Tag: Chris Bosh (Page 14 of 27)

      Nets owner has ‘no doubt’ Wade and Bosh will sign with the Heat

      July 6, 2010 /

      According to notes obtained by ESPN.com, Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov said in his final meeting with team brass that he felt certain that Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh would sign with the Heat.

      Also, regarding LeBron:

      On the conference call, he categorized the options he believes James has before him: The “hometown angle” of remaining with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

      The choice to play with Wade and Bosh in Miami, where James would have a “very high chance to win two or three titles” but where he could also “diminish the LeBron brand.”

      Hmmm.

      He also outlined the Nets’ strategy:

      First, he said they must get one or two of The Big Three to sign with New Jersey. If the Nets land James alone, he wants them to sign either Carlos Boozer or David Lee to play beside him. As the veterans lead the Nets to the playoffs, he expects the club’s young talent, most notably rookie lottery pick Derrick Favors, to grow and develop their games.

      The bit about diminishing “the LeBron brand” makes me wonder if these ‘notes’ were leaked on purpose. Maybe he’s trying to light a fire under LeBron and get him to go somewhere on his own. But it doesn’t appear likely that he’s going to sign with the Heat to play with Wade and Bosh, so if this were intentional, it was probably unnecessary as well.

      Each of LeBron’s potential landing spots has its own set of pros and cons. Chicago has a good supporting cast but the specter of Michael Jordan still lingers. Cleveland is home, but the roster is not championship-ready. Playing with two other stars in Miami is appealing, but the Heat have always been ‘Wade’s Team.’ The Knicks play in the biggest market, but the supporting cast isn’t up to snuff, and both Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler technically play the same position as LeBron.

      As for the Nets, they were miserable last season and will play in Newark for two more years, but they have new ownership, a new Brooklyn stadium in the works, a new coach, a future All-Star at center (Brook Lopez), a pretty good point guard (Devin Harris) and a good young prospect at power forward (Derrick Favors). Prokhorov also told LeBron that he’d continue to pursue a trade for his good friend Chris Paul.

      Also, Prokhorov sounds awfully certain that Wade and Bosh will sign with the Heat, but I’m sure there are some Miami fans sweating things out in South Florida as Wade weighs playing in Chicago.

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      Bill Simmons rips Stephen A. Smith

      July 3, 2010 /

      Before free agency started, Stephen A. Smith reported that a LeBron/Wade/Bosh combo in Miami was pretty much a done deal.

      As everyone knows, I reported last week on my morning drive show on Fox Sports Radio that LeBron James would join Dwayne Wade in Miami and take Chris Bosh with him to join the Heat.

      Now, of course, that trio joining forces in Miami doesn’t seem to have legs, and Bill Simmons had some fun at Smith’s expense on his Twitter feed:

      Stephen A. Smith is reporting that Stephen A. Smith’s report was incorrect. http://stephena.com/?p=953

      Oldest trick in book: Report something is done, and if you’re wrong, claim it WAS done but something last minute derailed it. Child please.

      What is Simmons talking about? Here’s what Smith said ‘derailed’ the deal:

      At the moment, that is still very possible, but there’s been a potentially huge monkey wrench thrown into the equation — with (understandable) greed on the part of Bosh being the main culprit.

      It was shocking news at the time, so it’s not a huge surprise that the report seems to have fallen apart at the seams.

      What’s interesting is that Simmons has been silent on Dan Le Batard’s report that there was a trade in place bringing Chris Bosh to Miami.

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      Could the Heat sign LeBron, Wade and Bosh and use their mid-level exception?

      July 1, 2010 /

      The short answer is ‘no.’

      As I’ve been perusing the internet today, I see a lot of misinformed fans with the impression that the Heat (or any other team with room for a max player) can add a Mid-Level Exception (MLE) player once the cap space is used up. Ray Allen and Raymond Felton are common names that come up in such a conversation.

      But per the NBA Salary Cap FAQ, a team that is under the cap (like the Heat) and is hoping to use up all its cap space signing 2-3 big-name free agents does not have the ability to use their mid-level exception once the cap space is used up.

      For example, assume the cap is $49.5 million, and a team has $43 million committed to salaries. They also have a Mid-Level exception for $5 million and a Traded Player exception for $5.5 million. Even though their salaries put them $6.5 million under the cap, their exceptions are added to their salaries, putting them at $53.5 million, or $4 million over the cap. So they actually have no cap room to sign free agents, and instead must use their exceptions.

      Teams have the option of renouncing their exceptions in order to claim the cap room. So in the example above, if the team renounced their Traded Player and Mid-Level exceptions, then the $10.5 million is taken off their team salary, which then totals $43 million, leaving them with $6.5 million of cap room which can then be used to sign free agent(s).

      In the Heat’s case, the salary cap is $56.1 million and with the minimum salary cap holds required to fill out the roster, they have about $44 million to divvy up between Wade, LeBron and Bosh. ($14.7 million each.) But they only have that much cap space because they renounced (or will renounce) their Traded Player and Mid-Level exceptions. However, they could sign the three superstars at those salary levels and then sign a MLE player next summer if they choose to do so. In fact, the MLE can be divvied up amongst a number of players, which is probably how the Heat would handle the flood of veterans that would want to join the Heat in search of a ring.

      The same rule applies if a team has enough space for one max free agent. Take the Clippers, who can afford one max contract. The Clips have that much space because they have renounced (or will renounce) their MLE. If they were to use up their cap space to sign Paul Pierce, the MLE would not be available to them until next summer (assuming they are still over the cap).


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      How good would a LeBron/Wade/Bosh combo be?

      July 1, 2010 /

      ESPN’s John Hollinger used his Player Efficiency Rating to estimate the number of games this group would win if surrounded by 10 minimum salary veterans.

      Using my preseason prediction model, I plugged in a team with those three players and used fairly conservative estimates for what they might produce in the coming season — a Player Efficiency Rating of 29 for James, 26 for Wade and 23 for Bosh. I gave James 3,100 minutes, Wade 2,850 and Bosh 2,600.

      For every other minute played by Team Trinity, I inserted my replacement-level figure of a 10 PER — this is what I input when a team has an empty rotation spot or has it filled by a player projected to produce less than 10. I never go any lower than this and have never felt a need to, as virtually anyone who produces at a lesser rate (once we include defensive value) is quickly replaced.

      OK, that’s my methodology; now for the result. This team, believe it or not, projected to win 61 games.

      And that assumes all replacement level players. The roster could improve at midseason when a vet is bought out or waived, and next summer when the team would have the various exceptions available to add higher-priced talent.

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      Raptors not interested in Beasley

      July 1, 2010 /

      Per the Miami Herald…

      The eve of free agency offered more convoluted speculation. One potential deal involved Toronto agreeing to send Bosh to Miami, with forward Michael Beasley, guard Mario Chalmers and center Joel Anthony, a native Canadian, going to the Raptors on July 8.

      But multiple league sources disputed the deal, including a high-level Raptors source who said the team had no real interest in Beasley or Chalmers. Toronto would, however, consider a $16 million trade exemption and the return of its first-round pick from Miami in the 2009 Jermaine O’Neal trade for a potential Bosh move.

      Bosh, who ranks the Heat among his top choices, would lose about $30 million in a guaranteed sixth-year salary if he bolted Toronto without a sign-and-trade deal.

      That Bosh rumor was the hot topic on the eve of free agency, but it appears that the Raptors aren’t all that interested in Beasley. The Heat don’t have quite enough cap space to offer Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh max contracts, but if they were able to move Beasley, they’d be very, very close. The Raptors disinterest doesn’t mean that a deal can’t happen, however. If the Heat got a third team involved, one that was interested in Beasley, then a deal could still be struck.

      The Raptors disinterest makes some sense. Beasley is a face up power forward, and that’s the natural position of former #1 overall pick Andrea Bargnani. The Raptors need a post up center to play alongside Bargnani.


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