<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Expert: Will LeBron be a Knick, Net or remain a Cav? New York and New Jersey look poised to go after Cleveland's James in 2010 ASK THE NBA EXPERT By Sam Smith updated 7:30 p.m. ET, Thurs., July. 17, 2008 There's an old line about sports in New York that goes something like this: There are two definitions of a dynasty. One is when a family from China rules the country for a thousand years. The other is when a New York sports team wins three games in a row. Yes, everything does seem bigger in New York, at least from their perspective. Which is why LeBron James is said to be seriously considering a free agent move there after the 2009-10 season, and why the Knicks and Nets are making little secret of their intent to lure James in two seasons. So much so that the Knicks are no longer taking on big or long-term contracts. Yes, the Knicks! And why the Nets would give up a near All-Star like Richard Jefferson for a broken-down player like Bobby Simmons and a long-shot project like Yi Jianlian. Both teams' moves are with the intent of being so far below the salary cap in two seasons they can offer James a maximum contract. The Cavaliers know this well. But James, for his part, has made little secret of his desire to be a financial as well as basketball superstar with a growing friendship with investment guru Warren Buffet and James' continuing commercial expansion. So where better to be than New York? And if, by the way, you one day want to be considered superior to Michael Jordan, well, that's not about to happen in Cleveland. Jordan had the Second City. So why not go for the first? Which brings us back to the Knicks and Nets, whose pitches are basically this: Knicks: Madison Square Garden, the Mecca of Basketball. They are in the City. Not San Francisco. THE City. The Nets aren't. Nets: But we've got Jay-Z in ownership, and he attracted Beyonce. So what's getting LeBron James compared to that? But that's 2010 and Chelsea Clinton could be running for president by then. It's a long time away, especially if you have to endure two more seasons with New York media and fans. The Nets really don't since it doesn't look like they'll get to Brooklyn and a new arena until maybe 2011, if at all. We assume they will since they now are officially as lame as a duck with a broken leg. Having traded Jason Kidd in February, which was a terrific move in swindling the Dallas Mavericks out of Devin Harris and a No. 1 pick in 2010 that should be in the lottery with the Mavs in full collapse, and Jefferson recently, the Nets are in full rebuilding mode. There's an old scouting saying around the NBA that "if you are going to make a mistake, make it big." It generally means if you aren't sure between two players, pick the big guy. Though usually it comes out to simply be big mistakes as most big guys not selected extremely high in the draft flame out. The Nets, though, are giving the theory a run. They've probably got a half-dozen young big men who could be centers in the East with 7-footers Nenad Krstic and rookie Brook Lopez, Yi, who probably is a small forward, sort of Brad Sellers-esque, at 6-11, Josh Boone and Sean Williams from the 2007 draft and 2008 rookie Ryan Anderson, a 6-10 combo forward. Plus, they've got Stromile Swift. One popular theory about building a team is to get a good lead guard and young big men. In Harris and the assortment with and around rookie Lopez, who surprisingly dropped to No. 10 in the first round and raised some questions in doing that, the Nets can't claim a stud big man. But they have the pieces that perhaps someone breaks through. It's worth a shot as they are going to stink. In announcing a move to Brooklyn a few years back, I felt they should have broken it up a year ago when Kidd's value was higher and they didn't have to re-sign Vince Carter. But ownership felt it could avoid being a lame duck franchise — wrong! — and there was a chance in the weak East to do something with a Big Three. That wasn't a bad idea, though it didn't work as they had the wrong Big Three. They'll try to move Carter in the next few seasons and I can see someone seeking a big name, like the Clippers at some point, making an offer, perhaps with someone like Cuttino Mobley with just a shorter contract like the Richard Jefferson deal. Mobley and Tim Thomas, with contracts coming off in the summer of 2010, would be ideal as the Nets can kick back a draft pick as well. In the meantime, the Nets are going to be awful. Not so much the Knicks. They have to get rid of Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph, and they are trying. Both have been discussed with regularity and I can see a small team like the Miami Heat taking a run at one, for sure. Miami needs to make itself appealing to Dwyane Wade in that same summer of 2010. Wade isn't going to New York, but he could go to Chicago, where's he's from. The Bulls could be well under the salary cap by then as well with Luol Deng and Ben Gordon apparently looking for other deals. Pat Riley desperately wanted young point guard Derrick Rose to play with Wade. Maybe Wade just goes and joins Rose in Chicago? But with Michael Beasley, Shawn Marion and Wade, the Heat has something now. It just needs some size inside. Perhaps Curry fits better than Randolph, the latter who likes the perimeter shot more. But if the Knicks can move one or both — and it appears they'll dump Stephon Marbury — they could be a lot better more quickly than you might think. Last season, with Isiah Thomas's imminent demise speculated on from Day 1, it couldn't have been a more dysfunctional, mutinous season. Now with Donnie Walsh and Mike D'Antoni, the Knicks have locked in leadership. And D'Antoni is a very good coach. True, he doesn't have Steve Nash anymore, but he has a philosophy that especially drives East teams nuts. His Suns teams overwhelmed Eastern teams every season. There isn't a great amount of defensive talent there, but D'Antoni doesn't much care about that anyway. Rookie Danilo Gallinari looks good and will get shots with D'Antoni. Jamal Crawford and Fred Jones will take them. Chris Duhon is a guard who can get teammates shots. You just hope Duhon doesn't take too many. Perhaps the Knicks keep one of the big guys, or more likely throw in David Lee to make a deal with one and add another player for that system. The Knicks don't seem like a playoff team yet, but I can see them on the upswing and playing an entertaining style more quickly than one might think after last season. And maybe just needing one more player. There's one thing you hear from almost every team, that they're one player away. The problem is the player usually is Jordan or Magic Johnson or Larry Bird. Maybe that player isn't so far away from the Knicks, and they might even be able to put together a few three-game winning streaks before then.</div> Link
