Uh oh, isn’t that LeBron James having a very good time in New York?

Every time this subject comes up, the possible leaving of LeBron James from the Cavaliers, the most comments roll in. Some of you realize my Detroit Pistons loyalties and think this is just stirring up trouble. Some of you have heard this or that about LeBron in Cleveland and say LeBron is staying no matter what.

My thinking is follow the money. LeBron can be branded so much more effectively in New York than in Cleveland.

My guess is only if the Cavaliers can surround him with a great team will he stay in Cleveland.

The writers at ESPN, 25 of them, were asked where LeBron would end up in 2010 and most of them said Cleveland, but one of them even said my Pistons. Oh, wouldn’t that be great!

The Knicks are mentioned and even Europe with their 50 million dollar offer.

And how about the Nets?

But Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports wonders if Cleveland has enough glitz and glamour to prevent James from bolting to the Nets: “LeBron doesn’t want to just win titles. His stated wants include becoming sport’s first billionaire athlete. Among his advisors, he counts Warren Buffett. Jay-Z has helped James focus his mind on chasing something bigger than basketball. The question will be this: For the kid out of Akron, will his hometown — will even winning — be enough to hold onto LeBron James?”

And the Nets’ expected move to Brooklyn could be the clincher for LeBron, if we are to take seriously his proclaimed love for the Nets’ borough-to-be, as reported by Chris Sheridan: “My favorite borough? Brooklyn. Brooklyn is definitely a great place here in New York City, and some of my best friends are from Brooklyn.”

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LeBron James in a Cav’s uni drives on Richard Jefferson in a Net’s uni. Jefferson is now a Buck and LeBron could become a Net

Image details: Cleveland Cavaliers v New Jersey Nets served by picapp.com

The New Jersey Nets are starting over.

Heck, they have been starting over for years. Ever since they beat the Pistons in the conference finals, years ago, they have been on a slow downhill slide.

Now they want LeBron James.

The Nets need a perfect storm to make this happen once James can opt out of his Cleveland Cavaliers contract and make himself the most desirable free agent in NBA history. The Nets are counting on part-owner Jay-Z’s personal crusade to recruit his close friend to Brooklyn, but there’s nothing to discuss until the Nets remake themselves for the long run.

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During the regular season, the Nets unloaded Jason Kidd to Dallas and ended up much younger with Devin Harris.

Now they have traded Richard Jefferson with his 42.5 million dollar contract to the John Hammond run Bucks for Yi Jianlian, so they picked up size and unloaded a sizeable long term contract. Yi may never develop into much of a player, it is too early to tell, but in the New York area, he will have an audience. Meanwhile, John Hammond lands a star player with toughness for his new energized tough Bucks. It will be fun to follow John’s future moves.

In the draft they added size and shooting.

two No. 1 picks on Thursday night – Stanford’s Brook Lopez and California’s Ryan Anderson. They would’ve been satisfied with this change, but a player who they had considered picking at No. 21 – Memphis’ Chris Douglas-Roberts – dropped to them early in the second round.

LeBron James plays one more year before he is a free agent. New Jersey wants to be well under the salary cap, because if they land LeBron, they also may land one of his friends, like Chris Bosh or Amare Stoudemire.

If any two of those players are put together … Wow!

You can only imagine how much LeBron could make in New York compared to Cleveland. LeBron would become the global icon that David Stern has wanted since Michael Jordan moved into the front office.

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LeBron James doing it alone as usual

Image details: Cleveland Cavaliers v Boston Celtics, Game 1 served by picapp.com

Don’t the Cavaliers know they are only renting LeBron James, that his destiny is bigger than Cleveland?

The Cav’s are in round two of the playoffs dueling with the Boston Celtics and Kevin Garnett. No, make that Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce. See, that is the problem with Cleveland. It is still just LeBron James, the King.

There are those that say James should stay in Cleveland. He went to high school in Ohio. He is an Ohio boy. Never mind the market is so small.

The Cavaliers deserve to keep James home for the core of his prime. They’ve already landed him in one NBA Finals. They’ve already honored their commitment to competing for a title by making the in-season deal for Ben Wallace, Joe Smith, Wally Szczerbiak, and Delonte West, taking payroll and luxury tax hits along the way.

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Cleveland has only one chance to survive and that is to find star number 2. Kevin Garnett has two star number twos. Tim Duncan has Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker. Kobe Bryant has Pau Gasol. Dallas tried with Jason Kidd to Dirk Nowitzki. Phoenix tried with an aging Shaq to Steve Nash.

Wally, Joe, and Big Ben Wallace do not qualify as the number 2 that LeBron needs. There are no Scotty Pippens to LeBron’s Michael Jordan in that group.

Cleveland needs to find this number two star before 2010, the LeBron free agent date, the sooner the better or LeBron is out of here.

Where will he go? To a bigger market, most likely New York, most likely the Knicks.

In fact, Donnie Walsh wouldn’t have accepted the presidency of the Knicks if he didn’t think it was feasible that the team could get far enough under the salary cap to wine and sign James.

The Nets are also expected to join the bidding, as minority owner Jay-Z is a close friend of LeBron’s who has made no secret of his desire to see James someday pack the new arena the Nets are supposed to be putting up in Brooklyn.

New Jersey may struggle to get LeBron, because it is not the storied franchise that the Knicks have been.

And we know that LeBron loves Madison Square Garden.

James wants to go in as a Yankee, which is precisely why he wore the team’s cap — much to Cleveland’s dismay — during last year’s Division Series. He has big-city dreams, LeBron does. The lifelong Yankees fan is also a lifelong Madison Square Garden fan. Back in March, after managing 50 points, 10 assists, and 8 rebounds on the Knicks’ home floor, James beamed as he said the following:

“This ranks really high, just because of the point of where it happened, the mecca of basketball. I’ve dreamed about playing well in this building. To get a standing ovation in the greatest basketball arena in the world is a dream come true for me. It’s one of the best things that’s ever happened to me.”

Better get busy Cleveland. LeBron appears to just be a loaner right now.

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