Knicks fans went to bed last night expecting to see LeBron James in orange-and-blue today. But the latest buzz has James headed to Miami, where he’ll team up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
The “LeBron to the Knicks” story gained a great deal of momentum when Newsday’s Alan Hahn discovered that James’ ESPN “The Decision” special will be shot in Greenwich, Connecticut – just a three-point-shot from the Knicks’ practice facilities in Westchester. But James’ camp continued to insist that the choice of location has nothing to do with James’ destination; James was scheduled to be in New York for the weekend anyway, to attend the wedding of Carmelo Anthony and LaLa Vazquez in Manhattan on Saturday.
But this morning, Hahn and ESPN’s Chris Broussard are reporting that James is headed to South Beach, to play with Olympic teammates Wade and Bosh.
A higher-than-expected 2010-11 salary cap may have played a role in James’ decision. This season’s cap figure – announced by the league last night – will be $58.04 million. That’s a significant jump from the $53.06 million David Stern told teams to expect. The additional cap space could allow Miami to give James, Bosh and Wade something closer to the max without jettisoning Michael Beasley’s contract, or provide the flexibility to build a more impressive roster around the new “Big Three.”
Of course, there’s every possibility that the LeBron-to-Miami stories were planted by a member of Team LBJ to build more suspense for tonight’s announcement.
At this point, I won’t believe any rumor about LeBron’s destination until I actually see him wearing the jersey.
Original Story:
http://blogs.msg.com/gameon/2010/07/0...
