Report: Knicks Prefer Joe Johnson Over ... LeBron James?

When you talk about the "Summer of Free Agency," there is one No. 1 target: LeBron James. People willing to engage in some sort of discussion as to whether any other player out there -- all due respect accorded to both Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh -- are either foolish, high on drugs or acting foolishly while high on drugs.

That's just one man's take though -- others, such as an "NBA source with knowledge of the [Knicks'] plans" that SNY's Adam Zagoria cites, may believe that someone like Joe Johnson is the true golden pot at the end of the proverbial free agency rainbow.

"Yes, we think he's a better player," the source said of Johnson. "He makes other people better. With LeBron's people running the locker room that hurts the organization."

"I don't care what most people think," the source said. "I'm not saying that LeBron is not a good player, but other stuff comes with it. LeBron's friends want jobs. You're gonna lose running your organization. As time goes on you got to hire this guy, you got to hire that guy."

Now, it's probably true that LeBron is more demanding than Johnson, and that he requires more attention, and that his entourage/management/friends may require more jobs, but to paraphrase Denny Green, well, he is what he is. And that just happens to be the best basketball player on the planet.

Additionally, the Cavs' back-to-back runs of best record in the NBA probably wouldn't have happened if LeBron was teamed with Josh Smith, Al Horford, Marvin Williams and Jamal Crawford instead of his crew of Cleveland teammates. (Note: that was sarcasm.)

But swapping the two out and trying to determine whether or not LeBron could have coped with the Hawks (or vice-versa with Johnson and the Cavs) and determining the "What If?" result is fruitless and redundant: we're talking about LeBron James and Joe Johnson here.

It's not even apples and oranges -- it's fruits and vegetables.

Which leads me to believe that the only conceivable way that anyone with the Knicks would attempt to claim that "Johnson > James = something other than crazytalk" is if they were convinced that chasing LeBron was futile at this point. Oh, and that buttering up Johnson enough would guarantee that the Knicks could remain players in free agency, even if it was just at the compensatory level.