Five Places LeBron James Could End Up
NBA betting players are waiting for July 1, then the league’s biggest free-agent sweepstakes in its history will tip off. There is no bigger fish on the market than LeBron James, and where the two-time defending MVP ends up will have a trickle-down effect on the rest of the class, which features Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Joe Johnson and Amare Stoudamire just to name a few. Here are his five most-likely destinations.
5. Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers have a ton of cap room, and if you haven’t heard, Los Angeles is a pretty big market. Turning the Clippers around would be huge in California as they have been the Lakers’ ugly step-siblings for as long as they’ve been around, and they have a decent amount of talent in Blake Griffin, Baron Davis, Eric Gordon and Chris Kaman. However, the Clippers’ front office is terrible, and they don’t inspire confidence that they could put together a great team around James.
4. New Jersey
The Nets should have the first overall pick in the draft, which they’ll use on John Wall (who is signed to James’ marketing agency). They’ll also have a majority owner in Mikhail Prokhorov who has loads of money to blow, and a minority owner in Jay-Z, who is very good friends with James and is aiming to move the team to Brooklyn. As for the roster, outside of Lopez, Wall, and maybe Devin Harris, the entire team is on the trading block if it meant going in for James. Picking up Wall would boost the Nets’ online betting odds, but adding James would be massive.
3. Chicago
Talent-wise, this may be James’ best option. He’d get to play with Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, a former Rookie of the Year and an offensively-upgraded version of current teammate Joakim Noah. The lack of a head coach right now is a worry, but James would probably have a say in that if he wanted to. The only question is whether he would want the shadow of Michael Jordan looming over him. No matter what James did for the Bulls, he would never be as big as his idol, who brought six titles to the “Windy City”. Still, the Bulls may end up sneaking ahead of New York in the LeBron James sportsbook odds as we get closer to July 1st.
2. New York
If he’s looking for a big market, it really doesn’t get any bigger than New York, who is looking for a savior. The Knicks have made no bones about their plan for this summer, taking on a number of expiring contracts that will be off the books. They can legitimately go out and get two big stars, so James wouldn’t have to take on the project by himself, and they should also be able to get a decent draft pick. James is also good friends with coach Mike D’Antoni, who was an assistant coach with James and the USA team at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Imagine James in the run-and-gun offense of the Knicks: you think he’s a nightly triple-double threat now? However, there is a lot of pressure in New York that James doesn‘t need, D’Antoni’s teams are just as infamous for their lack of defense as they are famous for their offense, and outside of James, free agent No.2, Danilo Gallinari and their draft pick, there won’t be much talent left.
1. Cleveland
Whether they win a title or not this season, James seems most likely to stay right where he is. The Cavaliers can offer him an extra year and more money than any other team, which is the way David Stern designed the free-agent process. He’s also a hometown boy who grew up in Akron, and if he brought a title to the city, they may just give James the entire city. No team has won a professional title since the Indians in 1948, and the city is starved for a winner, which James is definitely aware of. He would be what Jordan is to Chicago, Larry Bird is in Boston, Magic Johnson is in Los Angeles (sorry, Kobe Bryant). If I had to make a sports betting pick on where James will be next year, I’d say that he’ll stay right at home in Cleveland.
