By Chris Sheridan

There are a lot of opinions out there today about who is supposedly in and out of the LeBron James sweepstakes.

Some have already written the Knicks off, and some have weighed in with actual facts about what took place in their meeting Thursday with James.

I am here to tell you that I believe the Knicks are still very much in the race, and I've gathered a little intel of my own regarding what went on behind those closed doors off 9th Street in Cleveland.

Aside from their financial pitch to James that he could most easily become a billionaire by playing in New York, the Knicks made a basketball pitch to James -- backed up with video highlights -- demonstrating how their complementary players are better suited than anyone else's to supplement what James and the big man of his choice (Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire, David Lee, Carlos Boozer) would bring to the table.

Question: How many shooters do the Bulls have? Answer: None. Derrick Rose is a career 24 pct. 3-point shooter, and Luol Deng is at 31 percent -- the same as Wilson Chandler, who would get a lot more open looks than he did in the past in a LeBron-centric offense. The Knicks also have Danilo Gallinari, who is shooting 39 percent from 3-point range for his career. (Toney Douglas also hit 3s at a 39 percent clip last season.)

Variation of the same question: How many shooters do the Heat have? Mario Chalmers (who lost his starting job to Carlos Arroyo last season) hits 'em at a 38 percent clip. Michael Beasley is at 33 pct in his two seasons. Joel Anthony has never taken one, which merits mentioning because he, along with Beasley and Chalmers, are the only players Miami has.

Question: What possible hidden gem does Chicago have on its roster? Only Taj Gibson and James Johnson qualify, and one or both might have to be moved in a sign-and-trade in order for the Bulls to get a second max player. Compare those two to Bill Walker, who was one of the most highly recruited and touted players in the 2006-07 high school senior class that included O.J. Mayo and Rose. Walker's career was sidetracked by a serious knee injury, but he has dropped 27 pounds (from 254 to 227) since the Knicks acquired him from Boston in the Nate Robinson trade, and his knee is fully recovered.

Question: What kind of salary cap/trade deadline flexibility will the Bulls/Heat have going into the 2010-11 season? Answer: Virtually none. Chicago has to lock up Joakim Noah next summer and Rose the year after that, and Miami, if it gets two max players, can only gain flexibility for the summer of 2011 by declining the fourth-year option on Beasley's contract prior to the start of the '10-11 season. The Knicks, on the other hand, have Eddy Curry's expiring $11.3 contract to use in one of two ways: Trade it at the deadline for a player or players that would make the Knicks stronger championship contenders next spring; or let it come off the cap at the end of next season, putting the Knicks some $10-12 million under the cap for the Summer of Carmelo.

I have it on good authority that the Knicks pounded those points with James, arguing that their complementary players are better than they've been given credit for, and that adding a third max player in 2011 is an achievable possibility.

Those are persuasive arguments, and the Cavaliers (capped out next summer because of Antawn Jamison trade) and Bulls can't make similar cases when they meet with James today in Cleveland.

And what about the Nets?

I don't count them out, but I also think their two-year temporary relocation to Newark while they await the construction of the new arena in Brooklyn is a deal-breaker.

Brian Windhorst of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, who has covered James since he was in high school, and whose mother taught math to James at St. Vincent-St.Mary high school in Akron, thought it would be a good idea a couple of Januarys ago to take an Amtrak train from Newark to Washington, D.C. while the Cavs were on an East Coast road swing.

I'll let Windhorst take it from here:

"I would describe it as an hour of staying away from the wackos and drug-addled degenerates while keeping a serious close eye on the various unsavory individuals who were an obvious threat to property and body. I went out and on the platform, where it was 15 degrees, because there was nobody else out there," Windhorst said. "I don't want to offend the Newark Chamber of Commerce, but I would never plan on doing that ever again. And I'm a big Amtrak fan."

One more question: How many media people have spoken to LeBron James about any of this? (I have tried, but he is not returning my messages.) I'd bet a dollar the answer is none.

And until The King speaks, I'm not counting anybody out.

BRIGGS wrote:

Silverfuel wrote:Why is Sheridan the only one reporting positive NY stuff?

Because hes in the Knicks pocketbook

no t always. at one point, i thought he was anti-knick, he criticized many knick moves. surprised he is the only media outlet being positive about ny.

Uptown wrote:

BRIGGS wrote:

Silverfuel wrote:Why is Sheridan the only one reporting positive NY stuff?

Because hes in the Knicks pocketbook

So the negative articles must be correct, but when theirs one positive article, it has to be a catch?

You've been around here long enough, Uptown. You should know that already.

furthermore - next summer there will be a lock out and it wont go well for free agency.

TMS wrote:

s3231 wrote:Via O'Connor, Knicks used Tony Soprano and filmed an actual scene to convince LeBron to come to NYC:

Before they talked about love and basketball with LeBron James, the Knicks opened their video presentation Thursday with a scene from a LeBron favorite. Suddenly James Gandolfini and Edie Falco were Tony and Carmela Soprano, maybe for the last time, and the look on LeBron's face said he was hoping this show would last an hour or three.

Tony hadn't been killed off by David Chase after all. He was wearing a beard and living with his wife under the cover of the witness protection program, and Tony was telling Carmela he had an important friend coming to town. A friend who needed a place to stay. A friend named LeBron James.

Carmela scanned her computer for the ideal midtown spot, and when she told Tony she'd found the right place for a man of James' stature, the final shot wasn't half as suspenseful as The Sopranos' final scene in the diner.

Madison Square Garden was the iconic image on the screen, the arena James has called his favorite place to play. From there LeBron would hear taped testimonials to the power of big-city winning from Willis Reed, Mark Messier, Reggie Jackson and Earl Monroe. Spike Lee and Rudy Giuliani had their parts on the video, and Chris Rock told some jokes.

But the Knicks weren't kidding around. They did their homework. Yeah, they knew LeBron loved The Sopranos. They also knew LeBron loved talking about the transition game more.

http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nba/news/story?id=5350982

How is that lacking preparation considering the Knicks knew LeBron was a Sopranos fan?

that sounds pretty cool actually... would make an awesome opening day sequence for player intros if Lebron signs here.

according to my sources: allan, donnie, mike and dolan sat there fiddling with dolan's laptop trying to get the presentation to start while lebron sat waiting for forty-five minutes. then finally, they get the laptop running and the first thing that pops up is some gay porn that dolan was watching on the plane-ride over.

donnie fell out of his wheelchair lunging towards the computer trying to stop it and he sh!ts himself. dolan laughs, gets the hiccups and then pukes on the table. houston tries to stop the vomit from oozing over onto lebron but instead ends up face first in lebrons crotch covered in regurgitated jack daniels, pizza and semen. d'antoni just stood there in awe, gay porn playing in the background, he looks at bron and says "don't worry lebron. in my system, you don't have to play defense."

thems the facts folks. read em and weep.

BasketballJones wrote:

eViL wrote:i don't believe it.

according to my sources: allan, donnie, mike and dolan sat there fiddling with dolan's laptop trying to get the presentation to start while lebron sat waiting for forty-five minutes. then finally, they get the laptop running and the first thing that pops up is some gay porn that dolan was watching on the plane-ride over.

donnie fell out of his wheelchair lunging towards the computer trying to stop it and he sh!ts himself. dolan laughs, gets the hiccups and then pukes on the table. houston tries to stop the vomit from oozing over onto lebron but instead ends up face first in lebrons crotch covered in regurgitated jack daniels, pizza and semen. d'antoni just stood there in awe, gay porn playing in the background, he looks at bron and says "don't worry lebron. in my system, you don't have to play defense."

thems the facts folks. read em and weep.

All in all, it went about as well as possible, dontcha think?

perfect execution. haha.