Recently when I have been in NY and picked up a newspaper, it has a countdown to Lebron. The countdown is getting the NY fans all excited for superstar Lebron James to play in their beloved city and stadium.
The question is will it happen? Does Lebron play in NY, Chicago, Dallas (I hope) or end up back in Cleveland? There are tons of other superstars that are available and teams have been focusing on this free agent class for years. Teams like the Knicks, Nets and others have positioned themselves very well. But in the end do they get the grand prize Mr. Lebron James?
And what about D Wade, Ray Allen, Joe Johnson, Chris Bosh and Amar’e Stoudemire?
Time to make a few predictions. I will leave King James until last.
- Ray Allen – very easy, win or lose game 7 (and I am writing this prior), he re-signs a 3 year deal with the Celtics. He is amazing, classy and one of the best pure shooters in the game.
- D Wade – great player! Would love him on the Mavs. I think at the end of the day he re-signs with the Heat.
- Chris Bosh – another great player but playing in the wrong city. He will move and I predict he ends up with D Wade in Miami. If this happens Miami will be tough next year.
- Joe Johnson – I know the Celtics would want him back but that won’t happen. I am going out on a limb and saying that somehow someway Mr. Mark Cuban brings him to Dallas.
- Amar’e Stoudemire – I have this feeling he is the first free agent to sign and does so in the Big Apple. He will be the one big free agent they get.
Drum roll please…. that leaves Lebron, the King. I say in the end he says no to NY and no to NJ and doesn’t re-sign with Cleveland. I think in the end he signs with the Chicago Bulls and will play with a young, athletic team next year in the NBA finals!
There you have it.
I have made my predictions.
Now your turn.
- Where do Lebron James, D Wade, Ray Allen, Joe Johnson, Chris Bosh and Amar’e Stoudemire end up?
- What do you think of my choices
I look forward to reading your comments.
PS the free agent signing period starts July 1!!!
Adam Jolley says:
No matter how I try, I can’t get away from this on every sports outlet. Here is what I believe:
Lebron – Stays in Cleveland. Please, for the sake of all Ohio and the sanity of Cleveland sports fans…
Allen – Signs with Cleveland. He’s the “middle of the road, could be awesome, probably won’t be” kind of guy the Cavs like to sign (ie – Wally Szerbiak, Mo Williams, Shaq, Jamison, Ben Wallace).
Stoudamire & Johnson – Knicks. And they continue not to be good.
Wade – Heat
Dirk – stays in Dallas. He just wanted a better deal.
Boozer – Nets…NJ doesn’t sign 2 max guys this year as they wait for Carmelo next year and the move to Brooklyn in 2.
Merrill Dubrow says:
Adam,
really good comments. If that happens Knicks get better and the Celtics get worse. I really like Allen and hope he stays.
Let the bidding begin!
Merrill
eric brall says:
I think it’s going to be wade sticking with the heat with maybe Boozer coming down to Miami.
Lebron and Bosh to the bulls, who will immediately become a serious force, but probably still won’t win anything since there isn’t a serious leader or champion on that team. and not just based on experience – there’s no one with the makeup to be a leader on that team except for maybe rose, and he’s too young to really take it. Lebron in immensely talented, but he’s selfish, and doesn’t really care about winning the way that the real champions in the league do – he just cares about how Lebron is going to look and cultivate his ‘brand’
Amare and Johnson to the Knicks – probably still won’t be enough to get them past Boston, Chicago or Orlando in the east, especially without a really solid point guard.
Regardless, i doubt if anybody stops the Lakers until 2013 or so.
Merrill Dubrow says:
Eric,
Wow another person who thinks the Knicks sign two stars. I hope you guys are wrong. Ugh – I hope you are wrong about the Lakers! Seriously would rather them not win anymore championships!
Merrill
Will Morris says:
I think you have analyzed it much better than I can. I think I would really be upset if Lebron, Bosh, and Wade all end up on Miami as I heard on Mike and Mike this morning. That would not be in the “best interests of baseball”. I assume it is a given that Dirk signs with the Mavs? Could we use his cap room to sign one of the big guys and then get a cap room exception for signing Dirk as one of our own?
Merrill Dubrow says:
Will,
Yes I assume Dirk will be staying with the mavericks. In fact I believe they will be the ONLY team he ever plays for.
Good stuff to debate!
Merrill
Leslie Case says:
12 yr. old boys in the room are saying..
Lebron- Miami definitely with Chris Bosh and D. Wade
Ray Allen stays
Joe Johnson -Dallas, wavered on Cleveland
Amar’e -stays w/ the Suns
Merrill Dubrow says:
Leslie,
I hope the 12 year old boys are right! It will be interesting that means the Knicks and Bulls come up short.
Merrill
Merrill Dubrow says:
The first few have re-signed. Paul Pierce back to the Celtics and Dirk back to the Mavericks.
Next up is Joe Johnson with the Hawks!
Merrill
Merrill Dubrow says:
Another prediction I was wrong about!
All-Star guard Joe Johnson had agreed to a maximum contract to stay with the Atlanta Hawks, his agent said Sunday.
Arn Tellem confirmed an entry he wrote for the Huffington Post website, in which he said Johnson “announced his intention to re-sign with the Hawks for six more years.”
Tellem wrote that Johnson chose to remain in Atlanta over Chicago and New York, where he would have been reunited with Mike D’Antoni, his former coach in Phoenix.
The Hawks could pay him nearly $120 million, while other teams could only give Johnson five years and pay him about $25 million less.
That made it easy to stick with the Hawks, who have reached the second round of the playoffs the past two years with Johnson as their top player. He’s a four-time All-Star and has averaged more than 20 points in each of his five years with Hawks.
“His priorities are his family, his friends and his game,” Tellem wrote. “Joe could have forced a sign-and-trade deal for five years with another team, but he decided that winning in Atlanta would be more meaningful. When the Hawks offered the maximum – six years – he happily reciprocated.”
The Hawks would not comment, citing the NBA’s moratorium on signings. Deals can’t become official until July 8.
Johnson has been at the center of the Hawks’ resurgence since arriving in Atlanta from Phoenix in a sign-and-trade deal on Aug. 19, 2005. A 13-win team the season before he arrived, the Hawks doubled that the next season and went 53-29 in 2009-10 before getting swept by Orlando in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Johnson averaged 21.3 points during the regular season but played poorly during that series, creating speculation he may have cost himself max dollars. And there was thought he may want out of Atlanta, anyway, since he turned down a $60 million extension last summer and was critical of the team’s fans this season.
Instead, Tellem said Johnson was impressed by the commitment of Hawks ownership and new coach Larry Drew, and said Johnson is equally committed to the team and its players.
“For his next act, Joe plans to actively recruit other top free agents to Atlanta, a place not unlike his hometown, where he feels comfortable and appreciated,” Tellem wrote.
Johnson, a first-round pick of Boston in the 2001 draft, has averaged 17.6 points for his career.