Tag: LeBron James (Page 39 of 85)

      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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      How World Wide Wes’s agenda affects LeBron

      June 29, 2010 /

      Adrian Wojnarowski writes that ‘World Wide Wes’ wants LeBron out of Cleveland…badly.

      For basketball’s biggest dealmaker, there’s little personal benefit to James re-signing with the Cleveland Cavaliers. To team executives in the chase and those familiar with the dynamics of James’ inner circle, World Wide Wes’ agenda is clear: Get LeBron out of Cleveland and push himself into a prominent place of power.

      To be considered the architect of the sport’s grandest transaction, World Wide Wes needs James out of the clutches of the Cavaliers.

      “If LeBron leaves, Wes is going to get carte blanche wherever he signs,” one source told Yahoo! Sports. “He’s going to have the run of the place, and he doesn’t have that in Cleveland. He has access there, but Maverick Carter is the guy with the keys there. …[Carter’s] much more influential, and would always be in Cleveland.”

      This is the push and pull on the inside of Team LeBron, sources say – agendas colliding in self-interest as the start of free agency creeps closer on Thursday. In the end, James is too strong to let someone else make a decision for him, but there remains strong influences deeply immersed in this process with him.

      Wojnarowski goes on to say that Carter and the rest of LeBron’s childhood crew have tremendous stature in Cleveland that probably won’t be the case if LeBron signs elsewhere. This may be why World Wide Wes has been telling people that LeBron and Chris Bosh are going to Chicago, even though they took the time to meet with Dwyane Wade in South Florida about joining forces in Miami.

      If there is indeed an internal struggle going on within LeBron’s camp, it may explain why the messages have been so mixed.


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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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      Source: LeBron and Bosh to Chicago ‘a done deal’

      June 28, 2010 /

      Per the NY Times…

      The executive, who did not want to be identified discussing a player who is not yet a free agent, said he had gathered from discussions with his fellow N.B.A. executives that James was strongly leaning toward joining the Bulls in tandem with another free agent, Chris Bosh of the Toronto Raptors.

      “I think it’s a done deal,” the executive said.

      He said he thought James was going ahead with the meetings in Ohio “to be respectful to all these teams who jumped through these hoops,” a reference to the clubs, like the Knicks, who traded reasonably talented players like Jamal Crawford the last two seasons in an effort to open up as much salary-cap space as possible. But if James and Bosh are indeed going to Chicago, moves like the ones the Knicks made will have been done at least partly in vain.

      This jibes with what LeBron confidant World Wide Wes has been telling people, and intuitively, it makes sense. Only Miami (with Dwyane Wade) could offer the kind of supporting cast that the Bulls can, and LeBron may not want people to think that he joined ‘Wade’s team.’

      The surprising thing about a potential move to Chicago is that it would indicate that LeBron does not care all that much about how his legacy will compare to Michael Jordan’s. James would have to go on an unprecedented run to even get into the same conversation as Jordan, and barring five or six championships, it’s likely that he’ll always be regarded as the second-best Chicago Bull.

      The move would be especially painful for Cavs fans, who would have to watch LeBron play for a division rival. Instead of seeing LeBron in Cleveland once a season, he’d visit Ohio two or three times, maybe more if the two teams meet in the playoffs.

      The other thing about this LeBron/Bosh line of thinking is that Bosh has said all along that he doesn’t want to play sidekick and that he wants to be ‘the man.’ Following LeBron to Chicago doesn’t accomplish that goal and says something about Bosh, since he is the one who keeps saying that a franchise should build around him.

      If the duo does indeed head to Chicago, the Bulls can start a lineup of Derrick Rose at the one, LeBron at the three, Bosh at the four and Joakim Noah at the five. One worrisome thing about a Rose/LeBron combo is that both players are at their best when they have the ball in their hands, so unless LeBron (finally) develops a post game or Rose becomes a great shooter, it won’t be an ideal fit.

      As for Luol Deng, he would likely come off the bench or be moved for a quality shooting guard who can space the floor (Kyle Korver, Mike Miller, Ray Allen?) LeBron will benefit most from playing with a knockdown shooter at the two, especially since Rose and Noah are not known for their outside touch. Deng’s contract (four years, $51 million) will be tough to move, but he essentially plays the same position as LeBron and the Bulls won’t want to tie up that much cap space in LeBron’s backup.

      Ric Bucher’s take on the rumor. (YouTube)

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