Lakers will resign him and he is older over 30, no one but the Lakers will give him the type of money he will look for.

 

That absurd.

Who's to say the Knicks will land LeBron? He's native Northern Ohio, has a 30,000 square foot house there, his entourage is there, and the Knicks may be no better than the Cavs if he leaves. Sure he could possibly make more money endorsement wise, but the NBA isn't the MLB, the money won't be much different when it comes down to salary.

 

I think people seem to forget that and think the Knicks and Nets are going to give him 40 Mil a year.

His Nike contract expires in 2010 as well and the rumor is Nike will give him more dough if he can get in a bigger media market. The Knicks, then, have a distinct advantage in getting LeBron to NY (as do a team like Chicago or LA if they can free up cap space).

 

I also think that we forget that winning in NY is a big deal for an athlete in terms of his marketability and legacy. Ask Eli, Derek Jeter or Mark Messier what winning in New York did for their marketability. All things being equal with money, superstars want to go to NY or Chicago or LA.

 

Lastly, don't over-state Lebron's loyalty to Cleveland. He is not from Cleveland, he is from Akron. Those are two different cities. I also think (no inside knowledge, just my observation) that he may have some ill feeling toward the Cleveland brass, Danny Ferry specifically, for not getting him more help to make the Cavs a championship contender.

Sure Nike will pony up more money if he's in NY but really, the guy has more money than he'll ever be able to spend. It will be interesting to see what NY does FA wise in the next few seasons, I don't see him leaving the Cavs unless the Knicks build a solid base between now and when he becomes a FA.

I don't imagine the Knicks will do anything big in terms of free agency this year or next. It would be counter-productive to tie up the money that was just freed up for the 2010 class.

 

The Knicks will probably focus on trying to draft well and worry about getting role players after they get the two big pieces in 2010.

 

Please don't underestimate the role that money from Nike will play in this decision for LeBron. If it wasn't about the money, he would have signed a long term deal with Cleveland already like Carmelo did with the Nuggets. He didn't, so the Nike money must be a factor.

They are saying that it is now mathematically possible for the Knicks to go after LBJ, Bosh AND Nash. :eek: You would then be looking at the next "Big III" in the Eastern Conference.