For me the easiest place to start is Dwyane Wade...He is the likeliest to stay put given his absolute love affair with South Florida...The Miami Heat currently have an idea on about 5-6 roster spots but have about another 8-10 to fill...they certainly hope D-Wade will be one... then the hope is that the recruiting power of $$$ plus Wade, plus Miami life, plus Pat Riley running the franchise is enough to bring another All-Star in to help Wade...In a perfect world for Miami that person would be Chris Bosh but with the nothing to offer Toronto in return that does seem unlikely...only chance I see there is if Miami is willing to take back Hedo Turkoglu, then at that point perhaps trade talks can begin in earnest with Miami...a more likely option IMO is Amar'e although he may prefer to re-unite with fellow ex-Suns coach Mike D'Antoni and Shooting Guard Joe Johnson in New York...Stoudamire and Wade could develop as a nasty pick-and-role duo for the Heat...Miami will look to add a 3rd as well...maybe a Carlos Boozer...or a David Lee...on the Boozer front as I mentioned in prev blogs I can see him being of-interest to Wade as a Power Forward to go to war with going forward if Amar'e does have a different destination in mind...Word is that the Heat have a plan in place to re-sing D-Wade plus sign King James AND Chris Bosh!!! In that scenario Pat Riley would likely return as coach and I think they would try to get Shaq back as well to help round-out that roster...but this blog is about the future of James/Wade/Bosh and Wade will likely stay-put
Next up is the all-time leader in a lot of categories for YOUR TORONTO RAPTORS...Chris Bosh is rumoured by one NBA exec as a "done deal" to end up in Chi Town with Bron Bron...I personally have a hard time believing that anything right now could be considered a "done deal" as too much is still yet to come post July 1...if you are a Raptors fan you have several other teams out there with more to provide in return for Bosh then does Chicago...Taj Gibson will surely return to T.O. in that scenario but after that there is not much more to get from the Bulls......the Cavs are very unlikely to do any sign-and-trade with the Bulls for LeBron James as the 2 franchises are such rivals but the Raps would insist on getting assets back for Bosh...Chicago will not part with Luol Deng or Joakim Noah - even to land Bosh...other stories have CB4 willing to consider Houston, New York as well as Chicago and Miami...If you are a Raptors fan and a reader of prev blogs you know that I have always felt that a deal with the LA Lakers is the best option for the Raps...a sign-and-trade of Bosh and Jarrett Jack for Andrew Bynum and likely Lamar Odom seems like a win-win to me...landing the 23 year old 7-foot Bynum seems like a perfect fit to the Raps as he is an instant upgrade on how this team defends at the rim and his best years are still to come...the Lakers have long been enamoured with CB4 but a big part of that was Phil Jackson who is likely to retireI have always contended that there is not a team out there willing to build around Bosh like Toronto is...and with the Raps CB4 gets to rep an entire country...My hope is Brian Colangelo can strike quickly at a free-agent move to further show Bosh the relevance of staying in T.O. and hope that CB4 sees that the grass may not be greener south of the border...
Last, and we know not least, is King James...again we refer to that NBA exec who has said anonymously that James and Bosh to Chicago is a done deal but we are of course also hearing the Knicks...Nets...Heat...Cavs will all be in play too...heck toss in the Mavs as James is a HUGE Cowboys fan and Jerry Jones (Dallas Cowboys owner) and Mark Cuban will surely take their shot at making a pitch to King James
For me remaining a Cavalier is the best option for LeBron...he has family and friends living there in his compound...he has a team that has won 60+ games 2 straight years...he has an owner in Dan Gilbert who is likely to spend on what LeBron needs to continue to win at a high-level...he has a chance to live as a hometown legend...
If you are LeBron and you are real about your want\need for Championships then if you sign with a team in the East then Orlando is your likely foe while in the West we know the Lakers are 3-time Western Conference champs...in the East is it likely that with the uncertainty of the futures of Doc Rivers, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen plus the sure retirement of Rasheed Wallace that the Celtics will be likely to take a step back this year?...if so then the Cavs are looking like they offer a chance to play in the NBA Finals...work will need to be done of course...Cleveland would need to address the big-man spot(s) to have someone to defend Kevin Garnett and also Dwight Howard in the play-offs - plus surely an upgrade at the Point Guard spot is needed like a Jason Kidd (or how intriguing would Allen Iverson be?!?!)
I mentioned before the unlikelihood of the Cavs and Bulls making a trade together due to their rivalry but I can see why Chi Town is intriguing to LeBron...the idea of winning Titles in that city ala Michael Jordan would likely appeal to LBJ...surely either Bosh or a top-notch Power Forward like Amar`e or Boozer would follow LBJ to Chicago to go with Joakim Noah, Luol Deng, and Derrick Rose...not bad...no depth to speak of but the Bulls can address that later...another plus for Chicago is new coach Tom Thibodeau - formerly a Doc Rivers assistant with Boston up until a few weeks ago when he took the Bulls top-job...if you like what the Celtics have been doing for the last while on defense then you like Tom Thibodeau...
For me the only thing to mention is that Derrick Rose will have to improve his game if the Bulls land LBJ...there is a Point Guard stat/ranking system in the NBA that takes a look at the amount of times a point guard actually puts his teammates in a good position to score...whether or not the teammate scores does not come into play - just the idea of did the PG put a teammate in position to score...Derrick Rose ranks VERY poorly on this list...only a hand full of the approx 65 PG`s in the league rank worse...if you saw LBJ look like Adrian Peterson vs the physical Celtics D (Peterson is a Running Back with the Minnesota Vikings who is built like a tank just like James but when the physical contact comes he has fumble-itis which is how LBJ looked vs Boston) then you know that he was bounced from the last 2 play-offs as a #1 seed as his teammates could not provide enough easy opportunities for LBJ...everything was a struggle...I don`t know that a non-winner like Bosh plus a scoring-first PG like Rose is the answer to that issue for James...
I don`t even really want to get into this as it will never happen but the best place IMO for LeBron James is LA with the Clippers...roster-wise they have the aforementioned Baron Davis plus Chris Kaman down low with 3 rookies set to debut for LA this year in Al-Farooq Aminu and Eric Bledsoe - plus this will be the rookie year of last years #1 overall pick Blake Griffin (injured all of what would have been his rookie season)who will be a pick-and-roll beast in this league...best pick-and-roll piece to enter the NBA since Amar'e...plus 2nd year Shooting Guard Eric Gordon...the idea in Clipperland is that media mogul David Geffen would buy 51% of the Clippers from long time (and horrible) owner Doanld Sterling...the Sterling era in LA has produced 2 winning records since he bought the team in 1981...YIKES!!!...he has repeatedly refused to even entertain the thought of selling the team but Geffen says he can produce LeBron James plus 1 other max-money free agent to the Clippers IF he is the 51% owner...GOOD LUCK Clippers fans...it makes a ton of sense which is likely why it will not happen (Clippers fans with another reason to hate their situation!)
send me an email on this or any other previous blog....... craig.ballard@hotmail.com
