[ESPN] insider Best fit for LeBron, Clips or Rockets?

LeBron James has a big decision to make this summer. Should he re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers, or sign with another team like the Knicks, Nets and Heat. Well, what about the Rockets? Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle thinks LeBron should consider playing in Houston.

Justice writes: "LeBron you've got a big decision coming up, and amid all the talk of you playing for the Knicks or Nets or maybe staying with the Cavs, we hope you'll consider us. You'd love it here, and you don't have to take my word for it. Ask anyone who has played here. It's one of the NBA cities others are measured by. Players love it here. I don't know all the factors you're going to consider, but if you want to win a championship, if you want to play for a smart, first-class organization, you might not do better than the Rockets. That's where we'll begin. If you've got questions about real estate, shopping or weather, we can answer 'em all. Who needs Manhattan's crosstown traffic when you can have Allen Parkway?"

T.J. Simers of the Los Angeles Times thinks the Los Angeles Clippers are the best team for James.

Simers writes: "I'm listening to Colin Cowherd's radio show Tuesday morning, and he's talking with someone about LeBron James maybe ending up in New York or New Jersey, and I keep waiting for Cowherd to say something brilliant. He usually does, but he's off his game, and so now I'm the one who will have to make the argument that there's an excellent chance James will be playing for the Clippers next season. Right now there are seven teams in salary-cap range to make a run at James. Among them, the Clippers offer the most attractive supporting cast to a guy who is probably pretty intent on winning a championship."

 

Lebron to Landry alley oops all night

 

The Nets are the best fit for lebron. They will at least be a contender next year, I will be surprised if they aren't favorites.

 

Two local hacks, TJ and Dick the Just, wrote tongue-in-cheek columns and Voila! an internet 'rumor'. Gimme a break. :grin:

 

this just looks cool. lol slim chance though.

 

Damn what if.........

 

Would be sweet, but unfortunantly wont happen. I give him 45% chance of staying in Clev, 40% in NY, 10% in NJ, 5% somewhere else.

 

I just realized that was my 100th post :grin:

 

The fact that there is even speculation he comes here excites me.


No way in hell he actually signs here.

 

What a lazy piece by Justice. Well-conceived, poorly executed.

 

I'm not sure any of the big guns want to come play with Yao. Why would they when half the time he is taking a big chunk of money and not playing. Players might as well join a team with a $45 million salary limit.

 

If LeBron can't carry a Cavs team with Big Z, Mo Williams and Delonte to the finals how can he make a contender out of a 2-whatever it is now team.

 

THE ROX R KINGZ

 

The Clippers are a bad idea, but the Cowherd comment just confirms this guy is dumb.

 

Dumb. How are the Rockets going to get LeBron? We won't have the salary cap space to sign him unless we renounce everyone (and I'm not sure that does it either). We could do a sign-and-trade for McGrady, but I can't imagine how much compensation the Cavs would want for completing that trade. All LeBron will have left is the City of Houston, because every player of consequence from this season would be gone.

I don't know the Clippers' cap situation. Maybe they can easily fold him in. But, LeBron would be an absolute fool to go play for one of the worst owners and one of the most dysfunctional management teams in the league. If there is anyone who can squander his talents, it would be the Clippers.

 

Sadly, we'd have to dump a huge amount of quality players from our roster... can't afford him otherwise. I'd rather keep the players we have - just freaking be healthy an entire season, damn!

 

This. Nothing to really see here.

 

Best fit parameters for James are as follows:
1. Supporting cast built for a ball dominating forward that attacks the rim and likes to shoot off of screens.*

2. Major Market

3. Owner/GM tandem that aggressively but wisely chase assests

* - A sharp shooting PG with D, a defensive bulldog swingman that can stick 3s adequately, and mobile bigs that protect the rim and can hit an extended jumper.


The Cavs don't really have any of the 3 going for them. The last thing LeBron needs is a guy like Shaq, who eats up space in the post and can't come outside to set screens. Ferry's proven to be aggressive, but careless as a GM. Virtually every rotation player they have is overpaid by a good margin.

I do like the Nets as a destination - they're going to Brooklyn, there's the Jay-Z connection, they've got mobile bigs and only Harris as a long term deal over the MLE. They should have enough cash to bring in LeBron as well as a second tier (good non-star starter) FA or two (such as Camby and Mike Miller for $11M total). Also? Jersey will almost certainly have a top 4 pick to include on the roster.

The Knicks are a major player, if only for LeBron constantly playing up the MSG stuff. They make sense until you see what they have left on the roster to play with him. They have less spare change than the Nets to bring in guys once they gave him a max deal. NY's 1st rounder? Belongs to UTAH.

Clippers have to lose either Davis or Kaman for an expiring if they want to sign LeBron outright, but I do think that they're an intriguing place for LeBron to land. Obviously they have a major black mark for how they've been run, but I'd think Sterling would offer him major input on acquisitions, based on their play for Kobe. LA would be a fantastic place for him, and the LeBron-Kobe battle for the city would be something else. Griffin, Gordon, and Thornton are a great nucleus to build on, and they'll also have a lottery pick to toss in.

I think Chicago is another dark horse here. Not far from Cleveland, home of MJ, and they're in play if they move Hinrich for an expiring. Rose, Deng, and Noah aren't a bad trio, and they also look to have a lottery pick.

The Rockets? We've got things going for us: no state tax, a very good roster if you look at the guys on the court today, and a high tier owner/GM pairing. The rub is...we're Houston. We're the 4th largest city, but roughly #10 in market size. Our national stature is distant to NYC, LA, Chicago. And that's a huge factor. Also, I'm not convinced that Yao is the right guy for LeBron to pair with. He's an obvious upgrade from Z and Shaq, but LeBron isn't coming to town to lob passes into the post. Yao can't rebound if he lives in the high post, and he's simply too good to waste out there all game.