NBA Free Agency: Why Cleveland Is Still Front-Runner for LeBron James

If you are a fan of LeBron James leaving Cleveland for the big-city lights of New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles: you probably aren't going to like what I have to say.

I have been weighing how exactly to write this article all week.

My editor asked me to write a piece on "why (insert team here) is now the front-runner in the LeBron James sweepstakes" earlier this week, and it has taken me until about 20 minutes ago to figure out just who that team is.

When I started down this path, I decided to give the New York Knicks the benefit of the doubt and still thought about them as an option.  I mean no offense to New York fans, but Eddy Curry, Danilo Gallinari, Sergio Rodriguez, Wilson Chandler, and Toney Douglas wouldn't exactly make me want to bolt a team I know I can win 60 games with in the regular season.

So then I took into account New York's $40 million worth of cap room, imagined that same team giving LeBron James and Chris Bosh $38 million of it, and sat down to debate.

That team is still not any better than what LeBron James has in Cleveland.

Don't get me wrong, the combination of Chris Bosh and LeBron James is enough to give other teams match-up problems, but Bosh and James would be just two superstars on a less than exciting roster.

So unless LeBron just wants to be part of the city of New York really bad, sorry Big Apple, you'll have to get used to LeBron's yearly visits.

The next stop on my front-runner train led me to the one and only Windy City, the place where Michael Jordan won his championships, and where the Chicago Cubs still can't seem to make it to the World Series.

The Chicago Bulls currently have one of the NBA's brightest young stars in Derrick Rose, one of the more underrated players in Luol Deng, and the ever-energetic Joakim Noah. 

So to say they have the most to offer LeBron outside of Cleveland would be a correct statement.

The rest of their roster is currently composed of Kirk Hinrich, James Johnson, Taj Gibson, and a plethora of free agents. That leaves them with around $25 million to spend in free agency, depending on the cap number.

However, when I look at the Bulls, I see three big problems.

The first is their front-office instability, which D-Wade ever so kindly pointed out for NBA free agents in an interview last month.

The second is the shadow of Michael Jordan, which would constantly haunt LeBron James every time he didn't hit a fade away jumper to win the game, or the first time the Bulls didn't make the NBA Finals after making the playoffs.

And the third, and final thing, is that I am not really sold on their roster being that good.

I mean, Derrick Rose is a nice, young player, but he dominates the ball just as much as LeBron does.  And if people think that D-Wade and LeBron dominating the ball wouldn't work, what makes you think LeBron and Rose would?

And no offense, but Noah is a poor man's Anderson Varejao.  The only reason he got so much hype in the playoffs was because he was Chicago's only scoring option besides Rose in the playoff series against Cleveland.

So sorry Chicago, you just don't make the cut.

Then there's the Clippers of Los Angeles, the third cousin, twice removed in the eyes of L.A. fans from the Lakers.  They are the little kid lighting off fireworks, just trying to grab someone's attention in that city.

Bringing in LeBron James would not only grab someone's attention, it would put Clippers games as a must-see, instead of a third option.

However, they really don't have much more to offer than the previous two teams.

Baron Davis is a "shoot first, ask questions: later point guard.  Blake Griffin is a first-round pick that got bitten by the Clippers curse, and the rest of their roster (besides Chris Kaman) is young and untested.

LeBron leaving Cleveland for the Clippers would place him in a battle for who gets the spotlight in L.A. with Kobe, but it will not bring him any closer to winning a title.

And then there are the beaches of Miami.

The Heat have a ton of cap space, LeBron's good buddy Dwyane Wade, and the ability to surround those two with a couple of nice pieces with the remaining 10 million of cap room after signing those two.

Unfortunately, two alpha males don't make a right, and unless D-Wade and Bron Bron have been working on who will demand the ball less, Miami wouldn't really offer LeBron a better chance at winning than any of the other cities.

So that leaves us with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The team that Jalen Rose claims his "sources" say have basically no shot at keeping LeBron in Cleveland.

But let's be serious, after looking at what the other teams can offer LeBron, tell me how his situation would be any better elsewhere?

Granted, any team that gets LeBron would instantly be better, and the Cavaliers did collapse in the playoffs this season, but unless LeBron is really unhappy with Cleveland, it makes ZERO sense to leave.

This roster has been crafted to benefit LeBron's abilities.

They have a point guard who can create his own shot and play off the ball in Mo Williams.

They have dynamic young players in J.J. Hickson and Anderson Varejao who can hustle to the basket, slash, and make things happen around the rim.

They even have the crafty, veteran scorer in Antawn Jamison, who can put up 18 points and eight rebounds on any given night.

And if they don't feel like this is good enough, they have around $13 million in expiring contracts on the books this upcoming season, and another $18 million for next season to try to lure a superstar away from a team that is trying to shed long-term salary over the next two years.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are one of the few teams in the league that are willing and able to take on the big contracts of Hedo Turkoglu and Jose Calderon in a sign-and-trade to get Chris Bosh and still give the Raptors the young power forward they covet in J.J. Hickson.

They are also one of the few that are able to pull New Orleans out from the luxury tax by taking on Emeka Okafor's monster contract, and James Posey's $7 million if the Hornets decide to part with Chris Paul and blow up their team.

When it's all said and done, LeBron will have a choice to make.

If winning is really his No. 1 priority, there is no better situation then the one he has in Cleveland, with a team that has already proven they can win 60 games in the regular season and get close to the NBA finals.

If a bigger market is his desire, then Cleveland doesn't stand a chance. 

But until he makes that decision, the Cleveland Cavaliers still remain front-runner in the LeBron James sweepstakes.