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WALLY HALL: Don't discount what Cleveland can offer

It changes almost hourly.

LeBron James wants to sign with the Boston Celtics, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Houston Rockets and just fill in the blank.

Since the middle of the NBA Finals, there has been chatter that James couldn't stay home and be happy, but then Wednesday -- while waiting on the rain-delayed College World Series -- a story appeared that James was spending his days trying to recruit better players to Cleveland so he has a better chance at another NBA championship.

James has three NBA titles, so in the G.O.A.T race with Michael Jordan he needs three more. That's a long shot for the 33-year-old point forward unless he could sign with Golden State, which has no wiggle room for the $40 million James could make with another team.

But this isn't about money for James. He can't spend all the money he's made -- his children and grandchildren probably couldn't spend all the money he has made.

This is about winning, and it is hard to imagine him turning the Lakers, who were 35-47 last season, into a winner. Boston could use him but may not be willing to make all the trades it would need to, and Houston doesn't have enough basketballs for him and James Harden.

Cleveland embraced him when he returned after deserting the Cavs to play for Miami, which was a move that proved he wanted to win championships by picking his teammates.

In Cleveland he is the biggest hero in the state and yet he is allowed to live his family life privately, and that should be a priority.

. . .

In a related item, the Cavs have the eighth pick in the NBA Draft tonight, and some experts have them taking Mo Bamba, who just finished his freshman year at Texas.

Bamba is 7-0 with a reported wingspan of 7-10, which could take some rebounding stress off James.

Bamba is just one of 14 projected freshmen to go in the first round tonight, and 11 could be lottery picks starting with No. 1 overall pick DeAndre Ayton, a 7-footer out of the University of Arizona.

He won't have to travel far since the Phoenix Suns have the first pick, and Ayton is the best prospect in the draft with great quickness and athleticism for his size.

Vegas has him as the odds-on favorite to be the first player taken.

It also has odds that two or fewer seniors will go in the first round, and that Duke and Kentucky -- homes of the one-and-dones -- will have a combined five players taken in the first round.

Marvin Bagley, who is from Phoenix and played a year at Duke, is likely to be the second player drafted, so he'll be going to Sacramento.

Arkansas' center, Daniel Gafford, made a wise decision to return for his sophomore season despite his improvement from the start to the finish of his freshman season.

In the first round alone, there are 11 players at least 6-9 who are projected to be drafted.

. . .

The first time your trusty scribe went to Omaha for the College World Series there were four rainout days. This was before Omaha had developed, and the only thing to do was see Boys Town. Clay Carson, then a photographer and now head of our IT department, drove us by it at least three times.

It rained so much and so hard, my first-floor room in an old Holiday Inn got wet and there were no other rooms available in town.

Those two weeks were the longest of my life.

Omaha has rekindled the Old Market, and now there are lots of shops and restaurants, just not enough to keep you occupied for two weeks.

Sports on 06/21/2018

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