<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">For all the pub lic anxiety over whether Cavaliers superstar LeBron James will sign a contract exten sion this summer, here's the reality: It's James, not the Cavs, who will be on the hot seat if he doesn't sign a five-year contract extension this summer - one that would pay him at least $73 million (and likely more). Among the reasons: If James turns down the Cavs' deal, he'll be the first NBA franchise player ever to reject a maximum contract extension offered by his team after his third season. Among those who did sign extensions after year three: Boston's Paul Pierce, Steve Francis (at Houston), Baron Davis (at Charlotte), Phoenix's Shawn Marion, Antawn Jamison (at Golden State), Vince Carter (at Toronto) and Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki. And there's a logical reason each did so: Since it was the most money he could earn anyway as a fourth-year player, why not take the offer rather than hold off in hopes of more riches a year or two later? And while risking one bad injury that could blow everything? Now, is James that sure he's willing to go where no NBA player in his shoes has gone before and reject a contract extension with tens of millions of sure money? Hmmm. If James passes on the Cavs' offer and enters the 2006-07 campaign as a potential restricted free agent in 2007, he'll guarantee himself an entire season of answering questions like, "Why did you turn down such a huge offer from the Cavs?" "Aren't you clearly saying you want out of Cleveland?" "Are you afraid of being seen as greedy?" "Don't you worry Cavs fans will turn against you?" Is James, who has carefully built a glowing image and worshipful following here, ready for all that, day after day? Hmmm, again. James' agent, Leon Rose, has developed a rep in NBA circles as a well-liked guy who doesn't use adversarial, hardball tactics in representing clients. Would Rose be up for the sudden public scrutiny and criticism that would come from being "the agent who had LeBron say no to the Cavs?" Hmm, yet again. In short, maybe Cavs owner Dan Gilbert should stop his unseemly bragging about how much the organization is willing to grovel to keep James and just quietly let things unfold. </div> Source
A place that LeBron could consider is Indiana. They have O'Neal, a talented group of role players, and Rick Carlisle. If Peja actaully leaves that team I think LeBron should give that scenario a thought.
He should stay there, he fits there. And after the 2nd won over the Detroit, everything could happen next year, when he gets BETTER (how's this possible?;D) and Larry Hughes gets healthy. So stay in the Cavs !
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Smoke:</div><div class="quote_post">A place that LeBron could consider is Indiana. They have O'Neal, a talented group of role players, and Rick Carlisle. If Peja actaully leaves that team I think LeBron should give that scenario a thought.</div> Will they have cap space then? The logical place for him to go if he does decide to leave(which I doubt, since staying would be the smartest thing to do for him) would be Orlando. Now you might laugh at me for this, but Dwight Howard nearly led the league in rebounding and he should have been a sophmore in college. Who knows how good he will get. Dwight doesn't seem to be the type of guy that would demand the ball away from Lebron, he would share it, IMO. Lebron would still be able to do what he does best and set up the offense. Then he has Darko who is a great shot blocker and if he develops his shot a little more could be a very good role player. Then you look at the PG spot and you see Jameer Nelson, who is instant offense and he is a good passer. He shoots a really good percentage. Then at SF you have Hedo Turkoglu who is a matchup problem for anyone. He is extremely underrated. He can score whenever and however he wants and he's an underrated defender. He possesses size on nearly every SF and always seems to deflect a lot of passes. Then you mention that it's in Florida, no income tax and the fact that we will have 14-16+ million to spend on free agents, so we can sign someone else along with him. I don't understand why any superstar wouldn't want to play in Orlando in 2 years. Even though I would probably rather have 2 role players than a superstar and build around Dwight and Jameer. I definetely wouldn't complain if we got Lebron or Wade or Pierce.
