Possible 2014 Landing Spots For The World’s Greatest Player! (NBA)

As the Miami Heat prepare for game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals those interested in the NBA can’t help but think, is this the end of Miami’s big 3? LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh all have the option of opting out of there contract this upcoming summer. Overall perception is that all three will indeed opt out. A huge domino in this equation obviously, is what will LeBron do? If he does indeed decide to return to Miami most would assume that Wade and Bosh will follow. Let’s play the hypothetical game though. What if King James decides to take his talents elsewhere? We here at Sports Politics have come up with three different scenarios that Mr. James could possibly do this summer.

The Los Angeles Lakers have always done an exceptional job at recruiting free agent talent. There excellence goes all the way back to snagging the great Wilt Chamberlain from the Philadelphia 76ers and grabbing Shaquille O’Neal from the Orlando Magic. The Lakers typically get what they want. These days though the Lakers aren’t as quite an attractive landing spot. They’re coming off their worst season since moving to Los Angeles in 1961 and arguably their two best players Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash are 35 and 40 respectably. It’s kind of hard to imagine the Lakers having consecutive seasons like such though. With a nice amount of cap space, interest from Kevin Love, and the #7 overall pick in the draft the Lakers could be a nice landing spot for LeBron. Knowing that he could potentially receive a statue for his accolades in LaLa is icing on the cake.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have been in a bit of a funk since LeBron left them in the summer of 2010. They haven’t made the playoffs since he left and really haven’t got close to returning to relevance. Though there is a classic saying from The Wizard Oz, “There’s no place like home.” There are some intriguing aspects to the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team. Kyrie Irving is one of the more exciting young guards in basketball, the jury is still out on Anthony Bennett, and the Cavs own the #1 overall pick again this season. Some have made a conclusion that James would prefer to play with Joel Embiid (Kansas) over Jabari Parker (Duke) or Andrew Wiggins (Kansas). Irving, LeBron, and Embiid would make an impressive Big 3. The Cavaliers also have plenty of cap space so LeBron would most definitely be paid handsomely. Not to mention they could bring in other seasoned veterans to round out the roster. Could “The Decision Part II” involve the best player in the world returning to Cleveland? Only time will tell.

The time LeBron has spent with the Miami Heat obviously has done a lot for his career. He’s won 2 MVPs and 2 NBA Finals championships since taking his talents to South Beach back in 2010. After this season the future doesn’t look very bright for the Heat organization though. With the second oldest roster in the league and a declining Dwyane Wade things don’t look quite as promising as they did 4 years ago. Pat Riley is one of the more respected front office executives in the NBA though, and has a track record of greatness. He joined the Big 3 together remarkably, who’s to say he couldn’t rekindle the fire that excited Heat fans a few years ago? I wouldn’t bet against the 7x NBA champion coach/executive.

My personal opinion is that James ultimately will return to the Miami Heat. If they are to win their 3rd office and beautiful weather it’s hard to imagine James would embark from South Beach. It was a surprise for some to see James leave Cleveland in the first place, so who knows? Either way straight NBA championship, it would almost be a no-brainer. With a stable front this should be an interesting summer.