Yup completely agree. That's really the only other team I'm worried about. Even more so now this stupid "kyrie leaving for ny" rumor has popped up. I'm not sure what their cap situation is tho to the point where they could have Gordon, Horford, lbj, and another star that you've swapped for Kyrie. Basically upgrade your team and stay in the weak East. Congrats lbj you've got your easy path to the finals once again.
I'd love to get him, and I'm sure CP will tug hard. But LeBron is a smart and practical guy. He'll do what puts him in the best position to win championships in his remaining years. That's probably Boston. Here, he gets a fantastic player in Harden, but there's a lot of duplication between them. He gets a friend and a tough-minded, high-IQ teammate in CP, but one who might go down with an injury any time. He gets good role players, but as Clutch and MK pointed out in their podcast, several are on the wrong side of 30, so more bad things can happen. And then there's the question of how much we have to give up to unload Anderson's contract. At a minimum, if he comes here, LeBron has to reevaluate every year whether to stay. And if you're going to move your family, you'd rather not do that. You'd rather have confidence that your GM can put a team around you for several years that will allow you to compete. But I hope I'm wrong. Because if we get him, I believe we can take down the Warriors.
Set aside any issues with the fact that they’ve been a rival basically his entire career and Boston is the absolute best place. I tend to think he’s too competitive to go to Boston though and personally I hope he doesn’t. I know a lot of Celtics fans that have trashed him with all kinds of horrible racist insults Small correction: ALL the meaningful role players are on the wrong side of 30.
I think Nick's point is that things have happened recently to again sour the relationship with Gilbert. Time somewhat healed things the first time around, but this is a lot more recent.
Personally, I could care less if whether people think MJ or LeBron is the better or more accomplished player. Those kinds of arguments are silly to me. Different eras, different rules, different styles of game. But it's something the media talks about. I don't know what is important to LeBron and what isnt- and as much as these analysts and experts talk about it and say "I think he should go here because of this reason" they don't really know what he is thinking or what he wants either. But with how good Golden State is, if his motivation is really to try to win another championship or two besides just getting to the Finals, it's hard to really see another place being able to compete with Houston for giving him the best chance for that
spurs tried to get CP last summer and failed, same thing is gonna happen this summer, lebrick to Houston confirmed
Dont worry, You are definitely wrong. Some of you must have never played sports or been a competitor smh. LBJ could NEVER chase Kyrie to Boston. Thats like your wife leaving you for another man and then you go to the house where the new couple is and say, "Hey I don't care if you to are together now I just want to be a part of it." smh #testicles
In regards to boston... let's not forget the cavs beat the celtics THIS year. I am aware they didnt have Gordon Hayward or kyrie, but kyrie would be gone in this scenario anyways. My point being is how close is botson... realistically...to beating the warriors.
Here's where I see Houston's advantage, relative to Boston: The most reasonable LeBron-to-Celtics trade construction probably involves Kyrie going to a third team, because I can't imagine LeBron and Kyrie wanting to give it another go (or the Celtics, for that matter, with Kyrie being a FA in July 2019). So in that scenario, you'd have LeBron, Horford, Tatum, Brown, Hayward, etc. There's a ton of nice, 7.5-out-of-10 pieces there. But LeBron is the only guy you'd definitively say is a Top 10, elite, transcendent talent. Tatum and Brown are good young players, but both have a lot of development left to get to that level. Horford is what he is. Hayward is coming off a catastrophic injury, and I don't think he was quite at that level even before the injury. Meanwhile, Houston has Harden, who I think everyone concedes is one of the Top 5 players on the planet. And there's Chris Paul, who as we saw in the postseason, is still a Top 10 guy when it matters... and he also happens to be one of LeBron's best friends. That LeBron/Celtics team would be really, really good. But LeBron would be going up against a squad with four All-Stars and two MVPs... does he really think he can beat them without at least one other transcendent talent (and possibly two)? The basketball fit in Boston might be slightly easier. But the immediate upside is less. (I threw in immediate because Boston does has some long-term upside with Tatum and Brown, but we're probably talking later than 2019 for them to fully reach their star potential, if they get there.) And in LeBron's situation — soon to turn 34 years old, Year 16, and the Warriors as great as they are — my guess is that immediate upside is weighted heavily in his decision.
This is a good argument, and it's why the most plausible LeBron-to-Houston scenario is a mutual and very early commitment. The CP/Harden/Morey pitch to LeBron has to be: If you commit to us now, we can do what we did last year after we got the early commitment from CP. We'll already have our big 3, and here's a list of role players we've talked to, whom we have good reason to believe will sign and fill out the roster once you're on board.
Tatum and Brown don't need to reach their potential in order for them to be big-time contributors to a title-chasing team. They proved this post-season that they're capable of stepping up when it counts, and that was without their two star players leading the way. Adding LeBron to the mix allows them to play their style of ball without having to do too much at such a young age. At this stage in LeBron's career, I think he will prioritize surrounding himself with teammates that are trustworthy and capable of easing his load over the course of a season. Boston has a loooot of guys who can do that. Sure, Paul and Harden are better than their stars, but we will be looking at a taxed-to-hell, aging roster with not nearly the amount of depth, youth, and future flexibility that Boston has. If they get LeBron, they'd be in win-now mode (obviously), and if things don't work out with a particular player or players, they have the ability to ship some guys out in exchange for fresh talent. If LeBron comes here, we are looking at a big 4 of LBJ, CP3, Harden, and Capela. Besides that we will have an aging supporting cast of Ariza (if we can keep him) and... who else? I find it hard-pressed that Tucker will remain a Rocket after the Anderson and LBJ trades. With that said, you have to wonder if LeBron is willing to join a rival team that plagued him early on in his career. The Boston fans were BOOING him when he was hurt in the Conference Finals. I still think he will choose Houston, but I think Boston is the way better basketball choice.
This might have been said before but worth mentioning.... It is in the Rockets best interest that LeBron FA destinations like LA and Philly are "talked up." They need to be seen as "credible threats" for LeBron to leave Cleveland for no compensation. Thus allowing Morey to offer the opt-in and trade for compensation. In fact, if I was LeBron's camp, I would talk up PHILLY more as that is as EAST team. Cleveland probably doesn't want LeBron to stay east if he leaves.
The way the Cavs lost getting swept might actually have Lebron take way less than max to finally compete and beat the Warriors.
Portland soured the Melo deal for us by thinking they could be that team rather than accepting that they were just another lowly third team.
