With all the hoopla about Lebron going to New York (it's supposedly a given that he will be playing elsewhere starting in 2010), is anyone considering the possibility that he may not go anywhere? It sure doesn't look like it to me. So far the Knicks, Nets, and Pistons have gotten in on the clear out space for Lebron game, and Miami has also quietly made moves to have a more flexible situation in 2010. There's been no noise from anywhere out West, largely because the two L.A. teams are pretty much capped out for the next few years. But what happens if all these teams are playing themselves? What if he decides that he likes it just fine in Cleveland, and Dwyane Wade makes the same call about Miami? It's not out of the question in either case. If, come 2010, Cleveland is coming off another Finals appearance and is poised to make another go at it, would he just automatically run for uncertainty in New York?
We have no idea what kind of roster the Knicks are going to have in 2010; it's going to have to be at least decent for Lebron to want to lead it. I doubt he wants to go somewhere and have a bunch of scrubs missing the open jumpers he gets them or fumbling the ball when he passes it to them; being the only All-Star on a 47 win team that loses in the first round of the playoffs won't be enough for him. Cleveland can pay him as much as anyone else, even New York, and he's already a huge global star so it's not like he's lacking in exposure or endorsements. Seriously people, the deciding factor will (for once) be winning; if he wants to be in the running for best ever he has to get some rings. If Cleveland has a better shot at that, he's staying there. Period. I don't care where his agent or his boys want him to go. I know they all want him in New York, even if it's on a lottery team. But I'm guessing that he won't upset the apple cart to play on a mediocre team.
If you want a dark horse, I'd go with Miami. They can jettison everyone except Michael Beasley, Daequn Cook, and Marcus Banks for 2010, sign Lebron, and then re-sign Wade and Udonis Haslem. Wade and Lebron, with Beasley as the third wheel? I'd take that any day. And remember that Florida has great weather and no stat income tax, and that the heat have a front office with Pat Riley that is all about winning championships, not just 50 games a year for 10 years. So those are the choices, people. New York, Miami, and Cleveland. L.A. would be a major longshot here as well; not because he wouldn't want to play there but because they have to perform some financial wizardry to come up with the cap space to sign him. But let's keep it real: if the best chance to win a title is with the Cavs, he's staying. Don't believe anything else.
He coming with Hov!!!
None of the idiots in the biased media seem to realize LeBron is all about winning. Good stuff Rob!
Lebron will not be leaving Cleveland. Sorry to burst any hopeful wish bubbles out there in fantasy land. Well, not sorry to do that. Get over it!
Odds on Lebron leaving Cleveland have dropped to 0.0047%. Not gonna happen.