LeBron wants to play with Joe Johnson?

http://hoopshype.com/rumors.htm



ESPN NBA analyst Ric Bucher quoted a league source yesterday when he said that LeBron James might be more interested in coming to the Knicks if they have Hawks' shooting guard Joe Johnson. "If it's LeBron James they want," Bucher said, "a league source says the Hawks' shooting guard is a very good place to start." New York Post

The Knicks have a lot of money coming off the books after this season, so I suppose the money is there to sign LBJ for the max and Joe Johnson for $15M+, but you still need other players and David Lee is not a center for a team that wants to go anywhere.

And how does a "league source" know this?

bob

I think NY has a good shot at LeBron and Joe Johnson.
I believe they will then attempt to sign Camby with their mid-level exception.

bob I was thinking the same thing...team would be loaded with talented forwards, but no centers unless you count Curry. Lee is 6'9" and playing way out of position now. They would be able to run teams ragged though.

KellyGreen17 wrote:bob I was thinking the same thing...team would be loaded with talented forwards, but no centers unless you count Curry. Lee is 6'9" and playing way out of position now. They would be able to run teams ragged though.

kelly,

That's D'Antoni's game though. He excelled with a team of greyhounds and no real center and then suffered when he lost Marion and got Shaq.

He also didn't win anything in Phoenix either, and east coast basketball isn't west coast basketball. We punish people in the paint more here.

bob

/

Do you think D'Antoni will still be in NY next year? I don't remember reading anything about him leaving, but I also don't read too much about the Knicks.

I'm not sure that it would be better for LeBron to leave Cleveland for a team who is only guaranteed to have Curry (player option but I can't imagine him opting out), Gallinari, Chandler and Douglas. Even if they signed Johnson before he had to make a decision I don't think it's clear that that team would be better than CLE. CLE will retain Jamison, Williams, Varejao, West, Gibson, Moon, Parker, Hickson and Jackson.

Kelly, Bob

Cleveland can offer perhaps the most money. Is money the only thing with LBJ? He's made a ton already. Will it depend on winning it all this year at all?

Personally I think he stays in Cleveland but he will cast a line to see what is out there. If he wins he stays in Cleveland for sure.

beat

Beat, I've always thought he was in it for the money more than his love for the sport. Isn't he on record as saying he wants to be a billionaire or something? I'm not sure how much CLE is willing to go over the cap for in order to retain him, so it's not clear to me who can actually pay him the most. I do think his decision will depend on whether CLE can win this year. I think if they win, he stays. I suppose another reason for him staying would be that he grew up there. I'm not sure NY could ever love him as much as CLE does.

The $2m more that Cleveland can offer LeBron does not nearly come close to his increase in marketing earnings that he will achieve playing in NY. Probably $10-$25m more per year has been estimated by marketing valuation firms.

Just because LeBron supposedly said he wants to be a billionaire does not mean that he is in it for the money more than his love of the sport.
He is one of the happiest, cheerful players that you will see on the court.
Kevin Garnett's multiple $100+m cap crippling contracts showed that he would rather get paid more and have his team have less for signing other good players.
I hope LeBron goes to NY. Good for him for making the most money that he can and to market himself to his fullest extent. It is good for the NBA when bad teams can become good again.

TJ

He already is sponsored by many corporations. Going to New York now won't increase that much more especially with the economic times we are in.
Sponsors are looking at cutting back.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/01/28/business/main6152092.shtml

New York needs a good team for the NBA but Bron would be nuts to go just for the money.

I think your way off on this one. Esp about the sponsorship/endorsement end of it.

beat

Does LeBron even make that much money from playing ball compared to his deals with Nike and so on?

Edit:

Supposedly the deal he signed in 2003 was for 90m / 7 years so that expires this year too.

beat wrote:Kelly, Bob

Cleveland can offer perhaps the most money. Is money the only thing with LBJ? He's made a ton already. Will it depend on winning it all this year at all?

Personally I think he stays in Cleveland but he will cast a line to see what is out there. If he wins he stays in Cleveland for sure.

beat

This is right. If he wins, he will retire in Cleveland...and then get the the entire state of Ohio given to him as a retirement present.

beat wrote:TJ

He already is sponsored by many corporations. Going to New York now won't increase that much more especially with the economic times we are in.
Sponsors are looking at cutting back.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/01/28/business/main6152092.shtml

New York needs a good team for the NBA but Bron would be nuts to go just for the money.

I think your way off on this one. Esp about the sponsorship/endorsement end of it.

beat

beat,

The sponsors are not looking to cut back anymore. The marketing bottom occured about 6-9 months ago. TV/radio ad rates have increased significantly from the bottom.
Le Bron will be the King of Broadway in NY and corporations know that.
Don't you think NY will be a good team with LeBron, Joe Johnson, Camby/J. O'Neal/Scola, plus Gallinari, Chandler, Toney Douglas, Bill Walker and whoever else they sign? I bet a good veteran free agent will be willing to play at the veteran minimum in order to play with LeBron.
At the bottom of this post is an article about LeBron's marketing opportunities in NY.
I copied and pasted some quotes from the article directly below:

If he stays in Cleveland, is he ever going to get his due being in a small market?" asked Steiner, who works with 5,000 professional athletes nationwide. "Is he ever going to get what he's owed being a true mega-star without playing in a major market? New York is really the only major market that has room for him."

But to do that to its fullest, he should play in the New York area, according to some experts. Steve Rosner, co-founder of 16W Marketing based in East Rutherford, said James can sell plenty of sneakers from Cleveland. But he can become a tycoon playing in New York. "If he would come to either the Nets or the Knicks the business opportunities for him to continue to grow his brand would be much greater in a metropolitan area as opposed to Cleveland," Rosner said.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/knicks/business_pitch_could_lure_lebron_oQpNihotsmNbpZixLmW4dM#ixzz0ieoBHzfA

tj

The article I posted was not the one I intedded too post and now I can't find it!!!!! DUH ( a homer moment)

I truly do see a move to NY bringing in that much more cash.

The latest showed him only behind Tiger and Phil Mickleson in earnings from sponsors and that was 2 years ago. And With Tiger heading south and Phil I would not be surprised if he were #1 right now but I can't find a current list.

I really think it will come down to the outcome of the season. Anythiong short of a title and the chances he leaves increases.

As for Cleveland they would have rights to match any offer I believe so we shall see in a couple months.

beat

TJ This isn't it still looking this is 2 years old

http://www.forbes.com/2009/06/17/top-earning-athletes-business-sports-top-earning-athletes_slide_7.html

this one is from 08

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/more/specials/fortunate50/

beat

beat,

If LeBron opts out, he is an unrestricted free agent so Cleveland does not have the right to match an offer. We all know if will be a max offer, so there will be no drama involved. It's just a matter of what team LeBron picks.

I hope he leaves Cleveland because it will take a couple of years before NY is a championship caliber team.

I could be 100% wrong, but I see no way that Lebron stays in Cleveland after this year.

tj

I concur. He's going to the bright lights.