Does Dwyane Wade’s future depend on LeBron?
The short answer is…maybe.
Have you noticed how all of this LeBron-to-the-Knicks talk has died down as the Cavs put up the best record in the NBA this season? That’s because Cleveland is a favorite to make the Finals, and with the way the Lakers are struggling against the Rockets out West, the Cavs are looking more and more like an NBA champion. If they do manage to win a title this year (or next), it will be very difficult for LeBron to jump ship without looking like a total a-hole. So he won’t. If he wins a ring, he’ll stay in Cleveland.
So the Knicks will have to look elsewhere for their superstar — enter Dwyane Wade. As Dave Hyde of the Sun-Sentinel writes, the Big Apple would be an attractive destination for Wade.
The Knicks have the money. They have the allure. They have coach Mike D’Antoni’s fun style. They can tell Wade he would revive Knicks basketball and get the kind of spotlight only New York offers such stars. Who wouldn’t be tempted by all that?
So Hyde advocates that instead of waiting for 2010 and trying to add a star big man like Chris Bosh or Amare Stoudemire while at the same time re-signing Wade, the Heat should go ahead and trade Michael Beasley to Toronto for Bosh this summer.
So there’s the Armageddon scenario for the Heat: It advances only slightly next year, misses on Bosh, has the Knicks singing a siren song to Wade … and loses him.
If you’re Riley, do you risk that? All for Beasley, who, much as I like him, posed as many questions as answers this season? Even Wade, who measures his words, allowed as to how Beasley frustrated him at times with the immaturity.
The best way to sign Wade this summer is to offer concrete evidence he can win big here. That means landing his friend, Bosh. They were Olympians together. They share the same agent. They respect each other greatly.
That’s why the smartest move to make is trading the salary-matching pair of Beasley and Mark Blount to Toronto for Bosh.
It’s an attractive scenario to wait until 2010 and add Bosh to a lineup that includes Wade and Beasley. But there’s a good chance that Bosh could sign with Cleveland or that the Knicks could come in and steal both Bosh and Wade away from the Heat. Why risk a future with Wade for the promise of Beasley? While it sounds a little crazy to trade a young player with a ton of upside for a guy you might be able to sign outright the next summer, it’s risk versus reward. A Wade/Bosh combo would guarantee the Heat would compete in the East for the next five years. Throw in the steady Udonis Haslem, a more mature Mario Chalmers and a small forward to be named later, and Heat would have a nice lineup. But the biggest reason the Heat should acquire Bosh is that it will almost guarantee that Wade re-ups as well.
Now the question is — will the Raptors go for it?
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Posted in: NBA, Rumors & Gossip
Tags: Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat, Michael Beasley, NBA free agency, Summer of 2010, Toronto Raptors
I think I’m missing somthing. Help me out. My thought is that even if the heat trade for Bosh, he and Wade will still both be free agents in 2010 (unless contract extensions are worked out in advance). How does trading for Bosh help them after 2010? The Knicks will have the same ability to sign either one of them. If they traded for Bosh and both Wade and Bosh left town (probably for NY) Miami would be screwed.
Luke — They’d both already be in Miami and have played together for a season, so the Heat would be more likely to be able to keep the duo intact. That’s much easier than convincing Wade to re-sign after a bad season and hoping that you can land Bosh as well. Also, Miami would be able to offer both guys more money than anyone else (though I don’t think that Chris Bosh is worth a max deal).
G – If the Cavs fail to make the Finals, or even if they lose badly in the Finals, and then have a disappointing season next year, LeBron might still leave. In fact, under that scenario, I’d say he’s likely to bolt. That said, the chances of him staying in Cleveland are a lot higher than they were last year at this time.
I can’t believe I just wasted 2mins of my life to read this article.There’s no way in hell Toronto would accept that trade. The fact that you see that as being a plausible scenario, makes me question your basketball, and reporting intellect and capabilities, because not only is this traded way too lopsided favoring the Heat, but such a trade would fail the collective bargaining agreement. Miami’s over the cap, and Bosh almost doubles Beasley’s salary. So there’s no way such a trade we would be allowed cause it would put Miami that much more under the salary cap. Even if Miami added players to satisfy the collective bargaining agreement, they lack attractive key players to add to the trade to balance the trade financially.
So now then the Heat will be faced with the difficult task of shopping Jermaine O’Neal, because the odds of him opting out of his 23 million contract are, believe it or not, greater than any team wanting to trade for him to begin with. This puts Miami in a difficult position because no team will want O’Neal, therefore Miami cannot truly add pieces to their team to make it more attractive for Wade to resign until the big free agency of 2009-2010 when O’Neal himself becomes a free agent.
I honestly can’t see Wade resigning with Miami this summer since they’re going through a sad excuse of a rebuilding transition, they’re bound to have a similar season next year and he’s already won a ring in Miami. Despite your horrid article I love your idea of him playing in New York where he could possibly team up with Amare or maybe even Bosh. But the same scenario can occur with Miami if they play their cards right. Only then will he resign with Miami (hopefully New York) depending on who else they get with their money. Ultimately Miami, and New York will be the biggest contenders for Wade in the summer of 2010.
By the way, anyone who still thinks Lebron will leave Cleveland in 2010 is idiot. Cleveland has a roster which can very possibly be lethal for the next 5 years. They will have to find a replacement for an aging Z soon enough. But despite that, the cavs are the new Detroit Pistons in the east. Someone tell me why Lebron would leave if his team is top dog? Besides, Cleveland will give him his money no matter how much he asks.
NBA critic – Thank you for your comment, though I can’t believe I wasted a minute skimming it when you clearly didn’t read and/or digest the entire piece. For example, you clearly didn’t read this line:
“That’s why the smartest move to make is trading the salary-matching pair of Beasley and Mark Blount to Toronto for Bosh.”
There’s a deal that would work under the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Are you happy now?
As for the Raptors, they are faced with the prospect of losing Bosh in 2010 and getting nothing…zilch…nada. There were already rumors flying this season that he’s not looking to re-sign. So you’re saying that the prospect of adding a multi-faceted scoring forward like Michael Beasley wouldn’t be attractive to a team looking to push the ball? The guy averaged 14/5 in 25 minutes as a 20-year-old rookie that has a lot of potential. (BTW, he shot 47% from the field and better than 40% from long range. Not bad.) If a straight up Beasley-and-Blount-for-Bosh deal isn’t enough for the Raptors, how many first round draft picks would it take? One? How about throwing in the sharpshooting Daequan Cook?
Don’t be so close-minded (or nasty). Life is short. Try to enjoy it.
NBA critic – Please learn how to read, they would include Mark Blount in the trade so Mark blount’s salary plus Beasley’s salary would equal Bosh’s salary, and the raptors won’t have anything after bosh leaves, so it would be much better if they actually trade for beasley, Clearly you are just some idiotic bias raptors fan.
NBA critic – if you just wanted a sounding board to share your thoughts, you could have done so without attacking a piece you clearly didn’t read all the way through.
I feel bad for people that have so much pent up anger that they have to attack others on a freaking sports blog. Here’s hoping you have as much passion for other things in your life as you do for sports/entertainment.
So Cleveland wins the championship this year, and next. Then in 2010 they sign James and Wade
Then they will continue on to win 8 championships in a row. MJ who?
Beasley is being overvalued in this article he is an undersized 4. And at the 3 he lacks the quicks to guard slashing forwards. If Bosh is getting traded BC will be getting the farm from whatever team. This is a former executive of the year. The fantasy’s of Bosh/Amare teaming with Wade or LeBron just won’t happen because all of these guys want to be the ‘man’ and unless they mature into the mentality that the Celtics big 3 have they won’t succeed if they were teamed together…Anyways who does the Knicks have at PG to give these the rock and Chalmers mr. turnover prone really going to be sufficient at pg for Miami. If you look at the scenarios for New York, MIami and Toronto from a basketball perspective only Toronto has the core positions to get to the next level – PG, Calderon and C, Bargnani. If you add Bosh and Wade to that mix….it’s over!!!!
Ed – Five or six years ago, I might agree with you, but in today’s NBA tweeners can find a home. Specifically guys that can score like Beasley. Toronto wants to push and he can play 4 in that system. I don’t think he’s being overvalued because teams never…ever…get equal value for a disgruntled star/superstar. The feeling is that Bosh is unwilling to re-sign, so no one is going to give up their first born for him. Maybe the Heat would need to throw in a first rounder, or another player, but Beasley’s upside is considerable.
John (RE your response to my response). I still think it’s too risky to hope that they both resign because they played together for a year. I don’t really think it helps their chances to resign them that much either. They will follow the money and I’d be very nervous that the Knicks will have the cap space to sign them both. If they trade Beasley in the hopes that Bosh and Wade re-sign and they don’t then they just lost all 3.
Fair enough but wouldn’t Toronto look at an OKC or SAC and trade Bosh for Durrant or Griffin (if SAC drafts 1st) over Beasley. The whole story is predicated that Miami is the only option for Bosh because of teaming him with Wade. If Bosh wants out BC will not be bending over backwards to trade him to a better situation. He’ll be trading him to whatever team will give the best offer and for example if its OKC or Minnesota, well then Bosh can go enjoy those small town cities.
Luke — Other than the occasional Elton Brand-bolt, most stars re-sign. I think if you acquire Bosh while Wade is there, he sees a future in Miami. Without him, that future is a lot fuzzier. If they were to somehow acquire Bosh this summer or before the trade deadline next year, I think there’s about a 90%-95% that both guys re-sign assuming the money is right. I hear what you’re saying about losing all three, but the chances of landing Bosh as a free agent and re-signing Wade aren’t anywhere near 90%.
Ed — No chance in hell that OKC trades Durant for Bosh, for two reasons. (1) Durant looks every bit the franchise player OKC drafted him to be and (2) Toronto’s performance this season indicates that Bosh would be better suited for a secondary role. Griffin is more of an NBA unknown, but I don’t think Sacramento would trade him for Bosh knowing that Bosh probably won’t re-sign with the Kings in 2010. Whoever trades for him will have to be pretty sure that he’s going to re-up, which puts Miami amongst a short list of attractive situations.
That is the dumbest article i’ve red. . . Number 1, it would probably take Mario Chalmers, Beasley and your next first round pick for us to even consider Beasley. You know some guys when they come out are classy big time good character guys. . . Well Wade, Lebron, Bosh have character and skill. Bosh is the most dominant force in powerforward after KG. Who is Beasley? An undersized PF! Number two we don’t want anyone who requires baby sitting. It’s known all over the NBA the beasley thinks he’s a superstar. . . Granted that he does have the skill sets to be a good player. . . But bosh is under rated by the US media because he plays in toronto! Bosh is a superstar and we’d rather trade with the wizards, if they the first or second overall pick. . . We’ll take Griffen or Robio n e day over Beasley! I’ll even take OJ MAYO over him!
Oh yeah one more thing! The raptors are not stupid. . . BC will trade Bosh and wont let another vince carter incident occur. . . People here love basketball. . . Basketball is the second biggest sport here after hockey. If we loose Bosh, then we loose hope, and if you loose hope, then you loose your fan base! Do you know what I had to go through after loosing vince :’@(
. After that for a few months i hated basketball, And I take it back, it’s not a dumb article. . . There is a chance this trade could very possibly happen more the possibility of bosh goin to detroit or even suns. . . And Bosh said himself he dosn’t wanna play at home, due to pressure. . . But honestly, Beasley scares me. . . not talent wise but attitude wise. He acts like he’s a privlidged NBA player when so many struggle to be in the position he’s in! You get paid big bucks and honestly you gotta take your job serious! Why don’t we offer Wade a big contract and take him from MIAMI? Why not? I can see bosh telling wade come here we have an experienced PG and a Centre who averaged 20 points per game after the month of december and is clearly playing like a number 1 pick!
I don’t know about most stars resigning. That’s why 2010 is such an important year. Lots of stars are hitting free agency. If you look at free agency over the years everyone from stars to stiffs follow the money. You mentioned Brand but just last year we also had Barron Davis, Corey Maggette (to name a few stars). James Posey left the world champion Boston Celtics. People like Steve Nash and Shaq loved where they played, but bounced without blinking an eye.
Bottom line, you can’t trade the #2 pick after 1 year for a player who will be a free agent at the end of the year.
Luke — You mentioned some exceptions (Shaq was traded twice after leaving Orlando via free agency), but the vast majority of stars re-sign. LeBron, Wade, Melo, Bosh all re-signed when their rookie deals were up. Here is a list of other stars that re-signed in recent years: Pierce, Ray Allen, KG, Iguodala, Hinrich, Deng, Ben Wallace, Mo Williams, Prince, Hamilton, R. Wallace, G. Wallace, Okafor, Devin Harris, Vince Carter, Redd, Richard Jefferson, Bogut, Calderon, Arenas, Butler, Jamison, Kobe, Duncan, Parker, Ginobili, Yao Ming, T-Mac, Nowitzki, Kidd, Paul, David West, D. Williams, Shaq, Jason Richardson, Stoudemire, Monta Ellis, Al Jefferson, Kaman and Kevin Martin.
The bottom line is if Miami is able to pry Bosh away from the Raptors this season they’ll have a great chance of locking in the Wade/Bosh combo for six more years. Whether or not that is worth giving up Beasley for is a matter of opinion. I think chances are low that they’ll be able to re-sign Wade and sign Bosh next summer when there will be 10 other teams clamoring for both players’ services. If you get them on the same squad now, it would make their decision to stay together much easier.
(By the way, one reason Baron Davis left GS was to play with Elton Brand…don’t underestimate how a mutually beneficial the Wade/Bosh duo would be for both players.)
How about we try to sign Carlos Boozer and move Beasley to the 3. This would present a very deadly starting 5, but that is about it unless some bench players can improve like Cook and Moon.
GM – Prior to the O’Neal for Marion swap, you could have signed Boozer this summer, but now that Jermaine’s monster salary is on the books, you won’t have any cap space until next summer.
the more I think about it Bosh would be a horrible fit for Miami’s half court offense. Brand would be more appropriate for the Heat. I’m sure Miami could trade O’Neal and Beasley for Brand and Dalembert. Unfortunately Bosh isn’t quite the post defender like KG meaning he needs the right system to succeed. And yes I admit that as a Raptors fan.
Dwayne is my favorite so don’t trade
wade……..Next year no one could stop miami heat if they still have wade…..wade is amazing he is better than james, bosh …….Dwayne will be the king and the new MVP…………….. hatter
Andy- Miami would just suck if they lost wade. In this year’s playoff’s (2009) Miami lost to atlanta. You know why? because they traded Shawn Marion for jermaine o’neal. Jermaine’s salary is way to high, and jermaine barely even played. He’s always “injured”. I agree that wade is an MVP. THink of it this way. The cavs without lebron are actually a bit better than decent. Miami on the other hand kinda does worse than decent. So the meaning of MVP is “most valuable player” to the team. which is definently wade. (but lebron won)
The first thing to do for miami is to get rid of jermaine and some other dude for a good power forward. Then trade Beasley and some other dude for bosh. Miami would be complete.
celtics mite get lebron bosh or dwyane rasheed gets paid 8mill and ray gets paid 20 mill tht = 28mill we could sign lebron and dwayne 1 million less tht wht theyre getting paid think about it we hav a good team we mite win the championship this year fully charged pierce rondo and kg are in the celtics for sometime and rondo is 1 of the best pg in the nba
I don’t know what you’re talking about, reean. Unless Paul Pierce terminates the final year of his contract, the Celtics are over the cap and won’t be able to sign LeBron or Wade this summer. Even if he does, they only have the cap space to sign one of those aforementioned players.