By Sean Nolan
The NBA is about to enter a summer of flux.
The New Jersey Nets have a new mega-rich Russian owner, who has just promised a championship within five years. The best coach in the league, Phil Jackson of the LA Lakers, is hinting at quitting the club, and a number of big-name players are expected to be on the move as free agents, including Chris Bosh from Toronto, Dwayne Wade from Miami and Amar’e Stoudemire from Phoenix.
But beating all those in terms of impact is LeBron James. And, more precisely, where he decides to play his basketball next season.
At 25, James has won everything in the game, from MVP to Olympic gold. Everything, that is, except for an NBA championship ring. Now entering his peak years, his next move will be based on his new team’s ability to win that elusive title.
For the last seven years he has played for his hometown team. Born in Akron, Ohio, Cleveland was his nearest NBA team and James promised to bring a title to the once-lowly Cavaliers.
He did bring them to the NBA finals in 2007 and the Conference finals in 2008, but a weak elimination in the Conference semi-finals for the second time in a row, despite the arrival of Shaquille O’Neal this year, show a distinct lack of progress for the Cavs.
Mike Brown, the Cavaliers coach for the last five seasons, was fired on Monday and perhaps a new high-profile coach (anyone got Phil‘s number?) could persuade James to stay. However it looks like it’s time for ‘King James’ to find a new castle.
Salary cap regulations
Thanks to the complex salary cap situation in the NBA, only a handful of clubs have the capacity to sign James. Some have spent the last two seasons clearing their roster to make room for him and his fellow free agents. Chief among them is the New York Knicks.
The Knicks are the Newcastle United of the NBA. They have a massive, and loyal, fan base, in a city that is crazy for basketball. However they have won only two championships in their 64-year history, the last in 1973. If James could bring a title to New York, a city that feels it is the natural home for a player like James, he would be a hero of epic proportions.
It would be a massive task. The Knicks have a poor roster and would require James plus another big name to revitalise the team. A move to the Big Apple is possible – James is believed to like the city – but NYC fans can turn quickly and if he didn’t bring immediate success it could turn very nasty in the Garden.
Another team in the area have hopes of signing James too. The New Jersey Nets have just finished one of the worst seasons in living memory. Twelve wins from 82 games left them ranked the worst team in the NBA. However, with Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov buying the team, hopes are rising in Newark.
The Nets minority owner is Jay-Z, a close friend of James, and who wouldn’t want to work for Mr Beyonce? But Newark is not New York, and with the Nets’ move to Brooklyn delayed until 2013, James may not wish to wait for that boost to the franchise.
California dreamin’
The west coast’s biggest city also has designs on James, but it’s the forgotten kid of LA basketball, the Clippers, who have the cap space. The Clippers have a decent roster but Kobe Bryant is king in LA, and James would not be prepared to play second fiddle to anyone, let alone his biggest rival in the league.
That leaves just two more options. The Miami Heat already have Dwayne Wade, and their best hope of keeping the 2006 NBA Finals MVP is to sign James. D-Wade and James together, plus a solid supporting cast, could win multiple championships and South Florida is an easy sell as a location.
Number crunch
Finally there is Chicago. Conspiracy theorists like this one because of the numbers, and for a change we don‘t mean dollars. LeBron James currently wears 23, in honour of his hero Michael Jordan. In March this year, James applied to the NBA to have his number changed from 23 to 6, his Olympic squad number. When Jordan retired, the Bulls retired his number, so if James were to choose Chicago, he would need a new number. As a wiser man than me once said, simples.
However there are better reasons for believing Chicago will be his destination. They have the strongest squad of all the options open to James.
Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah are excellent players, the calibre of player James needs around him to win rings.
Rose is a ball-hog and James had a beef with Noah in this year’s play-offs but none of these are insurmountable problems. Add in the chance to select his own coach – Vinny Del Negro got the bullet after the play-offs – and the chance to emulate Jordan by winning in Chicago makes the city a perfect location for James.
A man who lived in Chicago, President Obama, has even weighed into the debate in recent days, telling TV station TNT: “You know, like I said, I don’t want to meddle. I will say this: Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah — it’s a pretty good core. You know, you could see LeBron fitting in pretty well there.â€
So, when the most powerful man in the world, who happens to know a bit about basketball, reckons Chicago is the best fit for James, then who am I argue to argue?
