How I See the NBA Off-Season Playing Out

The only person who knows what LeBron wants to do is LeBron. I'm guessing he will allow himself to be wooed by Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Miami, New Jersey, New York and Washington. He won't want to play for the Clippers, for a lot of reasons (no. 1 being the bat-shit crazy owner, and no. 2 that he'd be second fiddle to Kobe in LA).

I also see him ending up with a team like the Celtics or Atlanta, teams that already have the pieces in place to win and the pieces to do a sign and trade with Cleveland.

Whichever team he decides is the best fit, the remaining free agents will fall in once he makes a decision. So, if he waits til September to make a decision, some guys will get screwed (like Bosh, Boozer, Nowitzki, Rudy Gay, D-Wade, Joe Johnson). I think the likelihood of James and another max player ending up on the same team is low, simply because these free agents are not at the point in their careers where they'd be willing to be the second banana. It's one thing for LeBron to give Kobe a run for his spotlight in LA, but another thing entirely to share the spotlight on the same team.

There's really no way this would happen, but let's say that the Celtics do somehow land the big fish. Who would they trade? ESPN.com's trade machine isn't a good buoy because it's based entirely on the money working out, not common sense. Ray Allen would be a good trade piece, as would young guys like Tony Allen, Nate Robinson and Big Baby Davis. Then you'd have a starting five of Perkins/Garnett/James/Pierce/Rondo. The starters would have to score 75+ points every game, because the team would have no bench after Rasheed Wallace. The key would be that LeBron, Rondo and Perkins would terrorize the Eastern Conference for the next five years.

If, much more likely, LeBron goes to the Knicks, and Wade goes to the Nets, the Atlantic Division will be enjoyable to watch, with more than half of the teams capable of posting winning records (yes: Celtics, Knicks, Nets; no: Toronto, Philadelphia).

The "LeBron Stays in Cleveland" scenario gained steam yesterday with the Cavs firing Mike Brown, the winner of the Worst Coach of a Good Team award nearly three years running. With Brown out of the picture, does Avery Johnson or someone like Stan Van Gundy drop what they're doing and woo LeBron to stay?

And speaking of free agent coaches, if Doc Rivers voluntarily ends his tenure in Boston and assistant Thibodeau gets a head coaching gig somewhere else, how many minutes pass before Ainge is on the phone to Kevin McHale?