5-at-10: LeLanding spots for LeBron, Rushmore of golf courses we'd like to play, This week's Rushmores, "Fan" mail

From Mike

So where is your boy LeBron going to be next year?

Mike -

He will be in the NBA. And I think the conversation of LeBron James looking as much at ownership as the pieces around him has merit.

So which NBA team would give up an ownership stake?

Because know this: If LeBron picks you the value of your franchise skyrockets. Instantly. The numbers of tickets sold in Cleveland with LeBron as opposed to the four years he took his talents to South Beach are staggering.

As for the competition side of James' destination, well, let's explore.

We think Houston is an awful fit. Yes they are the closest thing to the Warriors in the moment. And yes, LeBron and Chris Paul are buddies. But the Rockets already have two ball-dominant offensive players in Paul and James Harden. Plus, the Rockets system is designed for point guards and 3-point shooters. James is a great passer, maybe the best ever. But that fit does not fit.

We are not sold on the James to the 76ers talk either. So where else is there.

Marc Stein, the NBA reporter for the New York Times, thinks James is going to Miami. OK, if that's the case, who else is going with him? Kawhi? Paul George?

Vegas likes Los Angeles, but man the Lakers also would have to get James and one more. (Here is a plan to get LeBron, George and Kawhi to L.A. and that would be pretty awesome.)

If Kawhi Leonard can patch things up with the Spurs, LeBron could go there because the Spurs have a slew of spot-up shooters and the three of James, Leonard and Aldridge could be pretty special.

And what about Cleveland? Man, it's impossible to see that happening.

How about this odd-ball call? Let's say Danny Ainge gets a wild hair and tried to deal Kyrie Irving and two 1s to the Spurs for Leonard. And then adds James and pays the salary cap hit.

Buckets, that makes the Celtics the favorites over the Warriors considering the first five could be Leonard, James, Gordon Hayward, Jayson Tatum and Al Horford, with Jaylon Brown and Terry Rozier.



From Spy

As I try to wade through resumes for my two openings - seriously, do they teach these kids how to write in college, and also teach them it's a good idea to send clips of nothing but single-source stories - I watched one of the repeats of Anthony Bourdain's CNN show where he was in Charleston, S.C., with another chef buddy. They had dinner with Charleston resident and acting genius Bill Murray. They brought up the movie "Road House" and how they loved it. Murray chimed in that he thought he was the only one who loved "Road House."

Then he offers this tidbit - Kelly Lynch is married to a friend of his. So when it's on, he calls that guy, doesn't give his name, and says "Swayze is drilling your wife in that movie right now, just so you know," or something to that effect.

And of course, "Road House" was on this weekend.

As for the mailbag, would the Celtics have given the Warriors a better challenge in the NBA Finals?

Spy -

Love that Murray story.

The short answer is likely, because, after all the Cavs were swept.

The Celtics have better depth and had a great home-court advantage. Brown and Tatum are better suited to guard KD so there's that.

So yeah, I think the Celtics would have been more competitive that what the Cavs finished with. But a side point to that is what does anyone think would have happened in the series if JR Smith had put the missed free throw back in or if George Hill had made the free throw?

Would that have led us to a 4-1 Warriors win rather than a sweep or would it actually raised the pressure on the Warriors and turned it into a series?

Who knows, but we all knew that with the way Game 1 ended, that series was over.

Tiger Woods, left, and Dustin Johnson line up their putts on the 16th green at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club during Thursday's first round of the U.S. Open in Southampton, N.Y. Woods struggled to an 8-over-par 78, but Johnson shot a 69 and shared the lead as one of just four golfers under par.