David Aldridge's "guess" is LeBron Heads to Houston, and He Should
By Bobby Burack
David Aldridge, a focal point of TNT’s NBA coverage, joined the Tony Kornheiser Show giving his take (at the 14:00 mark) on the never-ending question,”Where will LeBron James play next year?”
His answer was not to remain in Cleveland or go to the Los Angeles Lakers (like many believe) but instead join the Houston Rockets:
“My guess would be Houston. He’s very close with Chris Paul,” adding “It’s a team that is showing you they can compete with Golden State.”
Aldridge then said someone close to the situation said LeBron is in the “Legacy phase” of his career, and cannot win a championship with the Lakers next year. But he does believe Paul George ends up in Los Angeles.
If LeBron truly only cares about winning titles, Houston is the clear option this summer.
Golden State is an all-time great team, and unless they lose two of their four All-Stars, it will take something unforeseen to derail them from winning their third championship in four years.
What could, however, prevent them from making it four in five years is LeBron joining Chris Paul and James Harden.
The Rockets have modeled their game after the Warriors shooting an abundance of three-pointers each and every night, and have spent most of the year looking like the only team that could even bother the Warriors in the postseason.
Harden and Paul have blended together just right so far this year, making it that much more likely LeBron could give them the Big 3 they need without any major chemistry issues. Having the three together would allow the Rockets to follow their pattern this year of always having at least one superstar ball handler on the court.
If this was to happen, there would be a case to be made the three best playmakers in the NBA are on one team: Houston.
Remember, LeBron and Paul are godparents to each other’s children, are very close friends and are two members of the already legendary Banana Boat Brotherhood.
Without question, joining a team with Harden would give LeBron the best teammate he has ever played with. It may be the first time he is not even the best player on his own team, but to beat Golden State, that may need to be the case.
Joining a young, inexperienced, LaVar Ball drama-filled team in Los Angeles, or staying in a nightmarish salary cap situation with an injury-prone team in Cleveland is not the answer.
How does it look?
"LeBron James in the Nike “Houston Rockets” jersey. #StriveForGreatness? pic.twitter.com/cYnLgSNxdC"
- — PEPE HARDEN (@GermsHardon) D