It seems like a good idea to most at Top Gun hoops camp

By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

How would LeBron James look in Magic blue?

Pretty good, according to several basketball players  asked Tuesday at the Top Gun Shooting Camp at the St. Cloud High gym.

“LeBron would be worth it,” Casey Walsh, a Bulldog basketball player, said. “With LeBron and Dwight Howard, that would be awesome.”

James, the NBA’s premier free agent, has a multitude of options. The New York teams are thought to be front-runners for his services. Several NBA commentators have mentioned the Magic as a good landing spot for James. Their take is that combining James, one of the top two or three players in the NBA, with Howard, the league’s premier big man, would make the Magic an instant favorite to reach the NBA Finals.

“It would be another Shaq (Shaquille O’Neal) and Kobe (Bryant, of the early-2000s L.A. Lakers),” said Zack Hull, a St. Cloud High junior center. “If they can keep Dwight and (Magic guard) Jameer (Nelson), then it would work.”

Hull, however, would prefer that James go elsewhere.

“I’m a Celtics fan,” he said. “It wouldn’t be too good for me.”

Nathan Sharp, a 9-year-old from Harmony, is in favor of James coming to Orlando.

“I know who LeBron is. I think it would be good,” he said.

Sharp said Miami Heat free agent Dwayne Wade also would  be a nice addition to the Magic roster.

“He would be good, too,” said Sharp.

Jens Soto, a senior and a St. Cloud Bulldog guard, said James or Wade would make the Magic a formidable presence in the league.

“I think they’d be better off with LeBron. Dwayne Wade, I think that works, too,” he said.

The major hitch in a LeBron-to-Orlando scenario is the NBA’s salary cap. In order for the Magic to sign James, they would have to clear out most of their current roster. The Magic, to this point, have expressed no interest in James. It’s all speculation.

A few at the camp said the Magic shouldn’t bother pursuing other NBA superstars.

“LeBron should stay in Cleveland,” Ian McKenzie, a St. Cloud sophomore, said. “If he goes to another place, he’s going to have to start all over. It works out better if he stays in Cleveland.”

St. Cloud High assistant coach Erin McConahay, a former St. Cloud High standout herself, said the Magic should stand pat.

“It’s perfect for them now. You bring in someone like LeBron and you ruin the team chemistry,” she said.

The top gun at the Top Gun camp, founder and longtime St. Cloud High basketball coach Tim McMullen, said, to him, adding James is a no-brainer.

“Bring ‘im in,” McMullen said emphatically. “If you can keep Nelson and Howard, you have your point guard and your post player. What else do you need?”

Florida Christian College Coach Jake Deer agreed.

“It would be awesome (to get LeBron),” he said.