The LeBron Thing

It has become borderline irresponsible to have a blog or newspaper column or television show or lungs, and not speculate what LeBron James will decide to do 8 months from now. Do this: Go to Google and enter July 1, 2010 and see what the first result is. Go ahead, I'll wait. Ok, come back. Please? So back to this LeBron thing. Within the last few days, ok ever since LeBron signed his extension in 2006, the guessing game of where 'The King' will end up in the Summer of 2010 has been every NBA fan's favorite pastime. 

Since LeBron's visit to Madison Square Garden last Friday the internet has been in full "Where is LeBron going? What is LeBron thinking" mode. His latest destinations include New York (as always), Chicago, the Clippers, and... the Miami Heat. You can expect for the latter to continue to be a topic of conversation this week as James and the Cavaliers play in Miami on Thursday.

First off, I believe LeBron will be re-signing with Cleveland. Good team, it's home, he's done just fine in his quest to become a "Global Icon" in Ohio. But I don't pretend to know what the guy is thinking and if I had to guess, I would say that he probably flip flops on this thing all the time. Hell, he basically said as much last week. It's hilarious that everyone hangs on his every word trying to figure out his motives as if he talks in code-speak. Maybe he does. It's been my impression that he's been straightforward in saying that even he doesn't know what he's going to do yet.

All that being said, lets pile on and take a look at the Miami scenario. The driving force behind this theory is that Miami would be able to retain Dwyane Wade and still have enough cap room to sign another max-salary player. The cap room will be there baring any mid season trades and its safe to assume that if LeBron would be willing to come to the Heat then Wade will gladly re-sign with Miami. It would be an understatement to say that a lineup consisting of Dwayne Wade, LeBron James, and who the hell cares, would be a title contender for years. That alone would have to be at least mildly intriguing to LeBron and I don't think its crazy to say that it's something that he will at least contemplate, if he hasn't already.

Whenever a Lebron-to-the-Heat story comes up, the first question that is always asked is along the lines of "Would either James or Wade be willing to play second fiddle to the other?". Its a valid question and could be the biggest reason why something like this could never happen. I think Israel Gutierrez made an interesting counterargument in his article in the Miami Herald today. And while I'm not sure that I agree that "Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen wouldn't even compare", it would be the closest thing to MJ and Scottie that we may ever see.

Its a fascinating idea to say the least. And again, I think LeBron James is going to remain a Cav even if it's just a gut feeling. But that's all any of this is right now. Gut feelings and speculation. July 1st, 2010 has been on all of our minds for one reason or another for a long time now. We are in the stretch run of a marathon that started back in July of 2006. We'll see who the winner is sometime this summer.