Сагсан бөмбөгийн ертөнцийн анхаарал дахин Леброн Жэймсийн шинэ багийн сонголтод төвлөрч байна.
Леброн Жэймс карьерынхаа сүүлийн мөчүүдийг өнгөрүүлэхэд Миннесота Тимбервулвз нь хамгийн оновчтой хувилбар гэж шинжээчид үзэж байна. Хэдийгээр Кливленд Кавальерс эсвэл Филадельфи 76-г багууд боломжит сонголтуудын тоонд зүй ёсоор орж байгаа ч Миннесотагийн бүрэлдэхүүн болон тоглолтын хэв маяг нь түүнд илүү тохирох юм.
Миннесота Тимбервулвз нь Энтони Эдвардс, Руди Гоберт, ЛаМело Болл, Жэйден Макдэниелс зэрэг хүчирхэг бүрэлдэхүүнтэй бөгөөд тэдний хамгаалалт болон довтолгооны тэнцвэр нь Жэймст таатай нөхцөлийг бүрдүүлэх болно. Ялангуяа Макдэниелс болон Болл нарын гурван онооны шидэлтийн өндөр хувь нь талбайн зайг тэлэхэд чухал үүрэг гүйцэтгэнэ.
41 настай Леброн Жэймс өнгөрсөн улиралд Лэйкерст 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 7.2 assists гэсэн үзүүлэлттэй тоглож, өндөр түвшний тоглолтоо хадгалсаар байна. Тэрээр замналынхаа 24 дэх улирлыг эхлүүлэхдээ Миннесотагийн хамгаалалтын системд суурилсан тоглолтод илүү үр дүнтэй оролцох боломжтой юм.
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“This stuff is hard. And you got to stay together, if you’ve got the guts. And you don’t find the first door and run out of it.” — Pat Riley, June 19, 2014
LAS VEGAS — We’re here again, just like 16 and 12 years ago, respectively. The whole NBA is once again awaiting LeBron James to decide where he wants to play basketball next season.
James has multiple good options for, what should be, the last stop in his career tour.
But … James should take his talents to Minneapolis.
The land of KG and ‘Sota, and Prince, and Kirby Puckett, and Mary Richards.
Go to the Land of 10,000 Lakes, LeBron. It’s the best basketball move, and I’m not just taking the Wolves’ word for it.
It’s not important to James, I’m guessing, that there hasn’t been a men’s team champion in Minnesota among the four major sports since 1991. His legacy is bringing a title to Cleveland in 2016, breaking that city’s streak of 52 years since a team in one of the major sports leagues won a chip. That’s what he would like to be remembered most for — and he’s correct.
But, this time around, Minnesota is the best fit. Even though there are easier paths upon which James can finish his career.
No one would begrudge James taking a third and final trip home to Cleveland, 45 minutes north of his beloved Akron, Ohio. Despite being immolated by the Knicks in a four-game sweep that will be best remembered for Kenny Atkinson’s … unfortunate phrasing, the Cavaliers remain a contender, albeit one that hasn’t been able to break through in the Eastern Conference with their core group of Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. They swapped young for old last season by trading point guard Darius Garland to the Clippers for James Harden, then reached the conference finals for the first time since 2018, when James last led them there. But this year’s run went south against New York, quickly.
Philadelphia, invigorated by the acquisition of an in-his-prime Jaylen Brown, to go along with Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid and V.J. Edgecombe? That, too, would make sense for James. The 76ers’ window has been reopened with Brown; adding James would provide additional scaffolding.
LeBron James to Philadelphia? Saquon Barkley makes his pitch
Zach Berman
And, even though both sides were tired of one another by the time James left Miami to return to Cleveland in 2014, hey … Dan Gllbert Comic Sansed James out of town in ’10, then welcomed him back with open arms four years later. James with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo would obviously be scary good.
Of course, it’s a longshot. But in a perfect world, James would be a Timberwolf, coming out on opening night with Anthony Edwards, Rudy Gobert, LaMelo Ball and Jaden McDaniels as the old nWo Wolfpac theme blares on the sound system at Target Center.
Why?
Minnesota’s behind San Antonio and Oklahoma City in the West right now, but it’s not an insurmountable deficit. The Timberwolves were in back-to-back conference finals in 2024 and 2025. Edwards is in his prime as an all-NBA-level guard. Ball, acquired from Charlotte last month, is coming off one of the best seasons of his career, a key force in the Hornets’ 25-game improvement. In Minnesota, he should help everyone get easier looks because of his own substantial shot diet. (It’s not my favorite shot diet, but no one asked me.) Gobert remains a defense system onto himself, still among the top five in most of the advanced defensive numbers favored by teams around the league.
Power forward is the position Minnesota has available for James. What does James play in Miami? Point forward? (It’s not a crazy idea.) He would likely play the four in Philly, but that would leave the Sixers without a knock-down perimeter threat in a potential frontcourt of James, Brown and Embiid; the spacing in Philly would be something Nick Nurse would need to contemplate. The Cavs have Mobley at the four. Of course, James could play the three for Cleveland. But James has rarely been a 3-point threat, and he wasn’t last season, shooting just 31.7 percent from deep.
And after shooting 37 percent on 3s in his previous two seasons, Mobley cratered last year, falling to 29 percent from long range. In the regular season, that probably wouldn’t matter most nights. In the playoffs, it would.
The team that makes the most sense for LeBron James
Esfandiar Baraheni
By contrast, the Wolves have plenty of shooting to surround James. McDaniels shot a career-best 41.2 percent from deep last season. Edwards is a career 36.9 percent shooter on triples but made a career-best 39.9 percent of them last season. Ball shot 37 percent on 3s last season. Ayo Dosunmu shot 41 percent behind the arc in his 24 games in Minnesota after being acquired from Chicago.
Gobert’s presence in the middle continues to keep Minnesota among the league leaders defensively, year after year. McDaniels remains a terrific individual defender, who helped take the Nuggets out in the first round with his hounding of Jamal Murray. The Ball-Edwards backcourt isn’t likely to shut opponents down, and Dosunmu isn’t a stopper, either. But with Gobert behind him, James wouldn’t have to get in a defensive stance and lock down opponents. He’ll just have to body up opposing players and get on the glass. Everyone in Minny feasts on Gobert’s defensive gravity.
It remains remarkable that we’re even having this discussion. James is 41 years old. Next season will be his 24thin the Association, two more than Vince Carter’s once-record-breaking 22 (1998-2020). With Chris Paul’s retirement this past season, the closest active players to James’ streak are Mike Conley, Jr. and Al Horford, who will each hit Year 20 next season with the Celtics and Warriors, respectively. It is very hard to see them getting to 24.
What gives James’ streak so much heft, and weight, is that he’s still a pretty damned good player. He’s not hanging on, scuffling to hit .220, or losing fights to guys he would have mopped the floor with a decade earlier. James’ numbers for the Lakers last season were remarkable for someone his age: 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game. His PER of 20.85 was 40th in the league last season among qualified players, but he’s still fourth in career PER at 26.69.
Going to the Wolves is not nearly as sexy a story as a Last Dance for LeBron in Cleveland. Or a second stint on South Beach. Or giving the Sixers hope they could make magic in the Illadelph. I get it. I wanted James to finish with the Warriors, just because it would be fun for him to play with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, and for Steve Kerr — all people he knows and likes.
But in the absence of that, the best spot is Minnesota.
