The LeBron James Thread

[HMcCoy]

Re: The Official "Where is LeBron going?" Thread

Three days ago I woulda handicapped Lebron as staying in CLE. Now, theres no way in hell, IMO.

Sentiments and loyalty aside, the Eastern power balance is shifting too heavily for LeBron to stay put. At least 3 teams have a legit chance to roll out 2 All-NBA players and a solid group of roleplayers next season. No way LeBron is going to watch CHI pick up 2 max guys, NY pick up 2 Max guys, and MIA pick up at least one more, and...OMG...possibly two more max guys if Beasley can be moved, and stay in CLE. I just don't see it.

Godspeed Lebron, it was a blast!

[Bornindamecca]

Re: The Official "Where is LeBron going?" Thread

Three days ago I woulda handicapped Lebron as staying in CLE. Now, theres no way in hell, IMO.

Sentiments and loyalty aside, the Eastern power balance is shifting too heavily for LeBron to stay put. At least 3 teams have a legit chance to roll out 2 All-NBA players and a solid group of roleplayers next season. No way LeBron is going to watch CHI pick up 2 max guys, NY pick up 2 Max guys, and MIA pick up at least one more, and...OMG...possibly two more max guys if Beasley can be moved, and stay in CLE. I just don't see it.

Godspeed Lebron, it was a blast!

At this point, I'd be flat out shocked if he didn't end up in Chicago. Also, that's one of the few arrangements where I think Joe Johnson could be more valuable than other free agents. With Rose and Lebron running, the open shots for JJ would put him in a Ray Allen type situation. Noah and whoever starts at PF can just rebound and defend. Don't think they'd need a low post threat like Amar'e or Bosh. However, if they did get Bosh and Lebron, they might be short on shooting, but they'd be real long on rebounding. Only concern would be when the great teams pack the paint.

[BlueNGold]

Re: The Official "Where is LeBron going?" Thread

Three days ago I woulda handicapped Lebron as staying in CLE. Now, theres no way in hell, IMO.

Sentiments and loyalty aside, the Eastern power balance is shifting too heavily for LeBron to stay put. At least 3 teams have a legit chance to roll out 2 All-NBA players and a solid group of roleplayers next season. No way LeBron is going to watch CHI pick up 2 max guys, NY pick up 2 Max guys, and MIA pick up at least one more, and...OMG...possibly two more max guys if Beasley can be moved, and stay in CLE. I just don't see it.

Godspeed Lebron, it was a blast!

Yeah, I'm having the feeling that July 1st will be the death of my blue Cavs LeBron jersey. So ****ing sad.....

[Altimus]

Re: The Official "Where is LeBron going?" Thread

At this point, I'd be flat out shocked if he didn't end up in Chicago. Also, that's one of the few arrangements where I think Joe Johnson could be more valuable than other free agents. With Rose and Lebron running, the open shots for JJ would put him in a Ray Allen type situation. Noah and whoever starts at PF can just rebound and defend. Don't think they'd need a low post threat like Amar'e or Bosh. However, if they did get Bosh and Lebron, they might be short on shooting, but they'd be real long on rebounding. Only concern would be when the great teams pack the paint.

Do you think JJ would come to Chicago to play along side LBJ for a less than max contract?

They got a nice PF in last year's draft in Gibson. Was a 9/7 guy this year but didn't really get solid playing time till later in the season. Could be a 14/10 guy this season I believe and that's all they would need with Rose-JJ-LBJ.

Also if this scenario would work out they would be able to put different rotations out there. Go big or go small with a Rose - JJ - Deng - LBJ - Noah line up.

I'm excited but cautious.

[BlueNGold]

Re: The Official "Where is LeBron going?" Thread

Do you think JJ would come to Chicago to play along side LBJ for a less than max contract?

They got a nice PF in last year's draft in Gibson. Was a 9/7 guy this year but didn't really get solid playing time till later in the season. Could be a 14/10 guy this season I believe and that's all they would need with Rose-JJ-LBJ.

Also if this scenario would work out they would be able to put different rotations out there. Go big or go small with a Rose - JJ - Deng - LBJ - Noah line up.

I'm excited but cautious.

I think JJ is one of the guys that just wants to get paid as much as possible. Whatever team that is stupid enough to offer him a max contract will get him.

[ehh]

Re: The Official "Where is LeBron going?" Thread

At this point, I'd be flat out shocked if he didn't end up in Chicago. Also, that's one of the few arrangements where I think Joe Johnson could be more valuable than other free agents. With Rose and Lebron running, the open shots for JJ would put him in a Ray Allen type situation. Noah and whoever starts at PF can just rebound and defend. Don't think they'd need a low post threat like Amar'e or Bosh. However, if they did get Bosh and Lebron, they might be short on shooting, but they'd be real long on rebounding. Only concern would be when the great teams pack the paint.

I disagree with that as of now, it may change of Thibbs posts up LeBron a lot. It's extremely rare that a team wins an NBA title without a consistent low post scoring threat. You're in a much better situation with Bosh and trying to fill the roster with shooters than if you have JJ and are trying to find post scoring IMO.

According to Kully, Chicago is still $2-3M short of two max slots because of the cap holders for the empty roster slots. So I'm not sure if LBJ is a lock just yet for Chicago because I don't see any of the big FA's (including JJ) taking less than the max.

I do imagine that Chicago will find a way to free up that extra space though and LeBron will be a Bull.

[Altimus]

Re: The Official "Where is LeBron going?" Thread

I think JJ is one of the guys that just wants to get paid as much as possible. Whatever team that is stupid enough to offer him a max contract will get him.

I feel the same way and there will be someone out there that will throw max money at him.

[Vince]

Re: The Official "Where is LeBron going?" Thread

JJ and LBJ...No thanks

[Altimus]

Re: The Official "Where is LeBron going?" Thread

I disagree with that as of now, it may change of Thibbs posts up LeBron a lot. It's extremely rare that a team wins an NBA title without a consistent low post scoring threat. You're in a much better situation with Bosh and trying to fill the roster with shooters than if you have JJ and are trying to find post scoring IMO.

According to Kully, Chicago is still $2-3M short of two max slots because of the cap holders for the empty roster slots. So I'm not sure if LBJ is a lock just yet for Chicago because I don't see any of the big FA's (including JJ) taking less than the max.

I do imagine that Chicago will find a way to free up that extra space though and LeBron will be a Bull.

I'm curious to see how.

If they find a way to move James Johnson for a future pick, that still doesn't add up to that 2.2m difference. Only way this gets done is Deng gets moved and they take some kind of perimeter players back that have that 2.2m difference.

[BlueNGold]

Re: The Official "Where is LeBron going?" Thread

I feel the same way and there will be someone out there that will throw max money at him.

Someone as in the Knicks when they find out LeBron and Bosh are chillin' in Miami/Chicago.

[ehh]

Re: The Official "Where is LeBron going?" Thread

Yeah that's a good point. Right now they only have Deng, Rose, Noah, Gibson and James Johnson on the books. If they can't move Deng they'd have to find a way to give away Gibson and Johnson.

[phenom1990]

Re: The Official "Where is LeBron going?" Thread

Am I wrong in thinking that you are allowed to go over the cap to sign veteran minimum deals? So if Chicago got to 56.2 with the core mentioned above, they could just go and sign like 5 or 6 or even rookies they drafted to minimum deals and would then be allowed to go over the cap? Or is there some clause in the CBA that goes against it?

[NYJets]

Re: The Official "Where is LeBron going?" Thread

It's crazy to me that they wouldn't be willing to take $1.1 million less each to team up in Chicago, if that's what they want to do.

[Altimus]

Re: The Official "Where is LeBron going?" Thread

Am I wrong in thinking that you are allowed to go over the cap to sign veteran minimum deals? So if Chicago got to 56.2 with the core mentioned above, they could just go and sign like 5 or 6 or even rookies they drafted to minimum deals and would then be allowed to go over the cap? Or is there some clause in the CBA that goes against it?

You're only allowed to sign one MLE a season.

You can sign as many NBDL and rookie players as you want though for the minimum.

[brahmagoul]

Re: The Official "Where is LeBron going?" Thread

It's crazy to me that they wouldn't be willing to take $1.1 million less each to team up in Chicago, if that's what they want to do.

There's always that superficial status thing. It's like people having to have the newest iPhone or whatever.