Lots of people like to say that LeBron James will never play for a Western Conference team because it will jeopardize his quest to make it to nine consecutive NBA Finals. And the more people keep saying that, the more it will fuel James’ desire to prove his doubters wrong.
One thing about Bron: If you tell him he can’t do something, he will display what is known in psychiatric circles as Oppositional Behavior Disorder. What’s that, you ask?
If you can find someone who is divorced, they will tell you all about OBD. That former spouse who vowed to stick through it, through good times and bad, for richer or poorer, for better or worse? Until they decided that a lifelong vow only lasts part of a lifetime? Yeah, that person will provide a vivid endorsement.
Example: A request to “Please mail the child support check” will yield a response along the lines of “I can’t mail a check today because I lost my checkbook/am taking a six-day yoga excursion along Bikram Boulevard/am tied up binge-watching The View.”
So you try to play nice, then you try to play mean, and then you end up settling for an I.O.U. that will be paid off at the same time the Knicks win another playoff series.
If you want to hinge your hopes of everlasting happiness on LeBron deciding to stay in Cleveland, as so many Ohioans are continuing to do, good luck with that. If you want to believe the reports that are out there saying the Cavs are not shopping Kevin Love all over the NBA, go ahead and make like an ostrich.
And if you think LeBron James is motivated to get back to the NBA Finals by playing in the weaker conference, I dare you to do this: Tweet at him, tell him he is a feline euphemism, and go back to writing memos to your colleagues in Comic Sans font, just for old times’ sake.
We are only 11 days away from July 6, which is when the NBA’s moratorium on free agent signings will expire, and all heck will break loose. Paul George will announce his next destination (the Lakers have already prepared their pitch.) DeMarcus Cousins will pronounce himself healthy, serene and transformed via his new shaman. Luol Deng will be relevant again. Kawhi Leonard will be counting to 219. J.R. Smith will be up to something stinky at 4:20 p.m.
And the basketball universe will look completely different.
NBA Future Odds
As of today, the Los Angeles Lakers are 7-1 to win the 2019 NBA Championship; and the Golden State Warriors are sitting as the +165 favorite. The Nets, Bulls and Grizzlies are all sitting at 500-1, the Hawks are 100-1, and the Hornets and Kings are 300-1, which means Michael Jordan finally has something in common with Vlade Divac aside from making horrendous trades.
In the race to land LeBron, Cleveland is +425, making the Cavs the current third choice behind the Lakers (-125) and the Sixers (+350). The Rockets — you remember them, they went to Game 7 of the Western Conference finals back when Chris Paul was not only injured but was quite certain that he would be getting a max contract (an ownership change in Houston may have nullified a wink/wink promise) — are considered so out of the running that are grouped in the field (+750).
Future is Unpredictable
Futures odds are fun. Last summer, back when the Las Vegas Golden Knights were an expansion team without a roster, they were on the board at 500-1 because expansion teams just do not make it to the Stanley Cup Finals, ever. Until, of course, they do.
Things may look bleak at this moment for the championship hopes of the Mavericks (200-1), the Pistons (100-1) and the Pacers (80-1). We should all remember, however, that the landscape on June 25 is quite different from what the landscape will look like on March 1, 2019. That will be the most important NBA day of the year until the playoffs get underway.
Because as we all watch the winds shift and the tweets fly and the temperature change, we all need to remember one thing: March 1 marks the end of February free agency, and is the date when teams know what their playoff rosters will look like.
LeBron to L.A.?
In the case of LeBron and the Lakers, that means the following statement is very, very important: What El Lay’s roster looks like today does not matter. What it looks like on July 7 does not matter. What it looks like on Opening Night does not matter, and what it looks like after next February’s trading deadline does not matter.
Those things matter about as much as the next statement to come out of LaVar Ball’s mouth.
If you do not believe me, please peep closely into your smartphone and find out what Jordan Clarkson, Rodney Hood, Larry Nance Jr. and Cedi Osman were doing on the final night of this year’s NBA Finals. They were all in Cleveland, playing for the Cavs. Most of them didn’t expect that’s what they’d be doing 365 days ago when the calendar read: June 25, 2017.
We are still a long way away from July 6. The Lakers, however, are ahead in the homestretch. Their plans become exposed more and more with each passing day. Even at 7-1 to win the championship, they are a value bet. That is because if they land LeBron James, they will have a player who has gone to the last eight NBA Finals. That is the type of player you want on your team.
