Tag: Dwyane Wade (Page 17 of 31)

      What is really going on with Chris Bosh?

      June 30, 2010 /

      He’s been saying all along that he doesn’t want to be a sidekick and thinks that a team should build around him. Yet there’s this feeling around the league that he’s going to go wherever LeBron goes. Some execs have even said that he’s attaching himself to LeBron, instead of LeBron attaching himself to Bosh. I’m sorry, but that’s not being ‘the man.’

      He recently told ESPN that winning is the most important thing:

      “My only priority,” Bosh said, “is winning.”

      If that’s the case, why is there this sense that Bosh will only sign a six-year deal (meaning that he’s going to force a sign-and-trade with the Raptors and his new team)? If he’s going to mess around with a sign-and-trade, his new team is going to have to give up something, and there’s no way around it — it’s going to hurt the team. Whether the Knicks trade David Lee, the Nets trade Derrick Favors, the Bulls trade Luol Deng or the Heat trade Michael Beasley, along with a draft pick or two, his new team will be a little worse off than it would have been if he had signed with the team outright.

      In other words, if he forces a sign-and-trade, then winning is most definitely not his “only priority.” One of his priorities might be winning, but the top priority would be the extra cash and the extra year that only the Raptors can offer.

      In fact, ‘winning’ and being ‘the man’ don’t fit together in this situation. How is a team that is built around Bosh better than a team (with Bosh) that is built around a better player, like LeBron? Wouldn’t a combination of LeBron/Wade/Bosh in Miami have a better shot to win more titles than a Knicks team built around Bosh?

      Chris Bosh (or the Chris Bosh Situation) is really starting to confuse me. I’m glad free agency is only a few hours away.


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      Report: Chris Bosh traded to Miami

      June 30, 2010 /

      Miami Herald sports columnist Dan LeBartard is reporting that Bosh-to-Miami is pretty much a done deal.

      I hear bosh-miami is done ..bosh-wade shared agent avoids tampering…its why beasley, chalmers, anthony still here…raptors get them

      This is unconfirmed and can’t become ‘official’ until midnight. He mentions Bosh’s agent, Henry Thomas. Thomas is also Wade’s agent, so it’s possible that this deal was worked out through him. But the Heat had to be involved at some point to know which players to hold on to.

      If the report is true, it lends credence to the rumor that LeBron, Bosh and Wade are going to hook up in Miami. At the very least, Wade and Bosh would form a nice duo in South Florida.

      It’s funny, when I suggested a Beasley-for-Bosh trade late last year, Raptor fans thought I was nuts. Now what do they think?

      Of course, LeBatard could have the story wrong. Rumors are flying fast and furious right now.


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      LeBron, Wade, Bosh could ‘split the money up’

      June 30, 2010 /

      According to Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh have gone so far as to discuss the ‘financial machinations’ of the three playing together in South Florida.

      The Sun Sentinel has learned that the three star free agents have gone as far as to acknowledge that it might not be possible for the Heat to clear the needed space to start each of the three at the $16.6 million maximum salary that they would be eligible for in the first year of new contracts.

      According to the source, the three have agreed to consider to “split the money up,” if need be.

      I’m no salary cap expert (though I play one on TV), but looking at the Heat’s salary cap situation — I usually use ShamSports, but the site is down at the moment — reveals that the Heat have three (maybe four, if we include Joel Anthony) players under contract for a total of $6.869 million. The Heat recently waived James Jones, which will cost them $1.9 million this season. With an estimated salary cap of $56.1 million, that leaves $47.331 million to spend on LeBron/Wade/Bosh, or $15.8 million per player. Though that number is actually a little less due to the minimum salary cap holds for the remaining roster spots.

      Regardless, if these three let $0.8 million per season (or a bit more) get in the way of a dynasty, they should have their heads examined.

      Of course, Wade’s agent, Henry Thomas, denies that the meeting took place in Miami, because his client was not in Miami this weekend.

      “Dwyane was not in Miami this weekend,” Thomas said. “That is untrue.”

      “I said when it first broke about that, that the guys would undoubtedly talk with each other, which they have. That’s not a surprise to anyone,” Thomas said. “But this meeting this weekend in Miami just did not take place. Dwyane was not in Miami this weekend.”

      Chances are that Thomas is telling half-truths to protect his clients. (He also represents Chris Bosh.) It’s possible that the meeting took place on a non-weekend day or in some other South Florida locale that isn’t technically the city of Miami. These are the kinds of games that agents play.

      But back to the Heat, who could give Michael Beasley away to create more cap space. His stock seems to be at an all time low, which is puzzling because he hasn’t had a bad career so far (14-6, 46% shooting) and seems to have cleaned up his act off the court. If they are able to move him, they could start LeBron, Wade and Bosh at the max. The Heat should hold onto Beasley if they can, and see if he thrives in a scoring role off the bench.


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      Sources: Free agency summit happened over the weekend

      June 29, 2010 /

      LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh apparently met over the weekend in South Florida to discuss the possibility of playing together next season for the Miami Heat.

      Sources close to the situation said Monday night that three of the biggest names in basketball — Wade, Chris Bosh and LeBron James — met over the weekend in Miami to seriously discuss their futures, with a focus on the increasingly plausible possibility of those three teaming up with Wade’s Heat.

      One source did label Miami as the new frontrunner to land James in a package deal with Bosh and a re-signed Wade but also cautioned that James was “non-committal” with the start of free agency fast approaching.

      Earlier Monday, Fox Sports Radio’s Stephen A. Smith reported on his morning radio show and via his Twitter feed that James and Bosh have committed to joining Wade in Miami. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel newspaper, in a report on its website Monday afternoon, quoted a source close to Wade as saying that the 2006 NBA Finals MVP “believes his team is poised to pull off a free-agency coup” by signing James and Bosh and re-signing Wade.

      Chris Broussard is on SportsCenter as I type saying that the trio left the meeting “without a verbal commitment” because LeBron has been “non-committal.” He’s torn about leaving Cleveland and is intrigued about playing for the Bulls.

      Unless Pat Riley is able to move Michael Beasley, this trio would currently have to take less-than-max money to play together in Miami. Currently, the Heat have enough cap space to sign three players at contracts that start at $14.7 million per season, but the fact that Florida has no state tax is a big ‘pro’ in the Heat’s favor. If pragmatism outweighs egoism, the trio could create a dynasty for the next five seasons in South Florida.

      I wonder about LeBron’s willingness to join a franchise that has won a title recently and is known around the league as ‘Wade’s team.’ If he’s mainly interested in winning championships, Miami may be the place to be, but there are other factors involved, no matter what LeBron and his camp say. The other issue is that if the three do join forces, the expectation will be that they will win a title every year, and anything less will be a major disappointment.


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      Knicks facing a tough sell in free agency?

      June 28, 2010 /

      Ken Berger writes that the Knicks could have a tough time selling big-name free agents on playing in New York:

      Word circulating over the weekend was that Knicks president Donnie Walsh and Mike D’Antoni faced a “very tough sell” to the top free agents, according to one rival executive monitoring the free-agent buzz. The reason, according to an agent involved in the process: “They’re going to have a lot of convincing to do for guys. There’s not a lot of pieces there to make it attractive.” According to other sources, it’s even worse than that for the Knicks. A representative for one prominent free agent, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the negotiating period hasn’t begun, said the Knicks may have as hard a time – or even harder – persuading second-tier free agents to go to New York. “If you come in there, expectations are so high you almost can’t – unless it’s LeBron, anybody else will have a really hard time living up to it,” the agent said. “What if the team makes playoffs and loses in first round? Is that a success? Probably not. You’re starting off negative. That’s the way you want to start off? Everybody should be happy about getting two All-Stars, but they’re not the ones you thought you were getting or were sold on getting.”

      As the year has worn on, the luster has slowly but surely worn off the Knicks as a free agent destination. This is largely due to a couple of factors: 1) the salary cap estimate came in higher than expected, creating more cap space around the league, and 2) teams with better pieces — Chicago, New Jersey, Miami — have made moves that have created enough space for two max (or near-max) free agents. Part of the attraction of the Knicks in the middle of last season was that they were the only team with enough cap space to sign two max free agents outright. This is no longer the case.

      I still think that the Knicks are an interesting free agency destination for LeBron if he wants to be the hero. If he goes to Chicago, he’ll be playing in Michael Jordan’s shadow. If he goes to Miami, he’ll be joining Dwyane Wade’s team. If he goes to the Clippers, Los Angeles will still be Kobe’s city.

      If he wants to (figuratively) own a franchise, he should stay in Cleveland or head East to New York (or New Jersey/Brooklyn). If he were to bring a championship to the Knicks, he’d create a massive legacy in New York. If he brings a championship to the Bulls, people will say, “Good job, now get us five more.”

      The biggest problem with the Knicks is the pieces that are already in place. Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari are nice prospects, but they pale in comparison to the Bulls (Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah), the Heat (Dwyane Wade, Michael Beasley) or the Nets (Brook Lopez, Devin Harris).

      If LeBron’s #1 priority is to win championships, he should hook up with Chris Bosh in Chicago or Wade and Bosh in Miami. If his ego requires that he also be viewed as a franchise savior, then he will sign with the Knicks, Nets or Clippers, or re-sign with the Cavs.


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