I think Lebron James will sign with the Miami Heat. You heard it here. Lebron James will be playing with Dwayne Wade next fall in the great city of Miami. Lebron has to go to a team that can sign a max deal and teams that can sign a max contract deal right now are: Knicks (room for 2 max contracts), Nets (1 plus a solid player), Clippers, Bulls, Kings, Timberwolves, and Heat. The Heat have room to sign D-Wade to a max deal, plus someone else to a max deal, plus room to spare.
Before Cleveland got bounced from the playoffs I thought there was a good chance he would re-sign with the Cavs but now I think that chance is out the window. He has had 7 great seasons there but none have resulted in a championship. He has accomplished about as much as he could in the regular season so now all that is left is to win a title. It is time to move on. He always gets compared to Kobe and Michael but the only way to try and move ahead of them is to win championships. What is the best way to win a championship? Play with D-Wade.
Miami can sign D-Wade to a max deal. They can also sign Lebron to a max deal. They can even then afford to sign someone else to complete the puzzle. If they re-sign D-Wade and sign Lebron they will have Chalmers/Arroyo at PG, Wade at SG, Lebron at SF, Beasley at PF and Jermaine O'Neal at C. All they would need to do is add depth which they will have money to do. That is definitely a better team than Cleveland had (even a Cleveland team with Lebron), better than aging Boston, and better than Orlando. It immediately makes them the favorite to win the 2011 title.
Every great champion had another great player at his side to win the championships with him. Bird had Parrish, McHale, etc. Magic had Kareem. Michael had Pippen. Kobe had Shaq. Hell, Pierce, Garnett and Allen all needed each other to win one. Wade already has a championship but he wants more. Lebron needs him to win one.
As for the teams that can afford to sign Lebron to a max deal, let's look at them.
Knicks - Lebron knows that the Knicks might be a playoff team with him but not a contender. He has to convince Wade or Bosh to sign in New York with him to have a shot at the championship and that might be hard. Wade will be very hard to convince to leave but Bosh might be easier. Even so, it will be a new scene for everyone and who knows how that will play out
Nets - Even though we wrote about how awesome their new owner is, signing Lebron might make them a playoff team but not a contender next year. Lebron wants to win now and the Knicks can't sign 2 max deals. That takes them out
Clippers - Cursed. No one wants to sign with them.
Bulls - Possibly, although a Lebron D-Wade pairing is much more intimidating than a Lebron Rose pairing and Lebron knows that.
Kings - Lebron wants to stay in the east. He already has to hear enough comparisons with Kobe and being in the same league as him won't do anything to help that.
Timberwolves - Really? Any possibility he signs with them? Um, no. Ricky Rubio would rather play in Spain than in Minnesota. No chance Lebron wants to play there.
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