Lebron free agency

The big question of this free agency, or really the last month or two nationally is where will Lebron sign? If you are a Clevelander, then you have probably been wondering about this for the last season. For the last year there have been many teams that Lebron can supposedly go to other then the Cavaliers, including the Knicks, Nets, Bulls, Heat, and Clippers. Why would Lebron pick to go to any of these teams? Why would Lebron pick to stay in Cleveland?

At the beginning of the season many people believed Lebron was going to go to New York so he could make more money, although if he went to New York, the only thing that could possibly be bigger is the market size. Because he was previously on The Cavaliers he can make up to $20 million more then if he signed a maximum contract with any other team, and the Knicks offer of telling people to buy stock in The Madison Square Garden has been banned by NBA Commissioner David Stern. Even if the market is bigger Lebron has recently sent his brand international from Nike to China, which is expected to be a BILLION dollar investment. So why would Lebron need to go to New York?

The Nets and Clippers offered the same thing, a bigger contract and a bigger market, therefore they are both the same situation as New York, it will just delay Lebron's chances at a championship. The bigger teams that Lebron would want to stay with are Chicago and Miami. If Lebron goes to Chicago he gets to play along with Derrick Rose and one other superstar from the free agency. So their pitch is not more money, it's a better shot at a championship for Lebron. The possibilities range from Chris Bosh to Carlos Boozer to Dwayne Wade to Joe Johnson to Amare Stoudimare as the other new superstar to join Lebron in Chicago if he goes there.

I'm sure we've all heard about the big three Miami situation in the off season, Chris Bosh, Lebron, and Wade all on the same team. How likely is this to happen? It is impossible. First for this to happen one of these three players would have to take a salary cut at about $20 million. Next, they would have to acquire Chris Bosh for a sign and trade with Toronto. Why would Toronto trade their superstar to a team within their division? Even Bosh doubts that it'll happen in a recent interview with the Miami Herald saying "It sounds Pie in the Sky". Will this happen?

Finally, I've saved this team for last because this is the team I believe Lebron will resign with, The Cleveland Cavaliers. First reason why it is so big is because it is Lebron's hometown, this is huge, how many kids want to grow up and play a sport for a professional sporting team? Out of those how many pick to play for their hometown team? My point is that Lebron is basically living a childhood dream. All people that watch the NFL draft may remember when Brady Quinn was being drafted. Remember all the pictures of Quinn in his hometown Cleveland Brown's jersey and helmet? Next if people talk about the opportunity with the most money in it for Lebron, as discussed earlier Cleveland is that option. Finally many people may believe Cleveland to be championship cursed, but at the beginning of this years playoffs, The Cavaliers were actually the favorite to win the championship. Boston's upset of the Cavs doesn't change a lot for next year especially if Lebron resigns because Dan Gilbert has already pledged to help Lebron win a championship by bringing in another star by a sign and trade if he resigns.

After viewing all of this information, my prediction is that Lebron will resign with Cleveland for a 3 year maximum salary contract.