Chris Webber on Whether LeBron or Giannis Would Improve a Team More

If you can only acquire one for the next two years to chase a title, do you trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo or sign LeBron James?

Rich put the question to Chris Webber. The answer he got was more layered than the question.

Webber started by acknowledging the Knicks' moment, the team a lot of people would say should be in the Giannis conversation.

"I think New York is going to do some special things, and so I wouldn't want to break up that footprint, depending on how they're going," Webber said.

The team Webber kept coming back to for Giannis was Golden State.

"He's only going championship," Webber said. "Of course, I think the easiest, or not the easiest, the most obvious is Golden State. Giannis in the West Coast where the game is faster, you're going to have to build a wall for him on every play. That may just be an unstoppable combination with him in the post and the way that they play."

Then Webber pivoted to LeBron, where the conversation actually wanted to go.

"The thing that's working against LeBron is his age, not how he plays," Webber said. "The way he has played the next two years, he's going to be a dominant cog, period."

His real argument is that LeBron is exactly the kind of player a built team needs right now.

"If you have a team that's already established to win a championship, I would highly monitor his situation in LA," Webber said. "What you need during this time of the year, if you're a Durant, if you're a Cat, if you're anyone, you need someone that makes everyone better."

Webber framed the LeBron value question in plain terms.

"We can't say LeBron is a liability in any era if we're talking about just to win a championship during this time," Webber said.

His preference, before pragmatism, was sentiment.

"I'm not a Laker fan, obviously, but I'd love to see him back with the Lakers," Webber said. "I'd love to see the Lakers honor him with the contract that he deserves so he could stay there and keep his legacy going."

If that does not happen, Webber's case for LeBron-to-a-contender was about lifting the rest of the roster's ceiling.

"You need a player that makes players better," Webber said. "And so I'm really watching to see what happens with him."

Rich pressed the framing.

"Are you saying if there's a team that wants a Larry OB in the next two years, you should go get LeBron instead of Giannis?" Rich said.

Webber's verdict was a draw with a kicker.

"In the next two years, as important as Giannis is, they're tied," Webber said. "If I can only get one of them, it really depends on the type of team and shooters who I have, what I need."

The tiebreaker tilted toward LeBron.

"If I feel like our team needs confidence and needs IQ, thoughtfulness, and a player that can go get it, I'm going to get LeBron for two years," Webber said.

Webber's bigger philosophical point was about the weight of the player's name versus the franchise.

"I like playing with guys that have more weight with the name on the back of their jersey than the organization," Webber said. "You can trust that the pain of the organization, they're going to feel, because he's an organization within himself. The same with Giannis."

The final tilt for him was a team that needs leadership and connection.

"If I have players that I need to make better, if I have players that I need to shine the most during the playoffs and have players that are smart enough to get them involved and not just have empty numbers and get us some wins, I'm going with LeBron," Webber said.

Rich brought up the Mark Daigneault note that LeBron made the Thunder better by facing them in the second round, and that SGA had LeBron at the top of the scouting sheet.

Webber's analogy was Peyton Manning.

"I remember those last years of great players that if you gave them enough," Webber said. "Don't get me wrong, he can't be the best player on the team. I'm not saying that. But I'm saying if you have a team that's ready to win, and they're one step away, in a two-year window, not betting the house and trading 50,000 people, but in a two-year window, I just don't see who is a more important free agent to a team on the precipice of winning the championship."

Rich noted the path to LeBron is simpler than the path to Giannis. Sign him versus trade for him.

In the final minute, Rich asked Webber if he was, between the lines, suggesting LeBron to Golden State.

Webber paused on it.

"I think Golden State more than anyone is kind of the furthest away because you still have Butler," Webber said. "Can you trade him for a piece this valuable? You've lost Kuminga. You have some good pieces, but I just think they're furthest away."

His real pick became Cleveland the moment Rich floated it.

"I like Cleveland," Webber said. "I didn't think of Cleveland. The reason why I like Cleveland is because he has big guys he can throw the alley-oop to. You need big guys, right? Gets him to pick and roll, and he has shooters and he has other guys, you know, Allen or Kyrie and others that can take over, you know, when he just wants to be Magic Johnson, then when he wants to be Jordan, you know, he switches, and starts attacking."

Webber landed on the homecoming.

"Just right now from this conversation, Cleveland is, man, that would be something," Webber said.