What does LeBron do in the off-season?

RoseMVP1

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So yesterday, several reports came out that should make the off-season for LeBron very interesting. The Lakers, a spot where many rumors had him going, apparently want to see what they have in their young guys next season and wait until 2019 for free agency. Then there was the reported heated yelling/cursing match between he and executives. The relationship between LeBron and the front office is toxic and is just getting worst by the day.

If he leaves Cleveland, which looks likely at this point, where does he go? The Lakers want to wait. In my mind the Knicks would have been a potential landing spot as it is: a huge market, his favorite place to play and has a legitimate star in Porzingis he could play alongside. Then of course, Porzingis tore his ACL and will be out a majority of next year, so I think that wipes out any chance of him going there.

I think Houston would be the likeliest destination since they already have a great team with two superstar players. At this point, at least on paper, Chicago could make a lot of sense. We already have a nice core of Dunn, Lavine, Markannen and pretty good bench players in Valentine and Portis. Then you throw in our upcoming draft pick in this draft and the fact that we play in the east and I think Chicago makes sense. That being said, if he came here and didn't win a title, for the rest of his life he would be hearing how Jordan won titles in Chicago and LeBron couldn't even bring one. For that reason alone, I don't see him coming here.

He and Wade could both go back to Miami, but even if they got it to work through sign and trade, with what they have they'd get 4-0'd by the Warriors. The Clippers are the Clippers and I don't think there is even a slight chance he goes there. Maybe San Antonio? Or maybe he just says fuck it and sticks around in Cleveland another year and rides it out until 2019 free agency. I'd like to hear other peoples thoughts on this
 

Crystallas

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I hope he goes to Lithuania, suits him the best.
 

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No team in the East has the "win now" personnel that Lebron would want except maybe Boston. That would be hilarious...and would make no sense given Kyrie wanted out from Lebron's shadow as it were.

Frankly, I don't care where he goes. No team is going to get him past the Warriors imo.
 

Houston

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Down here to Houston. The only problem is that when we it all this year it'll make it hard for him to switch to a team that just won a ring.
 

Axl Rose

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All i know is i have no interest in signing LeBron so he can trade Lauri for a Rich Paul client and then be forced to pay way above market value for said client. Then have LeBron bitch about not doing enough.
 

CODE_BLUE56

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Lakers just made a move to get Isaiah Thomas, and they don't have to commit to him past this season. I think they might be trying to make space to get LeBron.

Houston makes the most sense to me, get to play with your buddy Chris Paul on a team that's already pretty much championship level.

I would love to see him on the Spurs, but I don't know if LeBron is exactly enamored with having to play in SA and more under Poppovich's umbrella. Lebron likes a bit more autonomy.

I still think there's a chance he stays with the Cavs, although this season hasn't been helping a lot in that regard.
 

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I think the basketball world is better as a whole, if LeBron just retired. He's the most embarrassing face of the NBA in league history. A princess in every regard.
 

anotheridiot

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Lakers just made a move to get Isaiah Thomas, and they don't have to commit to him past this season. I think they might be trying to make space to get LeBron.

Houston makes the most sense to me, get to play with your buddy Chris Paul on a team that's already pretty much championship level.

I would love to see him on the Spurs, but I don't know if LeBron is exactly enamored with having to play in SA and more under Poppovich's umbrella. Lebron likes a bit more autonomy.

I still think there's a chance he stays with the Cavs, although this season hasn't been helping a lot in that regard.

Thomas claims he will not come off the bench, so the Lakers might end up buying him out if its a distraction. Seems he is a distraction wherever he goes. I personally do not know why teams do not just hard foul the little punk constantly. No team will want to give an absolutely no D 5'6 point guard the max deal he expects.

I cannot see James wanting to go to the west. Sure, he never played in the west, but why be forced to get past the warriors or houston just to get to the finals?

Apparently, the Cleveland GM saw this as making LeBron happy, and like I said, there will be bought out players that will want to go there for a shot at a ring. They claimed they spoke to both LeBron and Wade about Wade going back to Miami, so you wonder how much more of these deals went thru LeBron again. That was the position they seemed to keep LeBron out of over the off season with the new GM.

The bigger head scratcher was this happened after the biggest offensive explosion of the year for cleveland.

I will just wait to see some of the sportscenter top tens with lebron passing to nance 12 feet off the ground.
 

CODE_BLUE56

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Thomas claims he will not come off the bench, so the Lakers might end up buying him out if its a distraction. Seems he is a distraction wherever he goes. I personally do not know why teams do not just hard foul the little punk constantly. No team will want to give an absolutely no D 5'6 point guard the max deal he expects.

I cannot see James wanting to go to the west. Sure, he never played in the west, but why be forced to get past the warriors or houston just to get to the finals?

Apparently, the Cleveland GM saw this as making LeBron happy, and like I said, there will be bought out players that will want to go there for a shot at a ring. They claimed they spoke to both LeBron and Wade about Wade going back to Miami, so you wonder how much more of these deals went thru LeBron again. That was the position they seemed to keep LeBron out of over the off season with the new GM.

The bigger head scratcher was this happened after the biggest offensive explosion of the year for cleveland.

I will just wait to see some of the sportscenter top tens with lebron passing to nance 12 feet off the ground.

That's fair. I'm just not sure if there are any teams in the East LeBron wants to play with that will be able to beat the Warriors, even with him on it. Maybe the Celtics, but I don't see him reuniting with Kyrie after their fallout.

Of course, with him going to any team, he'll probably bring some players with him that want to play with LeBron and/or try to win a championship.
 

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Houston isn't a championship level team. James Hardhead and Chris Paul melt down in the playoffs when the pressure is on. Mike D'Antoni isn't a championship level coach. He's basically a Doug Collins who doesn't care about defense. Plus they are ball dominate players and that means it's going to be a shitshow because Lebron only plays the Lebron James systems. He isn't going to play off ball in D'Antoni's system. it's dribble dribble, bowling ball, dribble dribble spot up shooter, dribble dribble take my own contested shot. Dude, no, that would be a huge fail.
 

CODE_BLUE56

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Houston isn't a championship level team. James Hardhead and Chris Paul melt down in the playoffs when the pressure is on. Mike D'Antoni isn't a championship level coach. He's basically a Doug Collins who doesn't care about defense.
I don't disagree with your points here necessarily. However, the Rockets have the second best record in the league behind GS, and that's with CP3 missing 18 games. They're not a defensive juggernaut, but with the addition of CP3, as well having capable defenders in Gordon, Ariza, Mbah a Moute, they're actually not bad on defense. And Harden has improved in the past years.

I don't consider D'Antoni to obviously be a great defensive coach or anything, but this isn't the mid-2000s Suns.

Do I think they can get past the Warriors? Probably not. I don't think any other team in the NBA could either. If it wasn't for the Warriors, they'd have a good shot of winning the title this year. That's what I mean by "pretty much championship level"

Plus they are ball dominate players and that means it's going to be a shitshow because Lebron only plays the Lebron James systems. He isn't going to play off ball in D'Antoni's system. it's dribble dribble, bowling ball, dribble dribble spot up shooter, dribble dribble take my own contested shot. Dude, no, that would be a huge fail.

Again, that's fair. I'm not necessarily arguing from an X's and O's standpoint that it's exactly the best fit, but if you're trying to beat the Warriors it makes more sense. Either that or find some other team and bring a star or some good supporting players with you when you move. It's going to be difficult to win titles in this current environment without playing with at least one other ball dominant star.

I think Paul, Harden, and LeBron could ultimately coexist though. When you have three of the best playmakers/offensive creators in the game on the same team, that is a nightmare to plan for defensively. Figuring out how to help/double would be a serious problem. You're potentially opening up a lot of different options to get the other guys involved that aren't as easily available by themselves. Then factor in Houston's 3 point shooting. Yea, I am aware of the inevitable ISO ball that would occur at some points. But it's hell of a lot easier to make plays on ISO when defenses don't have to worry about two other high-level playmakers.

Plus, they've all at least played with each other a little bit during the olympics, so there's obviously some amount of familiarity playing together.

With that said, the bigger concern, to me, would certainly be the clash between D'Antoni and LeBron in reconciling their visions for the offense.

Again, not a perfect fit by any means. But it looks like the best bet if you're trying to win titles with GS still around as it is.
 

Shawon0Meter

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He needs to go play on the Warriors for 10 mill a year. What a stress free life!
 

RoseMVP1

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I cannot see James wanting to go to the west. Sure, he never played in the west, but why be forced to get past the warriors or houston just to get to the finals

He may be tired of taking losses in the finals. Maybe he just figures if he goes west and gets past the western conference finals, he’s guaranteed a ring. If he doesn’t, then he doesn’t have another loss on his finals resume.

If he didn’t care about that and he wanted to stay east, to me Chicago would make the most sense if he actually wanted to try to win finals. If he just doesn’t give a fuck and knows he probably doesn’t have a chance, then I think Miami would make sense.
 

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He may be tired of taking losses in the finals. Maybe he just figures if he goes west and gets past the western conference finals, he’s guaranteed a ring. If he doesn’t, then he doesn’t have another loss on his finals resume.

If he didn’t care about that and he wanted to stay east, to me Chicago would make the most sense if he actually wanted to try to win finals. If he just doesn’t give a fuck and knows he probably doesn’t have a chance, then I think Miami would make sense.

Philadelphia would make the most sense.
 

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