Let's say it's a 4 team race between Cleveland, NY, NJ, and Chicago, and rank the relative merits of the teams along relevant dimensions.

pre-existing talent
1. Chicago (Rose, Noah, Deng)
2. NJ (Lopez, Harris)
3. Cleveland (Varejao, Jamison, Williams)
4. NY (Gallo, Chandler)

ability to add talent
1. NY (2nd max contract cap space, Curry's expiring contract)
2. NJ (sub-2nd max cap space, lottery pick that likely WON'T be John Wall)
3. Chicago (some extra cap space, not yet nearing luxury tax status)
4. Cleveland (over the cap, likely can't spend too much more on MLE etc. due to high payroll)

income opportunities
1. NY (market offsets drop in contract $$)
2. NJ (ditto, but only after 2 years in Newark)
3. Chicago (ditto)
4. Cleveland (best contract to offer, but worst market)

franchise history
1. NY (bring NY back to relevance, be our best player ever, etc.)
2. Chicago (don't underestimate MJ's shadow, especially after all the "LeBron doesn't have it" BS this year)
3. Cleveland (chance to exorcise their demons)
4. NJ (none to speak of in the NBA)

city prestige, ambiance, misc benefits, etc.
1. NY
2. Chicago
3. NJ (Brooklyn, but after 2 years in Newark)
4. Cleveland

ownership
1. NJ (Jay-Z, the Russian billionaire)
2. Cleveland (have catered to LBJ's every whim)
3. NY (Dolan's got bucks but is an idiot)
4. Chicago

front office
1. NJ (Thorn)
2. Cleveland (Ferry)
3. NY (Walsh; his unknown successor is a wild card)
4. Chicago (Paxson isn't bad when he's not fistfighting his coach)

coaching
1. NY (D'Antoni liked by LBJ at Olympics, track record of success)
2-4. tie (all likely have coaching vacancies; another wild card)

Ranking them by the sum of ranks in each category (lower is better),

1. NY (15)
2. NJ (17)
3. Chicago (21)
4. Cleveland (24)

Income Opportunities
1. New York (By far)
2. Chicago
3. Cleveland
4. New Jersey

Franchise History
1. New York (By far. Opportunity to be the GREATEST player in the 64 year history of the franchise)
2. Cleveland (Born in Akron)
3. Chicago (Doubt LeBron James is content being Michael Jordan's puppy)
4. New Jersey (What history?)

Ownership and Front office
1. New York (James Dolan has stayed away from the franchise since he hired Donnie Walsh. And Walsh executed his plan of clearing cap in less then 2 years. LeBron James can be confident knowing this ownership and front office will do WHATEVER it takes to improve the team. And don't forget Walsh is buddy/buddy with World Wide Wes)
2. Cleveland (Mediocre job building the team around King James in 7 years but they did try)
3. New Jersey (Can't take the Russian seriously. Who knows what kind of basketball mind he has. And Jay Z is so damn overrated there. It's not like he makes trades or get's that involved in that team. How many games do you all think Jay Z actually attended? 1? 5? But Rod Thorn is a good GM)
4. Chicago (This owner and front office is cheap and toxic)

It's very simple to me. Either King James stays in Cleveland and finishes what he started. Or he comes to New York at a chance to become as big a legend as there ever was in the NBA. That opportunity can not happen in Chicago. And New Jersey is like 3 years away from moving into Brooklyn so they are not even a legit candidate. It's either Cleveland or New York. And when King James comes to visit this City and sees the passion, energy and heart of New Yorkers, he'll sign that contract immediately.

CrushAlot wrote:

Loconixfan wrote:Yeah very good But I'm sure the mda haters are gonna have a fit when they read this lol

I am not going to have a fit but I know there are analysts, Tim Legler and others I don't remember, who have speculated that LeBron won't come to NY because D'Antoni is the coach and LeBron knows that a team needs to play defense to win a championship.

MDA got to the WCF's with Nash, Marion and a bunch of scrubs, when Amare went down. Yo Pat Burke and Skita were his only 7'ers. AFter that TT was the next tallest guy. How many here would call a roster which included Diaw, Bell & KT a great roster? Yeah they had Nash, but to make it to the WCF's with that roster takes some serious coaching. This was the WEST not the East with lots of easy teams to beat. I'm just waiting for someone to give the man some props for that season, cuz that was a patchwork team and he glued it together and created roles that guys could excel in.

nixluva wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

Loconixfan wrote:Yeah very good But I'm sure the mda haters are gonna have a fit when they read this lol

I am not going to have a fit but I know there are analysts, Tim Legler and others I don't remember, who have speculated that LeBron won't come to NY because D'Antoni is the coach and LeBron knows that a team needs to play defense to win a championship.

EXCEPT, that he just lost cuz he couldn't get enough help on OFFENSE!!! The coach he had was LOST when it comes to creative offensive thinking and finding a way to beat a stout but not great defense. Lebron was working so hard just to make up for his teams deficienceis, that he had nothing left in the tank. In all these areas having MDA, who is a master at creating easy scoring opportunities, will highly interest Lebron. You think Lebron has been happy when he goes to the bench looking for something, ANYTHING from his coach and all he gets is cliches about playing harder? Man a good D can only take you so far. You still have to be able to score.

MDA got to the WCF's with Nash, Marion and a bunch of scrubs, when Amare went down. Yo Pat Burke and Skita were his only 7'ers. AFter that TT was the next tallest guy. How many here would call a roster which included Diaw, Bell & KT a great roster? Yeah they had Nash, but to make it to the WCF's with that roster takes some serious coaching. This was the WEST not the East with lots of easy teams to beat. I'm just waiting for someone to give the man some props for that season, cuz that was a patchwork team and he glued it together and created roles that guys could excel in.