I would think the Kings have the biggest advantage, just because they have a lot of pieces and are probably by far the best team on that list. Then maybe the bulls just because they have the hometown allure for Wade which I think would make it more likely that he’d leave for Chicago than Lebron for any of the above teams.

They play in a barn in Sacramento, the smallest market in the NBA. Not happening.

The Wizards are 100x more of a mess than the nets.

The bulls already have a guy who needs to dominate the ball, doesnt seem like a good fit for wade to me. Maybe one of the big guys.

Clippers have a big market, but i cant see lebron or wade going there.

Teams from best talent to least talent by the start of free agency Kings, Bulls, Nets(if Wall), Clippers, Wizards, Knicks.

Mega rich basketball loving world class CEO owner, core of young talent on favorable contracts, great rental home in Newark, future state of the art iconic home, NYC buzz and lifestyle attraction, global marketing opportunities that will mean even more in a hard cap limited guarantee NBA world, safe pair of hands at the top with Rod, potential #1 pick this Hera and tons of picks in the future, enough cap space for a stud and a friend or two, a chance to be the worst to first savior, the chance to be the franchise star and not next Mike or Kobe or Willis, guaranteed top flight winning coach that you may be able to hand pick. What’s not to love. We are getting a stud this year or next….no doubt. Just a matter of who.

Rockets just robbed Knicks for an expiring contract. Signing two max contract is a pipe dream for them. Who else is going to play if they pay for two max. No money for bench….

@gina
Sacremento is the best? without martin after the trade? they all suck and have back markets excpet chicago. if you combine the knicks and the nets youve got yourtself a team to ge tlebron with

Did any of you see how Lebron got of the court like a little girl after missing 4 threes in a row and getting J by Carmelo?
After that game I just saw how Lebron really is SORE LOSER I wouldn’t want him on my team anyway what a girl, I think Carmelo deserved some respect after jaying him in the face and then playing great D on him also. (He should have gave him at least a handshake).
And it wasn’t like a playoff game like last year vs. Orlando where it was more intense and more on the line.

Martin was made pretty irrelevant by Evans, and expensive and injury prone, at worst it was a lateral move.

@ jj:
Reason # 12 why i do NOT want Le Bon Bon.
Watching him play does not make me smile.
I HATE Kobe, but his play makes you smile.
I would pay $ to watch Durantual.
Carmelo is a treat to watch.
Its basketball.
(I will give a slight nod to Le bon bon’s passing).
But I find watching him is like watching a former football player with freakish ability for his size play basketball.
It’s like watching a Truck(that happens to be faster than the rest) race with beautiful, sleek sports cars.

The Kings have an elite youngster in Evans and a really good young role player in Casspi. But other than that, they have major issues. Jason Thompson and Spencer Hawes may look good in the box scores, but they form probably the softest front line in the league. I think Chicago is a very desirable free agent location, you get to play with a possible future HOF’er in Rose. The Knicks are now a desirable place to be because provided they can attract a pair of guys to come over. And the Nets are also desirable, pending the outcome of the draft lottery, our Russian gazillionaire taking over, and who we select as our coach – a big name would help a ton. I think the Wizards are a mess, and the Clips are owned by Donald Sterling which is a huge turnoff.

Lebron is staying in Cleveland, Wade most likely stays in Miami or on a small chance goes to Chicago, Amare/Boozer go to Miami if Wade stays, Bosh stays in Toronto. There really are not much options out there. Hopefully with the huge talk about all the big time free agents, the Nets can sign 2 second tier free agents at a cheaper price, add them with Brook, Devin, and hopefully Wall or Evans and we have a pretty good team. Lets see what happens though.

It came to light today that the Nets are the #1 team that’s in the best position out of all the teams in F. Agency this summer. Alongside Miami. Good young core Dominate center that other teams in the league lack. #1 or #2 which would be Turner or Wall. Then all we need is that one superstar caliber player weather it’s Johnson, James, Wade, Lee, Gay, Amare, Etc. We’re in great shape for the future. I fell back in love with this team I’ll probably hate them again tomorrow but still love this team.

haha i don’t care if the nets don’t sign anyone! i love the core already starting with devin and brook. adding a top 4 pick would be great. we could definitely just build around that and ill be down for it. but clearly proky is a guy who wants to win and asap since he already has a lot of money invested. ipwt.

I think Rod Thorn is smart enough not to put all his eggs in one basket to say, because we are going to have about 3 years straight with a boatload of pics and money. When we finally enter Brooklyn were going to have a tough team, because unlike most teams were building from the inside out, not just hoping to sign guys or bust. The draft looks pretty good the next few years as well, creating better stability for us, again kind of like the Jets.

I think we need to keep Keyon Dooling no matter what tho, he’s very important for the locker room and the court, especially when bringing in maybe wall next year. He needs a good mentor, I think he’s more of that mold than Harris.

great shape for future?

“In the long run, we are all dead”
- Keynes

Nets will get outsmarted this summer. Thorn is not up to this task and Kiki has no clue. They extended Yi for 4 mil. Why? They lost that cap space. Who is going to be bidding for Yi’s services? Dumb move. This whole year has been full of dumb moves. Their future rides on the Number 1 pick, and that’s only a 25 percent chance. Not good. Yes Lopez and Harris are great building blocks, but everyone else should have been cleared out: no excuse for extending Yi.

The extension was for the 11/12 season.

the news are getting worse and worse by the day ..

i really wanted see yi gone i don’t even think chinese people watch him.

i can’t stand yi anymore. i’ve had it with him.

really 2 more years of yi…thats exciting

1990 Derrick Coleman
2000 Kenyon Martin
2010 John Wall?

Every 10 years, we get the No. 1 pick!

Well we could always wait until he 2012 free agent market where Chris Paul and Deron Williams would be the prizes. And they have ample reason to leave. New Orleans management is too worried about cost cutting, and we already see how disappointing this year is for them. Same reason with Utah. Deron already said in an interview that he’s upset with the Brewer trade because everyone else is getting better and they made themselves worse. He said that’s the reason he signed a 3-year deal. Both of them leaving is quite possible

The Nets have 50 losses. Please stop blowing smoke.

And muwu, do you realize that the Nets have to actually sign players this off season to field a roster? Waiting for 2012, or 2011, is not an option unless they sign guys to all expirings. Not going to happen

Just saying, in terms of cap space, if everyone quickly pulls the trigger and uses up their cap space now, the teams with cap space in 2011 and 2012 will have a lot less competition. And we do have 7 guys under contract for next season. Add in 2 first round draft picks and you’ve already got 9 players out of the max 15.

Plus factor in that the new CBA might drastically lower player salaries in 2011 or 2012, you could potentially only have to pay a free agent in 2011 half the money you would pay the same player if he were a free agent in 2010. When owners say they want a guy like amare stoudemire only commanding 6-8 million dollars a year, things could very well change. Looking back, Melo’s decision to take the extra year from the Nuggets could cost him big time $

A. Never said anything about Carmelo signing with us and B. Money talks. C. So, I hope all you don’t start flipping the script once the nets become watchable team again.

@ShawnG:
Geo was right that Nets agreed to pay Yi the 4 million for 10/11 season. They will have to decide on paying Yi 5.4 million for 11/12 season. At the time, perhaps 70% felt it was reasonable to pay the $4 million, since that was what a decent backup PF should be paid.

Now, probably over 95% of remaining Nets fans wish that Yi was gone.

If some rich Asian investor would buy the Clippers, they would be a player in the league. But as long as Donald Sterling owns them, forget it. As Oscar Robertson says, it will be hard for a black player to play for Sterling after all the allegations and admissions of racism.

The Wizards may appear to be a mess, but they won nicely last night. A lot of their guys are head cases and the franchise does not have a super rich owner, but they have some talent to work with at key positions. Foye, Blatche, Young, McGee, Thornton ain’t a bad place to start.

The Bulls are intriguing for Lebron and Johnson, but not for Wade even if he is from Chicago. Can’t see Wade and Rose together. Both need the ball…and they would have no one upfront beyond Noah.

The Knicks bet their franchise Thursday. If McGrady becomes a reasonable facsimile of the old TMAC, which is doubtful but possible, then that helps them a lot. If he doesn’t, less good. A player looking for a long term plan out of the Knicks might be quite confused…particularly since to lure two big free agents, they have renounce their best player.

The Kings play in a bad arena that like the Nets and Islanders the team wants out of. It and OKC are small markets with little chance of signing big players. Different markets suggest different strategies: draft, free agency, trades.