Cleveland Cavaliers
And now, the most talked about possible return since the Rock came back to WWE.
LeBron comes back to Cleveland, wins championships (plural) with the teams young stars and gets back in the good graces of his hometown, who forgives him for ever taking that four-year ride to Miami. Sounds great right?
The only issue here is, well the only issue is reality.
Last time I checked, Dan Gilbert is still the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers. You know, Comic Sans Dan, the man who publicly shamed LeBron (and embarrassed himself) with an open letter to Cavs fans following James decision to leave the organization. The letter included this all-caps, comic-sans gem, which was likely the worst guarantee in the history of professional sports:
“I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER ‘KING’ WINS ONE”
Since then, Gilbert has publicly complained about trades made by other franchises, rarely attended Cavs games, fired then rehired then re-fired Mike Brown, and blown multiple top-five picks. I mean the franchise is picking number one for a third time in four years and still on the outside of the playoff picture in a weak Eastern Conference.
And LeBron would go back to Cleveland why? Because he owes it to the fans who burned his jersey when he left and have cursed his name for four years? Come on now, surely LeBron has more logic than that.
This decision is going to be purely based on basketball and the opportunity to compete and win championships for the rest of his prime. If LeBron believes the Cavs have a talented enough roster and the opportunity to do so, he will consider them despite Gilbert, at least that’s what Cavs fans are hoping for.
Houston Rockets
The Rockets have done an incredible job over the past three off-seasons of putting themselves in a position to steal a star player. Two years ago, they used their desirable trade assets to bring in James Harden, who just might be the best two-guard in the league today (if we aren’t counting defense). Then, they did the unthinkable last season, luring Dwight Howard away from the Los Angeles Lakers and creating their own superstar duo.
But one disappointing first-round loss later, the Rockets head into this summer looking to add a third star and creating their own Big Three. Like the Bulls, Houston has been linked to Carmelo Anthony, but also have James ahead of Melo on their FA pecking order.
For LeBron, the Rockets offer a team with plenty of firepower to take the scoring load off of him. With role players like Chandler Parsons (expected to re-sign after hitting unrestricted FA to open cap space), and Patrick Beverley, the Rocket line-up could be an instant title contender with the addition of LeBron.
Houston will need to move a few contracts (namely Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin) to open up the proper cap-space, but that shouldn’t be an issue. The Rockets are another serious contender to the Heat for LeBron’s services.
FLIP THE PAGE TO SEE HOW THE LAKERS PLAN TO LURE LEBRON….