July 1st is quickly coming up and that means free agency for the NBA. For those not entirely sure of what that means it's kind of a big deal. Not always a big deal of course, but this year there are a lot of marquee players hitting the open market and a lot of teams have been slashing payroll in anticipation of it.
(Warning...Lebron James rant)
Even if you're not a fan of the NBA chances are you've heard of Lebron James. And for those who are fans of the NBA chances are you're pretty sick of him. He is a great player, he has done things few have done before him and will do things no one has ever done but that doesn't excuse the fact that he is an annoying, egotistical attention-whore. Time will tell if he really cares about winning championships (like every professional athlete ever always says but doesn't back up) or getting paid. Chances are he will stay with his current team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, because they can give him roughly $30 million more than any other team. That money doesn't guarantee that Cleveland will be a quality team though.
We've seen the last few seasons that the Cavaliers are not a championship caliber team. They lost in the conference finals last year (and it wasn't really that close of a series) and they lost in a quarterfinal round this year (again, not that close of a series). The Cav's brought in an aging Shaquille O'Neal and picked up Washington Wizard castoff Antawn Jamison to help push the team over the edge. It obviously didn't work. Shaq had moments of effectiveness in the playoffs but was overall a wash. Jamison has lost a step and didn't do much to contribute either. It almost seems like the rest of the Cav's just sort of wait for James to take over the game, win single-handedly and take them all out to dinner, but James either won't or can't do it. No one person is good enough to win an NBA championship which has been proven year after year (Shaq/Kobe, Duncan/Ginobli/Parker, Wade/Shaq, The Pistons whole team and Kobe/Gasol/Odom)
But getting back to Free Agency. This is a very exciting time of the year for many teams, the New Jersey Nets and their new mega-bajillion dollar owner who seems like a villain out of a Bond movie (but the kind you root for), the New York Knicks, the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls to name a few, all have enough space on their payroll to add 1 or possibly 2 superstar players. In addition to James, Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade, Amare Stoudamire, Joe Johnson and others are all up for grabs. The landscape of the NBA will more than likely change this off-season, but to what degree is the question.
My own favorite team, the Sacramento Kings also have some cap space, but seeing on how they reside in Sacramento (not the metropolitan center many think it is... ha ha) it isn't far-fetched to imagine none of the top-tier free agents coming to town. A boy can always hope, but I think the Kings stand a better chance of building their team through the draft and hopefully being able to get a veteran who still has some of his prime left. Even so, the Kings are looking at another lottery bound season. (I'll still root for them though, its not really that bad anymore anyway. Once you go through the pain of that '02 series against the Lakers, a series where I wanted to throw my television out the window and/or injure a small puppy a losing season doesn't have the same bite.)
So with the constant ESPN updates about what Lebron James said to his mailman and the NBA draft looming ahead (June 24th...exciting!) this post has come to an end. Part two will follow once more information becomes available...or I'm bored.
Next Up...Major League Baseball's draft or the S.F. Giants winning
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