Hold On, LeBron Went Where? And The Fallout.

Seriously I'm shocked.  I still thought Miami was the front-runners for the LBJ Sweepstakes Part II.  I mean really, should he stayed they would have got nice additions in free agency like they did 3 of the 4 years he was there.  Unfortunately for Miami, Wade, Riley, and Heat fans everywhere, the year they didn't add anyone was the year they got stomped by the Spurs right before he could opt-out.

On paper the Cleveland team looked promising.  But we also said that before last year, and they didn't even make the playoffs in the less than appealing Eastern Conference. Allegedly Dion Waiters and Kyrie Irving hate each other, Bennett disappointed big time, and Luol Deng couldn't wait to leave the moment he was traded there.  Can LeBron fix all that?

If you're wining, I would assume that would shut up both Kyrie and Dion. If not, I'm sure LeBron could just say "see ya" to one of them, and they would be gone the next day.  One would reasonably assume it would be Waiters; with Irving's potential being much higher.  Still, with LeBron in town a traditional point guard isn't really necessary.  Food for thought.

Should the next big piece of the puzzle fall into place, Kevin Love shall soon be on the team.  That's pretty damn interesting.  Love is just like Bosh; only better in every way.  And LeBron and Bosh coexisted just fine. The Timberwolves are expected to receive some combination of: Waiters, Wiggins, Thompson, and Bennett, plus picks.  The Cavs are said to be hesitant about shipping out their brand-spankin' new number one pick Wiggins though; to which I say "DUH!"  Who would want to give up their number one pick?  If I was Minnesota I would definitely be swinging for the fences here and try to get them all.  They're all still on their rookie deals, and losing Love is going to set them back tremendously.  Even though we don't know what Wiggins brings to the table, you got to take that chance.  Plus, the more talent the better. They can sort out who works and who doesn't later.  (I would venture they're going to want Wiggins no matter what, and take whatever else they can leverage out of Cleveland.)

Bosh seems to be headed to Houston to join another team that, on paper, that looks fantastic.  My question is still, who is going to lead them?  So far Harden and Howard haven't shown they can do such a thing.  And don't tell me Bosh can.

I feel a little bad for Wade.  It would be one thing if it was 2009 and Wade was at the top of his game, but if Wade has to be the man now, it's not going to be pretty.  I say he will sign for a year and then he'll retire.  Or possibly two years if he feels the need to finish out what his contract was supposed to be before the opt-out. He's breaking down and will have no significant help, so why wouldn't he?  He can be Pat Riley's heir-apparent.

At the end of the day, it's a pretty cool story.  I'm sure someday someone will make a movie about LeBron's career, and one of the feel-good moments will be his triumphant return.  It will be sweeter should he give the city of Cleveland a championship or two, or three, or four... But he does have hurdles to jump through.  Like I mentioned, that Cavs team isn't entirely rosey. Granted it's more talented than the '07 Eastern Conference championship team.  That team still had to sit under Tim Duncan's learning tree. Which is something still relevant now.  Or the Thunder, or possibly the Bulls, or the Pacers, maybe the Rockets, or Clippers, or Warriors. Stay tuned.