Your Free Agent Predictions

• Trueblue23

  

  Bosh and Wade in Miami
  
  Joe Johnson and Tony Parker end up in New York.. Possibly with Amare too
  
  Cuban still refuses to accept that Dirk is a 2nd fiddle superstar
  
  And now LeBron..
  
  Throughout this whole "Summer of 2010" thing, I've thought LeBron was staying, no doubt. Well after what I saw in Boston and in Game 5, I think he will leave. IMO, LeBron will sign with New Jersey. He is Jay-Z's good friend, would have an owner willing to do anything to make an impact in this sport, and a good young team. The Nets already have Brooke Lopez and Devin Harris, they'll have a Top 3 pick in the draft, and they'd have LeBron.
• hoops23

  

  Bosh and Wade in Miami
  
  Joe Johnson to Chicago
  
  NY strikes out, as does NJ
  
  LeBron back in Cleveland.
  
  Devin Harris is vastly overrated. Brook Lopez is good, but lets get real, no matter where LeBron goes, he's starting over.
  
  Even coming back to the Cavs he will likely be facing a roster overhaul, but I think he knows that he has an owner here willing to bend over backwards for him and has proven to do so as it is.
• Trueblue23

  

  I respect your opinion LTrain.
• Crimson_Streak

  I think Amare stays bosh to Miami James stays in Cleveland Joe Johnson to NY
• j_crazy

  

  My honest prediction.
  
  Bosh to Chicago.
  
  JJ to NJ
  
  Wade to Miami (or NY)
  
  I'd also not be surprised if Amare ends up in NY somehow.
  
  LBJ in Cleveland
• jpake1

  

  LeBron: Miami-- More than anything, LBJ wants to win. There are other places that are nice, but what other team is going to give you a legend in Pat Riley and a PROVEN champion in Wade (in his prime)? Miami has a lot of options and open money to put a decent supporting cast around those guys. They're arguably two of the top 3 players-- they don't need a whole lot around them.
  
  Wade: Miami-- Obviously if LBJ comes aboard.
  
  Bosh: Chicago-- I think Miami would be his first choice, but LBJ comes first. Bosh goes to the next best place where the future is bright. I think this could change if the Bulls could sign a Ray Allen from Boston-- that way, they'd got after Boozer because he's cheaper. Rose, Allen, Deng, Boozer, and Noah would be a goooood team.
  
  JJ: NY-- They miss out on the big guys and sign the best available to get themselves into the playoffs.
  
  Boozer: Utah-- He's the last man standing which leads him to stay
  
  Gay: NY-- They overpay him and team him up with JJ and Lee and get a decent playoff team.
  
  Amare: Suns-- I think he stays put. I think he's really 50/50, but the domino effect will help with his decision.
• sportswizuhrd

  List of Free Agents by team...
  
  http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=FreeAgents-10-11
  
  By position
  
  http://www.shamsports.com/content/pages/data/freeagents/2010byposition.jsp
• hoops23

  

  Jpake, you're being a homer lol.
  
  LeBron and Wade plan on cementing their own legacies for now. Maybe at the tail end of their careers, but now? Don't see it happening one bit.
  
  I'd be SHOCKED if LeBron went to Miami.
  
  1) Cleveland
  2) New Jersey
  3) New York
  
  
  
  
  4) Chicago
  
  IMO.
  
  The reason I have Chicago so low is because I jsut don't see him going to Chicago.. Not to play under MJ's legacy. Again, it's an ego thing. He'll NEVER live up to it in Chicago. You'll have him and Rose both wanting to pound the ball at the top of the key for 20 seconds.
  
  New Jersey has Brook Lopez and a lottery pick. I'll laugh if their pick fall towards the end of the lottery though. But other than that, the roster isn't too impressive with me.
  
  New York has the city on it's side, but not much else. In fact, I'll let Chris Broussard explain that one for me...
  

  LeBron doesn't need you, New York
  Not all stars pine for NYC or the Knicks -- and the King is plenty big, as is
  
  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.)
  
  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.

  http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nba/columns/story?columnist=broussard_chris&id=5185810
• hoops23

  

  Honestly, I don't see many big moves happening this year.
• IggyPride00

  

  I am actually beginning to think that if New Jersey wins the NBA Lottery you can punch Lebron's ticket there.
  
  Lopez is a very good young big man, Yi is at least serviceable. If they win the lottery, they can then draft Jon Wall. Devon Harris could very easily be peddled for some other help as there are teams out there that would want him.
  
  You're then looking at a young core of Wall/Lebron/Lopez which are all under the age of 25.
  
  Cleveland just can't make that kind of pitch to Lebron, because outside of Lebron and J.J, there is no one on the team under 27. That is not good.
  
  I think frankly were it not for the fact the Nets are stuck in Newark the next 2 years Lebron would be a slam dunk for them the more I think about it. Lopez gives Lebron the functional big man he has never had, and if they get a Jon Wall type it would give him a potentially elite pg to play with.
  
  That would be a very tough scenario to turn down as good big men and point guards don't grow on trees as we have seen in Cleveland the past 5 years.
• Trueblue23

  

  Staying in Newark for 2 more years may actually help them, gives them time to build.. LeBron would be a legend if he brought the Nets a ring their 1st year in Brooklyn
• IggyPride00

  

  The other thing I think the Nets have going for them is their new owner. Everyone likes to point to Gilbert as a reason why Lebron would stay because he has shown he is willing to spend whatever.
  
  This guy is worth 10 times what Gilbert is. He is flamboyant and brash, and is looking to make a huge impact. He has made clear money will be no object (supposedly offering coach K a blank check if he would come coach the Nets). He has more money than God, and with a new arena opening there is not a move the Cavs could make that New Jersey couldn't as they will now join the ranks of teams willing to take bad contracts off teams hand in financial trouble.
  
  This guy is Gilbert on steroids as far as owners with deep pockets go, and don't think that won't be made clear to Lebron when he goes on his recruiting trip there come this summer. I can only imagine the red carpet this guy will lay out for him.
• Trueblue23

  

  ^^ Good points. Not to mention that LeBron is so aware of the business world, the possibilities the new owner could present to him are endless.
• hoops23

  

  The guy also has a shady background.
  
  There are a lot of uncertainties regarding Brook Lopez. Sure, he puts up good #'s, but he does it on a TERRIBLE team.
  
  Nobody knows how any of those Nets players would actually perform in the playoffs. How you do in the regular season and how you do in the playoff are two entirely different things.
  
  We know this first hand.
  
  Being worth 10 times as much isn't really a big deal, not at least with a salary cap. Lets face it, no team is going too far over the cap.. It's almost impossible to get too far over the 100 mill mark as it is. They're both Billionaires, so really it doesn't matter past that point.
  
  We do know that Dan Gilbert is committed to building up the areas that LeBron holds dearest to him. Gilbert has been creating jobs in both Cleveland and Akron and obviously has the new Casino project going along in Cleveland.
  
  Not only that, but Gilbert has taken LeBron with him on several business trips. Meeting Bron up with guys like Warren Buffet and such.
  
  I don't know, I just don't see LeBron leaving.. Not like this.
  
  Of course, it's Cleveland, so who knows.
• hoops23

  

  HOWEVER, regarding the Nets situation, I could DEFINITELY see this happening:
  
  LeBron signs a 3 year deal with the Cavs, with a 4th year player option.
  
  That gives the Cavs 3 years to prove to LeBron that we can reload a roster to contend again and if we failed he says "Well, I'm 28 and I tried for 10 years, sorry Cleveland, I tried".. Nobody could really be upset with him then. If we succeed, he picks up his 4th year option.
  
  Going back, if we do fail and he opts out, guess who's in Brooklyn? Why it'd be the New Jersey Nets!! LeBron then signs with New Jersey.
  
  See where I'm going?
  
  I just think he's got one last hoorah in it for us Cleveland fans.
• sportswizuhrd

  LTrain23 wrote: HOWEVER, regarding the Nets situation, I could DEFINITELY see this happening:
  
  LeBron signs a 3 year deal with the Cavs, with a 4th year player option.
  
  That gives the Cavs 3 years to prove to LeBron that we can reload a roster to contend again and if we failed he says "Well, I'm 28 and I tried for 10 years, sorry Cleveland, I tried".. Nobody could really be upset with him then. If we succeed, he picks up his 4th year option.
  
  Going back, if we do fail and he opts out, guess who's in Brooklyn? Why it'd be the New Jersey Nets!! LeBron then signs with New Jersey.
  
  See where I'm going?
  
  I just think he's got one last hoorah in it for us Cleveland fans.

  Damn. Exactly what I was saying to TrueBlue about an hour ago.
  
  OR...
  
  Is it really far fetched that LeBron goes to NY with....Yao? LBJ kills two birds with one stone? Gets big in China and NY w/Yao's help?
• IggyPride00

  

  don't know, I just don't see LeBron leaving.. Not like this.

  I actually think the way it ended makes it much easier for him to leave.
  
  Had they lost in the finals and it was a close series the thinking would have been that we were right on the precipice of a title, so it would have been natural to come back because it would have been an improvement on last year and a step forward in the right direction.
  
  This team is not anywhere close to a title though, and the Boston series showed it.
  
  Lebron is going to be rebuilding here or anywhere he goes.
  
  The thing the other cities have to offer him that Cleveland doesn't is the young nucleus to build with. Why spend those next 3 years of his absolute physical prime in Cleveland with an old roster that at the end of that time will be turned over significantly when you can spend it like Kevin Durant will growing with his young nucleus.
  
  Cleveland is ultimately going to be doomed by the fact they don't have a young star to offer to Lebron in terms of someone to grow with the next 3 years so that at 28 he isn't faced with having to leave and going into another rebuilding project somewhere else. That would be a waste of the prime years of his career.
• hoops23

  

  lol, which thread did you tell him that on? I can't keep up with all these threads! haha..
  
  But yeah, it's definitely a possibility regarding NJ.
  
  As far as Yao, ehh.. I think LeBron would want to put his faith on somebody a little more durable. The Chinese Investors who bought a stake in the Cavs are helping LeBron with China.
  
  I mean, yeah, playing with Yao would make him big, but he's not going to win a title with Yao as his other guy.
• hoops23

  

  IggyPride00 wrote:

  don't know, I just don't see LeBron leaving.. Not like this.

  I actually think the way it ended makes it much easier for him to leave.
  
  Had they lost in the finals and it was a close series the thinking would have been that we were right on the precipice of a title, so it would have been natural to come back because it would have been an improvement on last year and a step forward in the right direction.
  
  This team is not anywhere close to a title though, and the Boston series showed it.
  
  Lebron is going to be rebuilding here or anywhere he goes.
  
  The thing the other cities have to offer him that Cleveland doesn't is the young nucleus to build with. Why spend those next 3 years of his absolute physical prime in Cleveland with an old roster that at the end of that time will be turned over significantly when you can spend it like Kevin Durant will growing with his young nucleus.
  
  Cleveland is ultimately going to be doomed by the fact they don't have a young star to offer to Lebron in terms of someone to grow with the next 3 years so that at 28 he isn't faced with having to leave and going into another rebuilding project somewhere else. That would be a waste of the prime years of his career.

  At 28 LeBron would be in his "true" prime, at least if we're going by other former stars.
  
  Also, the Cavs have turned their trash into good players before. We have talent on this roster to work with in terms of trades. We also have some expiring contracts to package, including AP, Delonte (whose contract isn't even fully guaranteed), and Sebastian.
  
  We also have players like Boobie, JJ, and Mo who would definitely garner interest, especially JJ if you throw him in a package.
  
  We all know how sought after Andy was so he's definitely got value as well.
  
  Despite the worries, there is definitely some flexibility here within the roster itself.
  
  Not to mention LeBron will be able to hand pick his next coach.
  
  If LeBron goes to Chicago, I don't see that team winning a title. If he goes to NY or NJ, it's still going to take some time to become a legit contender. Again, NJ's and NY's players are unproven in the playoffs.
  
  Again, I don't see him going to Chicago to begin with. Not to play under somebody else's legacy.
  
  I also don't buy the "this team wasn't anywhere close to winning a title" line. We are CLOSE. Effort, execution, and lack of heart beat us, not Boston being better.
  
  With that said, if Cleveland can swap out a couple of players in a package and bring in another legit player, the Cavs will be right there as a favorite again. Point blank.
• Mulva

  

  What I'm pretty confident of...
  
  Bosh is gone. Joe Johnson is gone. Boozer is gone. Memphis will match anything offered to Rudy Gay, they are a playoff team next year.
  
  Wade stays. Amare stays. Parker definitely isn't going anywhere.
  
  What I have no idea about...
  
  I feel like Dallas keeps Dirk and does whatever they can to add the last necessary piece around him.
  
  I couldn't care less about any of the rest (and yes, that includes LeBron).
• sportswizuhrd

  LTrain23 wrote: lol, which thread did you tell him that on? I can't keep up with all these threads! haha..
  
  But yeah, it's definitely a possibility regarding NJ.
  
  As far as Yao, ehh.. I think LeBron would want to put his faith on somebody a little more durable. The Chinese Investors who bought a stake in the Cavs are helping LeBron with China.
  
  I mean, yeah, playing with Yao would make him big, but he's not going to win a title with Yao as his other guy.

  Wasn't on here that I said that to him. The messenger on the book of faces.
• jpake1

  

  LTrain23 wrote: Jpake, you're being a homer lol.
  
  LeBron and Wade plan on cementing their own legacies for now. Maybe at the tail end of their careers, but now? Don't see it happening one bit.
  
  I'd be SHOCKED if LeBron went to Miami.
  
  1) Cleveland
  2) New Jersey
  3) New York
  
  
  
  
  4) Chicago
  
  IMO.
  
  The reason I have Chicago so low is because I jsut don't see him going to Chicago.. Not to play under MJ's legacy. Again, it's an ego thing. He'll NEVER live up to it in Chicago. You'll have him and Rose both wanting to pound the ball at the top of the key for 20 seconds.
  
  New Jersey has Brook Lopez and a lottery pick. I'll laugh if their pick fall towards the end of the lottery though. But other than that, the roster isn't too impressive with me.
  
  New York has the city on it's side, but not much else. In fact, I'll let Chris Broussard explain that one for me...
  

  LeBron doesn't need you, New York
  Not all stars pine for NYC or the Knicks -- and the King is plenty big, as is
  
  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.)
  
  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.

  http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nba/columns/story?columnist=broussard_chris&id=5185810

  Haha, I'm being a homer? That's rich, coming from you since you were one all offseason and during the season with the Cavs. After this year and all the homer BS you spit out, I have a hard time putting any weight into your thoughts about the NBA. He'll either go to Miami or he won't. He'll either stay in Cleveland or he won't. After choking two postseasons in a row, and being FAR from a championship team, with nearly no great assets, expirings to put you way under the cap, and aging players, one could say that you indeed made the homer pick of him saying. BTW, you talk to those guys much? If you've listened at all, it's winning that is important to them right now-- not their legacies. They're arguably the top 2 players in the league-- if they put their heads together, I think their legacies will speak for themselves. It's been seven years, LeBron's been on his own, and what the fuck does he have to show for it? In 7 years I think he's learned he cannot do it himself. Nobody can in this league. What's going to change in Cleveland? He has to hope for a trade and hope this win actually works, unlike all the other attempts. Or, he could go elsewhere with another star and give it a try for a few years.
• buckeyes_woowee

  LeBron- Chicago
  Bosh- Cleveland
  Dirk- NY
  Wade- New Orleans
  Amare- Detroit
  
  I feel there will be a lot of movement and a lot of surprises
• se-alum

  

  IggyPride00 wrote: The other thing I think the Nets have going for them is their new owner. Everyone likes to point to Gilbert as a reason why Lebron would stay because he has shown he is willing to spend whatever.
  
  This guy is worth 10 times what Gilbert is. He is flamboyant and brash, and is looking to make a huge impact. He has made clear money will be no object (supposedly offering coach K a blank check if he would come coach the Nets). He has more money than God, and with a new arena opening there is not a move the Cavs could make that New Jersey couldn't as they will now join the ranks of teams willing to take bad contracts off teams hand in financial trouble.
  
  This guy is Gilbert on steroids as far as owners with deep pockets go, and don't think that won't be made clear to Lebron when he goes on his recruiting trip there come this summer. I can only imagine the red carpet this guy will lay out for him.

  I don't think Prokhorov's money means much. Look at Mark Cuban, he's also a billionaire, and has never been able to get anything out of his teams.
• Trueblue23

  

  Ahhh the almighty book of faces.