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LeBron James has decided against going on a free agency tour of the five cities that have made his short list of places (along with Cleveland) where he'd like to play next season, and will instead hold those meetings at home. The reason for this change of plans could be due to the backlash from fans and media alike over the idea, or it could be that James simply would like to hold court in his own castle, and be treated like the NBA royalty that he has become.Or, it could be something else entirely. Like the possibility that James may have already made his decision.
Jonathan Abrams of The New York Times is reporting that these meetings, which will begin on July 1, may be nothing more than a formality, since he has spoken to one anonymous NBA executive who believes that LeBron is heading to Chicago, along with another of the prized free agents of this summer, Toronto's Chris Bosh.
"I think it's a done deal," the executive told Abrams.
Share In other free agent news, the Knicks, who have gutted their roster in recent years in hopes of luring LeBron to NYC, aren't putting all of their eggs in King James' basket.
League sources told ESPN The Magazine's Chris Broussard that the Knicks' first meeting at midnight Eastern on July 1st won't be with James, and won't even be in New York: it will be with Atlanta's Joe Johnson, and it will take place in Los Angeles, where Johnson is planning to hold all of his meetings.
The Knicks are also hoping to meet with Amar'e Stoudemire while in Los Angeles, before heading to Ohio on Thursday to meet with James at 1 p.m. ET. New York is obviously hoping to land LeBron, but reuniting Joe Johnson and Stoudemire with their former coach from their days in Phoenix, Mike D'Antoni, might be more than enough to console Knicks fans clamoring for the league's biggest star to play in their city.
What's interesting is that neither of these recent reports mentions the player who is right behind LeBron at the top of the 2010 free agent class, and that of course is Miami's Dwyane Wade. As much as James will be the lead domino in determining where exactly the rest of the superstar free agents end up, Wade's decision will have almost as much of an impact.
Just think: Of all the scenarios that have been talked about, the one that's rarely mentioned is the prospect of Wade and James teaming up to go somewhere together. And for the rest of the league, that one may be the most frightening of them all.
UPDATE: Chris Bosh's agent, Henry Thomas, has denied the report, according to NBA.com's Art Garcia. "Completely untrue," Bosh's agent Henry Thomas told NBA.com via e-mail. "He hasn't decided anything."
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