Sometime early Thursday morning, Mikhail Prokhorov's Gulfstream will touch down somewhere in northern Ohio. The Nets brain trust will then head to a secret location where LeBron James awaits.
Back in New York, at around the same time, the Post reports, the Nets will launch a major local ad campaign to let their own fans --and Knick fans-- know just how seriously they are taking the pursuit of James.
The Nets believe that for the first time in their 40-year history they have a real chance to challenge the Knicks' primacy in New York...and the Knicks know it too. Increasingly, they understand that if the King comes to New York, he's more likely to come to the Nets. Even Stephon Marbury thinks so!
That's just one of the plots being played out over the next 24 hours...and the first. Although there's no timetable for James or other free agents to make commitments, the general belief is that the fog should clear over the free agent landscape by the weekend. And other than Dwyane Wade, who the Nets still don't think they have a shot at, and Joe Johnson, who they're reportedly not interested in, all the other big players are in play.
- 'Global' Prokhorov is set to offer James the world - Fred Kerber - New York Post
- Nets may have edge over Knicks in LeBron Derby - Marc Berman - New York Post
- Marbury wants LJ with Nets - Marc Berman - New York Post
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Plan ‘B’ stands for booby prizes - George Willis - New York Post
- Billionaire owner prepares for Thursday with LeBron James - Al Iannazzone - The Record
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Source: James, Bosh, Wade meet, discuss futures - Chris Broussard and Marc Stein
- NBA could be left waiting a while on LeBron - Brian Mahoney - AP
- Capsule look at the teams that will pursue LeBron - Brian Mahoney - AP
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The 10 biggest misconceptions of the week - Dave D'Alessandro - Star-Ledger
- Wade, Bosh on Nets' Slate - Julian Garcia - New York Daily News
- Knicks Talk Starts at Hawk - Frank Isola - New York Daily News
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Yormark Says Nets to Use New Arena, Coach to Woo LeBron (Video) - Bloomberg Sports