LeBron James is at the Garden tonight, and no doubt will get an even louder ovation than he did last time he visited, when he droppped 50 on the Knickerbockers.

The reason for the cheers tonight will be because it is so completely obvious to everyone that the Knicks are lining up—by dumping players and salaries and contracts—to be able to sign LeBron when he becomes a free agent in 2010. Now, you’d have to be an idiot to not want King James in Knicks blue and orange, so it’s understandable that you’d cheer him on even as he beats , or tries to beat, the Knicks.

The question, I guess, is whether this is all a pipe dream. Do you think James really wants to be a Knick? Here’s the problem I see—in addition to the Knicks so obviously lusting after a player who is under contract for another two years. What if King James and the Cavaliers, who suddenly have some talent around him, moreso than when they went to the NBA finals, win a championship in 2009 or 2010?

Do you think he’d leave a championhship team to come to a Knicks team that hasn’t won in forever? And wouldn’t an NBA title help Cleveland afford to keep him? James already has all the money in the world (or at least all the money that A-Rod and James Dolan don’t have). He already has endorsement deals coming out of his ears. Does he need New York? Does he need to be a big player on the big stage?

I think if he wins in Cleveland, or if he thinks he has a chance to win in Cleveland, or a much better chance to win there than here, then he stays put. Maybe I’m being naive.

3:30 p.m., Tuesday, Sam says:

Hugely naive, actually, Carp. But it’s endearing.

LeBron is coming here. And if not here, he’s going to Chicago or LA. Basically, he’s going somewhere that’s not Cleveland.

There’s no debating that James will have to leave somewhere near $30 million on the table to bolt the Cavs, but I’ve got no doubt he’ll gladly accept the max money he can get elsewhere for a chance to play on the biggest stage. He’s that kind of star – he wants to be an icon, bigger than the game, and the place you do that isn’t Ohio.

As for the idea that winning a title in the next few years (or even getting close) might tie him to Cleveland, I actually think the opposite; if he wins, great, he’s given his hometown team a championship and now he can go out and make his mark somewhere else. The storyline is easy: Local kid makes good, then goes out to see the world. Who can blame him?

Plus, the way to become an all-time legend isn’t by being in Cleveland. It’s by turning around a team in the capital of the world. By giving the Knicks their first championship in three decades. That’s how you get immortality.

LeBron’s coming to the Garden tonight. I’m willing to bet he’s back for 41 home games in 2010.