The LeBron James Power Rankings

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The Not Beyond The Realm Of Possibilites

8. Mavericks: The shrewdness of Mark Cuban's foresight to have that incredibly valuable Erick Dampier non-guaranteed contract should be taught in every class of NBA GM 101, but I don't think playing with his buddy Jason Kidd, Dirk Nowitzki, Caron Butler, a re-signed Brendan Haywood will be enough. The lure of playing half a dozen games per season in Cowboys Stadium will be enticing, but it is difficult to realistically see it happen.

7. Thunder: Joining Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka and a whole host of other quality role players would be a no brainer for the under the cap Thunder if they played in just about any other city in the NBA. For the sake of argument, if the Thunder were still the Sonics and still playing in Seattle with this situation, don't you think they would be a legitimate LeBron contender?

If LeBron cared about only winning titles, wouldn't he have to go to the Thunder? I think the only thing that would give him pause (under the assumption he doesn't care about the market) is the unproven history of their ownership. But realistically, I think having LeBron, Durant and Westbrook falls under the special circumstances of spending every dime it takes.

6. Heat: The culture would change if LeBron was suddenly inserted there, but Miami's inability to sell out every night with a player of Dwyane Wade's caliber speaks volumes about Miami as a sports town. He can join Wade, however, free and clear, but there isn't a whole lot else there, as Michael Beasley hasn't come close to meeting his second overall pick expectations. Pat Riley is one of two or three coaches in the NBA who has proven championship success in multiple locales and you know he'd come down from the front office if LeBron comes down from Akron.

5. Nets: New Jersey has been taken off the board by a lot of smart, connected people, but I don't see how they aren't in the picture if they win the lottery and therefore have John Wall? He will be in Brooklyn within a couple of years and the combination of Wall and Brook Lopez arguably has as much upside as the point guard/big man from the top ranked team.

The presence of a GM like Rod Thorn should also be very attractive.

4. Lakers: The Lakers have all the necessary ingredients to be a legitimate contender for LeBron; immediate success assured, a youngish second star to grow old with in Pau Gasol, a Hall of Fame coach, a huge market, the best stage in the NBA right now, a proven championship pedigree over several generations. Andrew Bynum undoubtedly would be the return for Cleveland, an excellent bailout plan for the Cavaliers to build around.

The Genuine Candidates

3. Cavaliers: The Cavaliers have the inertia and home state factor, which absolutely counts for a lot in this decision. LeBron must also surely trust Dan Gilbert's unwavering dedication to spending money by the truckload to bring in any player that could conceivably help their chances (1), but their core has proven to be underwhelming and is also aging.

Cleveland had a chance to have cap room for this coming summer, but went all in with the double-down strategy and it is difficult to see how they can get more than just incrementally better from year to year.

We all know it doesn't work this way, but if LeBron could be simply handed titles over the next half decade and he was also given his choice of where he would do it, I sincerely believe it would be in Cleveland.

2. Knicks: Answering the same question, I believe New York would be LeBron's first preference after Cleveland; his obsession with the energy and culture of New York is palpable and is unlike anything we've witnessed from a star of his magnitude.

He knows the Knicks will spend as much as possible and give him every accommodation in the world, plus he will conceivably bring along Bosh or Wade, but how much trust does he have in Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Toney Douglas and whatever they can get back for Eddy Curry's expiring contract? Conceivably, that would eventually be enough for the Knicks to win a title(s), but LeBron fully knows now that there are no guarantees. The second superstar makes all the world of difference compared to the last two seasons with the Cavaliers, but it could still not be enough firepower, depending on how other teams evolve.

1. Bulls: The nucleus of Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah seems tailor-made for a superstar wing and Chicago also has Luol Deng as a fourth option, or even Bosh or Wade if they do a sign-and-trade using Deng. Add in Kirk Hinrich and Taj Gibson and the spectra of MJ's statue becomes less of an issue than it seemed a few months ago because LeBron would have the cleanest path to a title in Chicago.

If John Calipari is hired, LeBron and Rose will be able to run Vance Walberg's dribble-drive offense like it is on steroids and you won't see the kind of offensive inconsistency we saw against Boston. It will be an endless loop of dribble penetration of two unstoppable athletes and an endless loop of championships.

The Conclusion

Not to take away from the incredible upset of the Celtics, but I do wish the 09-10 season would have ended in a different was for the Cavaliers.

LeBron should have two primary takeaways from what ended up happening.

1. For how excellent of a ballplayer he unimpeachably is, he is also an incomplete ballpalyer. He needs to develop a post game and he also must improve his mid-range jumper. If he had even one of those capacities, he would be nearly unstoppable offensively and wouldn't be prone to the inconsistencies we saw against Boston.

2. He can't get too cute with his decision this summer. If I were him, or simply advising him, I'd be very selfish with this decision in terms of being in the absolute best possible situation to win championships. LeBron might be the best player of his generation, but he isn't good enough to win a title without a supporting cast that is just marginally above average-- that has now been proven.

If the sting of the second round elimination doesn't make him intimately feel those two things, I'm not sure what will.