The Knicks reportedly were planning a splashy dinner for James in Manhattan next week, but upon hearing that no visit to New York was on the agenda, the team held an emergency meeting to come up with Plan B,
View full sizeMaverick Carter, LeBron James' business manager.Chasing down rumors about LeBron James' basketball future could be a full-time job. Every day we'll compile a list of the rumors we're hearing about James and his next contract. Just remember these are just rumors, not necessarily facts. It's going to be a long and rough ride, Cavs fans. Buckle up.
James' business manager Maverick Carter told ESPN.com Friday that "LeBron is not going on a tour" of prospective new teams and their cities.
Carter told ESPN.com, "[LeBron] never planned to go on a tour and has not been a part of any team's plans for a recruiting trip."
Carter also said that once free agency begins James will meet teams at neutral sites, but not at his home in Bath.
The Knicks were reportedly planning a splashy dinner for James and his associates in Manhattan next week, but upon hearing Wednesday that no visit to New York was on James' agenda the team held an emergency meeting to come up with Plan B, ESPN.com said.
James has already met with Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, who traveled to Akron last week along with members of Cleveland's front office to visit the two-time MVP.
The Cavaliers didn't have a pick in Thursday's NBA Draft, didn't find a way to work a deal to get into it, didn't get one single reward from the draft . . . But still, somehow the entire event was about the Cavaliers. To be more specific, about that superstar who is under contract with the Cavs for just FOUR MORE DAYS.
It was the LeBron James Free Agency Draft, and the deals Chicago made to clear up salary cap space, along with the stubborn refusal by Miami, New York and New Jersey to add, were entirely for him.
CBSsports.com's Ken Berger said, "This was only the hors d'oeuvre for the NBA's version of New Year's Eve -- midnight on the evening of June 30."
The Bulls now have about $29 million in salary cap space after trading guard Kirk Hinrich and his $9 million contract to the Washington Wizards for basically nothing in return. That places Chicago second on the "most available" salary cap list, behind only the New York Knicks, with about $34 million. Consensus is the Bulls hope to sign two of this summer's top free agents.
Miami tried to unload Michael Beasley and his $4.9 million salary, according to Berger, and the Nets tried to rid themselves of Devin Harris and his $9 million contract. Still, Miami is expected to re-sign Dwyane Wade and still have $26.7 million in cap space, and the Nets should have about $27 million.
And with all the salary cap maneuvering on Draft Day, the Cavaliers lost ground in the LeBron Sweepstakes, according to Yahoo.com's Adrian Wojnarowski.
"The Cavs can script these things, but they're losing control of the free-agency narrative," he wrote. "For so long, owner Dan Gilbert enabled everything with LeBron -- the bigger-than-life billboards, the full-time jobs and summer league roster spots for his buddies and the endless capitulations that contributed to his obsession with creating a culture of all him, all the time in the NBA."
For what it's worth -- and it's probably not much since everyone is just offering opinions -- James' first coach, Paul Silas, believes the free agent will sign with New York, according to AOLFanhouse.
"I do believe he will leave," Silas told the website. "What he really wants is to become the first basketball billionaire. So, I think that's very difficult to do in Cleveland. So, I think we're looking for him to go to New York or New Jersey or somewhere like that."
Silas said he initially thought James would stay in Cleveland . . . until the Cavaliers' playoff implosion and subsequent destruction of team leadership.
"When the coach left and [GM Danny] Ferry left, I thought that was a telltale sign that's not all roses around there," Silas said. "So I just don't think it's going to work. . . . I did think that if he'd have gotten to the Finals I would have thought he would stay."
Read more at: tinyurl.com/silasquotes
At least one person thinks James would have a difficult time living in Michael Jordan's shadow if he signed with the Bulls. And it's one person who knows Jordan well -- his agent, David Falk.
"LeBron is a fan of Michael, has worn his number and has respected him," Falk told CBSsports.com. "But for me, if he's in Chicago, he's going wake up in the morning and people will say, 'You don't brush your teeth like Michael. You don't put your Hanes on like Michael. You don't dust the talc like Michael.' And for someone who's so accomplished, you want to have your own identity. So it's a very interesting question. Some people say he'll be compared to Michael no matter what anyway, but nowhere as much as in Chicago."
And finally, all those rumors about John Calipari and James are true. They are close. And they talk about free agency plans.
About Bryce James' plans, that is.
Calipari, who coaches at Kentucky, jokingly told the Associated Press that he's only spoken with James about where his 3-year-old son, Bryce, will attend college.
"I told [LeBron] I really need to know [Bryce's] birthday if I'm going to be coaching him. He's going to be my playmaker,"Calipari said.
Um, isn't that an NCAA violation, or something?