718 replies to this topic

[mweb08]

What will LeBron do?

 

What should LeBron do?

 

Here's a few articles to help frame the discussion:

 

Windhorst: http://espn.go.com/n...s-figure-future

 

Most importantly, he doesn't care what anyone says or thinks anymore. He is simply going to do what makes him happy and gives him the best chance to win. He was strong in 2010. He's much stronger now.

 

 

Simmons (lots of great Spurs stuff and Finals talk here too): http://grantland.com...the-nba-finals/

 

Q: OK, so if you were LeBron, what would you do this summer?

We don’t know how much loyalty LeBron feels toward what Jalen affectionately calls the Miami Mafia (Micky Arison, Pat Riley, Juwan Howard, Alonzo Mourning, Erik Spoelstra, etc.), or how he feels about Wade and Bosh. We also don’t know how many skeletons are buried out there — for instance, if Wade and LeBron made a pact during the 2008 Olympics to play together, then spent the next two to three years colluding on their 2010 destination, then got Riley involved at some point during the 2009-10 season, AND MULTIPLE PEOPLE KNEW THIS WHOLE STORY, I think it would be risky for LeBron to walk away (and have that stuff belatedly come out).

At the same time, he’s all about winning titles … and that’s not happening if Miami pays Wade and Bosh $40.75 million combined next season and $44.2 million combined in 2015-16. And yet, if you’re Bosh and Wade, you’re not walking away from that guaranteed money, either.

So here’s where LeBron and agent Rich Paul have to throw their weight around — they have to convince everyone involved (not just Wade and Bosh, but Miami’s owners, too) to restructure those deals. Let’s say Wade and Bosh opt out of their 2014-15 deals, then sign for $58 million apiece over the next four seasons. And let’s say the numbers look like this: $12.5 million (next year), $13.5 million, $15 million, and then $17 million apiece for the 2017-18 season (when the salary cap will be $20 million to $25 million higher, anyway). So Bosh and Wade get slightly more than $15 million guaranteed beyond what they’re already owed.

And let’s say LeBron exercises his 2014-15 player option for $20.6 million. Throw in Norris Cole’s salary ($2 million), convince Udonis Haslem to retire (and just overpay him as a Heat employee and the newest member of the Miami Mafia), and suddenly you have nearly $20 million to spend on one more big gun (Carmelo). Or, you could go a different way and pursue one or two elite free agents (Kyle Lowry, Pau Gasol, Luol Deng, Marcin Gortat, even Lance Stephenson), combined with a couple of veterans (Paul Pierce, Trevor Ariza, Spencer Hawes, Vince Carter) and maybe one role player (Shaun Livingston, Josh McRoberts, Grievis Vasquez).

That $20 million could go a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnng way. But it can’t happen without Wade and Bosh restructuring their deals. But hey — it’s not like this is a big deal; it’s only the entire immediate future of the league that’s at stake.

Q: If LeBron does leave Miami, where would he go?

Door No. 1 (-400 odds): LeBron opts in for one more year, hopes that Miami can patch together a better bench (and get lucky with its first-round pick), then targets the summer of 2015 (when Cleveland will be a year further along and more big-market teams — including the Clippers, Lakers and Knicks — have cap space).

Door No. 2 (+400 odds): He goes back to Cleveland and convinces Carmelo to come with him. Do NOT rule this out. Especially if Cleveland hires a coach that LeBron likes. The Cavs are loaded with young assets and could create whatever team LeBron wanted. And also, you gotta love the fairy-tale ending here — LeBron coming home as 10,000 different Cavs fans make YouTube montages of him with that “I’m Coming Home” song.

(The biggest obstacle: Will LeBron ever forgive Dan Gilbert for The Letter? From what I’m hearing … not anytime soon. I’d start groveling to a connected third party right now, Mr. Gilbert, if you’re not doing that already.)

Door No. 3 (+500 odds): LeBron rolls with Doc and CP3 in Los Angeles — something that would only require the Clippers to trade DeAndre Jordan’s expiring deal, Matt Barnes’s expiring deal and Jamal Crawford’s deal (expires in 2016) to different teams with cap space (super-easy), then use last year’s first round pick (Reggie Bullock) and/or a future first rounder, along with $3 million of Steve Ballmer’s money (chump change!), to dump Jared Dudley (two years, $8.5 million remaining) on someone with cap space (also doable). Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and J.J. Redick will make about $48 million combined next season — if the Clips cleared everyone else (again, VERY doable), they could offer LeBron a deal starting at around $15 million. And he’d get to reinvent himself in Los Angeles, with a coach he loves, a superstar he respects and a billionaire owner who’s ready to splurge on a great team.

FYI: This is the most entertaining LeBron-related basketball scenario by far … (wait for it) …

BY FAR.

And don’t think the Clips aren’t pursuing it, because they are.⁹ So those are the options — with all due respect to Houston (which could team him with Harden, Howard, Parsons and Beverley pretty easily), Phoenix (which could sign him and build their run-and-gun offense around him) and Chicago (which could steal him for all the same reasons it’s homing in on Carmelo right now), those three teams aren’t happening. He’d look like a sellout for going to Houston. Phoenix is never happening. And going back to the Midwest but picking Chicago over Cleveland? Come on.

My verdict: If you were pointing Ray Felton’s gun at me and forcing me to make a pick, I’d still pick LeBron going back to Miami for one more year. But I wouldn’t bet on it, that’s for sure.

 

Elhassan (Insider): http://insider.espn....ebron-james-nba

 

Top 5 fits: San Antonio, Miami, LAC, GSW, CHI

[SammyBirdland]

He should go back to Cleveland so that people feel like they have permission to like him again.

[You Play to Win the Game]

He shouldn't do it on TV this time.

[bnickle]

Why is this a separate thread. Move this to the NBA thread. This is exactly what I despise about LeBron.

[You Play to Win the Game]

Why is this a separate thread. Move this to the NBA thread. This is exactly what I despise about LeBron.

Dude... he's the most dominant pro athlete on the planet today. Come on. And I don't like him either.

[SportsGuy]

He should leave..I think he opts in for a year.

[Icterus galbula]

Why is this a separate thread. Move this to the NBA thread. This is exactly what I despise about LeBron.

I think you're projecting some nonsense on him. Why is a separate thread an indictman on him? Where the best player in the world plays next year is worth it's own discussion. Did you hate Peyton Manning when there was post Colts speculation?

[Russ]

I bet he opts out and goes to the wizards.

[bnickle]

Did we have a Peyton Manning decision thread??

 

 

 

I understand that there is and will be interest in his decision. We don't need a separate thread here, just like in the much bigger scheme of things,  we didn't need 24 hour round the clock coverage , a tv special, a victory party for the signing of the "Big 3", a Heat Index section of ESPN for 3 years, etc,etc. Its gonna be just as bad this summer. Yes, LBJ surely learned from "The Decision" and his comments at the celebration of the signings. We're still gonna have round the clock media coverage of this crap.

 

 

 

 

And he's going back to Miami. Whether its just for this year, or not, is the only question. I hope he does sign longterm, so we don't have to go through this crap again in a year.

[mweb08]

What a dumb criticism. This is a pretty freaking big deal in the NBA. If you don't want to talk about it, don't. Otherwise, why anyone would care if there's a separate thread on this is beyond me.

[bnickle]

Screw off.

 

Talk about it all you want, don't make a separate thread to do your slobbering.  Seriously, this is just a much smaller version of the complete and total overexposure of LeBron. Its why people hate LeBron, and its not really his fault.

 

 

The awesome thing I've learned over the last 3-4 months is just how many people Ive randomly met who feel the same way. They respect LeBron and his game, but hate the overexposure and hype. Being around here I was made to feel like I was the only one.

[Icterus galbula]

Screw off.
Seriously, this is just a much smaller version of the complete and total overexposure of LeBron. Its why people hate LeBron, and its not really his fault.

Cool, so don' t hate the player, hate the game.

"This is what I despise about LeBron" is what you said and that's asinine. Imagine what Wilt or Jordan would have gone through in today's media.

The best getting their own thread on BSL shouldn't contribute to a vendetta against media hype. Save it for Tebow or others of that ilk and the grander platforms.

You're not the only one who rolls his eyes at every article that wonders what LeBron thinks about a situation completely irrelevant to him, but your posts here tend to be against the man himself and not ESPN or media culture.

Given the grievance, it seems like you're going to be hating every transcendent athlete for the rest of days.

[SammyBirdland]

[bnickle]

Cool, so don' t hate the player, hate the game.

"This is what I despise about LeBron" is what you said and that's asinine. Imagine what Wilt or Jordan would have gone through in today's media.

The best getting their own thread on BSL shouldn't contribute to a vendetta against media hype. Save it for Tebow or others of that ilk and the grander platforms.

You're not the only one who rolls his eyes at every article that wonders what LeBron thinks about a situation completely irrelevant to him, but your posts here tend to be against the man himself and not ESPN or media culture.

Given the grievance, it seems like you're going to be hating every transcendent athlete for the rest of days.

While I think LeBron is a genuinely good guy, hes more than contributed to that overexposure and hype. I  hold that against him, and I feel Im justified in doing that.

[BSLMikeLowe]

Whatever he does, I just hope he's a free agent again next summer. I'm already daydreaming of The Decision Part III thread.

[mweb08]

Screw off.
 
Talk about it all you want, don't make a separate thread to do your slobbering.  Seriously, this is just a much smaller version of the complete and total overexposure of LeBron. Its why people hate LeBron, and its not really his fault.
 
 
The awesome thing I've learned over the last 3-4 months is just how many people Ive randomly met who feel the same way. They respect LeBron and his game, but hate the overexposure and hype. Being around here I was made to feel like I was the only one.

No you screw off. Seriously, you're being ridiculous. You came into this thread just to be a troll and derail the thread. Congrats on accomplishing your goal.

[mweb08]

Anyway, if I'm James, there's no way I want to rely on Wade being a star going forward. Wade is likely done as a star, and may not even be particularly good going forward, plus he doesn't complement James well. Maybe he goes back for a year if the Heat can formulate an attractive plan for next season, but staying long-term isn't likely to pan out unless the big 3 take substantial pay cuts in order for serious improvements to be made.<br />

[SportsGuy]

What's ironic is if he stays in Miami and doesn't win titles, he will get bashed...even though his supporting cast isn't likely to be great.

But if he leaves and goes to a team with better players and wins titles, then he is just chasing titles and he will get bashed for that.

If he opts in, doesn't win and then leaves, it looks better for him.

The problem with opting in, if Wade and Bosh are retained, is that it will be a tough uphill climb for him to win a title(or more) in Miami and he will be giving up one of his last remaining prime years just so he can feel better about why he left.

[bnickle]

This was the path he chose 4 years go. Stay and deal with it. Good players will come to you. Heaven forbid your team might have a down year or two.


Seriously, let's just give everybody free acency on a year to year basis. Let all the good players join up together whenever they want for as long as they ent.


No different than standard playground rules. Run with a crew until you find someone better.

[SportsGuy]

The path he chose 4 years ago has nothing to do with the path he should choose now.

 

He needs to do what is best for him.

 

He isn't going to go to the Heat and say, don't bring Wade back unless its for the vet minimum or something like that...And the Heat aren't going to not bring Wade back.

 

Wade is the big issue here...He could be looking at a rapid decline right now and he is going to get paid a lot of money, taking up a good chunk of the cap.

 

BTW, this has gone on in the NBA forever..just on a different scale.  Shaq forced trades in several players...Barkley started chasing with Houston..which was after forcing his way out of Philly to go to Phoenix.  This is what players do.

 

They don't see the upside in certain situations and they get out of it...it happens in every sport.  The difference here vs other sports is that LeBron isn't doing anything just because team X is cutting a fatter check than team Y.  He is going to where he can win and he is willing to take less money to make that happen...and yet he gets killed for that.

 

LeBron needs to do good by him...He has another 2-3 year window of being the best player in the game....he shouldn't give up those years and stay in Miami(unless huge concessions are made by others) just because "it looks good".  That's stupid.