Marc Stein: Christopher Paul is already recruiting Lebron

doesnt really matter if he returned to cleveland. he returned to clev to join a kyrie irving and advocated the trade for love. Lebron went to miami to play will a still mvp caliber player in wade and top big in the league bosh. its already right in front of you at this point. people need to really understand what it really takes to beat this GS team

 

My hope is that both LBJ and CP3 can extend their careers by relying more on Harden to do more of the heavy lifting throughout the season, saving themselves for a title run.

CP3 I think gets injured because he pushes himself so hard because he wants it that bad. He’ll push himself to the brink of injury just to keep his team in the game. He went further this year I think because he had Harden to share the load.

Harden is 4 years younger than CP3 and LBJ, and proven he can be relied on to win enough regular season games all on his own. Hoping that means it preserves the older guys from injury.

 

Fathorse:

[...]

In effect, James' free agency began Wednesday night. The Cavs failed to make it a series, and now it is just about pride for the Cavs and the location of Golden State's postgame victory party. James will fight the good fight; he's perhaps the greatest performer in elimination games in NBA history.

But those trying to peel James away from his home -- teams that now know for sure that they won't have to compete with a title-winning Cavs team in free agency -- had better come up with a presentation that accounts for how James is going to reverse the reversal that Durant has engineered on him.

The same issue is in James' lap as he evaluates where he might elect to spend the final years of his career, where can he play that presents itself as the best option for him. The next month will be spent evaluating this, and right now, there isn't an easy answer.

[...]

But James has just as big of a problem with Durant now as he did with Pierce back in the day. The best solution -- calling up free-agent-to-be Durant at the end of the series and asking him to join forces with him in someplace like Los Angeles -- seems to be off the table with Durant having finally achieved the higher ground.​

 

History hasn’t been nice to us acquiring stars at the end of their career. It’s only worked out for us Clyde. Barkley, Pippen, Mutumbo, even CP3 so far. hopefully Lebron can reverse the fortunes

 

We went to the WCF with Barkley and were on the verge of the Finals. Mutombo came here as a spot player and was great for us in that role.

The only one that didn't work out was Pippen.

 

The plan is coming to fruition!

 

Say what now? With Barkley, we got past Sonics. Mutombo was never supposed to be a star for us. CP3 helped us reach a franchise record for season 3, the WCF, and so damn close to the Finals. What are you smoking?

 

Revisionist history because those teams didn't end up with rings.

Those players gave it their all when they were here, except for Pippen. Barkley carried the team for the most part when he was here.

 

Barkley did what he was supposed to do and that was get us past the Sonics. He couldn't help the fact that the refs let Karl Malone bearhug Drexler in the WCF.

 

Drexler attempted the last shot too early. But it's moot since the Rockets wouldn't have won Game 7 at the Delta Center.

 

i freaking hate jason mcintyre man. all his takes are about how lakers gonna sign everyone in every offseason. his own articles contradicts the **** that comes out of his mouth. i just read an article by him and the title was "Houston Gave the Blueprint for How to Beat the Warriors - Which is Why LeBron Makes Most Sense on the Lakers". lmao i didnt even bother finishing it because i lost brain cells attempting to read that crap.

 

Chris Bosh:

Where do you think LeBron will play next season?

That's a very good question. It depends on what he wants. If he wants to compete for a championship, you go to Houston. I don't see anywhere else right away next year. Warriors are dominating the league. As a competitor, you want to see someone knock Golden State off. He'd have the best chance in Houston.

Skip: Yet Chris Paul has declared he wants the max to stay. To your credit, you guys took less & sacrificed in Miami.

That's kind of one of the words you have to use. How bad do you want it? Are you willing to give up a little bit? KD took a haircut. Klay Thompson is coming up soon. [Steph Curry is coming up soon.] There's a lot of questions to be answered. Maybe Chris is thinking in a certain aspect. If Daryl & Chris talk and Daryl describes what he's trying to do, then it's on Chris as a businessman & basketball player.

Skip: To add LeBron to the mix, you'd have to lose Clinta Capela, who was pretty important.

Don't underestimate Daryl Morey. He's a smart guy. I think he can figure out a way. If anyone can, he can figure out a way to keep more of that team intact. If they can't keep him, they have to see if that's a move they want to make.

Skip: Would you give Harden-LeBron-CP3 a shot against these Warriors?

Yes.

Skip: Because?

If they're able to keep Gordon, that's 4 all-stars. Gordon isn't officially an all-star but he's all-star caliber.

Shannon: Good luck getting rid of that Ryan Anderson contract.

Yeah. Not saying it's easy.

Shannon: Why not Philly or the Lakers?

Not discounting out LA but they have more work to do. Everyone has work to do to craft a team that makes sense. ...

Shannon: Pelicans?

Ehhh ... sounds good. No offense to the Pelicans. When's the last time they signed a big free agent?

[...]

Skip: What about coming to Los Angeles? Would that appeal to him as he winds down?

They have a ton of cap space & could get more. They could make a couple moves, with a great young core. They have the dynamics there as a team, as does Philly. With Philly, they have to be OK with Simmons taking a step back. I don't know if they want him to do that. [...]

Shannon: Lakers will have to give up some of those young pieces.
Skip: LA experience?

It's a nice place. It's a very intense experience being a Laker from what I'm told. Tradition. I've been to the practice facility. You have the greatest players to ever play the game watching you every day. The banners. The retired numbers. The announcers. Everyone. You feel like you have to stay in the gym all day to work.

Shannon: I don't see Harden/CP3/LeBron working out. All 3 need the ball. Chris & James did a great job playing off each other. What about LeBron?

The narrative has changed. Warriors have changed the game. Steph alone has changed the game. He's an unselfish star. LeBron is as well. [Steph] gets off the ball quick, their style of play is so different. The dynamic has changed to where when you team up, you have to play a style that works & beats these guys.

 

I hate Skip so much. I understand that he's playing a character to drive views, but he needs to do SOME research before interviewing. Rockets don't have to lose Capela to get Lebron and that's been debunked so many times. Good on Chris Bosh to know what's really up.

 

So Bosh is saying we had 3 allstar caliber against 4 Allstars.

 

I tink it's obvious to most people that Lebron is coming to Houston next year, but the media will want to keep people guessing, they'll likely be pushing the narrative of Lebron to LA well after he announces his decision to come to Houston.

 

Yes.

 

Why not this year?

 

Because the season is already about to end.

It's just semantics, I said "next year" but by that I mean "for the next season". What I was talking about is Lebron coming to Houston this summer.

 

It’s simple really:

Lebron/CP3 sign in Houston with Harden to beat Golden State.

Or.

Decide the regular season and playoffs are a formality for the next 4-5 years. Unless the Blazers get another star, or KAT/Wiggins make a huge leap, or Kyrie becomes a top 5 player and the Cs stay healthy, no one is touching this team.

Does anyone think GSW wants to risk HCA again? They were one hamstring away from coming up short because of their arrogance.

 

There wasn't anything the GSW could have done to win HCA this season, so their arrogance has nothing to do with it.