I wouldn’t be surprised if lebron went to lakers or Cleveland to be honest. The biggest surprise is if he signs here for the minimum. Now THAT would be shocking.
The other teams are making moves to get to Houston's level. What has Golden State done? Houston had a really nice draft. You have a problem rolling with the same guys who wins the championship with good healthy? Obviously, Ariza has to be replaced now.
Ok, changing the odds to 0%. Remember guys, 99% isn't 100%. In all seriousness, my friend's baby is stabilized but facing surgery this week. Has hypiblasty (left side of heart undeveloped). Very serious. If he survives, he'll have to have 3 surgeries in first year, another one at age 2, and another one at age 4. Thanl you for your thoughts and prayers. My friends are super people. On to topic at hand.......Lebron called CP3 AFTER he made his final decision to opt out. It was pretty much as shaun11 said it was. They've been taking about LeBron to Houston for over a year. Lebron decided no based on the stupidest of reasons really. Politics? State of Texas too conservative????? Just stupid. And he veered off his career trajectory....which has always been about winning FIRST. He still wants to win....obviously. But he wants to do it in a certain "culture". So now he's taken a big gamble. Going to the Lakers. Hoping that Magic and Pelinka get the roster right. (At least they got him his new LA JR Smith toy in Lance. What a knucklehead.) Something I've learned here. There is very little loyalty among players. Even the alleged best friends. Lebron shafted cp3, strung him along shine last summer, then dropped him in one day. Just like Wade when he left Miami. They rode the plane together back to Miami when LeBron informed Riley he was leaving. Lebron never told Wade anything. Wade guessed it by LeBron's quietness. But LeBron never told him. Same thing here. Which is why I kept increasing the odds. Lebron told cp3 to keep the light on for him to come. That dictated and affected practically every roster decision for a year. And Lebron never told cp3 differently until he was gone. Yeah there was conversation back and forth about LeBron's reservations. CP3 alleviated every single one. Community? Harden? Front office? A 4-5 year string of championship runs awaited LeBron here. He strung everybody out. And then he made a very foolish decision. To opt out. Because the next thing that happened was Paul George screwed him right back. Griggs feigned going to the Lakers. Opted out. And then as soon as free agency began George re-upped with the Thunder. That was a shocker! Why? Because add difficult as it is to be LeBron's second fiddle you'd think it would be easier to do that and be able to play at home than to play second fiddle to Russell Westbrook while playing away from home. Think about that. Paul George chose to play away from home with Westbrook rather than to go home and play with Lebron. That decision THUNDERS volumes about how George felt about playing with Lebron. OR it possibly says the George is a looney tunes weaping willow mental midget. OR it says that the long term plan is George stealthily moving into position to demand a trade by simply blowing up that dynamic between he and Westbrook. What other way can you read that? He either preferred Westbrook over LeBron or he's easily manipulated by a strong personality (RW) holding him mentally captive. OR he's hatching a sinister plot to force a trade to the Lakers after they sign or trade for another guy. I'd watch the Westbrook George chemistry. I could seer George catering the chemistry a year from now to force guys way out of town. Like I said.....Very little loyalty among these guys. Personally.......I'm glad LeBron is gone. While he's the best active player on the planet......He is no doubt the worst GM on the planet and also one of the worst coaches ever. (I would say more about his stupidity but it's not bball related so I'll leave it alone.) If you doubt LeBron was GM and coach of the Cavs look no further than they're actual hurting and firing and their player transitions. LeBron was responsible for the firing and hurting of the coach, fit the signings of Smith and Tristan and many other franchise decisions. And LeBron has become an albatross. He lost Kyrie. He wants great players to come to him, subserve their games, and do all the dirty jobs, but hand him the ball in crunch time. Then when he can't get other great players to perform alongside him or even have a desire to play with him then it's the GM and the owners fault. OR he leaves (Miami) when he doesn't have organizational control (to run the franchise into the ground in luxury taxes and repeater luxury taxes by overpaying mediocre players). And then he says he wants to play off the ball, tells guys he'll gladly accept co-star status, sucks everybody in, then goes a different direction. I'm glad he's gone. And we're still good. Everything is good. Ariza leaving is even good. Good player but aging. We will get an upgrade somewhere somehow. And the 2018-19 Rockets team will be the greatest team we've ever had provided the guys stay healthy. I'm not worried about losing Capela...Even if wet have to let him walk. We'll still be better. We've got the right formula. We'll get even more better parts on bargain contracts. And I'm confident if healthy we'll be in the Finals. And Lebron will be watching. More to say later about future transactions and the Mexican standoff between Pops, Kawhi, the Lakers, Celtics, Hornets, Cavs, and us.