Mario Chalmers Predicts LeBron James Lands With Warriors Over Heat
Mario Chalmers knows LeBron James better than anybody.
The former NBA veteran point guard won two championships and helped lead the Miami Heat to four straight NBA Finals appearances (2011-2014) as a starter alongside the “Big Three” in James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. Fast forward more than a decade, and James is a free agent and potentially looking to rejoin the new-look Heat, which features Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Chalmers, who is now a player in Ice Cube’s BIG3 League for the Miami 305, spoke on a number of topics, including James’ future, the Antetokounmpo-led Heat, and a few major trades, including Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers and LaMelo Ball to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Interview With Mario Chalmers
Q: I want to talk about the Miami Heat. That’s what you’re best known for winning a couple of championships down in South Florida. They have a new look now. They’ve reloaded, they’ve gotten Giannis. How do you compare them to the rest of the Eastern Conference at this point? Where do they rank in your opinion?
Chalmers: They’re definitely a top-three or four team in the East. That Boston trade was a big trade. I think Philly might be the No. 1 team in the East on paper until all the teams are complete. But for Miami, they added some shooters around here. Tim Hardaway Jr. was a decent pickup for a shooter, and they’re right there in the top three teams in the East.
Q: What do they need to further solidify themselves? They’re a top three or four Eastern Conference team right now. The Sixers now are the top threats to the Knicks in the East after that trade. But what do the Heat need more of? Do they need more shooters? Do they need more perimeter defenders? Is that what they’re kind of looking for right now?
Chalmers: More shooters and I always say more of a creator. A creator that can go get his own and also facilitate the offense, able to lock down defenders and switch everything with them, so that’s the good thing about it. You got Giannis who is downhill, so you’re going to need shooters around him to space the floor.
Bam, I’m excited to see what Bam’s going to do. I think this year we see Bam turn into more of a Chris Bosh person that’s more in the perimeter, shooting more threes and outside the paint and still in the offense. I’m really interested to see how Spo comes up and dictates this offense.
Q: Obviously we’re talking about pieces that they need. You brought up a keyword there, creator. A lot of people are naming Russell Westbrook as a possible option, and I think it would be a great fit, especially if he’s leading the second unit, the bench unit, because then he can really control the ball. Because with Giannis, you kind of have to share it with him, but if it’s him leading the second unit, that would be an amazing fit, don’t you think?
Chalmers: With those guys, just that energy and toughness and effort that he brings, and you pair that with Giannis and Bam, who’s also kind of the same thing. To start a game would be electric, and that’s how that’s how you swing. You take the first hit, so they’re gonna be swinging a lot of first hits with Russell Westbrook and Bam and Giannis. They have those three out there, and you get a good shooting guard, and then you get another person. I like Wiggins (Andrew Wiggins) too. Wigs is definitely a good pickup, because he can shoot it and defend it. That’s not a spot that’s lacking. I would say they need shooting, a backup center and a point guard.
Spo is a mastermind when it comes to the offense and he’ll definitely figure out something to put the ball in great positions if Westbrook comes and it would be a great pickup.
Q: LeBron is obviously not coming back to the Lakers. This is the biggest topic right now. Where is he going to go? Three teams are being mentioned which are the Warriors, the Cavs and the Heat could be the best landing spot of those three teams. What are your thoughts on that?
Chalmers: I agree. I think that would definitely be a good landing spot for him, especially in a win-now situation. It’ll definitely be interesting. But I want to see where he’s thinking, just because of what the King brings to a team at this age. He’s gonna be a spot-up shooter, another person that is gonna be wanting to be down in the paint a little bit, so it’s gonna be up to Spo to make that all work with Bam, Giannis and Bron all in the paint.
Q: If the motive is to win another championship, you would think Miami presents the best possible landing spot. The familiarity with Spo, they have Giannis, they have Bam, they brought Wiggins back, and the Eastern Conference, it’s a lot easier to get through, even though it’s getting tougher. It’s a lot easier to get through compared to the West. You would think that if that is in mind, the Heat would be the ideal landing spot.
Chalmers: Oh definitely it would be the ideal landing spot. I really think it’s between Golden State and Miami just by knowing Bron and being his teammate before and the way he approaches the game. Those are the two spots where I think he has the best chance of winning.
Q: I want to throw a little curveball at you, and I don’t know if you think I’m crazy by saying this, but I’ve thrown out the idea of the Spurs — if he takes the veteran’s minimum — being a great landing spot for LeBron, because they already have all the pieces. They just kind of need that veteran to stabilize everything, and he would be the guy that would help him get over the hump, and it would help him get closer to Jordan, if not match Jordan by the time his career is over. What are your overall thoughts on that possibility?
Chalmers: I thought that too, until they signed Tobias Harris. Tobias Harris was a great pickup for the Spurs, just because him and (Julian) Champagne, they’re kind of the same player, and they kind of bring the same thing to the floor, so you really don’t lose anything with either one. I’ll never pick Champagne or Tobias Harris over LeBron James, so I won’t say that. But ‘Bron with the Spurs, I don’t necessarily like it because they’re a young fast team, and they’re still learning. When Bron’s IQ is sometimes more than the coach’s, it will tend those young players to listen more to ‘Bron than the coach, and not on purpose, but just the IQ would be kind of different.
Q: That’s a nice assessment, actually.
Chalmers: Yes, I think that’d be kind of a bad pickup in that regard.
Q: I didn’t even think about that. So it’s almost a better fit for LeBron to join a team with a veteran core and a veteran coach like a Steve Kerr or Erik Spoelstra rather than Mitch Johnson with the Spurs?
Chalmers: Yes, just a veteran coach coaching LeBron like a Kerr or Spoelstra, that’d better LeBron.
Q: And do you think at this stage of his career, winding down whether this is last year, he plays two more years, is his motive to win championships? Or is it really just what is being thrown out there? He’s kind of saying he just wants to be happy.
Chalmers: I think it’s a little bit of both, more about winning championships, but definitely the happiness comes with it, and just solidifying the rest of his career. He’s not gonna go anywhere where it’s a losing situation, of course. The ultimate goal is to win the championship at the end of the season, but that’s his goal.
Q: If I were to punch you on the spot with LeBron, who do you think he’s gonna end up signing with, and how many more years do you think he plays?
Chalmers: I give him two to three more years, and I want to save Miami, but I have a gut feeling that it might be Golden State.
Q: Thoughts on the Jaylen Brown trade to the Sixers. I think that caught everybody by surprise. What was your overall reaction to that? What is your analysis of the move?
Chalmers: That was weird to me, especially that’s always been a rival, Boston and Philly, and you traded one of the best players there to deal with him when it comes to a playoff series. We made that too better. That’s your rival. So for Philly, I love the trade. I think that’s a perfect person to come to the team, but for Boston, I really didn’t understand that.
Q: From their perspective, obviously they wanted to get rid of Jaylen, but why not just hold out a little longer? You have four months to wait until the start of the season.
Chalmers: I think those rumors got out too fast, and those trade talks got out too fast, and once you got a disgruntled employee like that, you just don’t want to come to the season with that headache and over a team and have players thinking about that, instead of focusing on winning, making a winning atmosphere, and getting better each and every day.
Q: Do you think this is a team that can compete with the Knicks for Eastern Conference supremacy? When you look at the roster right now, moves are still being made. Do you think that this is a team that can beat the Knicks in a seven-game series and get to the NBA Finals?
Chalmers: Yes, I think so. I definitely think they got all the right pieces.
Q: I want to ask you real quick, because I know you spent a little bit of time with the Grizzlies. They finally traded Ja Morant to Portland. Thoughts on that, because they have a kind of a log jam in Portland with the guards with Scoot Henderson, Damian Lillard, and Jrue Holiday.
Chalmers: Yeah, that was a weird one. I was kind of shocked by that one. I’m interested to see what they actually do with that, because they’re not.. they’re definitely not done. I know they’re not going to have those five, six guard rotation going into the season. That’s a little bit too much. I don’t know how Ja Morant actually works out together with two little guards in the backcourt, so I’m definitely curious and interested to see what their next move is.
Ja getting a fresh start somewhere else, definitely see how he reacts, and he has a fresh start, fresh chance to clear his mind and get back to playing basketball.
Q: LaMelo Ball traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves, does that make them any better? Are they kind of still at the same spot in the Western Conference?
Chalmers: That’s an interesting trade, just because LaMelo Ball is a player, he’s an All-Star, but he’s a player that doesn’t look like he plays the game in a serious manner, and with the Minnesota Timberwolves, which were in the Western Conference Finals two years ago, he’s gonna have to change his game a little bit and take the game a little bit more serious. I want to see that growth take over him and see how him and Anthony Edwards play together, because I definitely think that could be a dynamic one-two punch.