Where will he be playing next year?
rambo_99 said:
What team is most talented with easiest path to finals?
Junkhead said:
Houston
Ryan34 said:
I think he'll look at the Lakers first. He'd have mostly a blank slate to recruit and build a roster. But I don't think he'll go there if he can't get a 3rd star to join he and Paul George (guessing Kawhi). Plus, it's LA.
If that falls through, I honestly think he'll try to force his way to Houston or possibly San Antonio. I think Golden State's dominance has changed the game for Lebron. Having an easy path to the finals in the East means nothing if GS just blows you out. Lebron is after rings, not being the runner-up.
Last ditch, he stays in Cleveland and they make a ton of trades. He'll look at Philly, but I don't think he wants to groom young players (hence when Cleveland traded Wiggins for Love).
If Lebron leaves, Cleveland will try to tank. Facilitating a trade could help them shed contracts and save a ton of money, plus get some draft picks as well. Let's say Houston takes JR Smith's or Jordan Clarkson's contract. Eric Gordon goes to a team under the cap (like Philly or LA), with draft capital going to Cleveland. Now Cleveland has saved millions while acquiring some assets for the future.ATM9000 said:Ryan34 said:
I think he'll look at the Lakers first. He'd have mostly a blank slate to recruit and build a roster. But I don't think he'll go there if he can't get a 3rd star to join he and Paul George (guessing Kawhi). Plus, it's LA.
If that falls through, I honestly think he'll try to force his way to Houston or possibly San Antonio. I think Golden State's dominance has changed the game for Lebron. Having an easy path to the finals in the East means nothing if GS just blows you out. Lebron is after rings, not being the runner-up.
Last ditch, he stays in Cleveland and they make a ton of trades. He'll look at Philly, but I don't think he wants to groom young players (hence when Cleveland traded Wiggins for Love).
I don't see the path for it to be win win win for Houston Cleveland and Lebron to force his way to Houston. He doesn't hold the cards in that scenario.
To a team like the Lakers who has the asset type Cleveland would need in a rebuild? Yeah he has some cards there to force a trade.
Ryan34 said:If Lebron leaves, Cleveland will try to tank. Facilitating a trade could help them shed contracts and save a ton of money, plus get some draft picks as well. Let's say Houston takes JR Smith's or Jordan Clarkson's contract. Eric Gordon goes to a team under the cap (like Philly or LA), with draft capital going to Cleveland. Now Cleveland has saved millions while acquiring some assets for the future.ATM9000 said:Ryan34 said:
I think he'll look at the Lakers first. He'd have mostly a blank slate to recruit and build a roster. But I don't think he'll go there if he can't get a 3rd star to join he and Paul George (guessing Kawhi). Plus, it's LA.
If that falls through, I honestly think he'll try to force his way to Houston or possibly San Antonio. I think Golden State's dominance has changed the game for Lebron. Having an easy path to the finals in the East means nothing if GS just blows you out. Lebron is after rings, not being the runner-up.
Last ditch, he stays in Cleveland and they make a ton of trades. He'll look at Philly, but I don't think he wants to groom young players (hence when Cleveland traded Wiggins for Love).
I don't see the path for it to be win win win for Houston Cleveland and Lebron to force his way to Houston. He doesn't hold the cards in that scenario.
To a team like the Lakers who has the asset type Cleveland would need in a rebuild? Yeah he has some cards there to force a trade.
But if Lebron leaves for LA or Philly, Cleveland gets nothing and still has a really high payroll.
They're going to come out way behind in either scenario, but I bet Cleveland would listen to the first rather than losing Lebron (again) for nothing.
Quote:
But I suspect he'll want to protect his unimportant statistics of finals appearances, so he'll stay in the east.
Bunk Moreland said:Quote:
But I suspect he'll want to protect his unimportant statistics of finals appearances, so he'll stay in the east.
Funny that all the major stars who have signed with WC teams the last 8 years don't get the same scrutiny for running away from LBJ because they know they'd have to go through him to get to a NBA Finals.
Junkhead said:Bunk Moreland said:Quote:
But I suspect he'll want to protect his unimportant statistics of finals appearances, so he'll stay in the east.
Funny that all the major stars who have signed with WC teams the last 8 years don't get the same scrutiny for running away from LBJ because they know they'd have to go through him to get to a NBA Finals.
What major stars ran away to the West because of LeBron?
Durant stayed west tooUlrich said:
Just listing a few names, not defending the theory.
Paul George
Carmelo
Dwight Howard (at the time)
Jimmy Butler
Paul Milsap
Going the other way:
Gordon Hayward
Kevin Love
Jimmy Butler was also traded. As was Carmelo. I fail to see this mass exodus of top level talent to the West because of a fear of LeBron.Bunk Moreland said:Durant stayed west tooUlrich said:
Just listing a few names, not defending the theory.
Paul George
Carmelo
Dwight Howard (at the time)
Jimmy Butler
Paul Milsap
Going the other way:
Gordon Hayward
Kevin Love
Edit: Paul/Harden were trades that kept them west.