The Finals are over. The Lakers won that one. The Draft is over. The Wizards won that one. Now, it's time for the Main Event: the pursuit of the King: LeBron James. Can the Nets win The One?
The Nets come out of the Draft with slightly less cap space--about $95,000-- than they they had going in: about $27 million, the result of trading up from #27 to #24. If Kris Humphries opts out, which is now considered unlikely, the number goes up to about $30 million. Either way the Nets will have enough for one max player, at $16.5 million, and one or two other pieces, a Rudy Gay or David Lee, and nothing else.
Dave D'Alessandro writes that the magic number is $33 million, enough for two max contracts, because James is convinced that Chris Bosh is the guy he wants playing next to him. The Nets are doing their best to unload Yi Jianlian, but it may come down to giving up Courtney Lee, Terrence Williams or maybe even Derrick Favors.
Adrian Wojnarowski writes that the big lure for LeBron is not the possibility of playing with another all-Star or the draft or acquiring (a still recovering) Chris Paul. "Most of all," he writes, "the Nets’ puncher’s chance is the excessive ego of James feeling lured to the possibilities of Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov. 'Prokhorov is the draw," one Eastern Conference official said. 'The King thinks he can be a billion dollar guy'."
- Summer of LeBron overshadows draft - Adrian Wojnarowski - Yahoo! Sports
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The NBA, the Nets, and LeBron: Now the Grovelling Starts - Dave D'Alessandro - Nets Blast
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David Letterman - Jay-Z on LeBron James (Video) - YouTube
- LeBron pursuit overshadows Wall-led NBA Draft on busy night - Tony Mejia - Pro Basketball News
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Anticipation of Free Agency Looms Over NBA Draft - Rob Peterson - FanHouse
- For the Knicks and Nets, It's Time to Fill the Vacancies - Scott Cacciola - Wall Street Journal
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Derrick Favors Is the First Part in the Nets’ Rebuilding Puzzle - Harvey Araton - New York Times
- Teams hope strong draft-night moves impress free agents - Lenn Robbins - New York Post
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Pat Riley prepared for free-agent spending - Ira Winderman - South Florida Sun-Sentinel