This Year or Next, Re-signing With Cleveland Is Best Option for LeBron James

The Cleveland Cavaliers have officially begun talks with reigning NBA MVP LeBron James in regards to a contract extension. 

Now, with the words "LeBron" and "contract" being bandied about in the sports world, the media circus which has been picking up steam for years is barreling into its final act. 

Will James stay home and continue his quest to bring Cleveland its first title since 1964? Or will the bright lights of New York finally lure the king away from this championship-starved city, sending an already sorrowful sports town into incomparable depression?

Needless to say, it'll only get crazier from here. That is, unless, LeBron decides to pull a fast one on ESPN and every sports media hub in the state of New York and sign an extension this offseason.

Let's get one thing out of the way right now: I fully believe James will reject any contract offers this offseason. He's spent the past three seasons keeping the Cavaliers organization on their toes, so what's one more year?

However, I still hold firm belief that the much-hyped "Summer of 2010," where the most decorated class of NBA free agents becomes available, will be pretty underwhelming in LeBron's camp. Well, underwhelming for Knicks fans at least.

At the beginning of the 2008-09 season, I was about 60 percent sure James would resign in Cleveland. The massive hype displayed by ESPN, which included billions of "sources" telling analysts about how LeBron is telling everyone he knows about his upcoming move to Manhattan, was just too much to ignore.

Now? My confidence may not be quite 100 percent, but its certainly up in the high 90's.

So, why am I so confident that James, arguably the best player in the NBA, will stay in Cleveland, easily the complete opposite of New York in terms of big-name cities?

Honestly, the question for me is less "why stay?" and more "why not?" When looking at the options in front of LeBron, it just makes too much sense to stay in Cleveland.

Let's start with the obvious factor of the situation—money.

For some odd reason, everyone seems to believe James stands to make more money if he becomes a Knick.

Why? No team can offer more money than the Cavaliers can, no matter how many bad contracts New York attempts to dump. In all respects, the Cavs own the biggest piece to this puzzle.

If not through salary, perhaps people are inferring to the endorsement money James will receive if he moves to the Big Apple. But consider this: As of now, LeBron is making more money through endorsements than Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez combined. And they're on one of the most popular teams in the country, which happens to be located in New York.

As for marketability, can a move to New York really make James a bigger phenomenon than he is right now?

Regardless of playing in a city suffering from economic issues, LeBron is already a global celebrity. Fans at the Olympics in China were so insane that James could barely ever leave his room beyond heading to the arena. Plus, Cavs owner Dan Gilbert sold a portion of the rights to the team to a group of Chinese investors, which will no doubt help the cause in spreading the reign of LeBron.  

To me, people may be overstating just how popular a Knicks jersey would make him.

Next, let's look at the current state of both franchises.

The Knicks spent most of 2008 underperforming and trading away talent for short contracts in order to put themselves in the best financial position for 2010. Even in the humdrum lower tier of the East—A.K.A everyone beyond Cleveland, Boston, and Orlando—New York's season was convincingly over well before playoff time came around.

The Cavs, still without a legitimate Robin to LeBron's Batman, lead the league with 66 wins, which included an impressive 39-2 home record. Even though Cleveland was upended by Orlando in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Cavaliers are still considered one of the best squads in the league. 

This statement is especially true after a quietly productive offseason.

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