Hollinger: LeBron to the Wolves "obvious"

[John Doe [MIN]]

Ok, that's not really the message. But here's what he does have to say, from his 11/06 PER Diem:

Let me throw out an even crazier proposition -- Minnesota. The Wolves will have the cap space to make a run at LeBron, depending on a few variables -- or at the very least can get there fairly easily if they know there's a chance for a player of this caliber. (Declining an option on Ryan Gomes, for instance, is done much more easily if it allows you to replace him with the best player in the league.)

Minnesota is generally thought of as one of the NBA's least-desirable relocation options, but let's consider it from a winning perspective. Who would you rather play with for the next five years: Al Jefferson or Anderson Varejao? Kevin Love or Ilgauskas? Ricky Rubio or Mo Williams? Jonny Flynn or West? Ramon Sessions or Daniel Gibson? Next year's fourth pick or next year's 24th? It's obvious, isn't it?

And as Howard Beck points out in today's New York Times, the advantages of one city over another are minimal from a financial perspective -- it's as easy to put Cleveland, Minnesota or Sacramento on national TV as it is the Knicks. Really, the main considerations are who LeBron wants to play basketball with and whether he can handle living in that city day-to-day.

Neither I nor Hollinger is saying that he should or will. But if LeBron's only concerns were 1) max salary and 2) winning as much as possible for as long as possible (in other words, remove weather and market size from the equation), could anyone top Minnesota's supporting cast? In my opinion, only Miami with a re-signed Wade could.

[John Doe [MIN]]

And before anyone comes in with the inevitable "ZOMG he shuld go play with Kobe!", let's keep this in terms of the two qualifications listed above. He has to be getting max money. So if you're LAC or OKC, you've got to present a way to shave roughly $5 million off the books, Chicago likely would have to part ways with both Salmons and Ty Thomas, etc.

As for Minnesota, we could cut our cap hold from roughly $43 million down to the ~$36 million max contract cut-off by cutting Gomes (-$3 million) and sending Ramon Sessions to Atlanta/Houston/Milwaukee/OKC for raw cap space (-$4 million). Remaining roster would be:

Flynn/(Rubio)
Wolves' 2010 1st rounder/Ellington
James/Brewer
Love/Jazz 2010 1st rounder
Jefferson/Hollins

[Blame Rasho]

I guess he is desperate for website hits like Sam Smith...

[doozyj]

I guess he is desperate for website hits like Sam Smith...

Seriously, some of these writers are so bad, I would rather get speculation from other posters here than a professional writer.

[LakerFanMan]

I think the biggest problem with Lebron going to Minnesota is the fact that, well, it's Minnesota. No offense to Minnesota, but it's really not all that desirable of a place to play. It's a small market, it's cold, it gets very little attention, etc... I'm not trying to put down Minnesota, but when compared to places like Miami and New York, it just doesn't have the same appeal.

Hollinger does have some good points though, the Wolves do have a lot of young talent. However, what happens when they have to resign some of that young talent and Lebron is on the books? Can they afford to keep Flynn, Love, Jefferson, and James? I guess that would all depend on how good those other players actually end up being.

[picc]

I think the biggest problem with Lebron going to Minnesota is the fact that, well, it's Minnesota. No offense to Minnesota, but it's really not all that desirable of a place to play. It's a small market, it's cold, it gets very little attention, etc... I'm not trying to put down Minnesota, but when compared to places like Miami and New York, it just doesn't have the same appeal.

You do realize you just described Cleveland and the entire state of Ohio, right?

[SportsWorld]

I can't wait until LeBron stays in Cleveland.

[LakerFanMan]

I think the biggest problem with Lebron going to Minnesota is the fact that, well, it's Minnesota. No offense to Minnesota, but it's really not all that desirable of a place to play. It's a small market, it's cold, it gets very little attention, etc... I'm not trying to put down Minnesota, but when compared to places like Miami and New York, it just doesn't have the same appeal.

You do realize you just described Cleveland and the entire state of Ohio, right?

Yes, but that wasn't exactly his choice. He was drafted there. My point is that, if he were to leave, it wouldn't be for a place that's pretty much identical to Cleveland.

BTW, I don't think he's going to leave the Cavs. I think he wants to build a legacy there, build his own franchise kind of thing.

[John Doe [MIN]]

I think the biggest problem with Lebron going to Minnesota is the fact that, well, it's Minnesota. No offense to Minnesota, but it's really not all that desirable of a place to play. It's a small market, it's cold, it gets very little attention, etc... I'm not trying to put down Minnesota, but when compared to places like Miami and New York, it just doesn't have the same appeal.

Hollinger does have some good points though, the Wolves do have a lot of young talent. However, what happens when they have to resign some of that young talent and Lebron is on the books? Can they afford to keep Flynn, Love, Jefferson, and James? I guess that would all depend on how good those other players actually end up being.

The point was to look at this from the hypothetical perspective of LeBron only caring about getting his max deal and winning as much as possible. But as long as we're completely ignoring that, I'll clear up a few of the issues you raised.

First, the Twin Cities are actually something like the 16th biggest media market of the 29 NBA cities. Yes it's cold there, but in terms of market size, it's securely middle class. Second, they'd never have cap space again, but they could definitely afford to retain the core of Flynn/Rubio/2010 1st round pick/James/Love/Jefferson. Glen Taylor is one of the richest owners in the league, and has shown a willingness to go into the luxury tax range if it's for a competitive team like they were in 2004. I have to think he would again.

[TrueRain]

I can't wait until LeBron stays in Cleveland.

[NO-KG-AI]

I can't wait until LeBron stays in Cleveland.

Same, BUT, if anyone deserves LeBron just coming to their team, it's Minnesota, and they would have a nasty young team that can compete with LeBron now, and has massive room for growth.

LeBron is a student of the game, he knows how story book it is if he brings the Cavs that title, the hometown kid takes the game by storm and brings carries his people to the promised land. It's like a modern day Jesus Christ story, the chosen one carrying his people out of despair and unhappiness.

[J-Ville Smoke]

LeBron is a student of the game, he knows how story book it is if he brings the Cavs that title, the hometown kid takes the game by storm and brings carries his people to the promised land. It's like a modern day Jesus Christ story, the chosen one carrying his people out of despair and unhappiness.

That would be Moses, especially after dropping the Promised Land reference.

[hard49]

The landscape of who will have capspace will change before the summer. A lot of teams who thought they were contender are struggling and with all the expiring contracts out there some desperate team will unload by the deadline.

[KG_Wolves]

Come on in Bron we got Rubio/Flynn and Love/Jefferson.

[InBoobieWeTrust]

I can't wait until LeBron stays in Cleveland.

[Schad]

Hollinger: tab of acid to mouth "obvious"

[Chris435]

Perhaps JH should have his articles publicly available again.. I don't want to pay to read an article like this... even if it is like $3 for access.

[NO-KG-AI]

LeBron is a student of the game, he knows how story book it is if he brings the Cavs that title, the hometown kid takes the game by storm and brings carries his people to the promised land. It's like a modern day Jesus Christ story, the chosen one carrying his people out of despair and unhappiness.

That would be Moses, especially after dropping the Promised Land reference.

Uh, Moses Malone is great and all, but let's not compare him to LeBron rising on Easter Sunday to carry the last of his people on an Ark.

[GopherIt!]

I think the biggest problem with Lebron going to Minnesota is the fact that, well, it's Minnesota. No offense to Minnesota, but it's really not all that desirable of a place to play. It's a small market, it's cold, it gets very little attention, etc... I'm not trying to put down Minnesota, but when compared to places like Miami and New York, it just doesn't have the same appeal.

Hollinger does have some good points though, the Wolves do have a lot of young talent. However, what happens when they have to resign some of that young talent and Lebron is on the books? Can they afford to keep Flynn, Love, Jefferson, and James? I guess that would all depend on how good those other players actually end up being.

Bron talk aside, the whole "not desirable" thing is definitely off base.

Stars like KG loved it here. Randy Moss loved it here. So did Johan Santana, Tori Hunter, etc. When we lose players it is usually over money. Over the past twenty some years, Tommy Herr & Googs have been among the very few pro sports players I can recall who openly pined to get out of here. It's not like there isn't star power in the Twin Cities right now. Favre came here. Adrian Peterson loves it here as well. I don't buy the attention bit either. Vikings-Packers on MNF was the highest rated event in cable television history.

[J-Ville Smoke]

LeBron is a student of the game, he knows how story book it is if he brings the Cavs that title, the hometown kid takes the game by storm and brings carries his people to the promised land. It's like a modern day Jesus Christ story, the chosen one carrying his people out of despair and unhappiness.

That would be Moses, especially after dropping the Promised Land reference.

Uh, Moses Malone is great and all, but let's not compare him to LeBron rising on Easter Sunday to carry the last of his people on an Ark.

Gold medal