Op-Ed: King James, King of New York?

By Joseph Landini           

(courtesy of Flickr.com)

With the playoffs right around the corner, one can only think what will be the next destination of Lebron James. With the possibilities varied around the league, the highest touted free agent will have his hands full. The only certainty known is that Lebron will sign a maximum size contract.

The most talked about location for the king has been New York. The Knicks have been waiting for this offseason for over a year now. They have cut payroll in order to get under the salary cap. Not to mention there offseason trade for Tracy McGrady was just acquiring another expiring contract that will come off the books at the end of the season. That trade made it possible for the Knicks to offer two maximum contracts. Money will not be the issue for the Knicks, but having such a bad team in the recent years might sway James away. If James wants to resurrect the Knicks, and hopes to make them a title contender then New York is the place to be.

Can Los Angeles be the next location for Lebron? No I’m not talking about the Lakers, but the Clippers. Imagine having both Kobe Bryant and Lebron James both residing in Los Angeles? Los Angeles would become the capitol of Basketball. The Clippers might have a shot in landing James when you think about it.  They have a nice up and coming team with young talented players, not to mention the long awaited debut of Blake Griffin. The question is does Lebron want to share the state of Los Angeles with his rival Kobe Bryant?

Will James settle and go to the worst team in league. The New Jersey Nets are in dire need of a change and they hope Lebron is the change. You must be thinking why would New Jersey be a possibility? Well aside from them being the worst in the league, Lebron wants to be an international icon. The Nets are not international, but there new owner is. Lebron, with help of there Russian owner, has the chance to become that international icon.

Relocation might not even be necessary. Cleveland is the hometown of Lebron. He has played there his entire career, and is getting closer and closer to a championship. The telling factor whether he stays or goes is the NBA Championship. If the Cavaliers win the title then Lebron is more prone to stay, as he will want to make a franchise out of it. If they lose this year then Lebron will see Cleveland as a lost cause and move his career elsewhere. All we really know is that this will be the biggest offseason in NBA history.