Now a free agent, King James awaits his suitors
By BRIAN MAHONEY (AP) – 2 hours ago
NEW YORK — Finally free to leave Cleveland, LeBron James is ready to hear reasons why he should.
The NBA's long-awaited free agency period opened early Thursday, with teams such as New York and Miami focusing their attention on California.
Now all eyes will be on Ohio.
James was set to welcome the New Jersey Nets and the Knicks to his home state, with additional teams awaiting a later audience with the King.
The Clippers have scored an invite, proving even longtime losers have a chance for a transformation in this highly anticipated shopping season.
Teams could begin making their pitches at 12:01 a.m. EDT, and some got started quickly. Chris Bosh heard from four of them, including presumed favorites Chicago and Miami.
Atlanta's Joe Johnson was expecting early visits in Los Angeles from the Hawks and New York Knicks, with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporting that the Hawks were prepared to offer the All-Star shooting guard a maximum salary contract.
James could get multiple offers Thursday as the head of perhaps the deepest class in history.
It includes other All-Stars such as Dwyane Wade, Bosh, Dirk Nowitzki, Amare Stoudemire and Carlos Boozer; veterans such as Shaquille O'Neal and Ray Allen; and young up-and-comers such as Rudy Gay and David Lee.
"We've never had anything like this in my time that I can remember," New Jersey Nets president Rod Thorn said. "There have been big-time free agents before, but never this many teams that are trying to woo them. So it's unprecedented."
Teams were headed around the country to speak with players, though the Mavs were saved a long trip when Nowitzki informed them he would meet with them Thursday in Dallas — with the message arriving while president Donnie Nelson was at the airport preparing for a flight to Germany.
Showing they planned to be active, the Knicks confirmed on Twitter they would also meet with Wizards swingman Mike Miller in Los Angeles. But they did so without team president Donnie Walsh, who went directly to Ohio in preparation for Thursday's meeting with James.
Pat Riley and a Heat contingent also began their free agency tour in California, where teams were hoping to meet with Stoudemire. Miami also planned to meet with Johnson.
It promised to be a wild first few days of July, with plans changing by the minute.
"You're not in control, as much as you would like to be," Timberwolves president David Kahn said. "I don't think any team feels right now they're in control of the situation. There's too many teams with room. Too many fine players out there. I think in those types of situations, it's best to be really nimble and change course if need be."
Kahn said early Thursday that Gay would visit Minnesota later in the day and Lee would arrive on Saturday. Gay is a restricted free agent, so Memphis can match any offer for him.
Lee was an All-Star this season in New York, but may not be back since the Knicks are hoping to land two bigger names.
So are the Clippers. General manager Neil Olshey announced in a statement the team had already contacted several players and confirmed it had been invited to meet with James.
"At that time, we intend to present the many reasons why his joining our organization is the best possible choice he could make," Olshey said.
The Cavaliers might have a new reason for James to stay home. They are in "serious talks" with former New Orleans coach Byron Scott, a person familiar with their search told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
James can earn perhaps $125 million over six years by staying in Cleveland; $96 million over five years if he goes. (The exact figures can't be determined until next season's salary cap is set in July). But leaving could put him in a better position to win a championship.
He'll first meet Thursday with the Nets' traveling party that includes new owner Mikhail Prokhorov, coach Avery Johnson, president Rod Thorn and hip-hop superstar Jay-Z, a part-owner and James' longtime friend.
Then the Knicks will drop in. They can afford to pay him and another classmate the maximum next season, which might be what they need to finally get going again after a franchise-record nine straight losing seasons.
"We've had to live through some tough times in order to get where you think you start rebuilding the franchise," Walsh said. "We have that opportunity now. How well, how fast we can rebuild the team can be shortcut by getting great players."
They'll have plenty of competition. The Heat, Nets, Bulls and Clippers also can afford to offer a player about $16.6 million next season, which is the maximum someone with James' amount of NBA experience can make. Chicago and New Jersey made trades in recent days to push them closer to joining the Knicks with enough to offer two max deals, and the Heat can keep Wade, give an additional max contract and have enough left over for another quality player.
Top players rarely leave via free agency because NBA rules allow their teams to offer them more money in the long run. The difference comes not in the first year of a new contract, but in the raises.
A player signing with his own team is eligible for annual increases of 10.5 percent, while a new team can offer only 8 percent bumps. The home team can also offer six-year deals, whereas players joining new teams can get only five-year contracts.
Still, teams have been slashing payroll for years in hopes players would move this summer.
"It is an 'all-in' strategy, in that even when it works, you're going to have to operate with a very low payroll," Houston general manager Daryl Morey said. "If it doesn't work, it can be catastrophic in terms of if you strike out, it's going to be very difficult to be competitive."
Morey used his Twitter feed to announce he'd met with Bosh in the opening hours of free agency.
"He is about winning so I focused on how (with) Houston he can win a championship," Morey wrote.
Bosh also took to Twitter to inform followers he'd also received presentations from Chicago, Miami and Toronto.
The Raptors expect to lose Bosh. If the All-Star forward joins James or Wade, or both, that team figures to become an immediate championship contender. Boston won the title the year after assembling its Big Three — which could now be broken up with Paul Pierce and Ray Allen on the market — and the Lakers have reached the finals every year since acquiring Pau Gasol to complement Kobe Bryant.
Numerous teams are now dreaming of similar pairings once deals can be signed on July 8.
"You look at the teams that have an awful lot of cap space, there could be a lot of power shifting in this league," Minnesota coach Kurt Rambis said.
AP Sports Writers Tom Withers in Cleveland, Chris Duncan in Houston and Jon Krawczynski in Minneapolis contributed to this report.

The LeBron Finals, Day 1
By JONATHAN ABRAMS and HOWARD BECK
Published: June 30, 2010


AKRON, Ohio — Before LeBron James became a high school basketball prodigy, an N.B.A. star or the most highly coveted free agent the league has seen, he was a child here. His goal, as he has repeated several times, was to land this city, his city, on the map.
Enlarge This Image


In the past, James hosted executives from Fortune 500 companies and discussed business ventures here, a town traditionally known as the rubber capital of the world, in which he has forever laid his stamp. At 12:01 a.m. Thursday, James, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ star, began to discuss, dissect and debate his next business venture.

Northeast Ohio is the Grand Central Terminal of N.B.A. free agency until James makes a decision. It will be the landing spot for foreign multibillionaires, longtime N.B.A. owners and well-respected coaches.

All but the Cavaliers will come to extract James. The Nets were scheduled to meet James first. The Knicks, the Chicago Bulls, the Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Clippers will follow, starting the wildest free-agent period in history.

James is the grand prize in a spectacular talent pool that also includes Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Amar’e Stoudemire, Joe Johnson and Carlos Boozer. The market got deeper in the final 48 hours, as Stoudemire, Paul Pierce, Dirk Nowitzki and Richard Jefferson opted out of their contracts.

Pierce is widely expected to re-sign with the Boston Celtics after leading them to the finals twice in the last three years. That result became more likely when Coach Doc Rivers said he would return.

Nowitzki, similarly, is expected to re-sign with the Dallas Mavericks, the only N.B.A. team he has played for. Stoudemire was in discussions on a contract extension with the Phoenix Suns before deciding to opt out and test the market. His first meeting was with Miami, which is hoping to land an All-Star big man to pair with Wade.

Of the players who opted out in the final days, the biggest surprise was Jefferson, who left $15 million on the table to become a free agent. Jefferson struggled mightily last season with the San Antonio Spurs after being acquired in a celebrated off-season trade.

Under N.B.A. rules, teams and players can discuss new contracts for the next seven days, and come to oral agreements, but no deals can be consummated until July 8, when the league’s annual moratorium ends and the new salary cap is announced.

The first star player to come off the market could be Johnson, the Atlanta Hawks’ high-scoring swingman. According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Hawks were prepared to offer Johnson a maximum contract — about $119.5 million over six years, or $28 million more than anyone else can offer. The precise figures cannot be determined until the moratorium is over. But a maximum contract would almost certainly ensure that he would stay in Atlanta, where he has played the last five years.

It would be a potential setback to the Knicks, who were looking at Johnson as their first high-profile signing, in the hopes that he might entice a second star — preferably James — to follow. The Hawks and the Knicks were the first teams scheduled to meet with Johnson in Los Angeles.

For now, it is the teams who are visiting the most coveted free agents, and not the other way around. That could neutralize the advantages of a team like the Knicks, who are trying to sell their city as much as their franchise.

Knicks officials were also hoping to meet with Stoudemire and Mike Miller in Los Angeles before departing for Cleveland. After speaking with James, their next stop will be Chicago, for meetings with Wade and Bosh on Friday. The Knicks also plan to meet with Rudy Gay and are maintaining a dialogue with their own free agent, David Lee, who is being pursued aggressively by several teams.

Lee will meet in the next few days with the Heat, the Bulls, the Nets and the Minnesota Timberwolves, according to his agent Mark Bartelstein.

"There's a lot of people that want to get with him," Bartelstein said. "We'll try to get something done sooner than later."

The Knicks also spoke Bartelstein on Thursday morning, but their focus is squarely on the superstars. If they sign two top players, as they hope, they will not have the cap room to keep Lee. And Lee, who has become one of the league's top rebounders and a capable scorer, will almost certainly receive a good offer before the Knicks have resolved their situation.

Although Lee likes the Knicks, Bartelstein said he will not wait for them. Nor will he give the Knicks the chance to match an offer before signing with another team.

"You cant really do that," Bartelstein said. "That's not really fair to the other teams." He added, "Right now, the business is the business. You've got to get a deal done."

The Knicks began the free-agent hunt without Donnie Walsh, the team president, who is recovering from recent neck surgery. However, Walsh is expected to join the Knicks contingent, led by Coach Mike D'Antoni, in Cleveland on Thursday.

Bosh's first suitor was the Houston Rockets, who do not have salary-cap room but will try to acquire him via a sign-and-trade deal. The Rockets are stocked with talent, expiring contracts and draft picks and could create an attractive package to send to Toronto. Bosh is a Dallas native who might relish the chance to return to his home state. However, early indications are that Bosh is most likely to join the Bulls or the Heat.

In a sign of the times, Daryl Morey, the Rockets general manager, announced his meeting with Bosh on Twitter at about 1:25 a.m. Eastern. He called Bosh a "great player & person," adding, "He is about winning so I focused on how w/Houston he can win a championship."

Twitter figured heavily into the first night of free agency. The Knicks, who are typically secretive about their plans, used the service to publicly confirm their meetings with Johnson and Miller.

The Clippers chose a more traditional route, sending out an e-mail message to announce that they had secured a meeting with James.

"We are honored to be one of the select organizations to have been invited to meet with LeBron James and his team," said the statement from the general manager Neil Olshey. "At that time, we intend to present the many reasons why his joining our organization is the best possible choice he could make."

The Knicks and the Bulls both used their Web sites to promote the free-agent hunt, devoting entire pages to photographs of other teams' star players, rather than their own.

The greatest intrigue, of course, revolves around James, who has been anticipating this moment for two years — and occasionally teasing desperate Knicks fans about his intentions.

“I don’t know if it’s going to happen,” James said in 2008, after beating the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. “I’m so focused on this season and what we have at task with the Cavs, it’s hard for me to even think about that date. But at the same time, you have to stay open-minded if you’re a Knicks fan.”

His pending free agency also inspired dreams in Chicago, New Jersey, Los Angeles and Miami.

“July 1 of 2010 is a very big day,” James said then. “It’s probably going to be one of the biggest days in free-agent history in the N.B.A.”

James will be joined in meetings with his longtime business manager, Maverick Carter, and his agent, Leon Rose. But the decision will rest with him.

James is loyal, and the factor of leaving the area he grew up in, where he first reached fame and carved out a comfortable living, cannot be discounted. As many have noted, James is also a businessman. But with backings from some of the largest corporate entities already solidified, his stature cannot soar much higher than it already has.

His business is basketball, and the best opportunity to raise his already noticeable profile is by winning multiple championships.


Jonathan Abrams reported from Akron, Ohio, and Howard Beck from New York.

James Hears Nets’ and Knicks’ Pitches
By JONATHAN ABRAMS and HOWARD BECK
Published: July 1, 2010


CLEVELAND, Ohio — They came by private jets, in droves, with fancy presentations and boxes stuffed with technological wizardry. There is nothing simple, or economical, about courting basketball’s greatest free agent.


Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times
A portrait of LeBron James, clad (perhaps wishfully) in a Knicks uniform, was unveiled on the court at Rucker Park in Harlem, N.Y.
On the first day that N.B.A. teams and players were allowed to negotiate, LeBron James played host to two rivals, the Nets and the Knicks, in downtown Cleveland on Thursday. The Nets were first, arriving around 11 a.m. Eastern. The Knicks arrived for their meeting with James just before 1 p.m.

In the next two days, James — the Cleveland Cavaliers star and two-time most valuable player — will also entertain contingents from the Miami Heat, the Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Clippers, continuing the most celebrated free-agent period in the history of the N.B.A.

“We tried to put him in a New York state of mind,” Knicks Coach Mike D’Antoni said after the meeting with James, adding that he was “cautiously optimistic.”

After two years of diligently creating the cap room to pursue James — but without being able to say so publicly, D’Antoni got a little giddy.

“You know what was good? LeBron James being there,” D’Antoni said. “No one can call me for tampering. It’s liberating, really.”

Knicks president Donnie Walsh said, “There were no commitments. It was a noncommittal meeting, but we were given the opportunity to explain our franchise, explain the Knicks, explain what we are trying to do and in that sense I thought it was a very good meeting.”

It will probably be several days before James chooses a destination, which in the end might be Cleveland. In the meantime, other free agents are already pondering and accepting offers.

Joe Johnson, the Atlanta Hawks’ swingman, received maximum-contract offers from the Hawks and the Knicks in the first hours of free agency, according to a person with direct knowledge of the talks. Johnson met with representatives of both teams in Los Angeles on Wednesday night.

The Hawks, eager to retain their franchise player, offered Johnson the most they could under N.B.A. rules, a six-year deal worth about $119.5 million. Rivals can only give Johnson a five-year deal for $91.5 million, which is what the Knicks offered him.

That $28 million difference will make it tough for Johnson to leave Atlanta, where he has played for the last five years. Johnson would make about $24 million in the final season of a six-year deal — a sum he surely would not receive as a 34-year-old free agent in 2015.

Johnson also has drawn interest from the Chicago Bulls and is expected to ultimately choose one of those three teams. It is not yet clear whether the Bulls will offer Johnson the maximum.

“We met with the Hawks and Knicks last night and have heard a number of other teams with significant interest in Joe,” Johnson’s agent, Arn Tellem said in an e-mail. “At this point, Joe has many great options to choose from. We plan to meet with the Hawks again today to discuss the details of their offer and we hope to make a decision in the near future.”Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire, Paul Pierce and Dirk Nowitzki are also among the elite players who hit the open market at 12:01 a.m. Thursday.

The Knicks have meetings scheduled with Bosh and Wade in Chicago on Friday and with Stoudemire in New York on Monday. They are trying to set up a meeting on Saturday in New York with Rudy Gay, after he meets with the Nets.

Although negotiations are under way, no deals can be consummated until July 8, after the N.B.A.’s annual moratorium ends and the new salary-cap figures are set. Non-binding handshake agreements, however, are already taking place. The Minnesota Timberwolves agreed to a four-year, $20 million deal with Darko Milicic, according to ESPN. Drew Gooden has agreed to a five-year, $32 million deal with the Milwaukee Bucks, according to Yahoo Sports. Milwaukee was also close to re-signing John Salmons to a five-year, $39 million deal, according to NBA.com.

If James returns to the Cavaliers, he now knows who his coach will be. According to multiple reports, the Cavaliers have an agreement with Byron Scott, the former head coach of the Nets and the New Orleans Hornets. Scott took the job after Brian Shaw, the Los Angeles Lakers assistant, withdrew from consideration.

Meanwhile, all eyes were on downtown Cleveland on Thursday morning.

The Nets’ contingent, led by the new owner Mikhail Prokhorov, President Rod Thorn, Coach Avery Johnson and the music mogul Jay-Z — a Nets shareholder and a close friend of James — arrived at the offices of IMG in a series of black town cars at 10:58 a.m. James, who grew up in nearby Akron, arrived earlier, in a white sports-utility vehicle.

“Meeting went well,” Johnson shouted while walking out.

The Knicks’ contingent was led by Coach Mike D’Antoni, who has a longstanding relationship with James from their days together on the United States Olympic team. He was joined by the Madison Square Garden chairman James L. Dolan, the team president Donnie Walsh and Allan Houston, the former Knicks star who now works in the team’s front office and also has ties to James. Walsh, who recently had neck surgery, arrived in a wheelchair.

The Knicks brought elaborate computer equipment to make their presentation, and a handful of technology specialists to make it all work. The Nets took a similar high-tech approach.

Agroup of Cavaliers employees, including their public-address announcer, gathered at a nearby intersection, wearing t-shirts and holding signs emblazoned with the two words — “Community” and “Home” — messages intended to appeal to James’ sentiment and sense of loyalty.

Jonathan Abrams rep

What The Knicks Just Told LeBron: Come To New York And Make $1 Billion
July 1, 2010 - 4:02 pm

Steven Bertoni is a Global Wealth reporter for Forbes.

The Knicks just finished pitching LeBron James. Their main selling point: You could make a billion dollars playing in New York. You can't earn anything close to that anywhere else.

To make the case, they commissioned a study from marketing consultant Interbrand (See the powerpoint below--hit "full screen" to view.) that says LeBron could earn close to $1 billion over his lifetime in salary and endorsements if he makes Madison Square Garden his permanent home--their high-end estimate sees him earning as much as $2 billion. That outshines the estimated $700 million he’d likely earn in Cleveland, the $690 million in Chicago, and $600 million in Miami.

It’s a crafty attack that goes right after their rivals' best case for nabbing LeBron: that his brand is so internationally recognizable, where he plays has little influence on his overall earnings. In fact, the same study claims that any generic free agent could see his lifetime earnings jump 30% by signing with the Knicks.

To come up with the numbers for the Knicks, Interbrand says it ran through 50,000 computer models of a potential LeBron career, using more than 200 variables like individual performance, fan demographics and championships. The report is light on the details of its methodology, but comes to this conclusion: LeBron has a 50% chance of earning at least $1 billion in New York. In Cleveland and Chicago the odds fall to 1%. The study put a 0% chance of LeBron making $1 billion playing for Miami.

Included in Interbrand's math: an NBA title in New York could be worth $240 million to LeBron, about $60 million more than if he brought a ring home to Cleveland, and more than double the value of a Chicago championship. Why? NYC is a huge market, the business capital of the world and home to a large (and wealthy) fan base hungry for a winning team--the Knicks haven’t held the title since 1973. LeBron already owns Cleveland, a small city with little clout. Michael Jordan’s six championships still hover over Chicago. Miami has a fickle fan base, a recent title and its own superstar in Dwayne Wade.

Over the past year, Forbes estimates that LeBron earned $43 million in salary and endorsements (including Nike, State Farm Insurance, Coke, McDonalds and Upper Deck) playing for small market Cleveland. Good money, but a billion dollars it is not.

Jay-Z vs. Spike Lee: Nets May Have the Edge
Jay-Z, a Brooklyn native, broke ground at the Nets’ Barclay’s Center.
By RICHARD SANDOMIR

Shoulder-to-shoulder they stand, the new marketing symbols of the New Jersey Nets: Mikhail D. Prokhorov, the team’s principal owner, and Jay-Z, the hip hop mogul who has owned a small stake in the team since 2004.

Josh Haner/The New York Times
Jay-Z, the biggest cultural star attached to the Nets, grew up in Brooklyn and is an investor in the team.
On Wednesday, their likenesses were unveiled on two giant murals in Manhattan, one facing Madison Square Garden, with the audacious tagline, “The Blueprint for Greatness.”

And for 24 hours, starting Thursday at 12:01 a.m., readers of The New York Post’s Web site saw the ad for two seconds before the real home page turned it into a backdrop. The ad also appeared on The Daily News’s Web site.

The Prokhorov-Jay-Z campaign does not mention LeBron James, but it would probably not exist without him. The two wealthy men were part of the Nets’ group that led off the multiteam wooing of James on Thursday. In a way, they seem like totemic placeholders who await being supplanted by James’s face.

“One’s an icon here,” said Joe Stetson, the Nets’ senior director for marketing, referring to Jay-Z. “The other’s a global icon.”

He added: “One’s the best in business. One’s the best in entertainment.”

Jay-Z is the biggest cultural star attached to a team that has not attracted a slew of them. He attends games, but more importantly, he grew up in Brooklyn and is an investor in the team.

The Knicks, whose presentation to James followed the one made by the Nets, have been linked for two decades to another cultural star, Spike Lee, the film director and courtside superfan. Lee has directed an ad campaign for the Knicks and has appeared in some TV spots to promote the team.

But Lee does not own a piece of the Knicks and was not part of their marketing posse in Cleveland.

“This really highlights the old blood-new blood disparity between both teams,” said David Reeder, vice president for GreenLight, a consulting firm that specializes in branded entertainment. “You have new ownership with the Nets, and a vibrant contemporary urban personality like Jay-Z. With the Knicks, you have the Dolans and Spike who, God love him, has been around a bit, and is showing some gray in that beard.”

The Knicks’ romancing of James did not initiate a new ad campaign. Instead, the team timed the opening of the free-agency hunting season with the startup of the “Knicks Night Live” program on MSG.

The Nets’ “Blueprint” campaign, alluding to Jay-Z’s popular Blueprint albums, spins off their “It’s All New” push, which ties together a new owner (Prokhorov), new coach (Avery Johnson) and a new home (the Prudential Center for two years before the Barclays Center in Brooklyn is expected to open).

The plastering of Prokhorov’s image, so early in his reign, represents a “little sizzle but not much substance,” said Jason Schlossberg, president of Kwittken & Company, a public relations and marketing agency. “When I think of great owners, I think of George Steinbrenner, Jerry Jones and Mark Cuban. I feel like they use themselves in more authentic ways. I can’t envision Steinbrenner creating a campaign with only his face on it.”

The images of Prokhorov and Jay-Z will continue to be seen for a while in print ads, atop taxicabs, on ESPNNewyork.com and in outdoor locations in New York and around Newark. The campaign will be tweaked or altered depending on whether James signs. Until then, the team is happy to promote the team with the faces of wealthy moguls, Stetson said.

“Nothing against our current players,” Stetson said, but in the rapper and the billionaire, “we feel we have something almost over and beyond what we have on the court.”

I am betting the Kid stays in Ohio



LeBron sitdowns like playing for high stakes in a Poker Game



By: Terry Brooks
CLEVELAND - LeBron James has met with the NY Knicks, NJ Nets, Miami Heat and LA Clippers. What did all those teams have to say about LeBron? He's good at keeping what he feels to himself.

For teams sitting down with LeBron they have learned what we in the local media have known for quite a long time. LBJ is a master at saying nothing. By nature, when LeBron is questioned he listens and does not respond until he thought it through. Almost as if he's internalizing everything. If teams are hoping to get LeBron to "crack," good luck.

LeBron's entertaining these guys while full-well knowing he can only see himself on a few of these teams. Organizations making these pitches to LeBron right now seem like used car salesmen.

"Yeah our team has been terrible for years, but with you at the wheel it's going to all be different."

You can talk about the holes in all the teams that have been in recruit mode for LeBron.

Knicks - Team has been in cap hell for years and has not qualified for the playoffs since 2004.

Nets - The step-sister in the NY market to the Knicks. Won 12 games last season.

Heat - Team has a bona fide star in Dwayne Wade and wasted a year of his prime by waiting for cap room instead of acquiring quality players last season.

Clippers - It's the Clippers. 'Nuff said.

This weekend the Cavs and Bulls get to take their turn at trying to reel the biggest free agent catch of all-time. The Bulls have six titles with LeBron's childhood hero Michael Jordan. They have quality pieces with Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah already in place. They also have room to pursue another major free agent. Problem with the Bulls is that owner Jerry Reinsdorf has a checkered history with spending money on his teams. True, Jordan commanded over 30 million during the last couple years in his career. On the other side of the coin, Reinsdorf never renegotiated Jordan's deal at any point to show some love to the guy who was the top draw in the league. Will Reinsdorf revert to that line of thinking when his young guns become free agents?

And that brings me to the Cavs. It's home. There's a new coach with a championship pedigree on board. The owner has proven he's willing to spend whatever to bring in players to win a championship. The team was built to win last season. When Dan Gilbert pushed all his chips in by picking up Shaq and trading for Antawn Jamison did he hamstring the franchise? That's something for LeBron to ponder.

I have no idea what LeBron's thinking. I just know I don't want to play poker with the guy.

Heat give LeBron James hard sell

The Miami Heat used every precious second of their promised time with LeBron James yesterday in Cleveland, and then some.

Team president Pat Riley, coach Erik Spoelstra, owner Micky Arison and former center Alonzo Mourning spent nearly three hours making their presentation to try to lure James, the NBA’s most coveted free agent, to sunny South Florida.

The Heat’s delegation arrived at 10:20 a.m. James showed up two minutes before the scheduled 11 a.m. meeting wearing a T-shirt, shorts and a backpack. At 1:50 p.m., the Heat’s delegation paraded through the lobby of the IMG building without saying a word.

Next up were the Clippers, with acting general manager Neil Olshey and executive Andy Roeser wrapping up with James in about an hour.

After the meetings concluded, James was asked how things were going as he headed out the door. “Good,” he said.

But today, the two favorites to snare James take the stage, Cleveland and Chicago. The Cavs will go first at 11 a.m., when they will remind the Akron-bred superstar that there’s no place like home. The Bulls will follow at 2:30 p.m.

Wade ‘intrigued’

The sweepstakes for Dwyane Wade has gotten a lot more interesting. The Miami Heat star wrapped up his second meeting with the Bulls in Chicago.

Wade said the meeting, which lasted 2 hours, was mutually agreed upon. “Things are getting very interesting,” he said, but shrugged when asked if the Bulls had made an offer.

Wade met again with the Bulls shortly after he spent more than two hours getting wooed by the Knicks.

Wade is expected to return to Florida early next week, and it’s believed that’s when he and Heat boss Pat Riley will talk. Wade is scheduled to join Mourning, a Heat executive, for a Tuesday news conference about their annual Summer Groove, a weekend-long fundraiser event. . . .

After meeting with Wade, the Knicks brass met with forward Chris Bosh for more than two hours. In a tweet, Bosh called the Knicks’ presentation “another impressive one.”

Asked if there were any offers, he said “No, not yet. Everything is still pending.”

Amare gone?

A person with knowledge of the situation says Amare Stoudemire’s days with the Phoenix Suns are over after the team reached contract agreements with forward Hakim Warrick and center Channing Frye.

The person told The Associated Press that Warrick agreed to a four-year, $18 million deal, shortly after Frye agreed to a five-year, $30 million offer to re-sign with Phoenix.

Stoudemire’s agent, Happy Walters, confirmed that the Suns were no longer in the picture and said Stoudemire was going to New York this weekend to meet with the Knicks, “but we’re talking to other teams as well.” . . .

Mavericks president Donnie Nelson said he made a “significant” contract offer to Dirk Nowitzki’s adviser. Nowitzki could respond as soon as Saturday, when the sides are expected to meet again. . . .

The Milwaukee Bucks made another major move by agreeing in principle to a $40 million, five-year deal with free agent guard John Salmons, a source said.

Union proposal

The NBA players’ union has sent a proposal for a new labor agreement to the league, an official with knowledge of the bargaining process.

The proposal was delivered Thursday, although no details were provided by the official.

The NBA has been awaiting a counterproposal from the players since All-Star weekend. That’s when the league’s initial proposal was taken off the table after what union executive director Billy Hunter called a “contentious” 90-minute bargaining session in Dallas.

The union said the league’s proposal called for reductions in the length and amount of contracts, which would become only partially guaranteed. It also sought to greatly reduce the players’ share of basketball-related income from the 57 percent they currently receive.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/other_nba/view.bg?articleid=1265462

Familiar Visitors for James
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: July 3, 2010


The Cleveland Cavaliers used their home-court advantage to try to convince LeBron James to give them a few more years. Hoping the comforts of home would sway James, the Cavaliers made their presentation Saturday in a meeting that lasted a little more than an hour.


“We had a very good meeting with LeBron and his group,” General Manager Chris Grant said. “We had fun and it was very interactive. We know LeBron well. I would characterize it as positive.”

The Cavaliers’ entourage, which included the new coach Byron Scott, made the three-block drive to James’s downtown business offices to make their homespun pitch. Hundreds of fans lined the sidewalks outside IMG headquarters with many holding signs saying “Home” and some throwing powder in the air to mimic James’s signature pregame routine. James was also meeting with the Chicago Bulls on Saturday.

Wearing a black T-shirt and shorts, James showed up minutes after the Cavaliers, arriving in a silver sedan before heading upstairs. Scott was accompanied by Grant, the team owner Dan Gilbert and the assistant G.M. Lance Blanks. As the Cavaliers departed, a delegation from the Chicago Bulls — the team owner Jerry Reinsdorf, General Manager Gar Forman, the vice president of basketball operations John Paxson and the new coach Tom Thibodeau — arrived for their meeting with James and his advisors.

The Cavs and the Bulls were the fifth and sixth teams to visit with James, following the Nets, the Knicks, the Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Clippers.

A version of this brief appeared in print on July 4, 2010, on page SP8 of

Cleveland Cavaliers' top advantage over New York Knicks is extra $30 million to offer LeBron James

Mitch Lawrence
Sunday, July 4th 2010, 4:00 AM

LeBron James? Probably staying in Cleveland.

Dwyane Wade? Probably staying in Miami.

Joe Johnson? Probably staying in Atlanta.

When all is said and done in the great gold rush of 2010, the three best wing players on the market will probably be staying right at home, because of what one NBA executive Saturday called "the $30 million hammer."

The $30 million hammer is the difference between a marquee player remaining with his current team for the six-year maximum salary, versus leaving and having to take a five-year maximum deal worth around $30 million less from his new team.

There's been talk that Wade will leave Miami for Chicago. But if he does, and can't get the Heat to agree to do a sign-and-trade, then he'll be walking away from $30million in guaranteed money. That's not a good business move.

The $30 million hammer is working against the Knicks with Joe Johnson, which is exactly what the rules of the collective bargaining agreement intended. They give Atlanta, not exactly playing in a top NBA market, a fighting chance to keep its best players when the big-market Knicks come in on a talent raid.

As much as they'd probably like to sweeten the pot, the Knicks can't top their offer before Johnson can sign on Thursday. They're stuck, locked into a predetermined salary structure favoring Atlanta.

"With this system, there's nothing you can negotiate," said David Falk, the long-time agent. "It's like, which team do you want to pick?"

That should be fairly easy for Johnson, who doesn't have the endorsement portfolio to be able to walk away from what amounts to about a quarter of his new proposed deal worth roughly $121million. He just turned 29. This is going to be his last big contract. There's a lockout looming July 1, 2011 with owners now pushing for major cutbacks in guaranteed years and money. Max money deals will be much less than they are now.

Add it all up and it's why Johnson told associates Saturday that he is still leaning toward staying with the Hawks, who also have another distinct advantage over the Knicks.

This past season they were the No. 3 seed in the East.

Johnson has gotten a taste of playoff success, modest as it might be. The Hawks were swept for the second straight season out of the conference semis, but they're a top team, nonetheless. Look at it from his standpoint, when he sits down and weighs the pros and cons of leaving Atlanta for New York.

He would be departing one of the East's premier clubs for a team that would be competing for a playoff spot, depending on what the Knicks do to surround Amar'e Stoudemire in the coming days. And, the Knicks are asking him to take $30 million less?

"That $30 million hammer is great to have, when you're swinging it," the executive said.

You can bet the Cavs brought it when they had their sit-down with James Saturday in Cleveland. They've got roster problems, we all know. They don't have a No. 2 star, which the Knicks can offer James now, as New York is closing in on a five-year, $96 million deal with Stoudemire.

The Cavs are hamstrung, salary-cap wise, mainly because they've made a thousand moves the last three seasons, all with one goal in mind.

Keep LeBron in Cleveland.

So now they're sweating because James has options. But they had some things in their favor over the five teams that showed up in Cleveland over the last four days to make recruiting pitches.

They can sell James on staying at home, right down the road from his beloved Akron. They can sell the fact that LeBron has a great relationship with Dan Gilbert, the Cavs' owner who doesn't balk at paying the luxury tax. They can show they've hired a successful head coach, Byron Scott, who got a big endorsement from his old Hornets star, Chris Paul, who is one of James' best friends.

And lastly, there's the $30 million hammer.

The Cavs love to have it because James' endorsements are said to have shrunk to about $10 million to $15 million per season, as the economy has hit the skids.

For James, the $30 million hammer is his insurance against his endorsement portfolio taking a further beating. He still might have an opt-out clause, this time after four years. But his six-year total deal still will be better than anything the Knicks, Nets, Bulls, Heat and Clippers can offer.

During their pitch, the Knicks tried to sell James on his quest to make $1billion, telling him his best chance of doing so would be in New York. It was a smart play, knowing what makes him tick. But those are projections.

The $30 million hammer is real and fully guaranteed.

mlawrence@nydailynews.com

Share

Betty White Joins Cleveland In Wooing Lebron
Updated: Sunday, 04 Jul 2010, 10:30 AM EDT
Published : Sunday, 04 Jul 2010, 10:30 AM EDT

(NewsCore) - Veteran actress Betty White joined the fight to keep NBA superstar LeBron James in Cleveland, telling him she would “make it worth your while” if he re-signed with the Cavaliers in a video posted on Facebook Saturday.

White and her “Hot in Cleveland” costars Vallerie Bertenelli, Jane Leeves and Wendie Malick appear in the video to help keep "King James" from signing with a rival franchise.

"Hi LeBron. Now that we're Clevelanders, we wanted to join in the effort to please get you to stay," Valerie Bertenelli said.

The women question whether the Cavaliers are French cowboys or a hockey team before White tells them James is the "best basketball player on the planet.” The clip finishes with White's offer to make staying in Ohio worthwhile for Akron-born James.

Former “Golden Girls” star White, 88, has enjoyed a career resurgence of late. Her May "Saturday Night Live" hosting gig attracted the show's best ratings in 18 months.

James, the brightest star in a star-filled crop of NBA free agents, was courted for three days by teams from across the country seeking to lure him from Cleveland, where he has spent all seven of his NBA seasons so far.

The New Jersey Nets brought its billionaire owner Mikhail Prokhorov and hip-hop Jay-Z star to woo him, Miami sent Pat Riley and a Chicago Bulls group -- including owner Jerry Reinsdorf, general manager Gar Forman, vice president of basketball operations John Paxson and new coach Tom Thibodeau -- spent more than three hours making their case Saturday.