Cavs, Bulls make pitch to LeBron

Basketball Betting Lines

07/03/2010 - Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The courting is over and now it's decision time for LeBron James to choose his next team for the 2010-11 season and beyond.

The reigning two-time MVP met with his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers and the Chicago Bulls on Saturday, wrapping up three days of presentations from a total of six organizations.

"We had a very good meeting with LeBron and his group," Cavaliers general manager Chris Grant said. "We had a good time. It was fun. It was very interactive. I would characterize it as positive. We think it's pretty incredible that LeBron chose to have these meetings here in Cleveland, at his home."

Throngs of Cavaliers fans lined the street for James as he arrived for the meeting, many of the people held up signs that said "Home" and threw powder in the air to signify James' pre-game antics with the Cavs.

The Cavaliers, under the guidance of new head coach Byron Scott, met with James for nearly two hours. The Bulls, also with a new head man in Tom Thibodeau, brought in owner Jerry Reinsdorf, general manager Gar Forman, and vice president of basketball operations John Paxson to meet with the superstar.

On Thursday, LeBron met with the Nets and Knicks, and Friday came sit-downs with the Heat and Clippers.

It has been reported that James would like to make his decision by Monday, and speculation is that his decision will trigger a domino effect on much of the remaining star-studded free agent class.

One of those premier free agents is Dwyane Wade, who has already met with the Bulls twice as they try to pry him away from re-signing with the Miami Heat.

The Knicks are courting forward Amare Stoudemire, who flew into New York Saturday. A report on Yahoo! Sports said the Knicks were making progress on a five-year, $100 million contract for Stoudemire.

Forward Chris Bosh is also apparently done with his meetings, as he posted a message on Twitter saying, "finally back in my environment. free agency has been a whirlwind. This decision is not going to be easy." Miami and Chicago are among two teams who are interested in signing the five-time All-Star.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.