I agree 100% ... but if Duncan keeps playing the way he did last year, than he isn't 'over the hill'.
As far as I can tell Wade (like the rest of the big 3) has next year plus two more years of player options. So Wade can opt in for $20 million, and then do it again. There's no way he doesn't do that. What's his fmv - 4 years, $10-$14 million a year? He's much better of just taking the 2 years, $41.6 million of opt in and see what he can get after that. Same with Bosh... But even more-so Lebron obviously demands more than he's getting paid.
Obviously not since most of the names listed have no chance of moving next summer. No team would ever let a player like George walk. They just match.
I get how LA would want another star but how did the Miami trio and Melo rumor even get any traction in relation to the Lakers? I can't seem to get the rationalization. The trio are champions and Melo's the captain of his own mega franchise. What could possibly be the appeal?
ESPN needs to manufacture stories to whatever franchise it deems worthy of attention. If they could find a way to attach Tebow to the Lakers they would. Hell, I'm sure they will at some point.
I don't know what you guys are smoking when it comes to Wade and Bosh. They may not be anywhere as good as Lebron but most teams would take them for the full max. They've both sacrificed their games to play with him and would have more gaudy numbers if they didn't play with the best player in the world. So, they could easily opt out and get the same deal from the Heat. It's really up to them.
No way. No team is going to want to pay him 25 million when he's 34. Neither Bosh nor Wade are worth supermax deals at this point. I don't think Bosh opts out because I don't think he could do better than 4 years 60 million if he hits the market. His current 2 year 42 million contract is the best he can do.
Here are their remaining contracts: 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 Chris Bosh $19,067,500 $20,590,000 $22,112,500 Dwyane Wade $18,536,000 $20,048,000 $21,560,000 Sorry, not many teams in the league would pay "full max" for these guys... their full max being $20+ million a year. Consider Harden's full max is a $14.7 million starting contract. Wade probably has more of a chance, but even he would admit his body was breaking down on him a bit. He did admit that right after Game 7. He was struggling. So sure, say if he was healthy, would he be worth it? Probably, though he'll be 32.5 next off-season. So even a healthy Wade probably would give most GMs pause on a 4 year deal starting north of $20 million... or north of $15 million, but probably gets done by a number of teams. Bosh? No freaking way. Still a capable PF. Again, aging, but not old, as he'll only be 30 next offseason. But if one thing is 1000% clear, it's that Bosh is the 3rd leg of a Big 3 to win a championship. In a Game 7 of the NBA finals he laid a goose egg. ZERO POINTS. There is no way in hell you pay $20+ million for that. For both players i see 4 years deals in the $12-$16 million range as being true FMV. Both players are already guaranteed north of $41.5 million for just the next two years if they opt in. So would they leave some back end money on the table if they have career ending injury, or their game declines so much that they are only vet min type players at the end of their opt-in periods (which would be the 2016 off-season)? Maybe. But that's a risk I'm sure both players take. So the only way I see these guys not opt-ing in is by resigning with the Heat simultaneously at the same time for some longer deal in an effort to allow the team to afford more role players to continue championship runs.
Thanks. I had no idea that ESPN was the source of this. Stating the obvious wants of LA hardly constitutes as newsworthy and a pretty sad attempt at creating content. Barring major breakdowns in either the Heat and/or the Knicks, this "report" is way premature.
JAYZ750, You've become jaded by great GM's like Morey. This isn't about whether or not Wade/Bosh are worth the max. Bad teams like the Bucks or Bobcats are just waiting to throw max money at players with much less talent than that. I honestly think most people would be surprised to see the numbers both players would put up if they were 'the man' on their own teams. Bosh in particular looks completely different when he's featured in their offense. His pre-Heat numbers are better than a guy like Aldridge. I don't see any reason to believe he'll be worse at age 28. But again, that debate is irrelevant. I even admit the bolded part is highly likely but mostly because those 3 are a part of a small group of stars that are actually willing to take pay cuts in their prime. I don't see any of the Heat big 3 signing a max contract with another team but only because they don't want to, the offers will be there.
I'll never understand the fascination with Melo. Dude had a powerhouse team built for him in Denver, and threw all that away for NYC. NYC mortgaged their future for him, and he laid goose egg after goose egg. Now he proved he can't hack it and is still one of the more coveted FAs? LOL! It's not like he's been on bad teams either, Nuggs had Billups, K-Mart+good role players, this year NYC had Amare, Tyson Chandler, Kidd and good role players. He's just not very good.
Maybe, but I think the new CBA changes that a bit, ESPECIALLY wrt Bosh. You mention LMA as a comparison, which is valid. But LMA can't get a max deal in the same range as Bosh can. He'll be capped out, and effectively more of a "new max" type player. His last year pays him $15.2 million. And he's a year and half younger. And most importantly he has yet to prove/disprove whether or not he'd be a capable 3rd wheel... in the sense that Bosh has already proven that as that 3rd player he is definitely marginalized. But a good comparison. Wade from a talent perspective is much much more deserving of the large contract. But from a health and age perspective it's not clear he's there anymore. But it doesn't matter for him, because can he really leave Miami? On a personal level? For a Milwaukee team?
