The LeBron James Thread

[bigfnjoe96]

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

1. Considering that we still had actual talent outside of those 3 and that Kidd wasn't going to be resigned anyway, no. Ya'll MADE yall intentions KNOWN all along that any move made in previous years was specifically being made for THIS offseason, am I wrong?

2. Exactly, 11 other teams have lost to them. But I'm not talking about them I'm talking about YA'LL so when a Knicks Fan is trying to throw mud at a Nets fan, need to take one looooooooooooooooooooooong look in the mirror my friend lol.

That's right Donnie Walsh said when he was hired his goal was to be under the CAP so we can be players in 2010 FA & he did exactly that. So he accomplished what he set out to do.

As for throwing mud, I'm not sure where that's coming from because I never once said anything bad about your team. Looks like your taking this a little too personal homie

[ProfessaPackMan]

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

Wasn't talking specifically about you man. Otherwise I would've just said your name.

But there have been others on here that have brought that up plenty of times on here just because.

[Altimus]

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

Rose wanted to be at the Bulls meeting with LeBron...LeBron said no.

Rose isn't exactly the most out going, friendly, talkative, energetic guy.....he's crazy laid back. LeBron probably just catching feelings because DRose doesn't bow down to him and/or LEBRON feels threatened by DRose

Yep, Noah was suppose to be there as well.

[HMcCoy]

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

Both the Nets and the Knicks could make it to the Finals with Bron. People are over/underating the "names" involved, based on their particular dog in the race.

IMO, a balls out nasty, cohesive defense is worth 3 great players, lol. If the Knicks play elite D, that roster with Bron/Amare and a handful of vet minimum defenders is good enough to compete with any team in the East besides maybe ORL. If the Nets play great D, they could probably beat ORL, IMO. The Bulls have a serious lack of outside shooting, but again, if Thibs can at least be competent on offense, Bron/Bosh and an elite D could carry that team all the way. The Heat have had one of the worst rosters in basketball, and their top-level D has gotten them to the middle of the Eastern bracket. Same with the Bucks. Mike Brown only did one thing well, and the Cavs besides Lebron have been a Merry-go-round of mediocre or past their prime players. The Cavs have still been a dominant team.

Bottom line, the Knicks can't win unless they can play elite defense, which is very doubtful. Not impossible, but very unlikely. They don't currently have the players, or the coaching pedigree. The Nets...maybe. The Bulls and Cavs will almost certainly be good to great defensively. I'm sure Lebron would agree with those statements.

[HMcCoy]

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

Yep, Noah was suppose to be there as well.

Honestly, those two will say the right things..but I seriously doubt either guy wants to deal with Lebrons ego, especially Noah.

If Bron goes to CHI, I hope he demands a S&T that sends Noah here, lol.

[brahmagoul]

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

The NY-hate during the FA period has been enjoyable and the hate on Gallo is some quality icing on the cake.

The New York hate is always warranted. The city has the Yankees, another high-spending baseball team and two contending football teams. Can't have everything, or at least shouldn't think they can have everything. Although, this topic has been played out for years.

Gallo hate definitely isn't warranted.

You know, I'd have a hard time thinking a LeBron-led team wouldn't contend regardless of situation. He's that amazing, but the realist in me asks for role players. As much as someone can say "oh, look at what he did with Cleveland's roster," that's deceiving.

The Cavaliers were a 45-37 team the year before adding Mo Williams, which speaks volumes to how you need complementary players. Cleveland did a lot to upgrade its roster the last few seasons. No, it didn't win them a title, but it's had them close. All a player can ask for is an opportunity to succeed, and the Cavaliers have done that for LeBron.

[23]

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

Can we keep the thread on topic and not on why who and how they hate the Knicks?

[Game4fun]

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

Nice thread. I think lebron is going to the worlds most famous arena to resurect the New York Knicks and bring them back to glory. The city is the greatest city in the world and Lebron knows that. He also knows how important it will be to bring the Knicks back to title contenders and playing with Amare Stoudemire and Gallo is better then what the cavs or bulls got. Just my opinion. I'm a knicks fan. Plus I would rather play, live, and do business in NYC then chicago or cleveland. Thanks for the entertaining thread. I think we all want Lebron to go to different places but thats because he is the best of the best and emotions will fly.

[Artman22]

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

I'm saying that the Cavaliers are either going to be rebuilding or are going to be title contenders. Handicapping yourself one way or the other would be foolish.

As for:



The Cavaliers have already proven they can win with LeBron. They do not have to make a move to impress the Cavaliers. They can wait for LeBron then go for a big name that would really improve their team.

The Cavaliers do not need a lot. They need a 2nd scoring option. That's it. It's not like the Heat, Bulls and Knicks who still have to build a team. They are one piece away from winning multiple titles. The Heat, Bulls and Knicks are at least 2 years and more likely 4 years.

Oh well. I'm sure I'm going to be ridiculed for this because the Cavaliers roster "sucks" according to many on here.

Where in the world do you see a great team in the Cavs without LBJ???? Where's this great team?? or even good team?

[HMcCoy]

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

The Cavaliers were a 45-37 team the year before adding Mo Williams, which speaks volumes to how you need complementary players. Cleveland did a lot to upgrade its roster the last few seasons. No, it didn't win them a title, but it's had them close. All a player can ask for is an opportunity to succeed, and the Cavaliers have done that for LeBron.

I agree.

Remember tho...that 45-37 team took the eventual champion Celtics to the very last seconds of a game 7 in the conf semis.

Great D + Lebron = a legit chance...for any team.

[brahmagoul]

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

Art, I didn't see "great" mentioned anywhere by OSUFan. What the Cavaliers have are solid pieces around LeBron that have made them a title contender. They got rid of what many thought was their biggest downfall in some of Mike Brown's coaching decisions.

Here's what they have:
-A point guard in Mo Williams who can be the complementary shooter and allow LeBron to be the facilitator in a half-court set or in transition.
-A versatile forward in Antawn Jamison who doesn't need set plays to score.
-Anderson Varejao, who's been one of the most productive interior defenders in the league.
-J.J. Hickson, an energy guy that can play the 4 and as a undersized 5, who's meshed well with LeBron.

Everyone else I'd consider run-of-the-mill role players, like Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon, Daniel Gibson, etc.

Without LeBron, they're a 32-35 win team. But guess what? Chicago and Miami are the only suitors that can say they're better than that without LeBron.

[HMcCoy]

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

Where in the world do you see a great team in the Cavs without LBJ???? Where's this great team?? or even good team?

I swear, 127 wins over two season doesn't get you much credibility, lol.

This team was custom built around Lebron. Its a little unfair to just subtract him and judge as if the Cavs exist in a vacuum, or as if Stern mandated that we aren't allowed to make any moves, no? Folks assume that because Jamison still has 2 expensive years, and that Andy was slightly overpaid = the Cavs have no room and no options. Thats not accurate.

The team would need some work, just like any other team..and if their cap holds and LeBron sign elsewhere, the Cavs would have a nice amount of cap to work with immediately...with at least three above average players to start with (Mo, Twan, Andy), and will probably be the biggest spenders in FA next year.

edit:yeah, what brahmagoul said.

[Bornindamecca]

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

Both the Nets and the Knicks could make it to the Finals with Bron. People are over/underating the "names" involved, based on their particular dog in the race.

IMO, a balls out nasty, cohesive defense is worth 3 great players, lol. If the Knicks play elite D, that roster with Bron/Amare and a handful of vet minimum defenders is good enough to compete with any team in the East besides maybe ORL. If the Nets play great D, they could probably beat ORL, IMO. The Bulls have a serious lack of outside shooting, but again, if Thibs can at least be competent on offense, Bron/Bosh and an elite D could carry that team all the way. The Heat have had one of the worst rosters in basketball, and their top-level D has gotten them to the middle of the Eastern bracket. Same with the Bucks. Mike Brown only did one thing well, and the Cavs besides Lebron have been a Merry-go-round of mediocre or past their prime players. The Cavs have still been a dominant team.

Bottom line, the Knicks can't win unless they can play elite defense, which is very doubtful. Not impossible, but very unlikely. They don't currently have the players, or the coaching pedigree. The Nets...maybe. The Bulls and Cavs will almost certainly be good to great defensively. I'm sure Lebron would agree with those statements.

I agree that Lebron+great defense=contender. However, I disagree that it's the only way to skin a cat. I also disagree that they can win without a reliable 3pt threat in the clutch. Every great defensive team that has won a championship has had that guy who can break the ice with a dagger 3. It's the nature of the strategy. You keep the score close, because of your D. Both teams end up struggling in the half court at some point, because that's the nature of the playoffs. The great defensive squad pushes themselves over the edge when the opponent resorts to packing the paint and knocks down a couple 3s either in the half court or in transition resulting from a stop. In a tough defensive game/series, a 6 point lead is like a 12 point lead at the end.

When you don't have that as a defensive squad, you have to score in the half court midrange jumpshooting game, and that is just very tough to rely on in a 7 game series. In the half court, it's usually two out of three things that win a defensive series

1. A post up threat that leads to
2. an open 3pt shooter who can hit in the clutch(Fisher/Horry/Billups/Allen/Kerr/Bowen)
3. A guard/small forward who can manufacture free throws and knock them down.

So you can't do it on defense alone, even if you have a great scorer like Lebron. You need two of those three things to break the ice.


Also, I do think that there is an element to building around Lebron that has not been tried before. Barkley has been clamoring to get this guy into the open floor for years. With the best pick and roll forward in the league on the Knicks, the opportunity is there for Lebron to have an unstoppable offensive cornerstone in the two man game he's never had before. Amar'e single handedly destroyed the Lakers once in that Phoenix series, and no one was surprised, because he'd done the same to the Spurs when they were at their peak. Because of the holes in his game, people seem to be overlooking that Amar'e can score in every possible way that a PF can score in. Mid range, close range, dunk, layup, foul line, face up, back to the basket and trailing in transition. Amar'e's offensive prowess is literally unlimited. If Lebron went to New York, STAT would be the best player Lebron's every played with. Not only that, but he'd be playing in a system that he's comfortable with.

Another overlooked fact: out of all of the available PFs, STAT has gone the furthest and is the only one proven to be effective against high level playoff defense. I'm not saying they go to the Finals. I'm also not saying this will take Lebron to the Knicks. Just listing one of the "pros" of playing with Amar'e. The effects of Lebron/Stat in D'Antoni's system, surrounded by 40% 3pt threats would be flat out devastating, and the Knicks still have the flexibility to surround them with more pieces.

I don't necessarily believe that Lebron would go to the Knicks, but I do believe that Walsh would build them into a contender within two years. It's based off of one simple principle: the Knicks don't have any bad contracts left. It's all flexibility. Even Curry is trade bait. Gallo and Chandler, bless their little hearts, are also very, very tradeable.

I'm a Gallo believer though, so I wouldn't trade him.

Honestly, those two will say the right things..but I seriously doubt either guy wants to deal with Lebrons ego, especially Noah.

If Bron goes to CHI, I hope he demands a S&T that sends Noah here, lol.

I don't think Lebron can demand a S&T. If Cleveland doesn't want to do it, they simply won't. And if I were Cleveland, I'd demand that Rose be a part of the S&T, make that demand public, and DARE Chicago to refuse Lebron James on account of Derrick Rose. Take it or leave it.

[boomhauertjs]

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

Via Windhorst's twitter:

As we said last week, Cavs simply have more S-&-T assets than CHI, MIA & can also take a bad TOR contract. All depends on Bosh willingness.
28 minutes ago via web
If Broussard's report is accurate and LeBron is actively recruiting players to CLE, even if he doesn't get them, that would seem to be sign.
30 minutes ago via web
RT @Chris_Broussard: Raptors have told Cavs they would do a sign-and-trade with them for Bosh. Cavs and LeBron working to convince Bosh ...
33 minutes ago via web

[Kashanova]

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

if that's the case, hopefully bosh links up with wade in MIA, I doubt lebron would go back to the cavs the way the team is currently