LeBron James: A Whiff of Misdirection

I don't know, for some reason I'm not buying the LeBron-to-the-Heat talk. I think it is all just a ploy to make his actual decision that much more dramatic.

Think about it for a moment: How would the Chris Bosh-Dwyane Wade signings leak out -- remember, that story came out and then those two acknowledged it, as opposed to them revealing it themselves -- but not LeBron's? I just can't believe that they could keep his decision that airtight when the other two-thirds of the plan was exposed.

Plus, the Heat just don't make sense. LeBron is an alpha dog (or at least that's what we've always thought). Any titles he wins with the Heat will be discounted because of Wade's presence. At the very least, the whispers would be that Wade was The (True) Man -- after all, he already won a title without LeBron -- and that would taint the perception of LeBron, preventing him from being considered the greatest player of all time, which other than becoming a comically over-the-top attention whore seems to be his primary goal. Deciding to become a mere triplet in this Heat threesome would be a huge departure, and would really speak volumes about the kind of competitor he actually is.

So where do I think LeBron will go? Nowhere. He's going to re-sign with Cleveland. Which, basketball-wise, is the worst possible move.

I think he's going to re-sign with the Cavs because he's too cognizant of the devastation his leaving would cause. Basically, he's afraid to let down a very loyal fan base, and in the process he's going to sabotage his legacy.

As of now, the Cavs have no future, with or without LeBron. Sure, he's good enough to carry them to 60 wins every year, but unless they somehow get some good, young talent -- the closest thing they have is J.J. Hickson, who struggled to even crack former coach Mike Brown's rotation -- he's never going to win anything there, regardless of his individual greatness.

LeBron's best move would be to sign with the Bulls. In Chicago, five of the team's current top-six are actually younger than him, and he would get no-doubt Alpha Dog status. Add in the signing of Carlos Boozer and the Bulls, even more so than Miami, give him his best chance of winning multiple titles.

But as much as I'd love it, I just don't see it happening. I think it will be Cleveland, and my only other prediction is that the duration of the contract will not be the full 6-year max. At the very least he'll have the final three years or so as some sort of player option. Because as stupid as re-signing with the Cavs is, as a business man LeBron James is no dummy.