LeBron, quo vadis?

Cleveland is doing everything imaginable to bring LeBron James back to the Cavaliers fold next season and the word is coach Mike Brown is being used as a sacrificial lamb to convince the King that nobody is sacred in making things right for the Chosen One.

There’s a compelling reason for James to stay where he is. He can earn the highest salary any team can offer by sticking it out with the Cavs who are allowed to offer a six-year $126 million extension. The biggest any other team can put on the table is a five-year $96.3 million deal under the NBA’s collective bargaining guidelines.

But for James, it’s not about money. It’s about winning. And when he becomes a free agent on July 1, you can bet he’ll be looking for a team with the best chances of bagging a championship to justify the King’s royal lineage.

The Cavs management bent over backwards to surround James with the talent that Brown was confident in providing the support for a strong title run. Shaquille O’Neal was brought in to give James the immovable inside force that proved successful in firing up Kobe Bryant at Los Angeles and Dwyane Wade at Miami. Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon and Antwan Jamison were other new ingredients in the recipe that was supposed to cook for Cleveland its first major sports crown since the Browns captured the National Football League title in 1964. For more of that championship feeling, Brown even recruited Leon Powe who played a bit role in Boston’s finals surge in 2008.

“The Cavs have done just about all they can to not lose LeBron, building a 50,000 square foot practice facility for him near his Ohio mansion, acquiring Shaq and filling a roster with about 10 players most teams in the NBA would want,” said writer Larry Lage in The Sporting News Pro Basketball Yearbook.

Cleveland’s gamble was to win now and that’s why management locked in over $75 million in salaries. The future would take care of itself – if the Cavs could win today.

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But alas, things didn’t work out as Brown hoped. In what was described in media as a bizarre meltdown, Cleveland was bundled out of contention by Boston in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Cleveland had the NBA’s best record (61-21) and enjoyed the homecourt advantage throughout the entire playoffs but couldn’t hold back No. 4 Boston. The Celtics beat the Cavs twice on the road, 104-86, in Game 2 and 120-88 in Game 5, then disposed of King James and his Knights in Game 6, 94-85.

Brown, named Coach of the Year for leading Cleveland to 66 wins last season, took the flak for the unceremonious exit and deserved the flagellation. His offense has often been called “slow and unimaginative,” revolving around James without putting a premium on speed. In 2006-07, Brown took Cleveland to the finals and the Cavs were swept away by San Antonio in a 4-0 blowout. Surely, that should’ve been an indication of Brown’s level of competence (or incompetence).

Next season, Cleveland has no cap space with which to fish for a high-caliber free agent and no first round draft pick so the Cavs’ upside is severely suspect. Obviously, something has to be done to fix things because there’s a lot of fixing to do. Almost sure to be a victim in the imminent shake-up is Brown who has outlived his usefulness with the Cavs. If Brown goes, James will naturally be given a free hand to pick Cleveland’s next coach but is he even remotely interested in making the choice? Is he seriously thinking of staying in Cleveland after the Cavs’ inglorious departure in the playoffs?

New York appears to be the leading candidate for LeBron’s services as a free agent. The Knicks are committed to only $21 million in salaries next season so that leaves a lot of room for James and another high-profile agent, possibly Chris Bosh.

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New York coach Mike D’Antoni worked with James on the US team that captured the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. D’Antoni’s “speedball philosophy,” predicated on maximizing possessions for high-scoring games, is something that James is comfortable with. Experts insist James’ play will be enhanced not by a center like Shaq but by a reliable outside shooter like Danilo Gallinari and an off-the-dribble creator like Wilson Chandler. Gallinari averaged 15.3 points and Chandler, 15.1 for the Knicks this past season.

There’s also the consideration that New York is a huge media market, opening a slew of commercial opportunities for King James.

Chicago is another candidate. The coaching job is vacant and John Calipari, who is a close friend of James’ agent Leon Rose, may be available. The problem is Derrick Rose may not complement James. Another candidate is New Jersey which is moving to Brooklyn in two years.

From James’ standpoint, the choice is either to stay in Cleveland or move to New York. He is only 25 and has played seven seasons in the NBA with two MVP trophies. Michael Jordan was 28 when he led Chicago to its first title in 1991, his seventh season.