Plus Bosh upgrades the defense at both the starter PF spot and the back-up C spot. Love playing back-up C minutes is laughable. Beverley/ TBD Harden / TBD Parsons / TBD Bosh / Terrence Jones Howard / Bosh That's looking good...
I like this on multiple fronts. Lebron has opted out to have his cake and eat it too (he wants a max contract and a championshiop team in Miami). To me, it looks like he is shooting himself in the foot with other players not taking paycuts to sign in Miami (which is even worse for Wade), which makes it a good situation for us to chase Bosh on two fronts. 1. If we get him, that would be fantastic for us (obviously). He fills our needs at the pf spot (anyone saying Jones is already as good as Bosh is nuts). 2. If we don't get him, but he sees that teams can offer the money and he ends up leaving Miami, it could increase our chances of landing Lebron himself. No one wants to sign with Miami for a smaller contract if their is no firm commitment by the big 3 to re-sign. Other free agents signing with other teams tells us that they are not playing by Lebron's rules and they are looking for their own payday, which they should. Meanwhile Lebron wants to wait it out to see what Miami can do and Bosh is already looking at bolting for the money. If the reports are true that Lebron wants to go back to the Cavs, I say we definitely pursue Bosh. I would much rather have Love due to his age, but he is not a free agent, we would have to give up Parsons to get him and he is not better on the defensive ends. Bosh is still a star and can shore up our defense (something we need).
I really believe the Rox will off Bosh the max (or atleast extremely close to it - whatever is offered to Melo). I believe that is a near necessity to have any change of luring Bosh away from the Heat. I'm all for it. I think the Rox would be thrilled to land either of Melo or Bosh and will move mountains to make it happen. If they fail on both accounts then I believe it's onto Love/other options.
Depends on who we get to replace Parsons to me. It would have to be a pretty bad player for me to admit Parsons and Bosh is better than Love and ________ fill in the blank. What if we were able to add Deng after Acquiring Love?
The way I understand it, replacing Parsons could only be done through using our exceptions. Parsons is doable after a Bosh signing because we own his bird rights and can exceed the cap to resign him. We would not have that option with a FA. Thus, a player like Deng is not doable after a Bosh signing. So you could expect a Parsons replacement to be a marginal to decent player, but not much more than that.
We'd be getting someone who has put a dagger in the Blazers fans' hearts which is nice. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/276P19zHb94" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The best realistic Parsons replacement to me would be the likes of Pierce, Vince Carter and Shawn Marion possibly signing with the MLE. There is no certainty that you land them, though, as a number of teams will be after them. They are also older guys who, even though they were still good last season, are at a risk of suddenly declining. Given that even Thabo Sefolosha got $4M/year this summer. So there isn't much of a chance of landing a quality SF for less than basically all of the MLE. Anyone who is decent and not too old (Ariza, Deng, etc.) will get offered way more. Other factors to consider in terms of Love vs. Bosh: 1. The difference in cost between the two may be bigger than Parsons, and may include other players and assets (picks, Beverley, Jones...). 2. If HOU traded Parsons for Love, and then uses the MLE on a SF, that MLE isn't available to fill out the roster elsewhere.
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/writer...s-bosh-becomes-key-to-miami-keeping-big-three [rQUOTEr]Miami Heat president Pat Riley's effort to bring back the Big Three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in free agency has reached a fascinating tipping point. With none of the free agents committed to deals yet, league sources tell CBSSports.com that Bosh's future has emerged as the tipping point in Riley's master plan. Riley's attempts to lure free agents to join the Big Three have been stalled by uncertainty over where the financial terms of Bosh's and Wade's prospective new deals with Miami would land. With James seeking a max salary for next season -- and deservedly so -- how much room Riley can create for other free-agent additions hinges on Bosh and Wade. Given that Wade, in physical decline at age 32, opted out of $42 million over the next two seasons, rival teams believe he must have been assured that he would recoup that money by agreeing to a longer deal to return to the Heat. But as CBSSports.com reported Friday night, there will be a max market for Bosh -- especially if James and the Knicks' Carmelo Anthony finalize plans to return to their existing teams. Several teams chasing James and Anthony would have a max slot for Bosh if they struck out on their two top targets. At minimum, the Rockets, Mavs and Lakers fit that description. The Bulls, Suns and Cavs also possess -- or have been working on creating -- room for a max free agent starting north of $20 million. For that reason, Bosh is viewed around the league as the most likely member of the Big Three to break off and change teams. A rival team executive told CBSSports.com Friday that the growing belief around the league is that Bosh would prefer a four-year max deal with another team to a discounted, longer-term deal with Miami. So many pieces in the Heat's puzzle are connected, and one of them falling out of place threatens to tear the whole thing apart. As Riley pursues Luol Deng, Anthony Morrow and others in an attempt to deliver the roster upgrades that James is seeking, James' agent, Rich Paul, has spoken with the Rockets, Mavs, Suns, Cavs and Lakers. Teams have been told that if the Heat aren't successful in making roster additions soon, James would choose finalists and meet with them in person as early as next week. Bosh, meanwhile, remains on a family vacation while his agent, Henry Thomas, who also represents Wade, has worked in recent days to identify potential landing spots if the Heat scenarios collapse. It is a fascinating turn of events, to say the least. Four years later, Riley is learning that it will be more difficult to keep the Big Three together than it was to unite them in the first place.[/rQUOTEr]
It's a much better fit than Melo and he has a deadly mid range game. Do we still have the MLE if we were able to get Bosh?
If I'm Morey, I'm rescinding my verbal offer to Melo and chasing Bosh. That's a more realistic situation now. But this could be smoke screens, Idk. Glad I'm not the GM.
Thing is Love is 25 and Bosh is 30. That age difference, is the difference between contending for 7-8 years or only 3-4 years. I could see it, 3 years down the road we haven't won a ring with the big 3 yet, Bosh and Howard are degressing, Harden is fed up, everybody leaves. With Love though, Harden will have a superstar next to him for the rest of his career in Houston. Even when Howard starts to degress due to age, Harden and Love would be in the middle of their prime. We would have a 7-8 year championship window with that duo, thats insane! Morey would have 8 years to build around Harden and Love. Thats plenty of time forey to STACK this team with all the picks and MLE players.
If we can acquire Bosh, I hope we do it w/o giving him the max, so we can address the bench depth immediately. I know it's been beaten to death, but can we still keep Parsons if Bosh is given the max?
Other than Melo or Love -there is no one that can replace Bosh for Miami At least not at a 'WINNING' level IMO Rocket River