Where will he be playing next year?

Cleveland

What team is most talented with easiest path to finals?

rambo_99 said:

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What team is most talented with easiest path to finals?

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Philly, which is my prediction. I think he's smart enough to stay out of the West.

No way it's Cleveland...he's done with that franchise. My guess is he stays in the East...Philly

76ers or Celtics. Comical to think he goes west.

The Celtics are a possibility.

West team: Rockets
East team: 76ers

Junkhead said:

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Houston

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Stephen Jackson and Chris Webber both told Cowherd they LeBron should join the Spurs. Jackson was very positive toward Pop and the organization.

Can the sixers or Celtics beat the top teams from the West with LeBron?

Bruce, Kyrie would in that scenario likely be traded back to Cleveland to lessen the blow. Ouch!

People are sleeping on him staying in Cleveland.

They have more flexibility than given credit for because of the moves they made in February. They have the 8th pick, Hill and JR are more or less expiring next season too if a team wants them to be and there's a lot of players who are either free agents, last year of their contract or trapped on teams not really going anywhere. I think Kawhi, Paul George, Boogie, either Lillard or McCollum and possibly both, and Wiggins all find new teams next season one way or another. If I were Lebron and the Cavs, I'd be working together for example to see if I could make a package with the 8th pick and Hill to go get Lillard then try to flip Love for Boogie Cousins.

I don't see any scenario where Houston works unless significant pay cuts for Paul and James are involved... Cavs won't accommodate it. Lakers have cheap assets that an opt in and trade would be beneficial for both sides.

I think he'll look at the Lakers first. He'd have mostly a blank slate to recruit and build a roster. Plus, it's LA. But I don't think he'll go there if he can't get a 3rd star to join he and Paul George (guessing Kawhi).

If that falls through, I honestly think he'll try to force his way to Houston or possibly San Antonio. I think Golden State's dominance has changed the game for Lebron. Having an easy path to the finals in the East means nothing if GS just blows you out. Lebron is after rings, not being the runner-up.

Last ditch, he stays in Cleveland and they make a ton of trades. He'll look at Philly, but I don't think he wants to groom young players (hence when Cleveland traded Wiggins for Love).

Ryan34 said:

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I think he'll look at the Lakers first. He'd have mostly a blank slate to recruit and build a roster. But I don't think he'll go there if he can't get a 3rd star to join he and Paul George (guessing Kawhi). Plus, it's LA.

If that falls through, I honestly think he'll try to force his way to Houston or possibly San Antonio. I think Golden State's dominance has changed the game for Lebron. Having an easy path to the finals in the East means nothing if GS just blows you out. Lebron is after rings, not being the runner-up.

Last ditch, he stays in Cleveland and they make a ton of trades. He'll look at Philly, but I don't think he wants to groom young players (hence when Cleveland traded Wiggins for Love).

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I don't see the path for it to be win win win for Houston Cleveland and Lebron to force his way to Houston. He doesn't hold the cards in that scenario.

To a team like the Lakers who has the asset type Cleveland would need in a rebuild? Yeah he has some cards there to force a trade.

Kawhi isn't getting traded.

ATM9000 said:

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Ryan34 said:

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I think he'll look at the Lakers first. He'd have mostly a blank slate to recruit and build a roster. But I don't think he'll go there if he can't get a 3rd star to join he and Paul George (guessing Kawhi). Plus, it's LA.

If that falls through, I honestly think he'll try to force his way to Houston or possibly San Antonio. I think Golden State's dominance has changed the game for Lebron. Having an easy path to the finals in the East means nothing if GS just blows you out. Lebron is after rings, not being the runner-up.

Last ditch, he stays in Cleveland and they make a ton of trades. He'll look at Philly, but I don't think he wants to groom young players (hence when Cleveland traded Wiggins for Love).

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I don't see the path for it to be win win win for Houston Cleveland and Lebron to force his way to Houston. He doesn't hold the cards in that scenario.

To a team like the Lakers who has the asset type Cleveland would need in a rebuild? Yeah he has some cards there to force a trade.

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If Lebron leaves, Cleveland will try to tank. Facilitating a trade could help them shed contracts and save a ton of money, plus get some draft picks as well. Let's say Houston takes JR Smith's or Jordan Clarkson's contract. Eric Gordon goes to a team under the cap (like Philly or LA), with draft capital going to Cleveland. Now Cleveland has saved millions while acquiring some assets for the future.

But if Lebron leaves for LA or Philly, Cleveland gets nothing and still has a really high payroll.

They're going to come out way behind in either scenario, but I bet Cleveland would listen to the first rather than losing Lebron (again) for nothing.

Ryan34 said:

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ATM9000 said:

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Ryan34 said:

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I think he'll look at the Lakers first. He'd have mostly a blank slate to recruit and build a roster. But I don't think he'll go there if he can't get a 3rd star to join he and Paul George (guessing Kawhi). Plus, it's LA.

If that falls through, I honestly think he'll try to force his way to Houston or possibly San Antonio. I think Golden State's dominance has changed the game for Lebron. Having an easy path to the finals in the East means nothing if GS just blows you out. Lebron is after rings, not being the runner-up.

Last ditch, he stays in Cleveland and they make a ton of trades. He'll look at Philly, but I don't think he wants to groom young players (hence when Cleveland traded Wiggins for Love).

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I don't see the path for it to be win win win for Houston Cleveland and Lebron to force his way to Houston. He doesn't hold the cards in that scenario.

To a team like the Lakers who has the asset type Cleveland would need in a rebuild? Yeah he has some cards there to force a trade.

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If Lebron leaves, Cleveland will try to tank. Facilitating a trade could help them shed contracts and save a ton of money, plus get some draft picks as well. Let's say Houston takes JR Smith's or Jordan Clarkson's contract. Eric Gordon goes to a team under the cap (like Philly or LA), with draft capital going to Cleveland. Now Cleveland has saved millions while acquiring some assets for the future.

But if Lebron leaves for LA or Philly, Cleveland gets nothing and still has a really high payroll.

They're going to come out way behind in either scenario, but I bet Cleveland would listen to the first rather than losing Lebron (again) for nothing.

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The problem is you have to keep Paul and Harden and probably Capela in place to make that all work where Lebron is going to a competitor. PJ is under contract for a few seasons too and I don't think we would want to move on from him. Probably at least 75 for those 4 and more likely 80. Add Lebron and Clarkson and you are at 120-125 if he opts in and assuming they can move Nene and the other contracts in the deal. That means you are going to have to deal Gordon AND Anderson to make the money work. No team is going to be thrilled sending draft capital to the Cavs for the privilege of taking on Anderson for 2 seasons and Cleveland isn't taking Anderson back for a couple of ****ty picks from us directly. In that scenario, Cleveland would absolutely be better off just having him walk vs. facilitating a move for him. It only all really starts to works and look like reality if CP3 walks or we deal Capela.

Morey has made some crazy magic happen so we will see and I'd be thrilled to see him pull it off. Rockets fans need to realize though that James to Houston probably isn't reality without Capela going somewhere in return. I'd be ok with that though even though I'm a huge Capela fan.

I think it is more likely James weighs his options and sticks it out in Cleveland and they burn some of the bullets they have (and they really do have some pretty good ones) to improve their roster and get better.

I'm sure Cleveland would rather get something for Lebron... I just struggle to see how Houston nets them assets in a deal even with additional teams involved.

Sixers hire David Griffin, then LeBron follows.

And just like that, Sixers become my second-favorite team

I'm a Lebron fan and would love him in San Antonio. My guess is Philadelphia

The best "win for the next 2 years" team would be Houston.

But I suspect he'll want to protect his unimportant statistics of finals appearances, so he'll stay in the east.

Once again free agency will be more interesting than the actual games.

Bunk Moreland said:

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But I suspect he'll want to protect his unimportant statistics of finals appearances, so he'll stay in the east.

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Funny that all the major stars who have signed with WC teams the last 8 years don't get the same scrutiny for running away from LBJ because they know they'd have to go through him to get to a NBA Finals.

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What major stars ran away to the West because of LeBron?

Junkhead said:

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Bunk Moreland said:

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Quote:

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But I suspect he'll want to protect his unimportant statistics of finals appearances, so he'll stay in the east.

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Funny that all the major stars who have signed with WC teams the last 8 years don't get the same scrutiny for running away from LBJ because they know they'd have to go through him to get to a NBA Finals.

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What major stars ran away to the West because of LeBron?

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Every star who chose a WC team (even if they originated there) during the last 8 years in Free Agency would be under consideration. Then you'd have to go in and decide whether or not they made a decision because it's easier to get to the finals without having to go through him or not. If the east is so easy, why didn't more guys go sign with EC teams?

My point is the whole "Lebron doesn't get due credit because the EC is weak" is bunk. Teams in the west also don't have to go through his team each year to get to the Finals. Of course the last 4 seasons the NBA All Star team in the west was going to stop everyone as well.

Just listing a few names, not defending the theory.
Paul George
Carmelo
Dwight Howard (at the time)
Jimmy Butler
Paul Milsap

Going the other way:
Gordon Hayward
Kevin Love

Ulrich said:

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Just listing a few names, not defending the theory.
Paul George
Carmelo
Dwight Howard (at the time)
Jimmy Butler
Paul Milsap

Going the other way:
Gordon Hayward
Kevin Love

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Durant stayed west too

Edit: Paul/Harden were trades that kept them west.

Bunk Moreland said:

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Ulrich said:

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Just listing a few names, not defending the theory.
Paul George
Carmelo
Dwight Howard (at the time)
Jimmy Butler
Paul Milsap

Going the other way:
Gordon Hayward
Kevin Love

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Durant stayed west too

Edit: Paul/Harden were trades that kept them west.

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Jimmy Butler was also traded. As was Carmelo. I fail to see this mass exodus of top level talent to the West because of a fear of LeBron.