OK, two days after his teammate Zydrunus Ilgauskas took out a full-page ad in the Cleveland Plain Dealer thanking fans in that city for their support, James took out a similar ad in the Akron Beacon Journal.

Talk about a day late and a dollar short. First off, it came off to many as looking as if he didn’t think about doing this until someone else did it, which probably isn’t true. But it was way too late, regardless. And even worse, in the Akron ad, he didn’t even mention Cleveland.

Bad move. Yes, his home has been in Akron, but Cleveland is obviously where he spent the first seven seasons of his pro career. Perhaps it was just too expensive for him to run an ad in both papers.

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I have totally pooh-poohed this kind of thing for weeks now. But Sam Smith makes a decent case this week about the Trail Blazers really having the very best sign-and-trade package for LeBron James.

Now, do I think it could happen? Seriously doubt it. The hardest part would be getting James to agree to come here. Well, the money — he could get more in a sign-and-trade — would do some of the convincing. But I was also pondering the possibility that a guy with James’ visions of becoming a billionaire might somehow be influenced by Paul Allen’s massive wealth.

Could the Blazers romance him with Allen’s yachts or other toys?

But the other advantage, should the Blazers be looking for it, would be that it would be a great opportunity to get out from under the Greg Oden draft pick. If you could trade Oden for LeBron, it would not matter if Oden someday becomes a great player or not — hey, you got LeBron for him.

Just a thought, you know.

And no, I’m not as big a LeBron James fan as most people. The guy has some problems as a player. But come on, you’ve got a chance to win with the guy every year. And it’s instant media attention world-wide for the franchise.

And as far as the Trail Blazers are concerned, who on this team WOULDN’T you trade for LeBron? And for Cleveland, Portland offers by far the best package.

Now don’t go all crazy on me, here, I’m not saying it’s going to happen. But what I am saying is that if you’re doing your job as the general manager of this team, you really do have to visit this possibility.

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Man, to go anywhere I think he’d want a firm commitment that LeBron James will be wherever he goes. And I’m not sure how the timing would go on something like that.

It’s no secret Jerry Buss wants to cut his salary in Los Angeles and Jim Buss, Jerry’s kid, is a bit of a pain in the ass in the front office. But come on, Jeannie Buss is still his girlfriend and Kobe Bryant’s got a few more years of dominant play. I just can’t imagine Phil bailing this soon. (By the way, if he does, it’s great news for the Western Conference. There is no tougher act to follow than Phil Jackson).

I do know, the minute Jackson’s convinced he can’t win championships there, he’ll walk. That’s for sure. He doesn’t do rebuilding. He isn’t patient. And folks, he’s not in a position to have to be. For me, I really don’t care what it costs to get him, if you bring him in, you’re pretty much assured you’re going to win.

And win big. He’s worth it. The guy is probably the only coach in the league with enough heft to handle James. In fact, I think he’d consider it a challenge. But in the back of my mind, there is something else — would James want to play for him? Does he really want to surrender to his coach? Maybe. Maybe not.

I’m still not convinced of exactly what James is looking for. If you ask me, things went off the tracks in Cleveland during the playoffs because of LeBron, not because of Coach Mike Brown. James doesn’t want to take responsibility for that but the fact is, if LeBron had been LeBron against the Celtics, Cleveland would likely still be playing.

Believe me, this promises to be the most interesting off-season for the NBA in years. Between all the free agents, all the cap space, all the coaching vacancies and the impending possibility of a work stoppage, this is going to be one riveting summer.

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One of the (few) great things about doing a blog is the opportunity to meet up with a lot of really nice, really smart people. One of them, Chris, sent me a link to a column by an old NBA pal of mine, Jack McCallum, for Sports Illustrated. It’s a great read and you should treat yourself and take a look at it.

In it, Jack takes a journey to Florida to watch a Cavaliers-Pistons game with the late, great Chuck Daly, the inventor of the Jordan Rules. Daly talks about how the old Pistons were able to stop Michael Jordan for years — by giving him different looks, doubling him and playing very physical against him.

Chris also included a note to me that said:

Dwight – Wasn’t the ISO offense suppose to have died when Chuck Daly employed ‘Jordan Rules’ during the Piston’s ‘bad boy’ era? I mean if Jordan couldn’t beat a stacked D, what makes McMillan (or Brown) think Roy (or James) can do any better?

I mean, this is why Phil Jackson is Phil Jackson, right?

I know I’m preaching to the choir, but your posts over the past few weeks regarding ISO O got me thinking about the pre-title days with Jordan.

This post (from SI.com in 2007) applies today more than ever.

Ultimately, as history shows us (like 30 times or so), in order to win a title, you really do need a motion offense and a solid two-man game, with a strong supporting cast.

And he is so right.

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I mean, seriously, the Most Valuable Player in the league and the guy just checks out on you in such an important game? I just don’t get it. Hurt or not, don’t you have to see more effort than that? More resolve than that?

That was weak, man.

And meanwhile, the basketball world is alive with rumors. Now LeBron is going to Chicago — where he’s going to be coached by John Calipari or Phil Jackson? How in the world can this guy leave if he loses this series? Now THAT would look good.

And by the way, for me — I know Shaq played well last night. But I don’t think, ultimately, he works with LeBron James. While he’s posting up, he’s a big roadblock right in the middle of the lane, keeping LeBron out of there. James’ game is going to the basket — he’s still not a reliable and consistent outside shooter — and Shaq keeps him away from that game. Plus, you can’t run well with Shaq out there dragging  you down. Heck, Phoenix found that out.

All in all, a fascinating series, considering how awful most of the games have been individually.

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Yeah, the Cleveland Cavaliers are heavy favorites tonight against the Portland Trail Blazers. That’s the way it is. But I hope if I see Lebron James into that stupid dancing stuff on the sidelines during this one, a Portland player will get in his grill and let him know he ought to save it for Broadway next season. Good for Noah for calling him on it.

Take a look about 2:05 into this video and see Lebron cutting a rug on the baseline DURING the game. Man, for the old days when somebody would pop a guy for goofing on them like this. Real pros don’t show people up. They don’t embarrass a vanquished foe.

Can you imagine Jordan, Bird or Magic doing something like this?

We’ve got Frank Brickowski, a former NBA enforcer on “Talkin’ Ball” the next two nights and I can’t wait to see what he says about this stuff.

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One of the great gambles in modern NBA history.

The guy could likely mean a championship. But it’s just as likely for $20 million he’s going to be hurt and miss a good part of the season, tear the team apart with his own unique brand of locker room poison or get into a pissing match of some sort with LeBron James.

But one thing is sure: He might leave with the entire franchise upset with him, but the fans will still love him. Nothing much sticks to this guy.

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This story shocked me:

LeBron James underwent successful surgery today at the Cleveland Clinic. He had a right benign parotid growth (near the right jaw) removed by Dr. Frank Papay in a five-hour procedure.
LeBron and his family have been aware of this medical issue for several months but, with the clearance of the treating doctors and medical staff, decided to wait until the conclusion of the Cavaliers season to undergo the removal procedure.
LeBron is recovering comfortably at the Cleveland Clinic and will soon be returning home to his family.
The doctors are pleased with the outcome of the procedure, and at this time, are confident that no further treatment will be needed as LeBron is expected to make a full and complete recovery.

Hmm. Benign or not, a five-hour surgery isn’t any picnic.

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I’ve never been one of those guys who judges players by how many championships they’ve won. I’ve seen too many great players in all sports who have won one or none. Basketball is so much more of a team game than most people want to recognize — it’s way more than “How many rings has he won?”

But so many people want to break it down to that. Bill Russell, they say, was a better player than Wilt Chamberlain because he won many more championships. That’s ridiculous, though, because Russell, as great as he was, played in a stable lineup of all-stars coached by one of the greatest coaches who ever lived.

I don’t think Luc Longley was a better center than Kevin Duckworth, for example. But Luc won titles with the Bulls and the Duck never won one.

And even for the singular superstars — Jordan, Duncan, Bryant, O’Neal, Russell, Chamberlain, that breed — winning titles cannot be the only measure of greatness.

The point of this is to tell you that just because James hasn’t won an NBA title yet, I’m not going to allow that to affect my evaluation of him as a player. Jordan hadn’t won any yet, either, at LeBron’s age or experience level.

But I do think James has a ways to go.  Obviously, he’s capable of making great plays. Of doing great things. Of doing so many things that help you win games. Obviously, he’s a supreme talent.

But I’m not quite sure he’s totally harnessed his abilities yet. I don’t think he really understands all of what he can — and cannot — do. When your limitations are so much farther out there than everyone else’s, it’s difficult to know exactly where they are. And I do believe, no matter how good you are, you need to recognize what you can’t do.

LeBron, I think, is still struggling with that. Part of understanding his limitations will drive him to get better — as he’ll surely do. His outside shot still needs plenty of work and I would expect, as he gets older, it will continue to improve as it has over the last few seasons.

But his understanding of how to get teammates involved and how better to take care of the ball in critical situations will have to improve, too. That’s where he needs to be so careful of his limitations. I’m not sure that he’s quite the distributor he thinks he is. Not yet.

He’s going to have to better recognize opportunities, for himself and his teammates. For a great player, he seemed to turn the ball over in crucial situations too often. That can come from trying to do too much.

Lastly, I am not sure he’s quite the defender he’s billed to be. I’m not sure he ever will be, either, because so much is expected of him at the other end of the floor.

In summary, I think he’s going to get better. I know he’s going to get better.  But nothing is for sure. Nothing is guaranteed. Will he win championships? Probably. But as Orlando has taught us once again, it’s a team game. He could, quite frankly, use some better teammates.

Maybe that’s when he’ll improve the most.

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Big surprise, the Lakers clinched a berth in the Finals. Yeah, I’m shocked — the team with far and away the best record, and best talent, in the West has locked up a Finals berth.

It’s up to Orlando to provide the upset. And people all over are worried that somehow the NBA is going to derail the Magic because “the league wants Kobe and LeBron in the Finals.”

My only concern for Orlando tonight is that its players don’t start buying into that crap. For one thing, if you knew the mindset of a Danny Crawford, a Steve Javie or a Joey Crawford, you’d know that they’re just cranky or tough-minded enough that if the league “wanted” them to help one team out, they’d bend over backward NOT to do that.

Second, if you’ve watched that series, you’d know by now that in Orlando’s three wins, officials have had all sorts of chances to stick it to the Magic but haven’t. If they wanted to fix that thing, it wouldn’t have gone this far. Sure, Orlando’s got a couple of bad calls — but so have the Cavs. That’s how difficult basketball — at just about any level — is to officiate.

If you think NBA officials are bad, run a few college games back on your DVR.

My lasting vision of the complaining about referees in this postseason comes from George Karl, who was whimpering after his team’s Game 5 loss to the Lakers — which came much more as a result of his team missing 11 consecutive shots than it did anything the referees did. But it’s a lot easier to blame officials than it is your own sloppy game plan.

If Karl’s team had only been able to run a few simple inbounds plays along the way,  that series would have turned out much different.

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