Lebron James Set to Reveal Decision Tomorrow Night

Lebron James plans to announce where he will go in 2010 tomorrow night at 9 pm ET on ESPN. Before the decision tomorrow, now would be a good time to speculate where he will be going and why. Last week, Lebron visited with six teams: New Jersey, New York, Miami, the LA Clippers, Cleveland, and Chicago. It is safe to say that one of those six will have the King next season. While different executives are saying different things about what Lebron is intending to do, here is where I rank those six teams starting with the most likely destination:

1. New York
2. Miami
3. Cleveland
4. Chicago
Definitely not: New Jersey and Los Angeles

Let's take a look at where he definitely is not going first. Los Angeles was never really a contender for the Lebron sweepstakes. The Kobe/Lebron city rivalry was a nice story, but a player who really wants to win a championship is not going to the Detroit Lions of the NBA. There was a lot of talk about New Jersey with new owner Mikhail Prokhorov taking over this year, a man who is as focused on winning a title as Lebron, but things have just not gone their way so far. Despite winning a whopping 12 games last season, New Jersey fell to third in the NBA draft and was not able to bring in either of the mouth watering prospects John Wall or Evan Turner. Bringing in coach Avery Johnson was a step in the right direction, but the Nets have fallen flat so far during free agency. Besides Jay-Z, the Nets have nothing to offer Lebron that other teams can't. The idea of a minor league team plus Lebron is not really what the King has in mind for next season.

Many people thought heading into the offseason that Chicago had the best chance of any team. They were a playoff team in the 2009-10 season which means the addition of Lebron could potentially be enough to send this team over the edge. I don't buy it. I have never thought Chicago made much sense for Lebron. If you are Lebron James, you are trying to figure out what's missing from your team, what is keeping you from a championshp. First, while Mike Brown was not a terrible coach by any means, he was clearly not good enough to take Cleveland the distance. This postseason, Doc Rivers outcoached him and last season it was Stan Van Gundy. Also, while Lebron may be surrounded by good talent, he is the only major superstar of the bunch. Meanwhile, the Lakers are winning championships with Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol coached by Phil Jackson; the Celtics with Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett coached by Doc Rivers; the Spurs with Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili coached by Gregg Popovich; the Heat with Dwayne Wade and Shaquille O'Neal coached by Pat Riley; etc. This is a superstar driven league and we see teams win with superstar tandems and established coaches. So this is what I believe Lebron wants.

Does this sound like Chicago? No. The Bulls hired Tom Thibodeau as their coach in the offseason and he is an unknown commodity. He has been an enormously successful assistant coach, but he has never been a head coach before and that is not what Lebron wants. Also, Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose, while both are very good, are not a superstar tandem. This would be a very good team with Lebron, but that's what Cleveland is, very good and Lebron is looking for championship caliber.

Chicago will always belong to Michael Jordan. Lebron would have to do something pretty spectacular in order to not be chasing down Jordan's legacy. Lebron wants his own legacy to go with that championship that has avoided him. Lebron is not desperate enough to sacrifice his legacy for a championship and especially when going to Chicago does not bring him any closer to that championship.

Lebron has made it pretty clear in the past few days that he wants to stay in Cleveland. Cleveland made a very positive move in hiring Byron Scott as their new head coach. Scott certainly fits what Lebron is looking for in a coach. Lebron has also taken a Dwayne Wade role for Cleveland in contacting free agent Chris Bosh to convince him to come to Cleveland. As Lebron is from Ohio, it would be very hard for him to leave Cleveland. So why do I have Cleveland at 3 on my list? Because they have been unable to bring in any of the numerous superstars to their cause. Toronto made it known that they would be willing to do a sign and trade with Cleveland for Bosh and he said no because he did not want to play in Cleveland. Bosh is potentially leaving millions on the table by signing with Miami who Toronto does not want to deal with. Had Lebron been able to bring in Bosh, there is no doubt he would have stayed. Bosh's reaction, however, may be all Lebron needed to know. Cleveland is not the place a lot of people want to play. If even Lebron can't bring players in with a maximum sign and trade deal on the table, then putting a superstar team together in Cleveland might not be in the cards. He will not stay in Cleveland if he thinks he cannot win a title there and he cannot win a title with the team they have. Bosh has sealed Lebron and Cleveland's fate.

There was a rumor at the beginning of free agency that Wade, Bosh, and Lebron were interested in coming together in Miami. Bosh told reporters he did not see it happening, but that rumor has persisted and many say Lebron is still interested. The reason why this will probably not happen is the salary cap. You are talking about signing three players at the maximum salary meaning you do not have room for much else. NBA rules allow for trades that do not affect cap space and players to be signed at the minimum for no cap penalty. Assuming Miami trades Michael Beasley, and they would pretty much have to, then Miami would have the super trio, three draft picks, and several players signed at the minimum even if Wade signs a deal for less than the maximum as he has offered to do. Granted, with Wade, Bosh, and Lebron a lot of players would be interested in Miami, namely young rookies and desperate veterans. NBA players, however, do not like leaving money on the table. To think Miami could put a team together working with just the bare minimum is a bit optimistic and I do not buy it. The question is will Lebron? He will know even better than I will the salary cap question and Miami will have had to present a plan to him of what they will do if he does come. If they do not have a realistic plan for how to build the rest of the team, then Lebron may decide not to risk heading into 2010 with half a team and a whole lot of expectations.

That leaves New York. New York has a coach in Mike D'Antoni that has established himself as a very good and successful coach. They have added a superstar player in Amare Stoudemire. This is a team in which Lebron could establish his own legacy of rising them up from the basement. This is also a team that with Lebron and Amare together, would be ready to compete. And, New York is poised for more free agent moves next season if this team is not as successful as he hopes this season. New York would be a much easier city to recruit from. This team has everything Lebron wants for a championship run and the ability to keep building if they need more, unlike a maxed out Miami team if the super 3 were not successful. So while Miami may look like an attractive move and even though he wants to stay in Cleveland, the best chance Lebron has for continued success is New York and that is where he is most likely to end up. Of course, it's up to him. He may see things differently and then he will go elsewhere. We won't know for sure until tomorrow night.