LeBron’s Best Option is Boston

    It may not appear so, but the match is obvious here, more so for LeBron than the Celtics.   I’ve been thinking about this for awhile, considering from LeBron James’ perspective, this is his best chance to win.  At this point, down 3-0, all attention has turned to the next stage of The King’s career. He has proved all he can statistically this postseason, posting 34.6 points per game and a career playoff high of 9 assists per game.  Analysts can evaluate every situation, weighing the pros and cons of Houston, Los Angeles, Philly, Miami, the Warriors(?), and Cleveland as well. At the end of the day, however, LeBron’s best fit to win championships is, plain and simple, with the Boston Celtics.  If LeBron’s main prerogative at the end of his career is chasing MJ, his best chance at multiple rings is in Boston.

  Looking at those lists of teams, the favorites on LeBron’s list are probably Philly, Houston, Cleveland and LA, then Miami and Boston and Golden State somewhat in that order.  Let’s discard the Warriors because although I think LeBron will listen to their pitch, I am going to assume joining the only team that can beat him is a legacy blow LeBron would not even actually consider.  The Heat just simply do not have enough talent to surround LeBron, so feasibly the only scenario that lures him to South Beach again would be another free agent star such as Paul George or Demarcus Cousins accompanying him there.  I feel the same way about LA, but there’s an added chance LeBron goes there because he does have two homes in Southern California and an LA move might be lucrative for his business ventures as well. Cleveland is his home and you always have to judge fairly that a move for anyone is not preferable. They just can’t much better though, tied down by horrible contracts that do not provide enough support for LeBron.  If he were to stay in Cleveland, I do not envision LeBron winning another title, and he would he would probably be battling every year to even make the Finals against the young Celtics and Sixers.

  That brings us to Houston and Philly.   Let me be clear, this is where I think LeBron actually ends up. In both places, there are established stars.   Both would almost require LeBron to play off the ball, however, which he has been quoted as saying could be the next stage of his career.  Hogwash. I simply don’t buy it. When he played with Kyrie, another ball dominated player, he still controlled the ball mostly. LeBron’s best skills manifest when he orchestrates the show, where he can create off the dribble and drive, shoot off the dribble, or create wide open looks for his teammates.  Philadelphia presents youth for LeBron James with two young stars in Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid. Ben Simmons can’t shoot though, simply stated. He also needs the ball in his hand and I don’t know how effective he would be when LeBron has it. Don’t get me wrong, he’s talented, and both could probably figure it out.  To me, it just doesn’t seem like a huge upgrade over Cleveland. With JJ Reddick and Marco Belinelli as free agents as well, there’s no guarantee the team will have shooting around the two. If the ultimate goal is to beat Golden State for the next few years, Boston is surely better set up for LeBron than the 76ers are.

   So he’s gonna go to Houston and play off the ball, letting James Harden still run the show?  Maybe if he is being truthful about morphing his game it would work, but I anticipate some growing pains and disputes there.  Harden jumped ship from Oklahoma and went to Houston to be “the guy,” and I am not sure he would just easily become the second fiddle either.  Chris Paul remains one of LeBron’s buddies though, so I think this is the 2nd best option for LeBron. If James Harden can accept a role as LeBron’s 2nd best player and have the ball in his hands far less, it could be potent.  After all, if any coach can make that work, it’s Mike D’Antoni. This year he oversaw no issues in that department between Harden and Chris Paul. It was Harden’s team though. He was the MVP, and Paul supplemented ultimately as a wily veteran presence.  If everything fits, they beat the Warriors for sure with LeBron. This year the Rockets took them to 7 games and almost won, and for the final two games were without Chris Paul.

   Why even go to Houston though and figure it out on Harden’s team? LeBron’s not actually  gonna come off the ball, and why should he limit his game from where he’s at his best? Boston presents him with the best of both worlds: stars and youth.  He can get the rest he needs by swinging the ball to over shot creators, but he is still the primary guy and ball handler. And consider the plethora of weapons he would have at his disposal.  It would be disgusting for Golden State to defend all those guys. Let them continue to battle it out with Houston, the Spurs with Kawhi, and the rising Pelicans each year in the West, and then waltz to the Finals after sweeping every team in the East.  

    The obvious problem in Boston is Kyrie, but that’s really the only one.  Kyrie left Cleveland to lead his own team, but if they cannot make amends, you would easily trade Kyrie if you’re Danny Ainge.  For the Celtics, you are positioned well with or without LeBron, but if he indicates he wants to come to Boston, you do what’s necessary to have him dawn green next year.  The most likely scenario would be a sign and trade, involving either Kyrie or Gordon Hayward and players like Marcus Morris and Guerschon Yabusele to match salaries. LeBron would go to Boston and the package of Kyrie/Hayward and Morris and Yabusele would go to Cleveland or the two teams could get a third team involved.  Smart could sign a qualifying offer to stay a year, and LeBron’s team in a Kyrie trade scenario would suddenly be Terry Rozier, Gordon Hayward, himself, Jayson Tatum, and Al Horford, with Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, and solid role players like Daniel Theis and maybe Aaron Baynes and Shane Larkin again off the bench. They could probably also sign a veteran minimum shooter and could still have valuable picks for the future, depending on what they deal in the sign and trade. That could be the best team LeBron’s ever played on, and it’s certainly the best future he would have in the twilight of his career.  This yields him the opportunity to play with developing youth similar to Tim Duncan in his later Spurs years.

  People say LeBron should not pursue the Celtics and it’s not realistic, but if there is any one player with the bargaining power to get this done, it’s LeBron James, and if he wants titles, Boston is far and away his best path.

Written by Will McGuinness