I now understand what Knick fans have been feeling like this entire season... The anxiousness due to the opportunity... Oh LAAAAAWD...

 

[ThaxbyChamblis]

Lebron to Duke.

You heard it here first.

 

[law3001]

Originally Posted by dreClark

Lebron to Duke.

You heard it here first.

 

[al3xis]

I love Derrick Rose and think Noah is solid but in no way would that be better for LeBron than playing with someone like Bosh.

i really dont know when and how Chicago emerged as the front runners.

 

[seymore cake]

^ Nolan with the right moves, in a perfect world, we could be able to couple them both together with Pooh and Bro

Sign and trade CB4 for Luol and outright sign LBJ??? Not saying JUST SAYIN... Shame how this thread has me Under The Act right now

 

[bhzmafia14]

Originally Posted by Al3xis

I love Derrick Rose and think Noah is solid but in no way would that be better for LeBron than playing with someone like Bosh.

i really dont know when and how Chicago emerged as the front runners.

That's how I see it.

I think more people are wow'ed at the fact of Lebron being paired with Derrick Rose and possibly another star player more than all of those guys actually being a good fit together.

Its the same thing of saying the Bulls should go after Joe Johnson. People say he's not a  good fit. And no, I'm not comparing Joe to Lebron, but you should get what I'm saying.

Bulls will be better off going after Bosh and Ray Allen to complete their starting five. People just want to see an all-star team out there and it will only hurt Rose development IMO. What good will it do Rose having Lebron on the team taking up more possessions when he can only shoot 15 feet in? Noah may benefit from it since he's more of a rebounder/hustle guy and he could play the same role of Varejao if Lebron was there, but there's no way I think Rose and Lebron would the best thing since sliced bread.

They will have some exciting games and I'm sure they would figure it out somehow, but that's not the best way for Chicago to go.

  

 

[al3xis]

I hear you.

I've been in LeBron fantasy land for 18 months.

 

[duba169]

the only reason chicago emerged as a favorite is because lebron got knocked out too early and ESPN needs something to talk about

The whole thing was started by Boussard who is a joke and has a beef to pick with new york. he used to work for the Times. he's a hack and always has been.

 

[law3001]

Originally Posted by Al3xis

I love Derrick Rose and think Noah is solid but in no way would that be better for LeBron than playing with someone like Bosh.

i really dont know when and how Chicago emerged as the front runners.

I really think its just ESPN putting their spin on it. There are no front runners cause Lebron has never once indicated ( outside of subliminal shots of him rocking NY hats and saying he loves Chicago) where he would be next year. ESPN has just been taking whatever sound bites and quotes they find and broadcasting it as insider news. In the span of one year i've seen all the so called "Insiders" flip flop on where he would countless times and we will keep hearing !!@@%$+! from ESPN until they day HE makes his decision.

 

[seymore cake]

bhzmafia14 wrote:

---

Al3xis wrote:

---

I love Derrick Rose and think Noah is solid but in no way would that be better for LeBron than playing with someone like Bosh.

i really dont know when and how Chicago emerged as the front runners.
That's how I see it.

I think more people are wow'ed at the fact of Lebron being paired with Derrick Rose and possibly another star player more than all of those guys actually being a good fit together.

Its the same thing of saying the Bulls should go after Joe Johnson. People say he's not a  good fit. And no, I'm not comparing Joe to Lebron, but you should get what I'm saying.

Bulls will be better off going after Bosh and Ray Allen to complete their starting five. People just want to see an all-star team out there and it will only hurt Rose development IMO.   


This is how I'm looking at it, I can't speak for anyone else, but personally I don't view JJ as a all nba caliber player is an all star sure but that doesn't have anything to do with it.  He's a bigger guard who can create for himself and others as well as being a legit shooter from 3. If he can go back to not dominating the ball, which I believe he did out of necessity due to bibby being buns, he brings much more to the table than Jesus does imo because he has more years in him.

My original wish list was Bosh and JJ due to his ability to handle the ball and take pressue off Pooh when needed. Jesus can't do that.

 

[hellomarco]

Originally Posted by Cfranchise26

is that a proposed brooklyn nets jersey? nuggets-#%+

 

[bigmike23]

What's my boy screaming A smith have to say on bron? He still got him to NY?

 

[seymore cake]

[h4]1. Trying To Figure Out LeBron's Future[/h4]

By Chris Sheridan
ESPN.com

BOSTON -- So which LeBron James do you want to believe?

The LeBron who said he hasn't given much thought to what he's going to do with his future?

Or the LeBron who said "my team has a game plan"?

Because James said both of those things after finally making his way to the interview room more than an hour after the Cavaliers' season came to a swift and stunning end with a 94-85 loss to the Boston Celtics in Game 6 of their Eastern Conference semifinal.

Myself, I'll go with the LeBron behind Curtain No. 2, and beyond that I'll only go so far as to say I believe he has played his final game for the Cleveland Cavaliers. It's been seven long years for James in Cleveland, and as Kevin Garnett pointed out, it's hurtful at times when you cannot get your youth back.

And the crossroads James now finds himself at is the one at which he chooses between staying in the state where he was born and raised, the state where he was loved like no other professional athlete Ohio had ever produced, or moving on to the next stage of his life, the stage where he breaks beyond the boundaries that have confined him to a Midwestern comfort zone and goes on to bigger and better things.

Chicago? Miami? New York?

Could be any one of those three, and whoever knows exactly what details Team James' game plan entails isn't yet spilling those beans.

Celtics fans certainly had fun letting James know their prediction, chanting "New York Knicks" whenever he stepped to the foul line on a night when his triple-double of 27 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists was buttressed by his nine turnovers.

James did not speak to the specifics, whether pro or con, of playing in any of those cities -- or even the possibility of remaining in Cleveland.

What he said he'd do is go into the summer with the proper mindset, something I asked him to define in the final question he took in his postgame news conference.

"It's all about winning for me, and I think the Cavs are committed to doing that," he said. "But at the same time I've given myself options to this point, and like I said before, me and my team, we have a game plan that we're going to execute, and we'll see what we get."

James also was asked what he could say to the people in Cleveland, and it was noteworthy that he used the past tense in saying "We had a great time together."

Great, at least, until they booed him Tuesday night in the disappearing act that'll go down as the LeBacle.

Unlike a year ago when he stormed off the court and left the arena in Orlando without speaking publicly after his season-ending loss, James was the sportsman this time around as he stayed on the court to congratulate the Celtics. As good as his numbers were, he had only one spurt that seemed to put the Celtics on their heels, making a pair of 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter to get the Cavs' deficit down to four, 78-74.

Boston immediately called timeout after the second 3, coach Doc Rivers reminding his team what he told them pregame: We don't need any heroes in this game; we need to continue playing together as a team.

In the ensuing moments, that entailed a number of arms reaching in at James and forcing him to dribble the ball off his foot for a turnover that turned into a fast-break bucket by Rajon Rondo (21 points, 12 assists, five steals) at the other end. After Anderson Varejao missed from underneath off a pass from James, Paul Pierce drilled a 3-pointer, Antawn Jamison and James each missed a 3 and Rasheed Wallace knocked in a 3 from the corner to get the lead back to 12.

The coup de grace came on Boston's next possession, a 2-on-1 break (James was the 1) on which Garnett took a pass from Rondo and dunked to make it 88-74 and send the crowd into a frenzy.

Cleveland got no closer than seven the rest of the way, and James was ousted from the playoffs at the Garden in the second round for the second time in three years. Boston will begin the Eastern Conference finals at Orlando on Sunday afternoon.

"One thing we don't lack is confidence, and that was the case even when we were playing like crap and trying to get our chemistry problems together," Garnett said. "I think we hit our stride at the right time."

No one could have seen this drastic a turnaround after James came into this building six days earlier and scored 21 first-quarter points en route to a 29-point victory that gave Cleveland a 2-1 lead in the series.

But that ended up being Cleveland's final win, and the chances that it will end up being James' final win in a Cavs uniform now appear greater than ever.

James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh have already acknowledged they plan to speak together and go over the options they will be presented with in the biggest free-agency period in NBA history, and James' acknowledgement that he has a "game plan" is an indication that things may be farther along than most people realize.

The latest talk making the rounds regarding Chicago is that the Bulls could be the best fit because they already have a top-tier point guard in Derrick Rose and an athletic big man in Joakim Noah, plus they have a coaching vacancy that could conceivably end up being filled by John Calipari, who is extremely close to both Rose and James confidante William Wesley. The Bulls did make a head-scratcher of a trade when they gave away John Salmons and their No. 1 pick to Milwaukee at the trading deadline, but the deal gave them the flexibility to have max money available this summer. Yes, James would have to play the next several years in the shadow of Michael Jordan, but the generation that is as old or younger than James (25) has more vivid memories of Jordan as a Wizard, or as owner of the Bobcats, than they do of him winning six titles for the Bulls.

Miami is intriguing (aside from the obvious climate reasons) because Pat Riley has been throwing around talk of building a dynasty, and he already has one dynastic building block in Wade, who has indicated that his heart is in Miami and he would prefer to stay there. If the Heat can clear more cap space by moving Michael Beasley and/or Daequan Cook and James Jones before the draft, or in a trade that would be finalized July 8, they could afford to have James, Wade and a third stud, presumably a big man from the available free-agent threesome of Bosh, Amare Stoudemire and Carlos Boozer.

The Knicks? Well, James is on record as saying New York is his favorite city, and Madison Square Garden is his favorite NBA arena to play in. If James is serious about becoming the world's first billionaire athlete, the opportunity to boost his earning potential on a global scale is greatest in the city that is home to Wall Street. Also, New York has cleared enough cap room to sign James, plus another max free agent, and still have a few million dollars left over.

You also can't completely discount the Nets, with Jay-Z (James' buddy) still a part-owner following the transfer of controlling ownership from Bruce Ratner to Mikhail Prokhorov. But that franchise is set to play the next two seasons in Newark, and it's hard to see the King serving time in purgatory before the Brooklyn arena is built.

So if it is truly a four-team race that includes the Cavs, we have to circle back to James' statement about a game plan.

He gave no clues to its details, but in acknowledging that it exists he sounded like a man with plans for bigger and better things than Cleveland has to offer. Remember, when he picked up his MVP trophy, he told the crowd he would always be loyal to Akron.

And on the night he may have played his last game for Cleveland, he certainly didn't sound like a man with a plan to be married to the Cavaliers forever. If that were part of the "game plan," he would have at least given Cavs fans a glimmer of hope.

"The world is his, whatever decision he's going to make," Garnett said.

But on this night, it was a world in which the city of Cleveland seemed like a very small point on a very big map.

As James said: "We had a great time together."

Had.

Past tense.

Spoken like a man for whom the good times ahead, if they ever occur, will happen elsewhere.

 

[dade b0y]

Mike Woodson fired by the Hawks. So that all but assures, Joe Johnson is up for grabs.

 

[bangdak]

These Lebron articles are annoying the %#%+ out of me. for gods sake, shut up the %#%+ up and get off his nuts

 

[chicityk7]

Originally Posted by Dade B0Y

Mike Woodson fired by the Hawks. So that all but assures, Mike Brown is next so they can "TRY" to save Lebron from leaving........

pretty much what i saidhttp://sportsillustrated..../index.html?eref=BrkNews