Getting to the Bottom of the LeBron James/New York Media Circus

Let's get this out of the way right now: Neither the New York Knicks nor the Cleveland Cavaliers have a desirable history or any sort of discernible "tradition."

Neither franchise has banners hanging from the rafters like the Boston Celtics. Neither team has dynasties in nearly every decade like the Los Angeles Lakers. And neither team has a legendary No. 23 hanging from the rafters like the Chicago Bulls.

About that last part, though: The Cleveland Cavaliers are on their way to adding their own No. 23 from the rafters of Quicken Loans Arena. But not before the New York Knicks have something to say about it.

Don't believe it? You probably weren't paying attention to what new Knicks President Donnie Walsh was doing on Friday.

Walsh took two mammoth contracts belonging to Jamal Crawford and Zach Randolph and pawned them off for Al Harrington, Cutting Mobley, and Tim Thomas. Yeah, the talent doesn't swing in Walsh's favor, but here's the kicker: Harrington, Mobley, and Thomas all combine for $27 million off the team's payroll and salary cap in the summer of 2010.

Eight hours west, on the shores of Lake Erie, the Cleveland Cavaliers know that year all too well. It's the year that their beloved King James can become an unrestricted free agent.

The national media's obsession with linking James to the New York market has been out of control ever since James entered the league. Many fans and even media members who claimed to be wired predicted that LeBron would leave Cleveland after his rookie contract and sign with a big market team like the Knicks.

The hoopla was incessant during James' first couple of years in the league, and it undoubtedly had to drive Cleveland fans crazy.

Of course, the so-called experts who predicted so were wrong, and James ended up re-upping with the Cavaliers in July of 2006.

There's a catch, though: During LeBron's rookie contract, James was scheduled to become a restricted free agent. The Cavs had the right to match any offer from anybody had James not signed an extension one year before becoming a free agent. The rules heavily favored him staying in Cleveland, and that's exactly what he did.

But the Cavs offered him a maximum of five years. He took three, with an option for a fourth. And this time around, he'll be an unrestricted free agent, not a restricted one.

Which means that the Cavs won't have the right to match any offer. LeBron's gone the minute he puts ink to paper for another team.

For the Cavaliers, it's a tumultuous situation. They have done a decent job building a competent supporting cast around LeBron, but the results just haven't backed it up. They went 45-37 in 2007-'08 after contract holdouts and disruptions in the team's chemistry stunted the team's growth.

And despite making the NBA Finals in 2007, they were unceremoniously swept out by the San Antonio Spurs in a series that was absolutely unwatchable unless you had some kind of a rooting interest for either of the teams involved.

The pressure has to be at an all-time high right now in the Rock 'n Roll City as Cavs GM Danny Ferry will absolutely feel the heat to translate Wally Szczerbiak's expiring contract into a Goliath piece at the trading deadline that can put the Cavs over the top for both this season and next season.

Cleveland has been treading water for quite some time now, and many expected the Cavs to have become heavyweights in the NBA by the time James entered his sixth season in the league, the point where he is right now.

Cleveland's 9-3 start has been remarkable this year, but they have by no means been anything close to a "heavyweight," leveling off as a 50-32 team that lost in the second round of the playoffs two out of the last three seasons.

James has gone on the record as saying that he would have to consider his options based on which situation presents him with the best chance of winning a championship.

If you're an NBA fan, you have to believe that the Larry O'Brien trophy—and not the size of the media market he plays in—trumps everything for LeBron when it comes to his legacy and status as one of the best players to ever play the game.

That's exactly why these new-look New York Knicks can finally enter the equation.

Under Isiah Thomas, the Knicks were a mess. How owner James Dolan continued to keep Thomas employed all this time is beyond anyone's guess. But these new Knicks led by Walsh and head coach Mike D'Antoni offer hope.

They offer the opportunity to keep building and adding spare parts here and there before being able to land their cornerstone in free agency two summers from now.

Will it happen? Well, there's a far better chance of it happening in 2010 than there was after LeBron's rookie contract, a time that many media members recklessly wasted by speculating nonsense.

Unfortunately for Cavaliers fans, this time around is a lot more serious.

A lot can change in two years. Heck, Kobe Bryant went from wanting out of L.A. to playing in the Finals in eight months. Two years is almost like an eternity in the sports world.

But don't tell that to the New York Knicks or Cleveland Cavaliers, because the race to 2010 starts right now.