Pardon the Bone Thugs 'N Harmony reference, but it really is quite appropriate for this blog, which I'm sorry to say to my most loyal readers, is about sports. Well, about a man transcends sports. About a man, who at the age of 25, has the world at his fingertips for the next couple of months.
That man is LeBron James.
In the interest of full disclosure, LeBron James is my favorite basketball player. Ever. Yes, I know there are a lot of great basketball players out there, although many of the all-time greats were before my time. Michael Jordan is still the greatest. I don't think that is yet up for debate. And Kobe Bryant is starting to wind down a brilliant career, although he lost me as a fan during that whole Colorado rape escapade. There are tons of other players that I enjoy watching, but none more so than LeBron, who I vividly remember starting to follow when he was a high school sophomore. We've watched him grow from the best 16-year-old ever into a two-time MVP at 25, a hybrid of some of the greatest players evers, with Magic Johnson's passing ability as a big man to any number of power forwards with his size and strength. But LeBron has more speed, agility and athleticism than any 6-8, 260-pound player has ever had.
Entering this year, there was much speculation about what would happen after the year, when after seven seasons with the Cleveland Cavs, LeBron James could become a free agent. There are some very talented free agents available -- Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh immediately come to mind -- but it's no exagerration that this will be "The Summer of LeBron."
Heck, it's already started. The Boston Celtics knocked the Cavs out of the Eastern Conference playoffs not even seven hours ago, and already I have read and watched enough speculation to drive a normal person insane. I want more of him. I'm going to give you more of it. People are wondering where LeBron will go. Does he stay loyal to the Cavs, where he's played the first seven years of his career without a championship, and his home state of Ohio? Does he jettison off to New York to play for the Knicks in the mecca of basketball and media capital of the world? Does he dare try to take on the challenge of become the first real superstar in Chicago post-MJ? What about other darkhorse candidates like Miami, Jersey or the Los Angeles Clippers? At this point, it's all speculation.
However, I do believe, as much as it pains me to say, that we've seen the last of LeBron James in a Cavs uniform. He's poured his heart and soul into that franchise for seven years, lifting it out of the sewer to make it the best regular season team the past two years. But what has that brought? No championships. In fact, in his seven years in Cleveland, the Cavs have been to the NBA Finals just once, in 2007, and they were swept by the San Antonio Spurs. The following three seasons they were defeated by the Celtics in the second round, Orlando Magic in the conference finals and Boston again this year in the second round. He hasn't even sniffed a title, hasn't even come close. LeBron already announced he was going to switch numbers, hanging up #23 for good to honor MJ, so why not just go ahead and wear a completely different uniform?
LeBron is, without a doubt, the biggest free agent on the market since Shaquille O'Neal left the Orlando Magic after four years to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers, where he teamed with Kobe to win three titles. Shaq later won a fourth title with Dwyane Wade in Miami, and although many people thought he was the missing piece this seaosn to bring LeBron his first title, it didn't work out. Shaq still has four rings, and LeBron is still searching for his first piece of jewelry.
I sincerely believe that LeBron loves Ohio. As an Akron native, his heart is there. That's his roots. But perhaps his time in Cleveland has run its course. I also know he's inrigued by the Knicks and playing nightly at Madison Square Garden, plus his good buddy Jay-Z is a part-owner of the New Jersey (soon-to-be Brooklyn) Nets. But the more and more that I think about this, the more and more I lean toward Chicago.
The Bulls haven't won a title since MJ retired the second time in 1998. That's a dozen years. Actually, they haven't even come close to winning a title since then. LeBron would love to be the guy who re-rescued that franchise. Plus there are some good pieces in place, particularly young point guard Derrick Rose. And the Bulls have the ability to move some players to open up some cap room. There's been talk of James, Wade and Bosh all signing together in the same place and trying to win multiple championships together. While I'll believe that when I see it -- after all, these guys understand the NBA is a business and they've got to get paid -- it's a possibility they all could land in Chicago, which is Wade's hometown and Bosh is rumored to love.
Here's how it could work:
The way the NBA salary scale works, and the way these three guys set up their contracts to be free agents this year, they would each earn about $17 million next year. That's a total of $51 million, which would only give the Bulls about $5 million in cap room to play with. However, they could work a sign and trade with the Cavs to land LeBron, sending Luol Deng to Cleveland. They also have tradeable assets in Kirk Hinrich and Joakim Noah that could be packaged for either Wade or Bosh. Trading those three players would clear about $23 million off the books. It also would mean the Bulls would have just six players (LeBron, Wade, Bosh, Rose, Taj Gibson and James Jones) under contract for a total of about $58 million. That would give them a great starting five and sixth man but nothing left on the bench and not much wiggle room under the cap to add any complimentary pieces. But I'm not sure how much more they would need. You add a rookie or two through the draft, and a couple of minimally priced free agents, and you have yourself an NBA title contender.
It certainly will be interesting to watch. Yes, there's still plenty of basketball left to be played, and I really am exciting for the Lakers-Suns and Celtics-Magic series. It should be an interesting run to the title. But I also expect we'll be hearing plenty of talk about King James between now and when free agency officially begins on July 1.
