NYDN: Miami Big 3 would take pay cut, but only to add talent to the team and not to help owner save

They have bird rights on the big 3 right? Why can't they sign lets say, Lowry for 8 million first, and then sign the big 3 to full max deals with bird rights?

 

Even when they are free agents they have a cap hold that counts against your cap specifically to prevent things like this from happening. They'd have to renounce their rights to the players in order to actually free up the cap room.

 

Miami would. But yeah Wade isn't lasting 4 more years. He knows it. Dude is gonna be done soon.

He's taking his money.

 

There cap holds count for roughly 20 million each or something right?

 

He's a smart dude. He brought Bosh and LeBron to Miami to get him a few more championships and to make his case for the Hall of Fame unquestionable.

Now that the run is pretty much over, he'll just opt into his contract, collect the $42 million, retire, and get a job within the Heat organization.

 

I think the Miami Heat adding star level players is a media created thing. ESPN and the writers want to talk about it, but the reality is that the Heat will either be trying to replace their stars or they'll be trying to supplement them with players in the mid level and less range.

 

Lol that team had a lot of top end talent. Hard not to be good but they never had in those 4 years decent ancillary pieces outside of Allen. That's why they need need a real GM. Lol @ overrated Pat Riley.

 

Removed

 

The fact that Miami ownership punked out with paying Mike Miller and not going after MLE talent to bolster the bench SHOULD give Lebron pause for concern. Can Mickey Arison be trusted if LeBron and crew take less money?

Pat Riley has his work cut out for him here.

 

I think the point was that the article doesn't state that James is willing to take a paycut. The article says "If James is willing". It's speculation based on the possibility that James would take a paycut.

I can say "If Lebron James signs with the Rockets then veteran free agents will be lining up to play here". That's speculation on what would happen IF Lebron signed here...it doesn't mean he will.

 

It was too much "We will build it, they will come" kool-aid the Heat was drinking. Aside from Miller and Allen, there weren't any good free agents that took a paycut to get a championship with the Big 3. They were pretty much scraping the bottom of the barrel. Lucky for them they had LeBron James and he carried them as much as he could. If he wants to chase rings as bad as I think he does there's no way he looks at Houston or Chicago and say "I'm better off in Miami" when Wade is a shell of his former self and Bosh has been conditioned to be a 3rd banana for the rest of his career. Both Houston and Chicago have stars and role players that are young enough and healthy enough to compete with LeBron throughout the regular season and playoffs.

 

Chicago does? Health seems to be a really big issue with Chicago's stars. Maybe you missed that?

 

I'm giving Derrick Rose the benefit of the doubt here :grin:

If he comes back healthy, they keep Noah and either Gibson or Butler I think the Bulls look pretty attractive. Granted, their organization has a history of not spending money but who knows? Maybe LeBron will change all that.

 

You're oversimplifying the Spurs. Agree with the other poster that Duncan and Ginobili appeared to be washed up. Parker was viewed as a good but not great guard......somewhat similar to Lowry today.

Doesn't that article just reinforce the point....Kobe picked the money over the championships. He wanted both, but prefers one over the other.

Put yourself in their shoes. I might take a 5-10% paycut if I really like where I am......but I'm not taking a 40% cut. You might say, "well they are millionaires with endorsements, etc."....but I don't think that's how they percieve it.

 

Noah has been dealing with several injuries over the years as well.

But really, you give Rose the benefit of the doubt? Yikes. If I were a free agent I'd treat Chicago like the plague really. Zero interest in going there when they get sunk by injury. They are the new Rockets.

Also, all these media people who say that Lebron wouldn't want to come to Houston because Harden is a ball dominant guard but then say he might like Chicago because of D Rose (Or the Clippers because of Paul...) lol wut?

 

Well the point is still LeBron has to look at the NBA landscape and see that there are other attractive destinations out there than to stay and be "loyal" to Miami if Arison/Riley does not want to spend money to improve Miami's roster.

Hell, going to Dallas would be better than staying in Miami.

 

I just don't buy Chicago as being really a better situation than Miami.

They MIGHT be, or Noah might have a recurring knee issue (he has a knee injury right now) and Rose might shock the world by having knee issues again. Outside of Rose, Chicago deals with a lot of wear and tear injuries throughout the year as well thanks to Thibs grinding style.

Honestly if I am Lebron I'm either sticking with Miami or jumping to Houston unless some other team like the Clippers can pull some crazy deal to get me there.

 

I did put myself in their shoes. That's why I came up with the suggestion that Wade take the minimum for one year.

Lebron: Bro...we gotta do something to get some more help in here.

Dwayne: Well...whatchu suggesting?

Lebron: I talked to Pat. I asked him if we all opted out and you volunteered to sign a 1-year deal at the minimum if he would give you all your money back next year and then a little extra for letting us reload. Pat said that would be fine with him. He said they could max you out out for 2 more years after this next season and then give you a partial guarantee in year 3 for an extra $5 million or so. That basically means you can make all your money back and a few extra dollars. Would you do that so we can bring in Melo?

Dwayne: Pat said he'd do that?

Lebron: Yeah bro. He said you are a lifer. There's no way they're gonna let you walk. You're the Kobe Bryant of the Miami Heat. Please do it. I'm talking to Melo and I'm also talking to Pau and Kyle. If we all opt out and you take the minimum and Chris and I take $10 million for one year we can actually bring in Melo and Pau and Kyle. And I won't have to leave to chase rings somewhere else. Because if you don't..I don't have any choice but to scout out Houston and Chicago because we won't be able to add to the 3 of us here. You can take most of the season off. Relax. Rehab your knees and come back with about 20 games to play ready to bust a.. in the playoffs.

Dwayne: You guys serious about doing this?

Bosh: Yup.

Dwayne: Well, let's call Pat and get this thing done.