One more thing about the report on Wade opting out then re-signing for 4 years, $50-55M: It's written by Mitch Lawrence of NY Daily News. That paper tends to have an anti-Knicks agenda. This is not to say that Lawrence makes up stuff, but to the extent that there there is any rumor that tend to lead to a pessimistic outlook on the Knicks, NY Daily News tend to share those and not rumors that suggest otherwise. Who knows how real the Wade situation is. Even in his diminished state, it seems that Wade is still financially much better off just picking up his player options than to commit to 4 years, $50M. That's only, what, an extra $9M for 2 more years? One would imagine that Wade can likely get far more than $4.5M/year even 2 years from now-- even Manu got $7M per year after last year's finals, when it was Manu who looked broken down.
While Wade isn't about to sign a one-year minimum deal, it's about more than maximizing his money at this point. The only thing to motivate him at this stage of his career is playing for championships. He wants to stay with the only team he's ever played for and take two final swings at winning it all. 4yrs/$50MM sounds low to me. $8MM isn't enough for two years. Like the Spurs did for Manu, I bet they add about $15MM to his already guaranteed 2ys/$42MM.
So you're saying he opts out and they sign him to a fresh 4-year deal starting at $12.8 million with 7.5% raises. Now.....what do they do with Lebron and Bosh?
Wade doing this is an $8 million salary cap gift to the franchise. For LeBron and Bosh, maybe their starting salaries are $15 million. Then it's on Riles to use the remaining $20-$30 million to build a team around them.
So you think my one year contract idea is ridiculous but you think LeBron and Bosh are going to sign long term deals starting at $15 million??? And you think that is reasonable for LeBron and Bosh to give up somewhere around $24-25 million each over the next 4 years. So in your scenario that leaves approximately $17 million in cap space for Riley to give to Melo or to split between a couple good players. That is if they can clear out Norris for nothing and get Haslem not to take his player option which basically means they've got to blow the room exception on him for opting out. You say a one year contract is not going to happen. In my opinion your suggestion is a non-starter asking LeBron and Bosh to give up that much money and expecting Melo to sign for$17 million.
It's funny that the general public opinion is that nba players should all take salary cuts so they can collude and fit into salary cap. They should just get rid of salary cap. Let the teams bid whatever they want for players at true market value.
Have you forgotten what LeBron, Wade and Bosh did 4 years ago? Clearly that has to happen again if they keep the core together. There is a precedent with these very same guys and it won them two championships! If Melo goes to Miami, either he replaces Bosh or he sacrifices for the greater good also. IMO, Bosh is right and Melo going to Miami to make a "Big 4" is a non-starter. The only thing Melo will sacrifice is the 5yrs/$130MM from the Knicks. Whoever signs him must do it for whatever max they can offer (something like 4 yrs/$80MM). It will be hard for Riles to bring all 3 guys back AND improve the team, but it's what he wants to do. The core is in decline AND their PG and C positions are trash. Let's see if he can pull a rabbit out of his hat. However he does it, Wade isn't signing for a one-year minimum with a wink-wink understanding the Heat will max him out next season. That is pure crazy. Don't rule out LeBron leaving. Riles has a major sell-job on his hands.
Remind me...how much money did the big 3 give up back then to make it work? Oh...I haven't ruled out Lebron leaving. I was one of the first ones on here to suggest that the Rockets was the absolute perfect landing spot for Lebron. But I am ruling out Lebron and Bosh signing for 5 years with starting salaries in the $15 million range. That's simply not going to happen. EDIT: By the way....just to save you the hassle of figuring out how much money Lebron, Bosh, and Wade gave up over the last 4 seasons to join forces in Miami. Wade: $11.1731 million over 4 seasons Lebron/Bosh: $7.9086 million over 4 seasons And you think Lebron/Bosh are going to give up $24+ million over the next 4 seasons while feeding Wade an extra $15 million or so?????? Just totally unrealistic dude. Riles owes Wade one now. That's why I'm saying one-year deals. That gets them rebuilt with a minimum of salary sacrifice and gives Riles the ability to even up with Wade for giving up $11 million while the team is built out and contending.
Remind you? LOL! All I remember is LeBron could have taken $120-$130 million from the Cavs and that he signed for $15 million less than the Heat could have paid him. You seriously needed to be reminded? Is this a joke?
No...you need to be reminded. Look at what they gave up and tell me how you expect them to give up 3 to 4 times that amount going forward. It's not realistic.
Doesn't have to be the minimum. All 3 guys could sign one-year deals for $10-12 million. This would yield up around $20 million of cap space for Riley to build out the team. Then bring the original 3 back next season on fresh 5-year deals for Lebron and Bosh and a 3-year deal for Wade. That carries Wade and Bosh to age 36 and Lebron to age 35. Lebron can then walk away and go back to Cleveland to try to win a couple for his hometown. BY THE WAY.....how do you propose Miami keep the big 3 yet create enough cap space to bring in a major talent upgrade so they can keep winning rings?
The whole one year deal at even $10M a piece would be absolutely insane. It would pretty much guarantee a Heat championship next season barring injuries because Miami would just use the remainder of their salary cap this summer to sweep the free agency market. Additionally, I would have to think the NBA would step in and pull a CP3 block where the contract "is harmful to the league" or something like that.
