Where will he land?

I thought the third target was Bosh, not Stoudemire.

 

Any two of the four. I think it's a safe bet Bosh will be coming back to the US in 20 months.

 

Pretty much very big name in the league is a free agent except Kobe in 2010, I saw a partial list somewhere a few days ago and guys like Dirk Nowitski and Steve Nash are also FAs. It will be a giant shuffeling of the deck.

All anyone from the Knicks or otherwise has said is they are clearing cap space for the off-season of 2010. No specific names have been mentioned which would land them with tampering charges.

If Cleveland wins then title between now and 2010 LeBron will be gone. He did his duty for his home state and delivered a championship and that will free up his conscience to go to the Knicks or Nets or wherever he winds up going. The Cavs best chance at keeping him is by being just a contender with a solid line up surrounding LeBron.

He's on record I believe of saying he wants to be a bilionare. It's a little easier to do that in New York than in Cleveland. Yes he is already the second most recognized and sponsored athlete in the world to Tiger, but the connections that can be made in New York for further sponsorships and other ventures are a lot more difficult for him to make in Cleveland.

 

I'm not so sure about that. If he was so anxious to run for the border I would have thought he did it last time around when he still would have got a max deal from any suitor. Now he has a better -- albeit underperforming -- team surrounding him. I think he genuinely enjoys being in Toronto and being the man.

That being said if the right situation arose down south where he could play with LeBron and myabe another member or two of Team USA I think he would certainly look at it if he didn't jump head over heels at it.

 

No, the idea that we should be putting out there is not that Cavs make a move this season, but that they make it in 2010. Quietly, they've stacked it so just about everyone comes off the books in 2010, which means they could go after D-Wade or Bosh as a reason for LeBron to stay around. The numbers work since you can go over the cap to sign your own guys.

 

I agree that the Raptors are doing a good job building a team around him, but I'm guessing the tax issue will play a role in this as well.

 

Well, the Knicks probably wooed the shit out of him with that great performance. We know that much.

I don't know how anyone can pull the championship card when the Knicks are as bad as they are and the Cavs are a top three team in the league at the moment, same with the Nets. So he's going to leave a contender for a lottery team to be paid less money? Sounds pretty reasonable.

 

You could be right on the first point, but as far as LeBron wishing to be a billionaire and making that happen...good luck in this economic climate.

 

Also, I'd like someone to name a company that would endorse any schlub on the Knicks instead of Lebron, and also, name an athlete on ANY New York team including A-Rod and Jeter that are as marketable as Lebron. It doesn't matter that he's in Cleveland. He's still going to be sought by the same companies for advertising.

 

I wouldn't go so far as to say it wouldn't matter if he was in New York, but I do think people are over-estimating the worth of playing in New York for James' marketability. Perhaps for a lesser star, it would be a big deal, but I don't think James needs to be there. The contacts and the attention come to him.