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

CP3 is not eligible for a no trade clause.

Lakers need to get rid of Deng's $18M deal and take no money in return and then renounce all of their own FAs (Randle, IT, Lopez) in order to open up $65M in cap space. That would be enough to get you Lebron and PG13. How would they pay CP3? Ariza? Redick ? Rondo? Are they all going to play for the league minimum?

 

If the amnesty clause still existed the Rockets would amnesty Anderson and this wouldn't be an issue.

Also this ISN'T about who can give the Cavs the best offer for James, this is about where LeBron will go and what the Cavs will get in return for him.
The Rockets can package Gordon and others and picks if they have to.

If LeBron James wants to play with Paul and Harden, it will happen.

 

Rockets summary this offseason:

1) Missing out on Lebron
2) Losing Capela to Suns
3) Losing Ariza to Warriors
4) Giving aging CP the max
5) Clutch getting arrested for possession
6) Landry’s Group going into bankruptcy

 

yes Ariza, Reddick and Chris Paul will all sign 200k a year contract to play for the Lakers lol

 

Can u give reasons why?

 

Huh?

The Rockets would have Paul and Harden and likely Capela and that has the Rockets trading Gordon and multiple draft picks and a secondary piece like Tucker go out in trade.

The Rockets team with Paul and Harden and Capela, etc will be a more attractive team regardless of what this Lakers team does...... not to mention that James isn't interested in playing with a lot of young players.

Hell, the only "legitimate" leak on James has been when it was reported that: "His decision will be based on basketball reasons only".

 

Lebron to Houston

Listen to his humbled presser after game 3. He’s coming to Houston and big balls Morey will make it happen

 

LeBron James said that for as much talent as the Golden State Warriors possess, the greater challenge in bringing them down might be matching their collective basketball IQ.

"Now everyone is trying to figure that out," James said of the task of beating the Warriors. "How do you put together a group of talent but also a group of minds to be able to compete with Golden State, to be able to compete for a championship?"

"In order to win, you've got to have talent, but you've got to be very cerebral too," James said. "Listen, we're all NBA players. Everybody knows how to put the ball in the hoop. But who can think throughout the course of the game?

"This is so challenging for me to sit up here and say, because people who really don't know the game don't really know what I'm talking about. They just think that you go out, and, 'Oh, LeBron, you're bigger and faster and stronger than everybody, you should drive every single time and you should dunk every single play and you should never get tired, never.' Like it's a video game and you went on the options and you turned down fatigue all the way to zero and injuries all the way down to zero. So we come back here and we get the minds and we build a championship team."

By detailing what type of smart players it takes to win championships, James could very well have been intentionally dropping clues as to what he thinks of his Cavs teammates, as well as what he will be looking for in weighing any new franchise he should decide to join.

Of Wade and Bosh, whom he teamed with in 2010, James revealed, "I knew their minds," before they wore the same NBA uniform. Of Kyrie Irving, whom he teamed with in 2014, James said his goal was he "wanted to try to build his mind up to fast-track his mind."

If there were breadcrumbs to follow, it's worth mentioning that in October, James said "his passing is his best quality and [his] high basketball IQ," when asked about Philadelphia 76ers rookie Ben Simmons. Then again, in February, he said, "I think George Hill's basketball IQ complements me," when asked about the Cavs' new point guard. He has made similar comments countless times about his longtime friend Chris Paul of the Houston Rockets. He also spoke highly of Los Angeles Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball when asked about him in December: "It's always team. He passes the ball. Pushes the ball up the floor. Someone you want to play with."

In other words, all four of the presumed most likely destinations for James this summer -- Cleveland, Philly, Houston and the Lakers -- have at least one player who fits the smart-teammate mold that he seeks out.

"When you make mistakes, they make you pay," James said. "Because they're already more talented than you are, but they also have the minds behind it too, and they also have the championship DNA."​

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...ketball-iq-key-toppling-golden-state-warriors​

 

Me thinks Chris Paul’s and Harden’s basketball IQ is plenty high

The smoke is getting clearer guys

 

It is really early, the Finals are not even over yet. I don't think anyone knows anything at this point.

 

Yall trippin if yall don't think CP3 been in LeBron ear this whole time.

 

Isn't this the same cat who thinks Ariza is going to trot off to Golden State? Forgive me if I'm very, very skeptical of anything he says.

 

have to include harden here in the group of high bball IQ. i don't like when he passes up those easy open catch-and-shoot shots, waiting for the defender to come to him instead. but aside from that, he is truly one of the geniuses of this era. a basketball savant if you will. his ability to create high percentage shots for his teammates and himself literally out of thin air and do it every nite from start to finish -- is unparalleled in the game today.

 

The road to the finals, yes. I agree. The list of teams that can compete with GSW in the east .... Healthy Boston? maybe?

He wants to win Championships not just make finals. See Buffalo Bills early '90s.

 

Warriors can't sign Lebron they have no cap space unless they are trading Klay away.

Lakers with PG may sound nice but if Lebron goes there it's not because of rings.

Sixers with GM spot open can be a great destination but Lebron still needs to carry the team with their center injury prone as much as CP3.

Houston, the only issue I see is how can we get Lebron and still be keeping as much of our core players as possible?

Ariza, CC and EG. Are we going to lose 2 out of 3 guys? If so we may not look as appealing to lebron. This is where the magician Morey steps in. If anyone it would be him to make this happen.

 

Lakers and I think Sixers can sign him outright. (And obviously Cleveland)

Celtics, Rockets, Spurs, Heat, Warriors need an opt-in & trade or sign-and-trade.

 

Season 3 of 13 Reasons Why

 

If that's an option. We may sign and trade CC and filter plus picks. Cavs is not going to take Ryno unless we find a 3rd team.

CC is great but knowing history. Morey is not going to give max to him. Anyone still remember chander Parson?

 

All fair points.

Cleveland, IMO, should be relatively easy to cross off the list. They have $74+ million tied up in George Hill, Tristan Thompson, JR Smith, Jordan Clarkson, Kyle Korver and Cedi Osman for the next 2 seasons. That doesn't even include Kevin Love's $24+ million, who while better than Ryan Anderson, it's debatable that he can stay on the floor against the Warriors. The Cavs MIGHT be able to pull together a trade that sends out their #8 pick for a SnT of Cousins or a PG13 opt in and trade, but there's no way that bridges a 4-0 gap between them and the Warriors.

Boston just seems highly impractical to me. They have Kyrie, who explicitly wanted to get away from Lebron. They would have to trade one of their all-star caliber players to open the necessary room, which is not something that's been done before. I just don't see any real traction here, despite their multitude of assets and quality players.

The legitimate contenders are Philly, Houston and the Lakers.

There's too much unknown about Philly. Who will the new GM be? Can Embiid stay healthy? Will Simmons or Fultz learn to shoot? Where will the shooting come from to space the floor? These guys are mostly unproven...are they really ready for primetime? You have to consider the very real possibility that Simmons never learns to shoot and Fultz is a bust.

So this really comes down to Houston and the Lakers. Houston has stability, a proven GM, 2 proven top 5-10 players, a strong supporting cast and they had a 10 point lead against the Warriors at halftime in a Game 7.

The Lakers have all of the intangibles. The ability to sign one star and trade for another, and it's much easier for them to actually get this done than it is for Houston to trade for LeBron. He can be the savior that swoops in and saves a storied franchise and can build his team the way he wants it.

At the end of the day, it looks to me like the Lakers are the favorites. They have a clean ledger, quality assets and a good story. It's not as much of a sure thing with them, since there will be questions about filling out the roster, but LeBron gets full control from the start.

The ONLY way I see a trade with Cleveland working is if they will take Anderson themselves, and here's why: Lebron leaving will signal a complete rebuild. Gordon is much better valued to Cleveland for whatever asset he can bring them than as a player. Cleveland is just the sort of dumping ground we would be looking to trade Anderson too anyway, so why not keep him and the assets it would have taken to unload him? For example:

Houston In: Lebron
Cleveland In: Anderson, Zhou Qi, HOU 2019 1st, HOU 2021 1st, & a 1st round pick from team #3
Team #3: Gordon

I'm sure Cleveland would then look to trade Love (in fact, this may happen before/during the draft to get top dollar).