Where Will LeBron End Up? (Part 1)

The LeBron 2010 sweepstakes have begun! And as biased as I am being a Cavs fan, I want to go over the best option James has this summer. Now, I don't believe that LeBron has even thought about where he wants to go this summer. Well, maybe this past week he has, but I doubt its been in-depth thought. These are not in any kind of order and I'll go through each one to see which ones are likely and which aren't:



1. New York
2. New Jersey
3. Chicago
4. Miami
5. L.A Clippers
6. Dallas
7. Cleveland


There are 4 categories in which I think would at least play some role of James making his decision. After each team, I will list the ranking 1-7 (1 being the best, 7 being the worst) for these 4 categories: Winning, Administration, Location, Off-Court Perks. Since all 7 of these teams can offer a max contract (although Cleveland can offer just a little bit more money), money isn't really a difference-maker.

1. New York - 5, 4, 4, 1... The talk of the town, New York is the place most people think James will land. Statistically, NY ranks second on the list totaling 14 which came as a surprise to me. However, the winning category would seem to hold the most weight from what LeBron has been saying in which NY ranks a low 5th. Right now, NY has unloaded their team in hopes to land LBJ. They currently have 4 people listed on their roster as of July 1st. They have 2 max contract spots and a lot of financial wiggle room (and are probably more than willing to go into the luxury tax). NY is a big stage, something LeBron loves. He could probably get some more endorsements there, which is why the off-court perks rank #1.

The downside with NY is exactly what makes it big: the risk. There's nothing like winning in NY but there's also nothing like losing in NY, which is exactly what he'd do. They are not ready to win right now, there's not even a team there right now. Even assuming they land a good #2 like Chris Bosh, re-sign Derek Lee (who also plays PF), they're nowhere deep enough to make a run in the playoffs. Boston is still a lot deeper as is Orlando, so if winning is atop LeBron's list, NY isn't the place to go right now.

2. New Jersey - 7, 1, 5, 2... New Jersey is an interesting team, and its odds of landing a great team were lowered after missing out on the John Wall draft. Not that Cousins or Johnson will be bad picks, and they may even end up with Evan Turner. But a team that barely wins 10 games in a year is in no position to make a playoff run, even with landing the best player in the world. It can be argued that New Jersey doesn't even make the playoffs with LeBron James much less win multiple championships.

While I think NJ has some talent, it's very undeveloped and will take time to turn into anything. So yes, it may be a talented team, but the team has 0 playoff experience and just a little bit more winning experience. Having a good relationship with owner Jay-Z and eventually moving into the Brooklyn area will help, but I don't think it's enough to draw a player who wants to win right now.


3. Chicago - 3, 7, 6, 4... Statistically, this is the worst team to go to. I think this may be one of the better options because they already have solid players. However, their administration and coaching leave a lot of room for doubt. After firing Del Negro, who did a great job with a team that wasn't expected to go anywhere, the Bulls' future is a little uncertain.

First Blog Post...unfortunately

Welcome to my blog everyone! Thought I would create a blog to share my opinion on certain topics. If you want updates on my life (as I'm sure EVERYONE does, right), my wife Jodi's blog is probably a better place to get them. I wanted to talk about things that I want to talk about. Kinda like a journal....pretty cool.

So unfortunately my first topic comes at 3:30 a.m because I can't sleep...I think I'm getting a little sick. So while I've been up, I've looked at some of my friends' facebook statuses. One of my mission companions posts talks about Derek Fisher...he's a Jazz fan. Sorry Jazz fans, you're a little biased when it comes to Fisher but I want to hear your opinions on this matter. It's sad that my first post is about a Laker...I hate the Lakers...but I don't understand where Jazz fans are coming from. Here's my question:

Jazz fans, why do you hate Derek Fisher?

Really though, why do you hate him? Fisher played in California for 10 years, Utah 1 year. How do you get upset because he's going back to the place that he's spent just about all of his career at? He's not a Jazz player at heart, he's a Laker player at heart. And I hate the Lakers! (just making sure you know that I'm on your side of that issue) But how can you blame someone for wanting to go back to the place that they've played most of their life?

To help put this in perspective, let's switch it. Let's say Stockton, towards the very end of his career, got traded to the Pistons. He was there one year, and decided to come back to Utah to finish out his career. Would Piston fans be right in HATING him? He was only there ONE year! He's a Jazz guy! He's got family, friends, and business partners here. He knows the city, he feels at home here, his kids probably love it (one plays ball at Westminster) here. How can Detroit fans hate him for coming back after only 1 year with their organization?

If you haven't noticed by the pic, I'm a Cavs fan. Last year, we got Ben Wallace. Actually 2 years ago. So he played with the Cavs for 2 years before he got traded. He started his career out with Washington (3 years), then went to Orlando for a year (any Magic fans hate Ben Wallace?), then to Detroit for 6 years where he won a championship and anchored their defense, then to Chicago for 2 years (unfortunately for him), then to Cleveland for 2, got traded to Phoenix and then released shortly after and now he's back with Detroit. Little different circumstances, but I don't know of any Cavs fans who hate Ben Wallace. Yea he didn't ask to be traded, but he was going to retire had he not been traded. Even if he retired from the Cavs and went to Detroit we wouldn't hate him. And Cleveland is a very hateful city!! Just ask a Cav fan about Carlos Boozer.

So if this isn't enough, I watched the actual press conference where Fisher announces he's going to join the Lakers. First off, he thanks the Jazz a million times. He's a pretty classy guy off the court...on the court is another story. But I hear a lot of "well, Derek Fisher lied!! He's a liar!! He said he wanted to go to LA to use their doctors but he still uses his doctor in NY!!" Calm down, Jazz fans. He said in his press conference not once but twice that he is still using his doctor in NY as his treating physicain until his child is fully transitioned to the facilities in LA. His doctor in NY gave him a list of places that had adequate facilities where he could take his kid to in order to treat them.

He didn't say, "I'll be using the doctors here in LA and that's it." He clearly explained why he was going to California and that he would keep his treating physician in NY. So someone please explain to me where he lied or "gave up his integrity" by signing with the Lakers.

Everyone outside of Utah, even fans of teams who hate both Utah and the Lakers, really bag on Jazz fans for this. So I leave it to you, D-Will-ites (guess that doesn't really work). Why the hate on Derek Fisher?