Category Archives: LeBron James
I’ll take Tony Soprano vs. the soundtrack from Gladiator any day. As expected, their main selling points are “staying home” and “unfinished business”. One elder Ohioan says something to the effect of “What king would give up his crown to be a prince” (i.e., in NYC).
But being King in NY is something completely different. Ask Clyde. Ask Willis. Ask Mark Messier.
There’s been back and forth over whether the Knicks are better off with Amar`e or CB4, and many leaning toward Bosh refer to reports such as these.
But as Bill Simmons said on Twitter, “I like Chris Bosh, but him holding up LeBron and Wade is like Don Cheadle standing in the way of Ocean’s 11 being made.”
@alanhahn: I'm being told Amar'e believes he can help Knicks get LeBron (recall all-star wknd in feb.). He's also texting Tony Parker about teaming up.
Jul 3, 2010 @ 01:45 AM from TweetDeckFrom Frank Isola of the Daily News:
“On the first official day of the free agent recruiting period, the Knicks finally get their face-to-face meeting with LeBron James, a franchise player if ever there was one, as well as a young talent who has told close associates that making New York City his home for the next six years appeals to him. Knicks president Donnie Walsh didn’t throw away two seasons just for the right to one day have lunch with James…If James elects to re-sign with Cleveland or joins Chicago or Miami, the Knicks feel they can still bolster their club via free agency by re-signing David Lee and adding Memphis small forward Rudy Gay, Milwaukee point guard Luke Ridnour and even Washington shooting guard Mike Miller.”
“…But the recruitment of James, Johnson and a big man is a more inspired and promising idea. By dividing its cap space equally among three elite recruits — another idea floated on behalf of Miami — the Knicks would pay starting base salaries of $11.5 million each to James, Johnson and the power forward. That amounts to a salary cut of $5.3 million per year compared to the max salary each player could receive from another market.
Including bonuses, each can player can earn an average salary of $15.7 million over a five-year contract, the source said…”
Interesting. And those are quite aggressive pay cuts. I was under the impression that pay cuts are bad for the rest of the league, from a players association standpoint, but according to Larry Coon they are not (thx @araia24).
@LarryCoon: It is what it is. They''re not going to tell player what he should/shouldn't sign RT @araia24: even though it effects the average salary #?
Jun 30, 2010 @ 04:08 AM from TweetDeckStill think there would be an issue, but I’ll defer to the Professor.
The “bonuses” SI speaks of appear to be what are known as “unlikely” bonuses, which kick in if the Knicks were to make the playoffs and beyond.
Ultimately they could have the advantage because the Bulls and Heat both made the playoffs last year. But I don’t see how they can manage $4million dollars in incentive bonus.
Still trying to wrap my head around this whole thing as it appears on the surface the Knicks are playing their cards right. Feel free to add your thoughts below.
Check out Mr. Coon’s offering on Max cap space this morning.
Discuss…The NBA could void a deal they thought was already brokered? Interesting.
Via Chris Broussard (ESPN-NY):
Tagged LeBron James |All the elaborate recruiting plans for LeBron James will have to change. James will not go on a recruiting tour, his longtime business manager Maverick Carter told ESPN.com Friday.
“LeBron is not going on a tour,” Carter said. “He never planned to go on a tour and has not been a part of any team’s plans for a recruiting trip.”
Instead, the Cleveland Cavaliers‘ superstar will visit with individual clubs at a neutral site once the free-agency period begins July 1.
James’ decision throws a monkey wrench in the plans of several clubs that hoped to sell him on non-basketball-related enticements such as the vibrancy of their city, the social life it may afford or the A-list celebrities that support their teams.
James, the most coveted player in this historic free-agent class, wants the focus to be on basketball and doesn’t want it to turn into a spectacle.
Man … I was really hoping for a spectacle … (more…)
“…As the July 1 start of free agency pushes closer, powerbroker William Wesley has been working multiple angles to NBA front offices about possible trades and signings. Here’s his latest: World Wide Wes has been pitching teams with salary-cap space that trading for New Orleans Hornets star Chris Paul(notes) will dramatically increase their chances of signing LeBron James(notes), multiple sources told Yahoo! Sports.
New Orleans general manager Jeff Bower has no intention of trading Paul, but multiple league executives believe that until owner George Shinn closes on the team’s sale with billionaire oilman Gary Chouest, there is a price with which Paul could be pried away.
He can be had with Shinn in there, but once the new guy takes over, he’s off the market,” one senior front-office executive told Y! Sports. Can Wesley deliver Paul? Extremely doubtful, but that hasn’t stopped his sales pitch to teams, league sources said…read more.”
“…LeBron James might want to learn from Mark Messier’s experience.
Messier left his hometown of Edmonton, where he both grew up and led the Oilers to five Stanley Cups, for the Garden stage. As a result, Messier turned into a Rangers legend, helped the team break its championship curse and became an iconic sports figure.
All because he left his hometown.
Messier believes James, no matter where his free-agent tour takes him, will not get a better offer than the Knicks can present to him in nine days.
“It will be up to him what kind of challenge he needs at this point of his career,” said Messier, who left Edmonton at age 30 in 1991. “I know he will be disappointed he hasn’t brought a championship to Cleveland, that will weigh heavily on him. But the opportunity to play in New York City and being a champion for a storied franchise is also going to be tremendously appealing. There’ll be other great offers from all the teams when he goes on tour, but in the end, I can’t imagine it being better than New York.”
Obviously something we’ve talked about here plenty, and the second interview with Mess (Hahn was the first) who will have a hand in courting James, according to sources.
Remember, however, that it wasn’t all roses for Messier initially or after they won the Cup. But everyone simply remembers and treats him like NY royalty.
“…“I never understood that magnitude of the Stanley Cup at the time,” Messier said. “Now 17 years later, I’m still getting thank-you’d on the street by men and their sons. It really gives you a tremendous understanding what it meant to play in a market that size.”
On another note, piggy backing on the Cleveland roster strength including Mo Williams, it seems people forget that Williams was a second round pick. Look at most of the second round “steals” and you’ll see that they have been paired with a star player. That’s not coincidence.
I’m also tired of this notion that after two years of planning people assume that if Lebron asks Walsh what’s up with the roster, Walsh is going to say, “Well, we haven’t figured that out yet.”
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