Marc Stein: Christopher Paul is already recruiting Lebron

Pop on down to the drug store and grab some Scopolamine and Sevoflurane line up a business meeting with Koby Altman and then you can see Ryan Anderson in a Cavs uni next season and King James here. Oh and I guess you un-retire Calvin Murphy's uni.

Sure. I'll smoke this.

 

Lebron going to the Sixers I guess makes sense for the fact that he would stay in the East and likely make the Finals, but....

1) Ben Simmons would be rendered fairly useless alongside LBJ

2) Even with Lebron...I don't see that team being anywhere close to the Warriors level, so why do it?

 

IIRC, using the non-taxpayer MLE for PJ is what triggered the hard cap this past season

 

If we just play 6 rotation, Leborn will fxxk MDA

 

The Sixers make a lot of sense:

1) Simmons and Embiid are rising stars.

2) Simmons takes ball-handling and play-making pressure off of LeBron.

3) They're in the East which means only the Celtics stand in their way of making the Finals.

4) They have lots of assets and cap space, so they wouldn't have to gut the team to acquire him.

However there are some downsides:

1) Simmons and Embiid are still young and unproven(beating a mediocre Heat ballclub in the playoffs is not a major accomplishment).

2) Simmons can't shoot.

3) The Celtics may be their only obstacle, but it's a damn imposing one. Add Kyrie and Hayward to that roster plus all of those assets and who knows how good that team will be come October?

4) Redick and Belinelli are free agents. If they're not brought back, the Sixers lose a lot of outside shooting.

 

I feel like the Sixers hurt their chances a bit with their showing in the playoffs, mostly because Simmons looked so inept in the second round. They're not going anywhere until he learns to shoot. Plus the ongoing injury concerns about Embiid and who knows how Fultz will end up. If Lebron is going to a young team, the Lakers probably look like a better bet. Of course, if he wants to win a title NOW, it has to be the Rockets.

 

Dude, you're right....i read that wrong. Thanks for catching that.

 

76ers are definitely interesting. Their core is great but injury is always a question with Embiid. If he goes down then you really have LeBron playing a one man wrecking crew again. Ben Simmons still needs more time to develop a jump shot. What’s the point of winning the east only to lose to the Warriors? In the case of the rockets, Harden has been almost iron man like in terms of health. Even if Paul does go down again, do the rockets beat the Warriors with Harden and LeBron? I say yes.

 

I still don't understand the appeal of the Lakers. Setting aside the LA market and all the Hollywood glamour, they have a totally unproven roster. They haven't been to the playoffs in 5 years. Their most successful season in that stretch was this one where they finished with a whopping 35 wins. Any questions you have about Fultz can be applied to Lonzo Ball. Their other big name free agent target, Paul George, didn't exactly have a great playoff performance with the Thunder.

And worst of all, LA is in the Western Conference. Now before anyone says "yeah, but so are the Rockets", think about it. If LeBron goes to the Lakers, he has to defeat Golden State AND Houston in order to reach the Finals. If he joins the Rockets, he only has to contend with the Warriors. Same with going to the Sixers. If he defeats the Celtics(and the Raptors who are a joke in the playoffs), he has to face either the Warriors or Rockets, but not both.

The only logical choices are the Sixers and Rockets.

 

The Sixers are a perfect fit except for the fact that they might not be good enough.

Lebron and Simmons would have to stagger minutes. I don't care what Lebron says about wanting to be off the ball more, he's not going to want to be a spot shooter or running cuts. He might do a little bit of it but he'll still want to control the ball. Maybe not bring it up the court, but run the offense to a large degree.

 

If Lebron wants to keep 23, I say unretire that number! I'm sure Calvin would understand.

 

Basically if you're LeBron, you're looking at two roads to a title next season. Join the Sixers and you have to defeat the Celtics and then the Warriors or Rockets. Join the Rockets and you have to defeat the Warriors and then the Celtics or Sixers.

 

The other reason I question the Sixers scenario is the age gap. It reminds me a lot of the talk from this time a year ago about the Spurs for Chris Paul. It made sense on paper, but for experienced power brokers like LeBron and CP3, they want running mates they can trust to go to war with. The main reason I was more optimistic about the Rockets for CP3 than the Spurs was that Harden had a better pre-existing relationship with Chris. Closer in age, played together on a lot of Team USA squads, tight off the court. I just don't think there was nearly the same comfort between Chris and Kawhi, since they were different generations... and that's a similar dynamic to LeBron and Simmons, Embiid, etc.

In fairness, the counter to this could be that LeBron took a chance on a young Kyrie Irving in July 2014. But I think there are a couple key differences. First, because it was Cleveland, his hometown team, I think LeBron was more willing to give the benefit of the doubt. He really wanted that legacy scenario to work. (And even though he did ultimately win a title with Kyrie, the ensuing personality clash afterward might make LeBron even less likely to do that again.) Second, part of the deal with LeBron going to Cleveland was for the Cavs to trade Wiggins for Love (an established vet). It's not impossible, but I think a lot of the LeBron-to-Sixers talk is from folks who are looking at it strictly through the lens of 5-man lineups and not at the personalities of the actual people involved.

 

i think lebron and simmons would be horrible playing with each other.

simmons lack of a jumpshot kills their spacing.

square peg in a round hole.

the rockets are the only plug in and play fit.

 

If you could make CP 5-7 years younger, Harden 2, Capela 2 years older.

Perfect.

 

That team may not pass a healthy Cetics,

 

Anyone claiming they wouldn't want LeBron is insane. The Warriors have changed the calculus of the NBA and we were one game away from beating them. Add a GOAT-level player and you probably are in the Finals.

That being said, I've never thought he would move to the Western Conference. Why would he want to face the Warriors one round earlier than necessary instead of bulldozing through the East and meeting them in the finals?

 

so he and his team won't be as tired??

 

to be fair he was put on the brink of elimination twice by two unlikely teams. its not exactly as easy for him as years past and hes just getting older. its eventually going to catch up to him. eventually...haha and add another year to these young teams in the east and self improvement, it gets that much harder especially with that team hes on now.

 

why would lebron want to continue making the finals to lose to the warriors and finish his career with the most finals losses?

lebron haters keep bringing up his finals record, even in times where his 2nd and 3 option got injured.

i guess a loss in the conference final is better than a loss in the finals.