The Summer of LeBron

Eliminated!

          Lebron James has been knocked out of the 2010 NBA Playoffs so now is a perfect time to say...Told ya so!!! This just strengthens my position that Lebron is not a closer and chokes under pressure. The “best player in the league” has been knocked out of the 2nd round of the playoffs. What does this mean? It means that Lebron James can’t handle the spotlight and do what great players like Jordan and Kobe can do, and that is finish you off. The two players just mentioned will get you on the ground and step on your throat, Lebron can’t do that and has proven it time and time again. Yes, Lebron had a triple double last night in the Game 6 at Boston (27 points, 19 rebounds, 10 assists) but, and that is a big but, he shot 8-21 from the field (38%) and had 9 turnovers. 9 TURNOVERS!!!???? In an elimination game??? That’s at least 18 possible points the Cavs could have scored, which would have definitely the pace of the game considering the Cavs lost by 9. If you consider the points that he had 9 turnovers shooting 38% in a loss in an elimination game, in addition to going 3-14 with 15 points in Game 5, the triple double really doesn’t seem that great. Free agency for Lebron officially starts now.
changed

          For those who argue that Lebron doesn’t have a supporting cast to play with, keep in mind that the Cavs went 61-21 during the regular season. They had the best record in the league and had home court advantage throughout the playoffs, so clearly Lebron was winning with the supporting cast, but he just couldn’t do it in the playoffs. Now you could blame the supporting cast for the playoffs loss, but when is it Lebron’s fault? Is it always going to be the supporting cast’s fault when the Cavs lose? This is an excuse for the Lebron lovers who are not ready to accept the fact that he can’t play on the big stage. Many times in critical moments last night, Lebron deferred to his teammates. A champion needs to realize when he needs to take over a game on his own, and Lebron shows that not only does he not know when to take over a game, but he does not want to take over a game.

          And for those who say that Lebron’s elbow was hurting him, I say take a look at Kobe. Over the last 2 seasons, Kobe has been playing with a broken finger and back spasms, just to name a few. I shouldn’t even be acknowledging this excuse because Lebron’s elbow wasn’t what limited him, it was his inabilities, so if you are using this excuse, stop it. Just stop it.

The Options

          Essentially, Lebron has 4 options that he will be considering in terms of teams offering max. contracts. Here are the 5 teams that will offer Lebron James a contract this summer and their possibilities of landing him:

Cleveland Cavaliers

          This is an obvious consideration for him. He is from Akron, OH and has rejuvenated this franchise from irrelevant to best record in the league. They can offer him the biggest contract out of any team (about 6 years/$125.5 million depending on the salary cap for next season). He has also said that he would like to bring a championship to his home state, a state that in the past has suffered a lot with teams like the Indians and Browns. Clearly he hasn’t done that yet and he obviously has to stay to do it. The only question is, does Lebron think he can win with the team he has in Cleveland?

New York Knicks

          If Lebron wants to be a billionaire, which he said was his goal, then this is the place to go. He is not going to become a billionaire off of his NBA salary, he needs a lot of money coming in from advertising, and New York City is definitely where he will make the most money to supplement his NBA money. The problem with New York is that we are in a state of uncertainty now. Only 4 players will be under contract at the start of free agency so we do not have any idea who will be on our team next year. We have room for two max. contracts but if we do sign two players to max. contracts there isn’t room for much else. If he picks this, he will pretty much be saying that he cannot win without another superstar on the team because if Lebron signs with New York, they will definitely sign another max. contract in probably either Amare Stoudemire or Chris Bosh.

Chicago Bulls

          The possibility of the Bulls seems to be growing and growing, especially considering the fact that Lebron called up Derrick Rose to talk to him about going to Chicago. What he gets in Chicago is a great, young supporting cast in the aforementioned Rose, Joakim Noah, and Luol Deng, to name a few. The problem with Chicago? He will be playing in the wake of Michael Jordan. He has already changed his number for next season from 23 to 6, a showing of what is to come considering he can’t wear the retired 23 in Chicago? Overall, if Lebron were to move from Cleveland, this would probably be the place to go. If he picks this option, he will be saying that he cannot, repeat CANNOT, create his own legacy and thus must continue that of Michael Jordan.

New Jersey Nets

          A relative dark horse in the pursuit of Lebron, nobody has been giving the Nets much of a chance. They may have had the worst record in the league last season, but they have a great group of young up-and-comers in Brook Lopez, Devin Harris, and Courtney Lee. Add in the fact that the team is partially owned by Jay-Z, a good friend of Lebron, and that they have a 25% chance of landing John Wall in the draft, a player who seems to have been talking a lot to Lebron over the past months. Lastly, they will more than likely be playing in Brooklyn in 2 years, so he will eventually be playing in New York, just not Manhattan.

Los Angeles Clippers

          There is no way Lebron should even be considering this option. Reason #1: Los Angeles is Kobe’s. That should be enough as it is, this would be similar to him going to Chicago where in this case he would be playing in the wake of Kobe Bryant, just not for the same team, but for the same city. Reason #2: Baron Davis, let’s just say that there won’t be enough basketballs on the court for the two of them. Reason #3: Donald Sterling, possibly considered the worst owner in American professional sports.

The Final Say

          Even though I believe James knows what he is going to do this summer, that doesn’t mean that we can’t speculate. In the end, I believe that Lebron will continue to pursue his goal of bringing a championship to Cleveland. He’ll pursue it, but that doesn’t mean he’ll achieve it.

Update (6/24): The Miami Heat vigorously cleared cap space and now seem to have the room to re-sign Wade and sign LeBron and Bosh. If LeBron goes to Miami, then all talks of him becoming the greatest player in the history of the NBA come to a hault. He proves to everyone around him that he doesn't like being the centerpiece to a team and that he needs Wade's help to win a championship. I give him credit for going to seek a championship, but the key note here is that LeBron is going to Wade's team, not the other way around. Wade has won a championship and Finals MVP, LeBron has won nothing of the kind.