Chris Haynes: “I’ve been told Houston is not a realistic option for LeBron”

They could have gotten rid of him last year if they wanted to with 3 years left but Melo wasn't worth losing 2 first round picks to make it happen. Lebron is worth the 2 first round picks it would take to flip Anderson.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I was always VERY against Anderson being picked up, if I remember correctly my very first post in that thread was a dumpster fire gif. That said, teams are "trusting the process" more and more these days which makes them willing to take on bad contracts during tanking in order to collect picks.

 

Lol...and all things considered, in hindsite, wasn't it not just dumb, but idiotic of them? They were both begging for the rockets THIS season. Lol

 

Well it was actually really smart of Bosh given that his health cratered and he was able to pick up WAY more money than he was worth, but yeah from a competitive standpoint, it was idiotic. For those guys though I don't think winning was a serious priority for them.

 

Rockets actually dodged a bullet, otherwise Bosh would have had his medical condition here.

 

I'll believe it when I see it.

The thing is, how many years now have we heard rumors of "Star Free Agent X interested in Lakers"? It's gold for media, because it's the league's biggest fan base (yes, still). The league loves it, because it's their top market -- essentially the league's capital. Yes, PG is from there, but so are lots of players (Harden included). Maybe George is the exception to the rule, but it's going to take more than a few anonymous rumors to get me thinking that it's a formality. Everyone cheerleads the LA scenarios because undoubtedly the league is better off when that franchise is relevant.

 

Yes I know, my only point being that we aren't necessarily being irrational homers in these discussions. Just bc what we think is best doesnt happen doesnt mean we were wrong. In Bosh's case we sure were lucky he didnt come here. But doesnt mean he shouldn't have from a competitive standpoint

 

Just to bring some nuance to this debate, I think that it's obvious if LeBron only cares about winning then Houston is the obvious choice. But if he cares about winning AND the lifestyle in some combination (even if it's an 80/20 distribution), LA should NOT be discounted. Lebron, Paul George, plus the young guys (who mind you, they could flip for a serious star) will compete at the highest level. Is it better than the Rockets with Lebron? Obviously not, but it IS a good basketball situation.

 

I don't see that LA team winning. Basically if winning is his primary motivation Houston is a no-brainer, if living in LA full time is his primary motivation then the Lakers are his best bet and he'll be able to live in LA and maybe get to lose in the WCF instead of the second round if everything goes well.

 

Sounds all right if he's willing never to win another championship.

 

Whoever told Chris Haynes this has helped us fool Cleveland into trading Lebron to Houston out of desperation of possibly losing him for nothing.

 

I think Rocket fans and some media members are overlooking LeBron's potential lack of desire to opt in to one more year when he's 34. Presumably, the idea of cashing out with a new team will weigh heavily on his mind in the next 19 days. Sure he can get a big deal after this season -- but he needs to understand that if he opts in with Houston, he will be a free agent next year and there's a possibility Morey, Tillman and the front office plays games with his salary or length of the contract, considering the owner will be shelling out about $150 million to keep the team in tact if they DO acquire LeBron.

Chris Paul is about to see the same thing come July. He sacrificed a 5 year max by opting in to come here, and it's painfully obvious to anyone that the Rockets don't want to pay CP3 $40 million 5 years from now. I think Houston's willingness to give CP3 the extra years may be the difference in LeBron James becoming a Rocket or not. If we are only willing to give CP3 3 years or so, LeBron must know he faces that same situation next year, and he has waaay more basketball mileage on his body than CP3.