Did Lebron make the correct decision in where to play for at least the next 4-6 years of his career? Let’s break down the other five teams it was between and evaluate where they would be with him on the roster today and why he may not have picked them…

Chicago Bulls

The city of Chicago would have had one of the best duos in the game with the pair of James and Derrick Rose. You have to wonder how they would have filled out the roster though. Boozer would not have been there and they wouldn’t have been able to spend the money on the depth they ended up getting from the vast array of role players they ended up picking up. While Lebron and Rose would have made them as fast on the break as Lebron and D-Wade are, would they have been able to really contend for a championship? Of the five teams he didn’t choose the Bulls would have given him the second best chance to win and be a contender for years to come. The thought of being in Jordan’s shadow could have played a larger role in this than people may have thought.

Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cavs did everything they could have done to try and keep Lebron in Ohio. They surrounded him with lots of different talent during his time there, but none of those teams were really able to help get him over the hump. The Cavs were strapped with a high salary and players that were locked into bad contracts that no one else wanted. Lebron was a king there, but in such a small market it seemed like Lebron was not maximizing his celebrity. He knew what he had there and knew he needed to be surrounded by more talent. At the end of the day those were the reasons why he ultimately left. Not to mention the winters are brutal there and in Miami the winters are short and there is a lot more bathing suit weather going on.

Los Angeles Clippers

The Clippers had all the young talent on the roster anyone could ask for. What hurt them was the fact that they are the second team in a city with the Lakers as the headliner. Lebron wasn’t going to go somewhere to be the warm up act for Kobe and the Lakers. Another reason the Clippers aren’t where Lebron is playing could have to do with the issues players seem to have with ownership there. It all adds up and these are things players have to take into consideration. Lebron and Blake Griffin dunking the ball would have easily made the Clippers an exciting show to watch, but was there really enough mature talent there to do any more than that?

New Jersey Nets

The Nets went in very confident in the whole situation when they got the chance to meet with Lebron. They knew they had a few young pieces, including Brook Lopez, that could help sway him to join the Nets, but they also had a lot of holes. The new ownership was a huge perk and the promise of going to Brooklyn in a few seasons definitely helped, but ultimately the lack of talent on the roster had to worry Lebron.

New York Knicks

The Mecca of basketball had its chance to get Lebron in and they set themselves up very well financially.
The problem became that even though Lebron could have teamed up with probably any superstar free agent from last summer there, the Knicks really gutted the rest of the roster. Lebron could have probably set himself up better in the business sense, but even with a guy who wants to always be in the spotlight, maybe he was worried the Big Apple would have eaten him up.

At the end of the day Lebron set himself up to play with two of his very good friends, who also happen to be superstar/allstar players, for what could be the rest of his NBA career. He also put himself in a
market that gets a lot of publicity and allows him to continue to grow his brand and company to bigger and better things.

When it’s all said and done and we look back years from now it is a safe bet to say he will have numerous championships and really built himself into the second coming of Michael Jordan…in the
business sense.