which team is better for LBJ????

[Crazy⑧s]

It certainly isn't Cleveland!

Have a look at their roster.

http://hoopshype.com/salaries/cleveland.htm

They're trying to ship Mo Williams to Toronto apparently. I assume it's for Jose Calderon? Their salaries are within $300,000 of each other. Can't see how that's an upgrade? It's just a revamp. They wouldn't bother trying to trade for Bosh obviously.

They've also apparently told DeLonte West to GTFO. Maybe he gave Gloria a sanchez?

So their back court is absent/undecided at the moment, leaving Booby Gibson to take the reigns. And is it just me or is he really shit? Painfully shit even?

Verajao and Jamison showed what they're worth when it counts. As did Shaq and Z (though neither of them are on the team officially at the moment.)

So including Williams and West, Cleveland only have the required league minimum roster of 12 players. Sans Williams and West their starting line up would most likely be:

1 Calderon - if not, Booby.
2 Parker
3 LBJ
4 Jamison
5 Veryshit - I mean Verajao.
6 Hickson

Douglas, Lee, Gallo, Walker, Chandler and Barron (maybe) looks way tastier than the Cavaliers band of clowns. And if Calderon is traded for Mo, their combined roster equates to just under $69M in salary!

It's gonna be a tough decision for LeBron to stay. If winning REALLY is priority #1 then no amount of loyalty will convince him to hold out with a pack of vegetables.

I think Ferry stood down at the right time before the roster he created gets put under the magnifying glass.

This is why draft night is enormous for us in the LBJ sweepstakes.

I've bitched, bitten, kicked and whined about taking on Okafor, but if it gets us Collison then we have a very decent team with cash to spend, a center and a city to flaunt.

If by July 1st we have a team that resembles what HomeTheatreGuy concocted in this thread:

http://www.knicksonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8044

Chandler
Okafor
Gallinari
James this is obviously prior to James of course.
Parker

Bench
Wilson Chandler
Toney Douglas
Walker
Giddens

Then we really have a shot.

If not, then it's Chicago. Talent = talent = championships no matter how you twist it. We can't honestly say that they don't have the best roster. He'll go where he gets the most help.

God damn it I am dying of apprehension!:sweat:

 

[SSj4Wingzero]

...You know, I predict that next year, NOBODY on the Cavaliers is going to be as good as Gallo.

Who's their best player going to be, Antawn Jamison? Hell no, he's old and he sucks and he's washed up. Let me know when the Cavaliers have a decent 2nd option OH WAIT THEY DON'T CAUSE FERRY WASTED HIS CAP SPACE ON JAMISON

So what does that mean? So long as LeBron signs with Cleveland, they're stuck with pretty much the SAME EXACT ROSTER as they had this year WHEN THE CELTICS CRUSHED THEM

None of the players on the Cavaliers is a valuable trade chip for ANYBODY. If LeBron goes back to Cleveland, he's stuck with them. Actually he might be stuck with WORSE if Shaq and Big Z choose to leave...they might even be a WORSE team, with only the MLE to improve their roster. Would you rather have the Crapaliers' roster + one MLE contract, or...CHRIS BOSH?

It's COMMON SENSE. Without LeBron the Cavaliers SUCK and have NOBODY

 

[OriginalKnickGrandson]

The Knicks.


Gallinari is the best type of scorer you want playing next to James.
Lee is the best type of the big man you want playing next to James.

They both play off the ball, and very good shooters, and very skilled and aware offensively. They will take pressure off LeBron and LeBron will make them better.

Lee and Gallinari is better than anyone on Cleveland. LeBron would much rather play with Lee than a ball dominator in Derek Rose.

Harris is a scoring PG who will take away points and creation from LeBron and Lopez is a great center, but Lee can play a role player role to the superstar, as Lopez would disappear as a role player, he shows up best as a featured player.


Basically Lee and Gallinari are the biggest factors in this FA thang for LeBron and a huge positive for us because they're our homegrown kids, even though David Lee is a bastard from Isiah Thomas.

Douglas
Walker
LeBron
Gallinari
Lee

Is honestly a line up that would surprise a lot of people.

When you add Collison and Okafor into the mix, thats a championship team.

Collison(passing)
James(superstar)
Gallinari(Shooting)
Lee(rebounding)
Okafor(shotblockin)

Great post Metro, I just hope LeBron see's it like we do :thumbsup: and Donnie makes it happen!

 

[moneyg]

I like your idea about the Okafor and Collison trade going thru , and resigning D Lee............., but with the way things are (roster wise) as well as $$$ wise around the leage the best place for LBJ to really go is the LA Clips!

Yeah I said it, the Clippers! Best weather, best celeb's , best young cast and cash to burn

Blake Griffen and LBJ sounds like a pretty nasty duo (not to mention E.Gordan,C.Kamen and others)

let us let blake play a nba game first.. all u know he could be another greg oden...

 

[moneyg]

Cosign! You're argument is really flawed money.

You tried to assert opinions such as "more teams prefer Lee to Lopez" when in actuallity that is absurd. Lopez is a true 7 footer who plays center, dominates the glass and the paint on defense, and did I mention he is 22??

Lee is the older player AND has no winning experience so he isnt exactly a proven winner in the league.

Collison should not even be on this thread. 0% chance we keep Chandler and/or Douglas if we want Collison to be included in a trade for Curry's expiring.

The Knicks still look better than any of the listed teams if you add Bosh to the Knicks, but that's the thing...YOU WOULD HAVE TO ADD BOSH! As of now, the Nets are the best team talent wise that can offer the max.

this thread is based on the potential trade....i did not list chandler in the lineup becuz i know he will have to be included...

its your opion about lee... i know if i had to pick ... im picking lee....id rather have a chap center like .. kendrick perkins beside him then have brook... lopez.. this guy play no d as well. if he was lee height he would be a the worst defender... lead feet.

 

[NYKnuniversity]

this thread is based on the potential trade....i did not list chandler in the lineup becuz i know he will have to be included...

its your opion about lee... i know if i had to pick ... im picking lee....id rather have a chap center like .. kendrick perkins beside him then have brook... lopez.. this guy play no d as well. if he was lee height he would be a the worst defender... lead feet.

Its not an "opinion" that ANY NBA GM would take Lopez over Lee. He is 22, and a true 7 footer! A young big with size is the most valuable piece to a franchise. Only a few teams have them: Lakers, Magic, and the Nets...trust me, no one is jumping on an older Lee.

Your assertion about D doesnt even make sense...if he WERE Lee's size? Well guess what? He's not shrinking any time soon....

 

[Paul1355]

currently yes.. but im certain that a PG combo like cllison and td is way more effective than rose could ever be. rose is more of a scorere whereas collison is a passer with scoring ability and defensive pressure and migh i add a jumpshot that rose doesnt have. he will fit better with lebron...:smokin:

Toney Douglas is more effective than Derrick Rose???

Even Collison needs multiple years to match up to Derrick Rose.

 

[NYCsBabiGurl]

I think NYK is the best choice.. of course i could be a bit Biased but Ny has some much more to offer Lebron. I was watching this video made by some New Yorkers trying to convince free agents to come to NY and I agree that NY is the best! http://www.msg.com/our-teams/knicks

 

[p0nder]

I agree most with metro on this thread. I see James looking for a place that he will fit in well.

LeBron needs the ball in order to be at his most effective. Chicago has a ball hog in Derrick Rose... Miami has D-Wade. NY is poised for a true ball handler with skill to take over.

This is why I say New York is a much better destination.

Think of it in terms of big 3's. It is a widely held belief that championship teams need to have at least 2 superstars on the court and at least one serviceable 3rd option. We have our better younger 3rd option/Ray Allen in Gallo. We could have our VASTLY superior F/G Pierce in Lebron should he decide NY is the place. And we could have Bosh as our younger, better shooting, better rebounding KG.

With those three pieces in place we would have the most dangerous Big 3 on the court any given night. Much better then our east coast rivals Boston and even better then the current champs the Lakers, who have made the finals 3 years running.

Not to mention the support from management and fans that would bring in better players. Looking at it from a long term perspective NY is one of the youngest teams around and with bosh and lebron could go for rings 1 through 5 immediately.

 

[RaptorRulz]

If the Knicks were to land LBJ and Bosh that would be a big deal.. and you could bet dollars to donuts lee and gallo would be on their way out to the teams doing a S&T at minimum, plus adding more players... no team is going to take scrubs for their all stars. And all-stars will not leave what amounts to 30M guranteed on the table, especially should Bosh or LBJ suffer a carreer threatening knee injury( More likely to happen to Bosh as his knees are suspect). This is their contract to make the most money possible. So the notion of either Gallo or Lee playing alongside LBJ and Bosh is rather short sighted. Just my two cents.

 

[KBlack25]

I think I agree with metro on this one.

Look - take LBJ off of Cleveland, is that team REALLY that much better than the Knicks. Varejao is better defensively than Lee, but what else is there really? LeBron makes a team full of 4 and 5 out of 10s look like 7s or 8s. Lee has already looked like a good ball player, and was recognized with an All-Star trip. Gallo, while he gets bashed a ton on this website, is a pretty decent outside scorer, I just don't think he is ready or ever will be "the" scorer on any NBA team, which is what he was asked to do a lot this year.

But what we also have to factor in is LeBron's ego.

Look, if LeBron was going to stay in Cleveland, if he didn't just love the ESPN attention, he would have signed an extension already. Why didn't he sign? He wants to have dinner in NYC with Donald Trump, he wants Pokorov to take him out on the town, he wants to have his ego stroked by any team that has a free cent to try and win him over.

That same attention-grabbing nature of LBJ makes NYC the front runner if he leaves, in my opinion. In Chicago, LeBron is always going to be 2nd best to MJ unless he wins 7 titles. In LA, LeBron will be playing on the 2nd fiddle team, and will be the 2nd fiddle player as long as Kobe is in town. In Miami, the fans are already loyal to their championship-winning D-Wade more than they are LeBron. NJ is and always will be NY's little brother. If LBJ came to NY and won a title, just one title, he'd be forever immortalized in our minds. They might even give him a statue over it.

As for the Lee v. Lopez debate, I think Lee gets an unfair wrap. Lee was forced into playing Center out of position, whereas Lopez was slotted where he is naturally able to play. Lopez is good, no doubt, but Lee put up huge numbers all year out of position. If the Knicks can get a center, not even one that's that great, but a big guy that can stand in the middle and play slightly competent defense against the other team's center, and Lee can play where he was made to play, at PF, imagine the damage Lee could do.

And all this talk about how Lee isn't a proven winner and all that...what has Lopez done in the grand scheme of teams besides being a featured player on the team with the worst record in the league last year? To bring up that Lee has never won as a point of contention in Lopez's favor is absurd.

 

[SSj4Wingzero]

Don't forget the fact that Miami has a hard time drawing a solid crowd DESPITE D-Wade leading them to a title