The below tweet is accurate. If LeBron goes to LA with Paul George it would be with the intent of secondary and tertiary moves for Vet Role players where the kids get delt.
for all those saying “Lebron couldn’t get anyone to go play with him in Cleveland”... from a story done years ago by Windhorst and Ramona Shelburne... For weeks he had tried to find a way to stay, to recruit players to join him in Cleveland, so he wouldn't have to leave. Ray Allen said no. So did Chris Bosh, Trevor Ariza and Dwyane Wade. Sure, they wanted to play with him. Who wouldn't? But not in Cleveland. James was the one with a connection to the place, not them. If he wanted to win, he would have to sever those ties and go somewhere where other stars would join him. Nobody wants to live in Cleveland, that’s just facts. LA isn’t Cleveland. If Bron and PG are on the Lakers, best believe players will be very willing to go there and team up with them. They become a very attractive destination immediately.
Right. He had no problem getting guys to Miami (like Bosh.) That season Bosh and Wade both made it clear to him they wanted to team up but NOT in Cleveland. People also forget Michael Redd turning him down, again not wanting to play in Cleveland.
More Windhorst: http://www.espn.com/espnradio/losangeles/play?id=23761570 Is LeBron coming to the Lakers? I don't know. He has a lot of thinking to do. In my view, he'll have to make a compromise. Will he compromise being on a team with a chance to win the championship? Will he compromise location? His family doesn't have any connections to Philly, Houston or San Antonio, especially when his boys are about to go to high school. I don't know. Does he want to compromise being on the best team for a place he wants to be? It'll be a certain set of compromise. He can opt in & force a trade or wait until the first few days of July & come in after July 4th. Lakers, to me, if they get LeBron & Paul George, will be a wonderful place to play, Lakers games will be electric again, it'll be wonderful, all those Sunday afternoon games on ABC but that's not a team I can say will get out of the 2nd round. Maybe Ingram develops, Lonzo takes a step forward, maybe they make another trade, there are unknowns but LeBron can't look at that team & say we're beating the Rockets or Warriors. To me, he should call Durant & ask him if he's interested in coming to LA with me. That's his perfect scenario but Durant has no incentive to leave Golden State & said he intends to stay. I make the call if I'm LeBron. Other than that, I'm not sure he can convince himself he'd be on the best team in LA next year. Also, everyone respects the hell out of Magic & thinks Rob Pelinka is a competent executive but they don't have a history of saying we built championship teams. It'd be a leap of faith. That's all of what he'll have to weigh when he considers the Lakers. Where do you think he goes? I don't have an answer. I need to the see the same scenarios he sees. We have a draft coming up. Last year, we saw Butler get traded & Paul George come to the one-yard line of getting traded. He got traded a week later. I don't know what the league will look like in a 10 days & sure as hell don't know what it'll look like on July 5th when he may be getting serious about making up his mind. It'd be hard for me right now to make a prediction. Any chance he stays in Cleveland? Absolutely. It's on the board. Cavs are excited about their pick. Cavs are excited about the possibility a player drops & a team behind them tries to trade up & they can get a pick plus another piece and come to LeBron on July 1st, look we've already done this & we have plans A, B & C. I think they're hamstrung on certain things because of payroll & they have limited options but I don't think the Cavs think they're out of it at all. If you're LeBron & your team traded for Jordan Clarkson, you still trusting them at the draft? Fair question. I see Cleveland as a viable option until I'm asking myself who's making these decisions. That's when I get nervous. Lakers, they haven't shown me they can win a chip but have shown me they can dump bad players & make smart moves to get cap space. This isn't a Lakers answer but I can walk up & destroy a sand castle on the beach. Anyone can tear a team down. It's building the team that's the tough part. Give me a year & control of a franchise, I'll make them a bad team. It's the building that's the hard part. With LA, there would be a gamble. A gamble they'd still get better after this summer. But there's gambles at every single place. He's gonna have to choose his compromise. Will GM play a major factor in Philadelphia? I don't think he cares who the GM or coach is. He'll tell you when he signed with the Cavs in 2014, he didn't know who the GM was. I find it hard to believe. I think the ownership is important. The bigger issue in Philly is him sitting & talking to Simmons/Embiid and can we come up with a way we'll play together. Last 8 years, LeBron has played with a big man who's primary role was to get the hell out of the way in the lane & stand in the corner. Yeah, we'll throw 2-3 post-ups in the first quarter but you'll wait in the corner & I'll decide if I deliver the ball to you. Embiid would have to make an understanding. Simmons would have to be willing I won't have the ball in my hands. LeBron made mention about high IQ players. Lakers roster, there's inexperience. Not bad but inexperienced. Do you believe the Lakers would have to move some young talent for more veterans? Lakers challenge is not youth. They'd need shooting. It took 7-8 years for teams to figure out how you build a team around LeBron. Miami first did it, Cavs doubled down. You need 3 shooters, ideally 4. Kuzma has moments. Ray Allen, Kyle Korver, J.R. Smith at times, Kyrie Irving, you need snipers. Lakers don't have those snipers. Let's say he's going to the Lakers. Lakers would be in an all out hunt for shooting. It can be done but it's not there now. Would it take a year? A month? I don't know. It's more than just IQ. He was complimentary of Lonzo playing the right way.
Magic Johnson probably already has a red carpet gala planned for LeBron's arrival, along with contracts on joining him as a partner in business ventures. We just have to hope that the Billionaire Buyer has some tricks up his sleeve as well.
If it's a lifestyle move and LeBron will let his family have say, and we know LeBron worries about his legacy, Miami should be the favorite. Going to the Lakers or Rockets and he still loses/fails to win a championship or two and his legacy takes more black marks. Going back to Miami to wear a uniform he already wore and won 2 rings in, will not really catch much blame for not being able to get more rings against Golden State. His family loves it and they never wanted to leave, especially his mom. His kids get the lifestyle and the youth basketball programs. The issue is they have such a horrible cap situation. Players like Dragic, Whiteside, Waiters, Richardson, and Abebayo have value. But the hard part is getting rid of Tyler Johnson, James Johnson and Kelly Olynyks horrible contracts. I'm not sure what the Bosh situation is either since im seeing his 26mil on the books for next year.
One more Windhorst: http://www.espn.com/espnradio/play?id=23761601 If somehow Kawhi & LeBron end up together somewhere, is that enough? In the East it may be enough. Not sure about the West. That's the Heat's great advantage. At some point, someone will want to play in Miami & say trade me there. They do have some pieces & parts to put together a deal. Send me to Miami or else, they could put together a deal. Not sure they could put together a deal for both. They're on the board because of that, because they're Miami. It's a place players want to live & have a history of building championship teams. Lifestyle stuff, how much will it play into the next decision? Exactly what he's trying to figure out. He'll have to make a compromise on this free agency. Does he compromise being on a team that can get the Finals? Is he willing to take a step back because his family or he want to be happy? Is he willing to compromise location? Cleveland is important location to him. Miami, Los Angeles, places he likes but would he be willing to go to another place? Philadelphia for example. Is he willing to compromise on his family's happiness? His family has no connection to Houston or San Antonio. Would he want to take his sons into San Antonio or Houston and change their life but be on a team that could beat the Warriors? He's gonna have to pick a compromise. He'll spend this next month figuring out what compromise he wants to make. If on June 29th he opts in and says to the Cavs I want to be traded to the Miami Heat, the Cavs would probably acquiesce and send him to Miami. There is a deal to be made there. If that happens, where would the Heat be? Could there be another scenario? Could Paul George or Kawhi force their way to Miami? Those are things I don't know but if I'm Riley and Andy Elisburg, I'd have my computer & white board out trying to figure it out. What is the most important factor? He wants to win. When push comes to shove, he's not gonna be satisfied going to a team where he says "Well, I'll try to get us to the 2nd round." If he were to go to LA with Paul George, they'd have an all out fight to get out of the 2nd round. Maybe I'm wrong and Ball develops, Ingram turns into an all-star, maybe there's injury & they threaten the Rockets. Not saying that's why he wouldn't go to LA but that's the thing. If he stayed in Cleveland & they got the 8th pick, he'd be in an all out fight to get back with the Cavs. I think ultimately, my bet if I were wagering is he'd choose the best possible team under the circumstances. Which team would you want to be right now as it relates to LeBron? I don't have an answer. The best thing that could happen is if he got on the phone with Durant and talked him into playing with him in LA. That'd be the way to wound your number one competition, join two of the best players in the league & change everything. Durant said he intends to re-sign with Golden State. That's the move he could do but Durant has what LeBron wants. Why would Durant do business. If you're looking for no compromises, that would be it. I don't think it's feasible. What's your pitch to Durant? My guess is Durant signs another 1-year contract and everyone tries to get their hands on him in 2019. In 2014 on July 1st, all 30 teams called LeBron's agent. They had to find out would he consider. I think LeBron, after Durant sober's up, LeBron has to call Durant. "Would you consider LA?" I gotta make the call if I'm LeBron. Would LeBron ever go to Golden State? I was on this program in 2010 and said there's no way Miami can get all 3 players and thought I had good reasons. Heat made it happen. I'm not gonna sit here 8 years later and say something's not gonna happen. Do I think it's likely? No I don't but hell it's on the board. _____________________________________________ Chris Mannix on Cowturd: Is there a downside to getting in the LeBron sweepstakes? I think there is. You'll see teams think whether they want to take a meeting. If you're the Warriors & LeBron says I want a meeting, who do you bring? 2 of the Hampton Five would have to go. Same thing with Boston. Not bringing Kyrie. Gordon Hayward might have to go. If I'm Golden State, I'm thinking twice if I take a meeting. Buy the Celtics? I don't. They're equipped to win next year & with guys under contract the next 6-7 years. LeBron is a 1+1 guy. Do you dismantle your team for a guy who may be there 1 year? Same with Golden State. Why break it up? First thing I ask Rich Paul is what kind of contract does he want? 1+1? Thanks but no thanks. Boston is in the best place of any team outside of Golden State. (Warriors) They'll go to work on that bench this offseason. Guys in their 30s who haven't won championships. You can't make the starting lineup any hungrier. You rebuild that bench with guys who want & need to win. There's a sense Paul George is a Laker already. Your source says Westbrook is doing something never done before? They've been working out together this offseason. I get the sense Westbrook understands what George means. If he walks, him doing anything productive in OKC is over. There are no more rabbits for Sam Presti to pull out of the hat. It'll be Westbrook & a bunch of guys. You get the sense Westbrook & George, there's a desire to continue that relationship. What does that mean July 1st or when LeBron gets involved? I don't know. There's a sense of urgency from Westbrook to get this done. What do you make of Wade's interview? Sounds like LA. There has to be a 2nd star. As I listened to Dwyane talk, he didn't know LeBron was leaving Miami until the last minute. It increases the unpredictability of all this. I don't think anyone knows. Lifestyle will be a huge factor, as well as family but this is one of the most unpredictable free agents out there. I have to believe Adam Silver doesn't want to see LeBron in Houston. Do you think the commissioner is concerned if LeBron goes West? Commissioner worries about imbalance a lot. In an ideal NBA world, you have NFL parity. LeBron to Houston would give them a competitive Conference Finals. They want a hard cap in the NBA. That'll be a brutal negotiation with the union.
Funny, I want Paul George to leave OKC so the Thunder get hamstrung. BUT....ironically, it might be the best thing if PG STAYS in OKC as it might help Houston's chances at getting LeBron if he can't get PG to come to LA with him. Crazy.
Best case... George goes to the Lakers Lebron comes to Houston Dallas suburb OKC wallows in mediocrity forever!
The thing I find interesting about this is ... He wanted to play with Ariza. So that is 2 Rockets he wants to play with confirmed.
