Marc Stein: Christopher Paul is already recruiting Lebron

Next 3 years, easy.

These guys are taking better care of their bodies than players from decades ago.

 

you are just the same type of people who think harden doesn't play defense. Buy everything media says.

 

My only question is how does Morey get rid of Ryno?
He tried all last off-season with no success and Ryno was actually productive last yr.
He's been terrible this season so what makes all those teams that weren't interested last yr suddenly want Ryno now?

 

2year-4000W is easier to deal with than 3year-6000w.
That been said, it's highly impossible to make Ryno's contract directly into TE. But if Ryno+pick(s) can get a one-year contract back, it will be much easier to deal with.

 

Silver is a short-sighted moron. LeBron joining the Rockets would be a disaster for the league. It would render the entire 2018-19 season as meaningless as last season's was the moment Durant bolted for the Warriors. Barring injury, there would be no suspense at all. The Rockets would steamroll to 70+ wins and destroy the West(including Golden State) en route to the title. LeBron could basically coast til the playoffs since Harden hardly ever misses a game and has played at an MVP level for 4 years running(albeit with a slight dip in 2016).

And even worse, the entire Eastern Conference would be an afterthought. Sure, the Celtics and Sixers would be competing for the top seed and the Raptors would have a glimmer of hope in the postseason with no LeBron in their path. But everyone would know those teams would be fighting to see who gets the silver medal. They'd have zero shot at beating the Rockets(or even the Warriors).

All that being said, I hope he does come here. Not just as a Rockets fan, but someone who is furious with how corrupt and manipulated this league is. Silver deserves to have his product be destroyed for the next few seasons with an NBA consisting of 2 superteams and 28 also rans after what he and his hatchet men like Scott Foster just did.

 

Uh, LeBron was in the Finals 4 straight years with the Heat and was 1 year removed from 2 straight titles when he left Miami to return to Cleveland. And at the time he made that move, there was no indication the Warriors were about to become "THE WARRIORS". He went to a Cavs team that had landed 3 out of 4 #1 picks in the draft, had a still unproven Kyrie as its 2nd best player and had traded for Kevin Love who had never made the playoffs before during his entire time with the T'Wolves. Plus they had a rookie coach in David Blatt and an owner who had, let's just say, a testy relationship with LeBron.

Now juxtapose that with the pitch the Rockets can make to him this offseason(assuming he loses badly to the Warriors which pretty much everyone under the sun is predicting). Houston won 65 games last season despite a plethora of injuries, they have the (soon-to-be) reigning MVP who's still in his prime, one of the greatest point guards of all-time(who's also a very close friend of LeBron's), a rising star in Capela, a solid 4 in PJ Tucker, a two-time coach of the year, a brilliant GM, a great owner, and were one win away from defeating the Warriors(and would have with either a healthy CP3 or an impartial officiating crew). Fill out that bench, stay healthy, and you're basically the world champs next season. Best of all, the team would be so good and so dominant that it could extend LeBron's career for several more seasons.

Also, LeBron can't "pull strings" to get another star in Cleveland. That entire roster is filled with overpaid role players. We're talking Ryan Anderson type of contracts. They can be moved, but the Cavs won't get a star in return. Their only real asset is that #8 pick.

 

I don’t think it would be a disaster at all...u say that the last regular season was meaningless yet ratings continued to increase...Bron to Houston on a team that actually has a chance to beat GS will have millions of casual fans interested and watching...the media would love it too

The EC is already an afterthought. How is that any different than this season where we all knew that nobody in the East had a chance in hell of beating whoever came out of the West? Cleveland might not even get a game in this finals. The Celtics will be an elite level team if everything clicks next year. They won’t be on the level of GS or Houston, but they could definitely be the best team the East has sent to the finals in a while.

 

The optin trade scenario triggers a hard cap. Same as it did last year with CP3. Can’t go over $129m no matter what in that situation. It’s not a matter of Tilman paying more. He literally can’t go over the hard cap.

 

Had the rockets gone through it would have been a marketing disaster for the nba

 

I would give you 1000 likes if I could.

 

I don't think LeBron wants to ever have to work this hard again
Which he will have to do . . . . .anywhere BUT Houston

In the West he has to go through Houston and Golden State
In the East Celtics are imposing team

Rocket River

 

There are some spurs fans thinking he may consider coming to SA because of his relationshipPop... I would assume he would only consider if Pop and Kawhi were going to be there...

I put that happening at 1%.. if Cleveland wins he isn't going anywhere

 

So the much bigger implication is that CP3 is not leaving...

 

Replace Ariza with EGO and it is even more potent

Rocket River

 

People talk about injury . . .. I chuckle because
Replace ANY ROCKET with LeBron and we win that series
Replace ANY ROCKET not named HARDEN and we win in 5

It would not matter if CP3 was injured.
ANy Two of the three would beat golden state . ..

Rocket River

 

Ratings for certain games will always draw viewers. But I'm talking about the overall health of the league. There are 30 teams in the NBA and at least half of them(including a few in the playoffs) are not very good. Several aren't even trying to compete right now. Granted, this is not unique to this league. MLB has the same issue, although at least a lot of that sport's franchises have a legit excuse with no salary cap to restrain big market teams.

LeBron on the Rockets would essentially reduce the entire league's competitive balance to 2 teams. In the same conference, no less. Hell, we were kind of already in that situation this year and that was with a Rockets team that didn't have the greatest player on the planet. Everyone would hit the snooze button during the regular season as we waited for the inevitable WCF showdown between Golden State and Houston.

Sure, there would be some games that draw huge ratings. And the media would be talking about LeBron, the Rockets, and the Warriors every single day(kinda like they did this season). But for the fanbases of the 28 other NBA teams, the 2018-19 season would be very boring and ultimately pointless.

 

Because now his contract doesn’t look as bad. It’s only 2 years, there are about five teams that will bite, mostly in the rebuilding stage imo

 

It still looks bad. Last summer, he had 3 years left on the deal, but was coming off a somewhat respectable season(at least on the road). He was vastly overpaid, but still a capable NBA player. Going into this summer, he has one less year on that contract, but he's essentially a scrub at this point who fell so far out of favor with D'Antoni that Gerald Green was getting key minutes in the playoffs despite being just as bad defensively.

That being said, I do think Anderson can still play in this league. He needs a change of scenery and a team that's in a rebuilding or retooling phase. That would give him the freedom to just shoot and not worry about anything else like playing defense or competing for a title. He'd probably flourish in a place like Phoenix.