Great Lebron piece by the fans at waitingfornextyear.com, as they try and distinguish how the Nets clearing cap space is the
first bad sign Lebron may be skipping town in 2010.
“The basis for all of this is simple. The Nets traded Richard Jefferson, thus freeing the $15 million dollars he’s due in 2010 from their roster. As of right now, the only money the Nets have locked in for 2010 is the $17 million due to Vince Carter. So, according to the popular sentiment, this means the Nets are lined up to bring LeBron James aboard in 2010. Ok, so the Nets also have team options for Yi Jianlian and Sean Williams, and they will have qualifying options for Marcus Williams, Josh Boone, and Maurice Ager. So there you have it. Your 2010 Nets. Perhaps Devin Harris will still be there. Harris, Vince, LeBron, Yi, Boone, a pair of Williams’, and an Ager.
What the great lie doesn’t tell you is that the Cavaliers have $0 tied up for 2010. It’s possible that Delonte West and Daniel Gibson could both still be there. J.J. Hickson and Darnell Jackson will likely still be there. Who knows who else the Cavs may sign or trade for between now and then. The biggest thing the Great Lie overlooks, though, is the fact that LeBron will be a Qualifying Veteran Free Agent. You might know these better as players who hold their Bird Rights. Tonight I went through and read the Collective Bargaining Agreement line by line in an attempt to better understand the Cavaliers’ unique advantage in keeping LeBron. You know what I found out? I could barely understand one single paragraph of that thing. Legalese is like a foreign language to me. Thankfully, I found this nice little tool to assist me in understanding how Bird Rights work.”
Fret not, loyal Cavs fans, from what we’re hearing the Nets may not move to Brooklyn until 2011 or 2012, if at all, which means King James in Newark just doesn’t have the same bling to it.
On second thought, this would open up the opportunity to rule NY, like he did last winter, (I know, I know… WHY would he come to a crappy team? Simple, the Knicks will be pretty solid by then-Trust us) meaning you’re going to have to convince him to stay home. And by convince, we don’t mean trading for Vince Carter. You’ve got 2 years, we’ve got 2 and the Nets, well, the Nets have their hands full with politics.
Game on.
say it loud, say it proud, tommy!
Won’t Chris Paul be a free agent at the same time? I know Lebron is great, but honestly, I’ll take Chris Paul because he makes his teammates better – something that I’m still not sold that King Lebron does.
LeBron is awesome. I mean c’mon.
The thing is, we do have to shed salary to get him. It doesn’t have to be this year, or even next off-season, but somewhere along the line, we have to do it.
Tommy, you are right. I think we’ll be a playoff team in two years. Who knows, we might even be a playoff team this year. Unlike other lottery, rebuilding teams, we have a lot of high-priced talent. If D’Antoni can get them to play together and play hard, then they should be scary immediately. Just like Jeff van Gundy said.
let’s not get carried away. high-priced players do not equal playoffs. i would hope we are improved by 2010, but I’m not exactly expecting a playoff team by then, even in a very weak Eastern Conference. Maybe I’m just the eternal pessimist, but Donnie Walsh and Co. have a very difficult task ahead of them.