What?

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There was a flurry of free agent activity last night, but the real work begins this morning as teams move from courtesy calls to substantive negotiations. Here's a few things I'm hearing:

LeBron James is the No. 1 target but per his request, he didn't take any meetings last night.

He got things kicked off this morning in Akron with the New Jersey Nets. Led by new owner Mikhail Prokhorov and part-owner Jay Z, the Nets should have the flashiest presentation of the week. The Nets are surprisingly confident that LeBron will choose them after 'Bron spent the weekend in New York hanging out with Jay Z. The team does offer a veteran coach, a former All-Star at the point, a future All-Star in the middle and a lot of young talent.

The Knicks also get to see LeBron on Thursday and are planning a huge presentation as well. GM Donnie Walsh, who is still recovering from neck surgery, will be in attendence. Expect head coach Mike D'Antoni to lead the pitch for the Knicks. He's the one with a relationship with LeBron and he hold the keys to LeBron accepting an offer from New York -- style of play. Of all the teams vying for LeBron, D'Antoni is the one who has the clearest vision of what to do with LeBron on the court and what players he needs to be surrounded by.

On Friday the Heat and the Clippers get their pitch. Saturday it's the Bulls and Cavs. If I were you, I'd read some significance into the Bulls and Cavs getting the last pitch. Multiple sources continue to believe that LeBron is still leaning toward Chicago and Cleveland at the moment.

The Nets are also pursuing plan B today as well. After meeting with LeBron in Akron, they are heading to Chicago this afternoon for a sit down with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. The team also is taking a very aggressive approach toward Grizzlies free agent Rudy Gay. If LeBron says no to the Nets, sources say they will make a big offer to Gay. The Nets biggest need is at small forward. If the team can't land LeBron or Gay, look for them to go back to the Pacers and a potential Danny Granger for Devin Harris and Derrick Favors deal.

• The Indiana Pacers have turned to free agency in their ongoing search for a point guard. The team worked hard in the draft to work out a deal that would land them a young point guard like Ty Lawson, Eric Maynor or Darren Collison but couldn't get anything done. They're now wooing the top two young point guards on the market Kyle Lowry (restricted) and Jordan Farmar (unrestricted). I don't expect either player to get full mid-level offers.

• The Lakers are also in the hunt for a point guard and sources in LA say that they're making a strong push to sign free agent Steve Blake. Blake had a successful run in Portland the last few years before being traded to the Clippers at the February trade deadline.

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how much you think the bulls getting the last crack means they are a favorite and how much do you think has to do with simple logistics....also if you guys had to be when do you think we will know something, KC Johnson is saying decision could be coming as early as sat night

i think i was bitching about hinrich's deal being too big or too long that was going to kill any chance the bulls may have at landing lebron in 2010 because at that point i thought pax' mancrush on kirk will prevail over any rational thought.

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"It's not exactly a rocket surgery." D.J.

I don't think logistics has anything to do with it considering everyone is meeting in the same location. The Bulls are the last team (Cleveland doesn't really count) that get to present to James. It's up to them to close. My guess is the Bulls have to make some move prior to their meeting to get LeBron. That's either getting Boozer to agree to a deal starting around $13M (So the Bulls would still have enough money to sign LeBron to a max deal) or having a trade lined up for Bosh once LeBron signs. Either way they have been given the chance to close. That's a great position to have.

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i just hope JR takes a back seat on this one and doesn't try to explictly assert himself as a boss. every time there is a report about him traveling with pax to meet guys, i cringe. i realize it's his money that pax is spending, but come on, act like the chairman of the joint not a mid-tier manager.

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"It's not exactly a rocket surgery." D.J.

He almost sold Kobe on coming here. You need to have Jerry there.

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kobe was never going to play for the bulls. do you remember the chump convention that they had under contract that year. deng was the only semi-promising prospect.

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"It's not exactly a rocket surgery." D.J.

The Bulls secretly met with him when he was a free agent and he loved their pitch. He said he actually thought about making the move. Obviously he had about $40M reasons not to do it. He wanted to be traded to the Bulls but the Lakers insisted on getting Deng back.

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Wasn't there a poster here named LeBron James' Hummer at one point?

Because I am pretty sure that is what the Knicks just gave him for 2.5 hours.

Yup. Triple Threat

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According to ESPN's Chad Ford, the Nets' meeting with LeBron James today went well:

"How did it go? A source close to the Nets said their meeting with LeBron was 'tremendous.' How tremendous? 'Front runner tremendous.'

"The Nets continue to project confidence that they have the inside track on LeBron. If they get him, sources say they have a deal in place to move Kris Humphries to clear additional cap space to make a max offer to Chris Bosh or another free agent of his

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Well of course they are going to say that. Dumb.

I think I just need to tune out until Sunday on this free agent stuff. These stories are just getting annoying at this point

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Team Cutler.

Exactly. What are they going to say, "yeah that was awful, we are out."

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

For the better part of the day, you heard nothing but baseball clichés.

They put it in the upper deck.

They hit a grand slam.

Either way, owner Mikhail Prokhorov and the five associates who accompanied him to Cleveland today came away from their historic meeting with LeBron James believing the Nets “are definitely in the game,” a team
official familiar with the talks revealed after conferring with several members of the team’s chief recruiters.

Most in-house officials, who required anonymity because they are not authorized to speak for the team, were far more effusive than the owner and his team of pitchmen on the scene.

But the 90-minute meeting at the office of the two-time MVP’s marketing firm was a clear success, as the Gang of Six gave the free agent a lot to think about before James spent the next two hours listening to another pitch from the Knicks.

The Nets’ group — Prokhorov, team president Rod Thorn, coach Avery Johnson, CEO Brett Yormark, Onexim CEO Dmitry Razumov, and limited partner and James confidant Jay-Z — believed they gave a presentation that would be difficult to follow.

Indeed, they were convinced it was a sales job that Knicks and four other teams — the Heat and Clippers Friday, followed by the Bulls and Cavaliers (including new coach Byron Scott) on Saturday — would find virtually impossible to match.

At the scene outside the IMG building on East 9th and St. Clair, where dozens of reporters had gathered, the Nets’ recruiters assessed the meeting on the run. As he made his exit, Johnson exulted, “The meeting went very well,” while showing off a folder that included James’ face embossed over the Nets’ logo. Prokhorov merely said he agreed with his coach.

Hours later, team president Thorn texted a simple response to an interview request on his way to Chicago to meet with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh: “We told our story,” Thorn said. “Now we’ll see what happens.”

James purportedly found that story very compelling.

He listened attentively to Prokhorov and Razumov as they explained how they will expand his profile on a global scale. He heard Thorn and Johnson share their plan for building a championship-caliber roster with a long shelf life. He was given an evocative demonstration by Yormark about how he could become not only King of Brooklyn, but of all of New York.

And then, according to reporters at the scene, Jay-Z stayed behind to reinforce the Nets’ bullet points and get a feel for how his 25-year-old protégé reacted to the presentation.

It didn’t take long to discern that James was blown away.

According to one Nets official, James also gave them a candid warning that the team should prepare to have enough room under the salary cap to afford two maximum-value contracts should he decide that New Jersey is his next destination.

That decision, which ESPN has reported will be announced as early as Monday, won’t be changed by the Nets’ inability to stretch their current bankroll of $30 million to $33 million, which is the amount the team would need to satisfy both James and Bosh.

The Nets will have to move Kris Humphries’ $3.2 million salary to accomplish this, and it is believed that they have had productive talks with several Western Conference teams that would be willing to absorb the power forward’s contract for the price of draft picks and cash.

Not even the mid-afternoon news of Rudy Gay’s decision to stay in Memphis — he was the Nets’ second free agent option at small forward — seemed to break their momentum.

They were too wrapped up in the possibility that they could still land the grand prize.

“All our cards are now on the table with LeBron,” a team official said. “It went that well.”

“Extremely well,” another official said.

Still, everyone in the organization knew that the critical meeting was last night at 8 p.m., when the Nets tried to sell Bosh on a partnership with James and Brook Lopez across the team’s front line.

If Bosh was amenable, Thorn would be able to take that news back to James and clear enough cap space for the two free agents, and perhaps get both to verbally agree to contracts by Monday. Players cannot sign until July 8.

Remarkably, the report that James would make up his mind by Monday wasn’t seen as a negative, even if the Nets wouldn’t be able to get him to commit to visit its facilities.

“No, we’re told he’ll make up his mind without a visit,” the first Nets official said. “He knows the area well enough.”

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When LeBron James set up his meeting schedule with teams on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, the Bulls and Cavs got slated for Saturday -- leading some to believe they have the best shot at landing him.

It was assumed that the Bulls would go first with his hometown Cavs getting the last crack.

But it appears as if this might not be the case.

Tweets Brian Windhorst of the Cleveland Plain Dealer: "Cavs will meet with LeBron tomorrow at 11 a.m., Chris Grant said. I guess that means Bulls are going last."

Tom Withers, the Associated Press' Cleveland-based sports writer, adds a bit of clarity to the matter: "Cavs will meet with LeBron at 11 a.m. tomorrow, followed by Bulls at 2:30 p.m."

If the Bulls end up giving the last pitch to LeBron, it might be a sign they're in the lead for his services.

But we'll stress that such a statement is speculative.

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Why the hell does LeBron need to meet with Cavaliers executives. You mean to say after playing there for seven years he still needs additional info on that franchise to make a decision about it?

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Out of respect I believe he is giving them a chance. I'm not sure what to read into the fact the Bulls get the last shot. The fan in me wants to get excited about it but it could just be a scheduling thing.

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I'm sure it's just that

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You never miss your wealth, till your well went dry
Seem like only yesterday, you were here smiling
Now you gone away, but I know you in a better place
No traces of you, what can I do?
Alone and confused

They're getting the chance to grovel and beg one last time and it won't work

If LeBron decides to leave there really won't be that big a difference in salary. I know everyone keeps talking about $30M and the 6th year but they are leaving out the fact that the overwhelming majority of that $30M comes in the 6th year. In fact there is only a difference of $4,142,220 in the first 5 years. While $4M is a lot of money it really shouldn't be a deal breaker for anyone. It's not like the Bulls or any other team couldn't re-sign LeBron to an extension before or after his 5th season with them. Unless you are a guy like Amare that will likely suck or be injured in 5 years that 6th year of security isn't that big of an issue.

Comparing Max Deals:

Year----------Sign with own team---Sign with other team--Difference
2010-11--------$16,568,908-----------$16,568,908---------0
2011-12--------$18,308,643-----------$17,894,421--------$414,222
2012-13--------$20,048,378-----------$19,219,934--------$828,444
2013-14--------$21,788,113-----------$20,545,447--------$1,242,666
2014-15--------$23,527,848-----------$21,870,960--------$1,656,888
2015-16--------$25,267,583 --------------0--------------$25,267,583
Contract total-- $125,509,473---------$96,099,670--------$29,409,803

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I fucking LOVE this:


Chicago is daring LeBron James to play for the Bulls
By Trey Kerby


Right as the clock struck 12:01 am ET on Thursday morning, officially starting this summer's free agency bonanza, LeBron James(notes) received three things — several phone calls from interested teams, a knock on his door and a mysterious package. Since the package was mysterious, no one knew what it contained. But now that we're a few days past the start of the offseason signing period, someone has to take credit for the move.
As it turns out, the package James received was from Chicago. And as it turns out, it was the final piece in a week long marketing initiative by the Chicago-based Leo Burnett Worldwide ad agency. From the Chicago Tribune's Steve Johnson:
"LeBron, the fans of Chicago have a question for you," reads the two-page ad that ran in Thursday's Akron Beacon Journal, James' hometown paper. "Can you cast a shadow this big?"
The image is of an outline that looks a lot like Michael Jordan's, in the iconic, ball-in-one-hand pose, spread out over the Chicago cityscape. Dreamed up by sports-loving ad guys at the city's Leo Burnett agency and paid for by Burnett, it was the culmination of a four-day campaign featuring a fresh challenge each day. [...]
So Monday, they sent to his house the classic red, white and black Air Jordans and asked if he could fill those shoes. Tuesday it was a case featuring seven empty ring boxes, representing one more championship than Jordan won here, and the question, "Can you fill these boxes?"
Wednesday was a mock-up of a Chicago Tribune 10 years hence - still going strong, by the way - and the headline "Sweet Throne, Chicago: With Title No. 7, It's Officially King James' Court."
Bold. I mean, wowsers, you guys. Flaunting Chicago and Michael Jordan's legacy in James' hometown is about as direct as you can be when addressing what many see as James' biggest hurdle when considering signing with the Bulls. No use beating around the bush, I guess. Readily acknowledging that LeBron would have a lot of work to do to catch Jordan is playing to James' competitive side, and doing that would be just the kind of thing that would set Jordan off. I think that's irony, but I'm not a big Alanis Morissette fan.
It feels like this move might tell us a little bit about what LeBron is really after and whether or not he's willing to intentionally position himself against the greatest player of all-time. At the very least, it's a pretty cool campaign — Don Draper would be proud — and LeBron got a pair of awesome shoes. I think that makes him the big winner in all of this.
(h/t Chris Littmann)
Related: LeBron James, 2010 NBA Playoffs

Chris I love it too. We'll find out soon if he is up for that challenge.

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When the Bears hire their next head coach, are they going to send him one of these?:

Cleveland, Ohio --LeBron James' free agent meetings are in the homestretch, the Cavaliers hoping the focus is on the "home" part.

The Cavs met with James for around 90 minutes Saturday, making perhaps their final pitch to re-sign him in a meeting that focused on the team's familiarity with the star and his comfort level with the franchise.

New coach Byron Scott, general manager Chris Grant, assistant general manager Lance Blanks and owner Dan Gilbert were the principals in the meeting. In addition to presentations from Scott and Grant about their plans, sources said the Cavs also planned to show James a cartoon featuring him and his friends as characters.


It was made in a Family Guy style, which is one of James' favorite shows, and featured some inside jokes related to the team. Those who know James personally know that he loves cartoons, inside jokes and cheap laughs. The central part of the Cavs' pitch is that they know him the best.

"We had a very good meeting with LeBron and his group," Grant said after the sit-down. "It went well, it was fun. It was very interactive. Obviously we know LeBron well. I would characterize it as positive."

To set the scene, the Cavs organized a "fan tunnel" down East 9th Street that eventually drew hundreds who were provided black "Home" signs by the team. A large group of fans gathered around the garage entrance to James' office building.

When the Cavs' group arrived in two vehicles, fans tossed powder over the cars to mimic James' pregame ritual. James arrived a few moments later in a third different car he's used this week.

"We think it is pretty incredible that LeBron chose to have these meetings here in Cleveland, his home," Grant said. "We want to thank the fans for the turnout and support."

The Bulls arrived at about 1:15, shortly after the Cavs left, represented by owner Jerry Reinsdorf, general manager Gar Forman, president John Paxson and coach Tom Thibodeau.

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That's a sign that we don't need him then. A guy like Kobe would love that challenge.

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Cleveland showed him a fucking cartoon. That alone would be enough of a reason for me to tell them to go fuck themselves.

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Apparently the ad agency might have done it on their own. Either way, I love it. Love the 7 empty ring boxes too.

What about the Family Guy and Sopranos videos?


Maybe this is the kind of thing people think is best to throw at LBJ.

This is getting creepy RT @amandakaschube: Bulls brass color coordinated. Pax/Gar: http://trib.in/d0BKTP Thibs/Jerry: http://trib.in/aMga2z