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GKFv2
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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/18/sports/basketball/18lebron.html?ref=basketballLeBron James is coming to New Jersey on Tuesday, and if the Nets are primping themselves for a courtship, they are running a bit late.
Next week, James and the Cavaliers visit New York and the Knicks. They are also a possible suitor when James potentially headlines a star-studded free-agent class in the summer of 2010. But much like the Nets, the Knicks also face barricades in landing James.
Although much can change in a fluid market, and handicapping possible situations nearly two years away is almost impossible, the Nets and the Knicks are expected to join close to 15 teams in the league in jockeying for position come 2010.
The Nets were once considered the odds-on favorite to get James, possibly the game’s most transcending player. He is a close friend to the rapper Jay-Z, a part-owner of the Nets.
But the team’s planned move to Brooklyn is at a standstill, which could significantly lessen the chances of James becoming a Net. That is the view of Sonny Vaccaro, the former shoe executive who keeps tabs on his former ABCD campers, James included. Vaccaro said he thought James would end up with the Knicks.
“LeBron’s relationship with Jay-Z will go on regardless,” Vaccaro said. “He’ll be an international celebrity in New York. If the Nets aren’t in Brooklyn, he’s not going over there for even $200 million. They’re putting pieces together. They’re doing the right things. They’re just living in the wrong building.”
The Nets’ move has been sidetracked by delays, the faltering economy and legal challenges to Atlantic Yards, the proposed development that would include the new arena. The latest litigation has pushed groundbreaking to next spring at the earliest, with a predicted opening in 2011.
Recently, Barclays affirmed its commitment to the naming rights of the Brooklyn arena even though the project was lagging.
“We are very excited about being part of the continued renaissance of Brooklyn and we eagerly look forward to opening night at the Barclays Center,” Gerard LaRocca, the capital chief administrative officer for the Americas at Barclays, said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the Nets are a team in transition on the court as well. They shed enough salary-cap space with the trade of Richard Jefferson last summer to be in good position to add a high-level free agent in 2010. And, despite the innovative tactics of Brett Yormark, the president and chief executive of Nets Sports and Entertainment, swaths of empty seats remain at the Izod Center.
In Manhattan, the Knicks are confounded with their own issues that could hurt their chances of wooing James. The team is weighed by heavy contracts and Donnie Walsh, the team’s president, has been unsuccessful in finding a taker for Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph, whose deals extend through the 2011 season. Curry is owed $11.28 million that year, Randolph $17.33 million.
All this speculation is contingent on James’s opting out of the final year of his contract. Although he has been spotted wearing a Yankees hat on numerous occasions, including in the stands at Progressive Field when the Indians hosted the Yankees in an American League division series game in 2007, James insisted he was happy in Cleveland.
“I love being here, I love playing in front of these fans,” James, a native of Akron, Ohio, told The Cleveland Plain Dealer during the team’s media day. “My family’s here. I grew up 30 miles away from here. I never gave any indication I did not like playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers.”
Barring a sign-and-trade agreement, the Cavaliers will be able to offer James a longer and more lucrative contract than any other team. They also appear retooled in the early season, with the addition of point guard Mo Williams.
No matter the Cavaliers’ efforts, Vaccaro said he thought James was destined to leave Cleveland.
“LeBron is this generation’s personality,” said Vaccaro, not one to shy away from hyperbole. “Even though Cleveland has done everything right, you don’t get to Mount Rushmore from Cleveland. He has to go to New York or Los Angeles. There’s no question. The money will be available anywhere. But this is about his persona.”
James could be joined by Toronto’s Chris Bosh, Miami’s Dwyane Wade and Phoenix’s Amare Stoudemire in the 2010 free-agent class. Like the Cavaliers, those teams may have an abundance of salary-cap space. Realistically, they could each re-sign their own star, then use him to lure another franchise player.
Would James rather team with Wilson Chandler or Yi Jianlian in New York? Or would he be more content having Wade or Bosh join him in Cleveland or changing jerseys to play with those players’ current teams?
“Things can change between now and two years from now, but there are a lot of teams pointing toward that year to have cap space as of today,” Nets General Manager Kiki Vandeweghe said. “There’s the potential to have a lot of good free agents available.”
None more valuable than James, who will most likely be the most sought-after free agent in league history.
“He’s not going to get another decision,” Vaccaro said. “We aren’t going to be coming back to this when he’s 32. This is the one. This is the one that’s going to shake the landscape.”
Thank you, Rick Brunson.
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11/18/2008 1:28 AM