Nets Think They Have a Real Chance at LeBron

LeBron James' hometown paper, the Akron Beacon-Journal, is running a series gauging the chances that any team will be able to lure James away from nearby Cleveland...and they start with the Nets. The Beacon-Journal cites the usual positives and negatives that line up for and against New Jersey/ Brooklyn's chances.

On the plus side, there's the good young core, the draft picks, Brooklyn and that guy with the deep, deep pockets.  No we don't mean Jay-Z, who's also mentioned.  On the minus: there's two years in Newark, that god-awful record last season and the lack of a head coach.

While quoting Dave D'Alessandro that the Nets might be aiming at a more reasonable haul of David Lee and Rudy Gay, the paper also quotes "one source close to the Nets" this way: ''They're convinced they have a shot at everybody but [Dwyane] Wade. They believe they have a really good shot at LeBron because they think Prokhorov's global vision might appeal to him on some level. The tradeoff is he'll be stuck in Newark for two seasons."

Meanwhile, Adrian Wojnarowski writes that the Bulls' hiring of Tom Thibodeau was aided by Thibodeau's new connection with James, agent William Wesley, who is reportedly telling people that James is leaning toward signing with Chicago.  All this fawning over LBJ is getting too much for a lot of people.

• Where will LeBron go? How about the Nets? - Jason Lloyd - Akron Beacon-Journal
• NBA stands at LeBron's beck and call - Adrian Wojnarowski - Yahoo!
• The Tom Thibodeau-LeBron James via William Wesley corollary - Matt Moore - NBC Sports
• Dolan Gets Unlikely Assist - Bob Raismann - New York Daily News