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Now that TSIO*O (*Officially), where will LeBron play next season?
dnc
Member Posts: 56,745
LeBron obviously wants to knock off the Warriors, and that's the main thing he's going to care about in selecting his next team. As I see it, that means there four teams that HASWTG, but I'll list five plus Janet Reno since someone's probably going to argue for the Cavs:
Now that TSIO*O (*Officially), where will LeBron play next season? 33 votes
Houston
27%
9 votes
Boston
6%
2 votes
Philly
30%
10 votes
Race's Lakers
24%
8 votes
Cleveland
0%
Write In
12%
4 votes
Comments
Houston - The obvious frontrunner. The team that gave the Warriors the best competition, Houston makes the most sense on the surface. But how would LeBron fit with two other ball dominant stars (assuming Paul stays, which we must assume for this exercise - if he doesn't Bron isn't going to Houston)? This is a real question IMO. I don't think LeBron makes Houston better than GS but I know a lot of people will think he would. As a fan I'd love to see this if only to see LeBron leave the safety of the East.
Boston - The other frontrunner. Boston is actually closer to winning a title than Houston is IMO and adding LeBron would make them every bit as talented as GS and probably deeper. A lineup of Irving, Heyward, Tatum (or Brown), James and Horford would have more than a punchers chance against the Warriors, especially with Rozier, the other of Tatum or Brown and mainly Stevens on the bench. My guess is this is the scenario GS wants the least. There are at least two and probably three problems with this scenario though: 1. Kyrie just ran away from LeBron, you'd almost have to trade him if you do this. Rozier looks ready to take his place but you know Kyrie steps up bigtime in the Finals, you don't know that about Rozier. 2. LeBron has always liked to call the shots on the court, he's not going to get to do that with Stevens there. Would he go for that? 3. LeBron has always liked to call the shots with the roster, he's not going to get to do that with Ainge there. Would LeBron go for that? Ultimately, I don't think Boston happens.
Philadelphia - The Process is rolling and LeBron would obviously accelerate it significantly. Nothing would take the attention of Colangelo's alt handles and jumbo collars like bringing in LeBron. On the court, he appears to fit well - a lineup of Simmons, Fultz (assuming he finds his shot), LeBron, Saric, Embiid is scary. Even if Fultz is donezo, it shouldn't be hard to find a shooter at the two to replace Reddick if need be. LeBron hasn't shown a willingness to work with young guys in the past (hello Andrew Wiggins), but I'm guessing Simmons and Embiid have proven themselves well enough that LeBron would overlook that in this case. The real question here is whether the front office shitshow will scare LeBron off. I'm guessing it will. If they don't fire Colangelo, it should.
LA Lakers - The Lakers clearly don't have enough to be contenders right now, but LeBron plus Chris Paul or even Paul George could hypothetically get them close. If this happens the Lakers almost have to trade Ball who is an awful fit as a ball dominant guard who can't shoot but doesn't bring the scoring that Simmons does either. Obviously if they sign Chris Paul anyway then Ball's a backup and it's a moot point. But assuming they don't, Ball creates a dilemma. And clearly we know James doesn't want to play alongside IT. Does a lineup of Ball, Kuzma, James, George, CENTER have enough juice? Switch out Paul for George and add Ingram back in and you're getting close (Paul, Kuzma, LeBron, Ingram, CENTER).
But does LeBron want to be fodder for the LaVar Ball show? Between the roster holes and the off the court pain in the ass, I don't think he's going here, but you can never count the Lakers out for a big name.
I don't think Boston will take him, and I think LeBron will ultimately decide the Lakers need to much help, so it's going to be down to Houston or Philadelphia. If Philly ires Colangelo I think they're the favorites, if not it will be Houston. EWIBI.
I'll take the Rockets.
mod power at @dnc 's request: Fuck everything I wrote above. Philly. Cook that shit.
Philly.
Philly is interesting and if I was Lebron and 3 years younger I might go there.
Boston would be funny if Lebron was traded for Kyrie.
If he chooses the Lakers he’s basically deciding he’s more interested in life after basketball.
I love the Celtics idea. The thought of Celtic Fan saying how much he has always loved Lebron is awesome. And despite my well documented hatred of young talent I came away very impressed with Tatum. He wasn't afraid at all
Houston would mean rings
Warriors are done if he goes there. Burnout from 4 straight trips to the Finals. They almost tripped over their own dicks vs Houston this year.
Mods, please to be changing my vote to Philly. TIA.
Playing with Ben Simmons could prolong LeBron’s peak by at least a season by taking a lot of the offensive pressure off of him. He doesn’t have to have he pressure of creating offense every possession... but will still be the primary scorer. Which will be huge for keeping his body healthy the more he ages.
The main reason I don’t think he’d work in Houston is that their system is too reliant on iso ball... too many possessions where LeBron wouldn’t even touch the ball.
Side Note: LeBron and Simmons have the same agent. They've also worked out together in the past. Just worth keeping an eye on.
btw, Tyron LueFS/LebronPlayerCoachFS sucked dick last night. GS ran the slip screen for layups about 20 times with no adjustment.
He'll go to the Lakers with Leonard.
Free agency is going to be more interesting than the finals.