Cleveland will lose too much money 150,000,000 if he leaves the city of Cleveland.

OasisBU wrote:I dont think the NY pitch was good enough - saying he has a 50% probability of becoming a billionaire if he plays in NY is not even close to enough. They needed to show him a lot more, and maybe they did - but I think the Knicks just aren't in the hunt. They are in the conversation because of the cap space but thats about it.

Maybe I am wrong, but this whole thing reminds me of when Brian Grant was a FA - he showed interest in NY but it wasn't serious at all. Lebron is staying in Cleveland unless the Knicks sign a serious FA first (Bosh or Amare).

We have no team, and if he signs here there will be no bench which is HUGE in the playoffs. If you are going to beat the Lakers you need a solid starting 5 and a strong bench, 2 max FA will not be enough.

I also remember reading a rumor that NY was going to pitch to JJ, Lebron, and Bosh/Amare that they need to take less money to be on the same team. If that is the case we definitely won't get any of them signed. The NBA is business first.

Granted there are a lot of rumors out there so not all of this is true, but I just don't see this working out for NY.

I'm actually changing my vote from before this process started, and its because I think the Knicks presentation did exactly what it needed to, and showed Lebron what he wanted to see.

I'm sure he is interested in championships, but I bet if you asked him, do you want to have a billion dollars or win one championship, he's taking the money.

As I would.

Here in NY, he can have both, and I don't think you can support an argument that the same is true of the other cities he is considering.

I am ready to start a man up thread that I was wrong with my criticism of the Hill/Jefferies trade, and the Lebron or bust strategy.

I'm probably foolish, but I feel like we may actually finally have something good happen with this franchise.

playa2 wrote:Would anyone change their vote if 1000.00 went to the winner if they were right.

Just curious if people really believe he's going there or it's a pick out of a bias opinion .

This whole thing is a game. What a show and great publicity for the entire NBA.

franco12 wrote:

playa2 wrote:If Lebron wanted to come to the tri-state area to make billions of dollars off the court I believe he would roll with the New Jeresy Nets before he hooks up with owner of the knicks James Dolan.

#1 PROKHOROV is A Billionaire his goal is to win a NBA Championship in the next 5 years.
#2 JAY-Z is a close friend of Lebron and would love to see him on the team he invested in.
#3 Coach Avery Johnson believes in discipline and defense and has won a chip as a player and taken a team there too (dallas)
#4 Rod Thorn is a proven talent evaluator and is the one who chose Michael Jordan.
#5 Brooklyn would become the city that would draw NY from every burrough who love winning basketball.

For as bad as our roster is, the nets won 12 games last year, and until the very end of the season, they were making a run at beating the sixer record for fewest wins in a season.

2 years in Newark? Watch the NYC news casts, and tell me how much coverage of NJ they typically give? Close, and they'll get coverage, but not as much as he would in NY.

Big deal on the Russian. So he wants to win in the next five years? The NBA has a cap- there is a limit to what an owner can do. Saying and actually being able to do it are two totally different things.

Rod Thorn is gone, on his way out.

I would say MDA > Johnson but I think the Nets are the bigger draw because of Jay Z and the relationship there. Jay Z can market Lebron like crazy.

Let's face it - the Knicks and the Nets both sucked last year, I really dont think there is much of a difference between the two at this point. It really would come down to ownership and the plan to get other players around him. Both teams have huge holes to fill.

playa2 wrote:If Lebron wanted to come to the tri-state area to make billions of dollars off the court I believe he would roll with the New Jeresy Nets before he hooks up with owner of the knicks James Dolan.

#1 PROKHOROV is A Billionaire his goal is to win a NBA Championship in the next 5 years.
#2 JAY-Z is a close friend of Lebron and would love to see him on the team he invested in.
#3 Coach Avery Johnson believes in discipline and defense and has won a chip as a player and taken a team there too (dallas)
#4 Rod Thorn is a proven talent evaluator and is the one who chose Michael Jordan.
#5 Brooklyn would become the city that would draw NY from every burrough who love winning basketball.

My feeling is:

1 Billionaire or not, everyone would love to win the big one in five years. See Mark Cuban
2 Jay-Z will follow LeBron, not vici-versa.
3 Avery Johnson will implode, just like he did in the West. He is still at odds with Devin Harris.
4 Rod Thorn has left the building. Stepping down as president of the Nyets. No being run by overbearing X KGB
5 The area of B'klyn that they have choosen to erect the stadium is the wrong choice.

playa2 wrote:If Lebron wanted to come to the tri-state area to make billions of dollars off the court I believe he would roll with the New Jeresy Nets before he hooks up with owner of the knicks James Dolan.

#1 PROKHOROV is A Billionaire his goal is to win a NBA Championship in the next 5 years.
#2 JAY-Z is a close friend of Lebron and would love to see him on the team he invested in.
#3 Coach Avery Johnson believes in discipline and defense and has won a chip as a player and taken a team there too (dallas)
#4 Rod Thorn is a proven talent evaluator and is the one who chose Michael Jordan.
#5 Brooklyn would become the city that would draw NY from every burrough who love winning basketball.

Nothing on your list would give any reason to believe the Nets are somehow in the drivers seat for premier free agents.

#1 so is Dolan and so are many other owners.
#2 Jay Z owns like 0.10% stock in the Nets and it was done so that Ratner could push his brooklyn mega project along thinking somehow adding a rapper to his entourage would make city planners get out of his way. Jay Z also attends Knick games in Manhattan. When does he go to Nets games? This friendship stuff is also overblown and probably flat out inaccurate anyway in regards to celebrities/sports stars. CC Sabathia is termed as LeBron's best friend but I guess that doesn't matter somehow.
#3 Avery alienated his own players and eventually ownership in Dallas because of his discipline and attitude. I do like him though.
#4 Thorn is a good business man...but what does this have to do with anything? Nets won 12 games. Not all that big of an endorsement for talent evaluation is it?
#5 The stars like Manhattan... wanna be thugs like to throw shout outs to random boroughs and districts in NYC like it means something. Brooklyn is meaningless and will always be in the shadow of Manhattan - LeBron or no LeBron.

playa2 wrote:If you were to receive 1000.00 dollars(tax free) for picking the correct choice to where Lebron would go in Free agency who would it be ?

He is going to land in playa3's house. You jealous, playa2?

fishmike wrote:

crzymdups wrote:i rank the scenarios like this right now:

1) go to bulls with amar'e.

2) stay in cleveland, it will be on a three year deal with an eye towards going to the Nets when they are finally in brooklyn.

3) go to knicks with amar'e.

Lebron goes to Bulls he becomes and absolute villian in the entire state of Ohio. I think that matters to him, call me crazy (thats your name), but I cant imagine any scenario where Lebron goes to Chi. Between the MJ stuff, the geography, the ownership... I just dont see it happening.

I think its like 50% he stays in Cle, with 30% to the Knicks, 20% to the Nets.

We almost agree Fishy, I would say 70% he stays in Cleveland 20 % Nets and 10% Knicks