iSergio wrote:

BRIGGS wrote:Thats funny--they are sending Tony Soprano--that cool that he would do that. PDiddy was a smart one
well just have to wait and see

Bosh said that he doesnt want to play for a team without a C---I said I thought it was imperative to get Whiteside along with Jordan to make a statement and we couldve accomplished that.

Stop with Hassan Whiteside already. He's not even ready to play in a rotation! Geez. There is a reason why he was a second round pick. Heck, Pat Riley took Dexter Pittman over Whiteside. And based on your man crushes with former Centers (Anthony Randolph, Kyrylo Fesenko, BJ Mullens), you are not a good judge of talent. Sorry.

Well you were not around when i picked guys like Amare Stoudemire Bosh Kaman Bynum et al

WOODMANnYk wrote:Lebron staying in cleveland for 3 more yrs.. he's not going nowhere. all this about the team going to ohio to try and get lrebron is only a teaser. Lebron wasn't going nowhere to begin with.

He and dan gilbert, the owner are the only ones to know whats going to happen. He had a handshake completed before the season ended..

Lebron and the cavaliers already had plan a,b,c and d in placed. the dude just likes the attention going on right now..

Apparently at least one other person knows....

Mray20 wrote:

Sidsanders wrote

shaq went to la --> wilt kareem west baylor magic etc... we shall see if lbj cares about measuring up to anyone.

Shaq was compared to Wilt but not that much and he was never compared to anyone else in the history of the Lakers. Jordan is the greatest of all time and Lebron is compared to him constantly if he goes to Chicago he will never get out of Jordans shadow. Lebron wants his own legacy completely separate from Michael's . That being said if he goes to Chicago I will never watch basketball again and I will curse Lebron James for the rest of my days.

how can you be sure? bird carved out his own in bos (or added to bos overall picture), kareem followed wilt, etc. i used to hope he wouldnt wanna deal with mj comparisons, not so sure it really matters now. he is probably gonna get that no matter where he goes if he wants the greatest of all time status (or be in the discussion). if he just wants to win, media comparisons mean nothing vs winning.

martin wrote:http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2010/06/for_lebron_james_free-agent_ex.html

For LeBron James' free-agent decision, the only voice that truly matters is his own
Brian Windhorst, The Plain Dealer Brian

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Over the last two years, there have been hundreds of different theories as to what LeBron James will do when his free agency finally arrives this week.

The conjecture has changed routinely after various suitors made trades over the months. Some teams have added a player, but most have accepted making the team worse in the name of clearing that fickle asset known as cap space. The logic behind the moves has sometimes been well-founded.

But much of it has missed the point. The biggest misunderstanding of the historic James chase is the psychology of the man himself, which is something that can only be understood by knowing him and how he attacks a problem.

This is the central tenet: The decision of where James will play will be made by James and James alone.

Not his shoe company. Not his agent. Not the other high-profile free agents. Not his business manager/best friend. Not his friend/idol/world-class rapper. Not his associate/back-channel operator. Not his mother. Not his girlfriend. Not his children. Not his uncles. Not his former coaches. Not his teammates. Not his billionaire business associates. Not a marketing plan. Not the City of Akron. Not the People's Republic of China.

James' personality is to decide on his own and then never look back with regret.

It has been this way with big decisions since James took charge of his affairs when he was a senior in high school. You don't have to believe a reporter or people who know James very well, just listen to the man himself.

In his interview with Larry King earlier this month, James made it as clear as he could. It wasn't hyped after the interview was recorded, it wasn't featured by CNN -- but it was the most salient thing James said in the hour-long conversation.

It may be the most important thing James has said in the last year when it comes to his free agency, even if it was easy to miss.

Easy unless you really know James.

"Ultimately, that one person [I listen to] is me," James said.

"You know, if I -- you know, even with the discussion with the rest of the free agents, with my friends, those free agents, with my supporting cast, ultimately, it's going to -- it's going to be me. I'm going to have to sit down and say where do you want to play? How do you going to -- what's going to be your future?"

James was ready to elaborate more but King stomped over him, trying to get himself an invite to the so-called free agent summit even if King didn't realize that James had just said that none of it truly mattered.

What does it mean when it comes to his preferred destination? It means that it the final choice will be as personal as it is firm. If he sticks to his belief structure, it will represent James' pick and not the influence of anyone else.

One of the easiest ways to upset James in any conversation is to imply that he doesn't have final control, either on the court or off. Suggest that he doesn't make every key decision with his commercials, playing time or investments and you'll have an angry 6-8, 250-pounder to deal with.

It isn't that James doesn't listen to friends and so-called advisors. He has put people in place around him for the very purpose of getting trusted advice.

But they'll all tell you that James doesn't do anything he doesn't want to do. Whether it is an interview, a charity event or a business venture, James may not do the little details, but he makes the big call.

When he first came into the NBA, James did not seek the advice of numerous NBA veterans who wanted to offer it. Over and over he was asked whether he'd sought out the Michael Jordans, Magic Johnsons or Kobe Bryants of the world. The answer was consistent; he wanted to have his own experience and make up his own mind about how to play and live.
Even now as he's reached elder status and younger players seek out his advice, he says he never pushes his views and encourages the younger players to maintain control.

Has this process sometimes led to mistakes? Of course it has. But James has no qualms with his belief system. One of his favorite things to say is that he doesn't have any regrets about his major decisions.

If he stays true to himself, he won't have any regrets about this huge decision, either.

Because he's going to be the one to make it.

Great article. Okay, I'm gonna speculate (what else?) and say the bolded part of the article that says he wants his own experience implies he wants his own legacy. He didn't seek Jordan, Magic, Kobe etc advice because he wants to blaze his own trail. If thats the case, staying in Cleve or fleeeing to the Knicks or "Gulp" the Nets makes the most sense. When its all said and done, these franchises offer him the ability to put his stamp or face on that franchise when his career is said and done.

Moonangie wrote:

We don't "have Lee" since he's an UFA.

We have Lee if we want him.

No two ways about it.

We can offer him more and keep him. It might very well happen in a Dolanesque "Dont let Allan walk I don't care WHAT it costs." scenario.

iSergio wrote:

Cosmic wrote:The media has chosen a team any given day and had some exec saying it's a done deal that Bosh/LBJ were heading there. I won't believe it until I see it.

However, the Bulls pulling off that Hinrich trade, has to lead you to believe the Bulls are probably in the driver's seat so to speak.

LBJ Sweepstakes: Based on team moves and media buzz (which is a really dumb thing to count on)
50% Bulls
25% Knicks
24% CLE
1% Elsewhere

I used to think it was 25% Knicks, 74% CLE, 1% elsewhere. Yet things have indeed changed.

I still maintain this however: The Knicks, Heat, Bulls have all made big moves to improve this summer. These three teams are going to rape the FA Market and all three teams are going to improve a great deal.

Not all that worried. It's nice to land the big fish yet if we don't this summers' consolation prizes are pretty damn good in their own right.

Remember, we still have Lee and Gallo. You add some of those "second tier" FAs to those two? You're going to have a pretty damn good team.

Yet, don't ride the media tidal waves. Just don't. Every other day it's Bosh/LBJ done deal to NY - then it's to CHI - then it's to NJ - then it's to MIA - then it's to the Clippers (LMFAO!!!!).

Just ignore it. Let the players land where they may then worry about it if you must.

Please stop with the damage control. It's LeBron James or bust. We didn't forfeit the last two years and gamble with the immediate future (trade with Houston) to sign second tier FA's to play with David Lee and Danilo Gallinari. Second tier FA's aren't going to take a 29 win team to the Playoffs in the improved East.

The way I see it, if LeBron disses us, we're looking at Joe Johnson and Lee/Carlos Boozer at best. Chris Bosh isn't coming here to be by himself. He's playing with LeBron or Dwyane Wade. And we know Wade isn't coming here. Amare Stoudemire has beef with Mike D'Antoni. Dirk Nowitzki isn't leaving Dallas. So don't fool yourself and don't try to make it seem like losing out on LeBron is no big deal. If we lose out on LeBron, we are set for mediocrity for another decade.

Damage Control? I don't work for the Knicks.

Also hard to proceed with damage control when nothing has yet to happen.

Lebron or Bust? That's just silly media talk. We cleared cap for anyone we could get. If it's him, great, if not, no big deal.

What was the other option? Hand TruckBury back his keys to the franchise? Extend Isiah? Keep Crawful and ZackAss and offer them contract extensions?

I mean, that's where we were heading.

LeBron or NO Lebron what we did was the right thing to do. CLEAN HOUSE.

The only real thing hanging over our heads is that Houston trade. Jordan Hill sucked but the 2011 swap could prove hurtful....and moreso the 2012 pick.

However, Dolan isn't going to allow Gabriel to do to us what he did to the Tragic (spend 3 more years keeping cap low for a 2nd run at Duncan). We will sign players this summer. We will be better.

iSergio wrote:

You cannot be serious Cosmic. You're lying to yourself if you don't believe there is a HUGE drop off from LeBron James to Joe Johnson. I don't know about you but I want to win a Championship in my lifetime. And that's not happening with Johnson. Getting to the Playoffds and being the Atlanta Hawks is not good enough for me.

I don't recall saying Joe Johnson is LBJ. In fact I have likened JJ to the Bulls throwing their money at Jalen Rose years ago.

However, we cleared cap to throw our hat in the ring. If in the end we don't win well we don't win. That changes nothing to me in terms of what we did to get here. What was done had to be done LBJ or no LBJ.

That aside if all we do is keep Lee, Harrington and sign JJ? Sure, I'll be disappointed. Can't control that though and it would still be an improvement.

A lot of fans thought we were a good team last year. They thought we were a playoff team. Blamed the coach when it didn't come to be. These same people would love to return the same exact team. Now, you tell them you can do that AND add a top FA - be it JJ or Boozer or whoever?

I'd actually believe them that we're a playoff team.

This is about improving more than hitting the home run. Home runs are hard to come by.

At least Walsh gave us the chance to hit one.

If all we get is a ground ruled double well hell, sure, that will be disappointing, yet it will still improve us to the point of being a playoff team who will still have the chance to make additions in the coming year.