Free Agent Bonanza

The NBA Free Agency began a little over 24 hours ago and while it may be weird to say this, but the unpredictability of this year’s off-season, has been pretty predictable.

While Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and LeBron James have yet to verbally agree on a contract with any of their potential suitors – deals can only be signed starting July 8 – some big names have already shaken hands. Memphis Grizzlies Rudy Gay agreed to a five year, $80 million contract, and Atlanta Hawks Joe Johnson is expected to sign a deal worth $121 million for six years, according news outlets such as USA Today and ESPN.

In my opinion, those are two very bad deals. Johnson is simply not worth that much. He will be making as much as James, a two-time MVP, would stand to make if he stayed with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Johnson was barely able to get the Hawks past a Milwaukee Bucks team missing their best player, in this year’s playoffs. And he basically gave up against the Orlando Magic in the second round.

With Gay, my main problem with is that for the money Memphis is giving him, will he be able to get them to playoffs, let alone to a championship. I don’t even think Gay is the best player on his team – that designation would go to Zach Randolph, unfortunately. That’s an NBA GM for you.

Even with those horrendous deals, Gay and Johnson have had a massive effect on the NBA market. There are five places looking to land at least two high-caliber players in this year’s free agency: Chicago Bulls, L.A. Clippers, Miami Heat, New Jersey Nets and New York Knickerbockers. Each of those teams had Johnson on their list as a backup plan if they weren’t able to land James, Wade or Bosh. With Wade trying to recruit players to the Heat, he’s eliminates himself from the discussion. That leaves Bosh or James. There are two other high-caliber stars who are two notches beneath James and Bosh: Carlos Boozer and Amare Stoudemire, but one is undersized and sucks on defense and the other has had several knee surgeries and is allergic to defense.

One of these teams is going to get royally screwed this year and it may end up being the Heat – the Knicks were destined to take a humongous L this off season. The Heat currently have two players under contract. Both of those players come courtesy of the 2008 NBA Draft, one Mario Chalmers and the indescribable Michael Beasley. If they aren’t able to get two legitimate stars next to Wade, I think he bails. I predict that James will probably go to the Bulls or remain a Cavalier, while Bosh will either land in Chicago, maybe with James, or elsewhere. But, even if Bosh were to go to Miami with Wade, that would be far from enough to compete at a championship level and Wade knows this.

Out of all the top free agents, Wade has been the only one to adamantly say that he plans to remain with his team. With that said, I think Wade has played the free agency as shrewdly as possible. He has appeared to be loyal to the team who has drafted him, while still testing free agency. Today he met with the Bulls, in Chicago, to hear their pitch, even though a couple months back he disparaged their owner for not taking care of his former players.

I believe Wade will wait to see what James does and definitely what Bosh does. Because if those two don’t end up in South Beach, I don’t think he will settle for Boozer or Stoudemire. Which leaves the door open for Wade to go to the Nets and become the face of the eventual Brooklyn squad or even beat Bosh and James to the punch by getting a deal done with Chicago, his hometown. Wade has been playing chess, while the other free agents have been playing checkers. We'll have to wait a couple of days to see if he goes for the checkmate.

I didn't mention some of the dumber signings such as Drew Gooden, John Salmons, Darko Milicic and Amir Johnson. What the hell is wrong with these GM's. Stay tuned for more stupidity

The Fate of a City

I've been a fan of LeBron James since he first came into the league and posted 25 points, 9 assists and 6 rebounds on the Sacremento Kings -- or Queens if you asked Shaq -- in his first NBA game. As LeBron's game improved, my love for the game of basketball and the NBA became more present as well.

The early exit of the Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron's team, in this year's playoffs came as a shock to me. This was the year he would win it. I just knew it for certain. But that's when I realized that nothing is ever a sure thing. As the cliche goes, "That's why you play the game."

With the Cavs at home, another part of the LeBron era has begun and that is "Where's LeBron going?"

If you aren't a sports fan, than you may not know that the two-time NBA MVP is a free-agent this summer and has the chance to play anywhere he pleases. This isn't usually such a big deal. Superstars in any sport, whether it's the NBA or the NFL, have the chance to explore new territories each year. But what makes this year different is that 5 of the top 25 NBA players, two of them being definite future hall-of-famers, have that chance.

In all the years that I've watched the NBA, this has had to be the strangest and most hyped off-season of all time. Whatever happens this summer has the potential to change the NBA for the next decade and the biggest bearer of that weight is undoubtedly LeBron.

What makes LeBron situation so special is that he has essentially played for his hometown team for his seven-year career. LeBron, who is an Akron native, was drafted by the Cavs as the No. 1 pick in the 2003 NBA Draft. Cleveland, which is only approximately 50 minutes from Akron, took LeBron as their native son.

With seven years passing and no titles to show for it, the Cavs and LeBron relationship is currently up in the air and without being on the point of hyperbole; everyone is wants to know where LeBron is headed. My 73-year-old nana even has an opinion on what LeBron's next move will be.

"I hope he stay (in Cleveland)," she said in her deep, southern accent, a couple of weeks ago.

While I will remain a LeBron fan regardless of his decision, I think that it has been overlooked by the media and regular folk who love the game of basketball, about the pressure LeBron and the city of Cleveland is experiencing right now. Yes, it's widely known that Cleveland sports haven't brought home a title in several decades, but LeBron was and is the only hope of Cleveland gaining any title hopes. Both the Browns and the Indians aren't near having teams with title hopes, and since the Cavs supporting cast are pretty much a bunch of castoffs, players way past their prime -- I'm looking at you Shaq -- and role player, LeBron is the Cavs.

Ask any regular NBA fan and they'll say something that will resemble this, "LeBron is a beast, but the rest of the Cavs are trash." Even with this year's team, which was loaded compared to some of the other teams LeBron led to playoffs, it was still LeBron, a nerdy coach and a bunch of other guys. Guys who couldn't step up when necessary and a coach who continually lacked creativity on offense.

Instead of looking at where LeBron might go -- I think his best chance of winning a ring or multiple, is by going to Chicago with Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah -- I believe that the amount of pressure LeBron has had to face these past two years should be properly analyzed.

Yes, he brought some of it on himself. If he would've committed to Cleveland I think some of this would've been preventable, but LeBron is only 25 and who wants to be tied down at 25. So, it's understandable if the man wants to keep his options open.

When LeBron came to Cleveland, they were beyond terrible. I remember the Ricky Davis/Darius Miles days. Damn, were those rough, but LeBron shined regardless. He became Cleveland basketball. And if LeBron leaves, that's Cleveland basketball as we know it. If you watched this year's playoffs and last year's, you couldn't help but notice how quick the crowd would get uptight if these weren't going the Cavs way. If the Cavs were down by four going with 2:50 seconds left in the fourth quarter, the crowd was as silent as a mime. Forget a knife; you could cut the tension with a bare hand. At any moment it looked like the Quicken Loans Arena could spontaneously combust and if I could feel, I can't imagine how it weighed on the players. Especially with this season being possibly the last time LeBron would wear a Cavs jersey.

No one man should have all that power.

And I think that's what is lost in this. We dehumanize these athletes and forget that they're human beings who feel pressure just like we feel it. The pressure of not just any city, but your home city, the pressure of all the people counting on you and the pressure of people wanting you to fail just so you can, maybe, play for their city.

I don't think that even LeBron's 6" 9' frame could handle all of that. And he shouldn't have to.

So, come July 1st, I'll be waiting patiently to see where LeBron lands, and hopefully he'll make the decision with his head and his heart.