Now that Cleveland has been unceremoniously bumped from the playoffs yet again, the speculation is rampant about where Lebron James will land once the free agent feeding frenzy begins. We here at "Busting Chops" have it all figured out.
There is only one team James can go to if he wants a ring, and that's Boston. Here is why-
1) The Knicks suck, and even if they add Wade or Bosh, they have no one else on that team worth playing with. They will also be at the salary cap limit yet again if they sign two max contract players. So adding other players, like the point guard they desperately need, will be out of the question. And please, Chris Dujon is marginally better than your average D-League desperado-he couldn't lead a crackhead to his pipe, much less be the floor general for a championship team.
2) Chicago-in a word, "NO". Joachim Noah is a serviceable big man, a high energy-type who suffers from a lack of coordination and a poor offensive game. What he lacks in talent he makes up for in hustle, and he has a lot of hustle. He is no better than any of Cleveland's current big men, just a tad bit younger. He's an overachiever who has maxed out his potential. Derrick Rose is a great point guard, but he is basically a smaller version of Lebron. Two guys with the same type of game on the same team won't work. Anyone else on that squad worth mentioning? No, not after they traded 50% of their offensive production to clear salary cap space. And their coaching situation is precarious at best. There doesn't seem to be much stability in that front office, which quite a number of times has resembled an MMA cage.
3) The Clippers are such a poorly-run franchise that even with their solid group of players, Los Angeles would not be a good move for him. And with Baron Davis, you never know what you're going to get-too many times he's shown up fat, injured and unmotivated. And their coach is...who, exactly?
4) Miami-they have two guys who cannot play their positions well enough to help them in the playoff hunt-Beasley and Chalmers. "Nuff Said.
5) Jay Z better go swallow a chill pill and wash it down with some Moet, or whatever high rolling rap moguls drink nowadays because James is not going to Jersey. Think the Knicks suck? These clowns are their lower case brethren. Brook Lopez is a solid big man in the mold of Jon Konkack, except he lacks Konkacks' sublime versatility and offensive nimbleness (that's sarcasm, just in case you missed it). He is worse than any big man Cleveland has right now, and the rest of his teammates do not bear mentioning. Forget Brooklyn, forget playing with point guard Devin Harris, forget the Russian billionaire whoremonger owner. The Nets have no future as a championship squad. I've seen this team play live-they are actually worse than their record indicates and their upside is severely overrated.
This leaves us with...
The Celtics will probably not resign Ray Allen, so there may be a spot for Lebron on a team where he does not need to be "The Man" every night. With a great core group of highly motivated and seasoned ballers, adding James will allow this hard-working, talented but aging roster to add 2 more years of championship caliber basketball to their resumes.
This all changes if he wants max money, which the Celtics cannot give him due to their salary cap issues. He makes enough money off endorsements so that his NBA salary should not be an issue. But a max contract on any other team will put him right back where he started with Cleveland-on a team too capped out to add the necessary pieces to make a run in the playoffs.
So he has a choice-go for the big money and endorsement opportunities in NYC, Miami or Chicago, becoming the global icon he already is and making his dream of being the first billionaire athlete come true, or he can cement his legacy with a couple of championships in Boston. He can take a pay cut for two years to get this done.
Any other move would just be a crab dribble down the lane of mediocrity.
Now, if he stays in Cleveland, they need to start moving their asses. First order of business should be the firing of coach Mike Brown. Get him outta there. That should be priority number one on their to-do list.
Second, now that O'Neil and Ilgauskas are free agents, they need to be shown the door. A sign-and-trade with Ilgauskas so they can get a quality player out of the deal would be a good move. They can't do that with O'Neil because no one wants his fat ass.
Third, start trading players. Antawn Jamison-OUT. Booby Gibson-OUT. Leon Powe-OUT. I would keep Telfair to see if he can run the point-he still is a relatively young player in the league and has not burned himself out. Besides, I like his game. He is a true pass-first point guard with speed and quickness that is hard to come by nowadays.
It's about time Telfair takes his melon-sized head out of his ass and realize that all of those idiots who told him how great he was in high school fucked him over, because he really should have gone to college to work on his game. Those are years he will never get back and it has hurt his development tremendously. But I believe there is still hope for him.
Lebron can carry a team only so far, and bottom line is the Lakers are stacked for the foreseeable future. James cannot go to any other team that can put the requisite talent on the floor to take them on except for Boston. And that's if they can get past the Orlando Magic, who have done nothing since last year except get better.
Lebron will make his money, and retire as the billionare global marketing icon that he always wanted to be. He will also be in a tremendous position to own an NBA franchise once he retires. Bt putting together a championship contender in the East, with all those teams in the West getting better and better, he may have to think outside the box on this one.
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