Just under two years from now, anarchy will erupt in the National Basketball Association. Christmas will come early for team owners and general managers as one of the most talented free agents classes will become available in the summer of 2010.
Superstars such as LeBron James, Paul Pierce, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh will all have the opportunity to play in a new location, which means team executives will be licking their chops, trying to woo the best players to join their team.
This is all going to happen over 400 days from now, and yet it continues to be one of the top stories on all the sports television shows, radio shows, and sports pages. Experts are debating who will go where and for how much.
At the epicenter of all this is King James. The Cleveland Cavaliers small forward can, and most likely will, opt out of the final year of his contract to test the market. Speculation is that he will be heading to the New York area, with the way the Knicks and New Jersey Nets are freeing up cap space in order to make a run at James.
As exciting as this is (and trust me, it is very exciting), it is going to get old quickly. It is still so far away, and yet people have already exhausted most of the scenarios that could occur. By the time the book is closed on the 2009 NBA season, we won't have anything to talk about because we will have beaten the dead horse six feet into the ground.
And it is not just the analysts and the fans; Nike has done their part in hyping up the LeBron to New York move. When James and the Cavaliers traveled to Madison Square Garden to play the Knicks on Nov. 25, the clothing giant had employees ascend then arena wearing t-shirts that said "Witness," marking James' arrival to NYC and the arrival of his new shoe.
I can't even imagine what they will do in 2010 to make money off this.
Everyone needs to just calm down about the whole thing. You know what is going to happen. James is probably going to stay with the Cavaliers. He will opt out of his old contract, the Cavaliers will find some money, and they will sign the 23-year-old Ohio native to a brand new contract.
And the basketball world can turn and laugh at the Knicks and Nets as they will work their tails off to get James and then get nothing but a lot of extra money and some crappy players for it. Now I am a fan of James going to New York. But that is only if Mr. Shawn Carter, aka Jay-Z, and his partners can move the Nets to Brooklyn like they promised so long ago. It makes sense to have the greatest player in basketball playing for a team in the sport's mecca.
However, it looks as though the Nets may have to do a little more than change addresses if they want to beat the Knicks in the James sweepstakes. Forbes Magazine announced that the Knicks are the most valuable team in the league, worth $613 million, while the Nets are only worth $295 million.
Amazingly, the conversations have in no way distracted the Cleveland Cavaliers. The team is currently on a six-game win streak and hold a 15-3 record, which is good enough for second in the Eastern Conference. Their strong play could also be an indication of James wanting to stay put. Although they aren't the most skilled cast of characters, they have a team mentality that puts victories on the board.
The one good thing about wasting all this time on James is that when we are done with him, we will still have Pierce, Wade, Bosh and many others to talk about.
Regardless of how it plays out, people need to give it a rest now. It is fine to mention it from time to time, but some one needs to do something before the 2010 NBA free agent class becomes the next Brett Favre.
Luckily, there is so much other stuff to talk about in the NBA to keep our minds occupied until that fateful summer. There is the Celtics' dominance, the emergence of Chicago Bulls' point guard Derrick Rose, and what Stephon Marbury did this week to tick off the Knicks' management.
But for the love of everything holy, stop talking about 2010.
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