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LaBron to announce which team on ESPN Thursday night
By David Zizmor July 6, 2010 |
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It may appear that LaBron James maybe resigning with his old team in Cleveland or he might bolt for the New York Knicks but one thing for sure LaBron is making his announcement on Thursday night on ESPN. We'll find out for sure on Thursday there has definitely been roller coaster rides and it's certainly the craziest free agency period the NBA has ever seen and it's only complicated by the fact that the NBA is coming up on a new collective bargaining agreement issue in the next year or two that could completely change the landscape of free agency. This could change free agency how much money is available it just makes everything absolutely bonkers out there. There aren't too many times in the NBA when a type A free agent is available. Think what would have happened in the NBA let's say after 1993 if Michael Jordan had became a free agent. If all of a sudden any team in the league could have bid on Jordan and tried to convince him to leave the Bulls and come to their team. Would the Knicks, Lakers, have made a crazy offer. Would some team you would never expect would have made a crazy offer like the Hawks, Timberwolves, Cavs, Clippers, would have made a crazy offer to Jordan? Nobody knows, but if that's the caliber of player were talking about here these guys are all game changers. You’re looking at LaBron James the reigning MVP for the NBA the guy whose only 25 and he's not even scratching the surface of his potential at this point. He's a free agent available for anybody. You have LaBron and Dwayne Wade who’s won an NBA title. So these guys are available in the sweepstakes and Wade is a fantastic scorer and a great finisher around the basketball. He's an exciting player to watch, he has electric dunks but he could lead a team. Then you have Chris Bosh whose one of the top young power forwards in the game in a time when power forwards are in demand. Power forwards are a commodity and if you have a guy who can score and can rebound and that can command the paint or score with his back to the basket that's a rarity right now. So when you have guys like that that are available you have to make your best offer in trying to lure those guys from where they are and try and get them on your team if you have the money. A guy like Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Peirce they declared for free agency. Peirce signed with the Celtics and Nowitzki resigned with the Mavericks. For those guys to declare free agency wasn't a matter of switching teams and neither one of them really wanted to. The reason why they declared free agency is number one they could and it was in their contract and they were allowed to buy out or opt out of the deal and try free agency. The main reason they declared free agency is the collective bargaining agreement is up for negotiations in the next year or two. So the teams in play for LaBron is the Cavs and the Knicks who have famously been preparing for LaBron for years by acquiring contracts that would expire following the 2010 season. Beyond the Knicks, the Nets, the Bulls, and the Heat there are five teams that everyone seems to think are in the running the Clippers are in the mix too. No one really thinks that the Clippers are a legitimate team for LaBron. One thing for sure Labron is keeping everyone in a state of curiosity and why he would pick Thursday to announce rather than announce sooner like Wednesday is also a mystery. The only answer could be is that he really needs more time and that there might be some teams on the table who are still in the hunt. David Zizmor covers the NBA for Sportstalk Radio |
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