How to fill another day of waiting for LeBron James to make up his mind? Have a hot dog and wait.
No news is good news, at least as far as the New Jersey Nets are concerned when it comes to acquiring Cavs free agent LeBron James. At least that's the assessment from the New York Daily News.
In its Sunday account of the Knicks' pitch to James, the paper said he told the team he most likely would not make a decision today.
The delay could give the Nets more time to make whatever moves they need to in order to make room for James and one of his superstar free-agent friends.
As they stand, the Nets are about $30 million below the projected salary cap, which gives them enough room for one maximum-salary contract only. According to sources familiar with the Nets' meeting with James on Thursday, he told them to be prepared to take on two max deals -- one for him and one for one of his pals, such as Dwayne Wade or Chris Bosh.
Come to think of it, the delay is good for the Cavs, too. Not that any salary cap room needs to be made. It's just one more day of referring to James as "the Cavs star" instead of "the former Cavs star."
And the beat goes onThe NBA's game of Red Rover (Red Rover, Red Rover, send LeBron-Dwayne-Chris-Amar'e-Whoever on over) seems to be on hold for the holiday. The good news is that gives writers and experts another day to pontificate. The bad news is that that gives writers and experts another day to pontificate.
Right now, the biggest pontification is that Dwayne Wade easily could wind up with his hometown Chicago Bulls. Of course, that it's coming from the Chicago Tribune doesn't mean anything at all. (Snicker, snicker).
You don't listen to a team's sales pitch twice in 30 hours -- as Wade did Thursday and Friday -- if you're not serious about the option.
Given his public recruiting for the Heat leading up to this free-agent season, plenty reacted with skepticism when the Tribune reported on June 29 that Wade wanted to visit the Bulls. But sources close to Wade then and now insist his interest is genuine.
What's intriguing is that some of the points from the Bulls' elaborate, three-hour pitch to (LeBron) James on Saturday might resonate more with Wade.
As a Robbins native, he knows the worldwide power of the Bulls' brand because he cheered for those six Michael Jordan-led championships. While at Marquette, he also noticed the United Center was full even for the non-competitive Tim Floyd era. (The Heat's attendance is notoriously poor.)And the Bulls' roster is far superior to the Heat's, with a gaping hole at shooting guard after the salary dump of Kirk Heinrich.
All that's probably true, but the reality is that a James decision to sign with Chicago "might resonate more with Wade," to borrow a phrase.
So saith us pontificators at Starting Blocks, anyway.
What's at stake?
The decisions are those to be made by free agents LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Amar'e Stoudmire and the like. But those decisions aren't going to affect just those men and their families. A nice little story on NBA.com talks about who has the most to lose -- and to gain -- from decisions.
No. 1 on that most-to-lose hit parade should be no surprise to Cleveland sports fans:
Dan Gilbert, majority owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers
Of the teams looking to sign James, the Cavs have the most to lose by not getting him. Gilbert has spent a lot of money (player salaries, luxury tax, new practice facility, upgrading Quicken Loans Arena) trying to keep James happy over the last seven years. And if James leaves this summer, the value of the franchise would drop considerably.
On the plus side, though, maybe the guy who made his fortune with mortgages can underwrite the new ones for James, Wade, Bosh, Stoudmire, etc. The interest on a $30 million mortgage for a mansion has to be worth something.