If you think this is all some massive conspiracy for free publicity, more power to you, but I think that's a little silly. I tend to take guys like Woj at face value unless there's a very compelling reason not to. It's not like these are vague reports, either -- they specifically state that Bosh was concerned by his talk with LeBron this weekend and responded by initiating dialogue with Morey this morning. That would be quite the conspiracy.
The only standout we'd have would be Howard. The pecking order should be something like: Durant>Howard>Westbrook>Harden>Ibaka>Bosh, although Ibaka has only recently overtaken Bosh.
Preach brother!!! This is dead spot on. What if Riley is offering Bosh a max deal now? The question is how many years at max is that contract for. This is Bosh's last chance to be a max level guy. Even if LeBron does come back, Bosh may not get offered a four year max deal by the Heat. LeBron is going to sign a one year two year deal at the most IF he decides to go back to South Beach. That two year contract that LeBron would sign with Miami would be accompanied with a player option to bolt back to Cleveland if he wanted to. If it does play out that way then why would Riley sign Bosh to a max 4-5 year deal if LeBron is possibly only there for a year or two? You honestly think Riley wants to pay Bosh max money at age 35 with no LeBron? Again this all hinges on what LeBron is going to do. Bosh would be stupid to not seriously consider Houston's offer. Bosh has won his rings already. Bosh knows he will not go down as one of the greatest players ever. Chris is looking at his future after basketball and this will be his last big deal to take him into retirement. Riley's just played his last ace. If this move by Riley leaking info that McRoberts and Granger are locked up doesn't scream desperation I don't know what does. Riley believed that he would be able to come away with a big name this offseason and he came up short. Riley played the championship over money card to free agents and in the end money prevailed. The ball is in Riley's and LeBron's court. Morey's offer to Bosh definitely put major pressure on Riley. Riley responded, now he waits on LeBron's response. Based on what happens with LeBron will determine what Bosh does. But I can tell you one thing, that $88 million dollar guaranteed contract has the wheels in Bosh's head spinning. And if we have not learned one thing this offseason especially we have learned that money talks and everything else walks. Not saying that Bosh will sign here, but it is not a far gone conclusion yet that he will not either.
I'm with the whole premise on all of this. In fact I agree with it. However we have not learned anything about money this summer...Melo could,still choose bulls (smallest offer available) and the big 3, wade in particular, opted out of 20 million dollar deals. The opposite has held true so far.
What's going on here? WHY THE HELL DOES NO ONE WANT TO JOIN A TEAM WITH JAMES HARDEN AND DWIGHT ****ING HOWARD ON IT? IT MAKES NO SENSE!
U weren't dissapointed last summer with d12. Give it time , good chance we land somebody this summer or the deadline. Just hope mavs don't get parsons.
With the signing of Granger and McRoberts for the MLE and LLE, the Heat are going to resign the Big Three and Bosh is going to get a contract similar to what the Rockets have offered.
The Woj article you posted didn't say that about Bosh. I didn't bother with the ESPN articles. Why ignore this from the Woj article? : [rquoter]Some executives believe there's an opportunity because of a disconnect between James and his teammates, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Another executive attending the meeting flatly said, "I think it's a smokescreen."[/rquoter] Perhaps LBJ just wanted the Heat to use their MLE. Did they use it last year? Him opting out forces them to use it to add talent. People may say that McRoberts, Granger, etc. aren't significant upgrades, but the Woj article also states that LBJ, Wade, and Bosh all want the max. This obviously limits the options to upgrade the team. To me all this adds up to those 3 guys wanting to stay together, wanting to get paid, and wanting ownership not to be cheap by not using everything at their disposal to upgrade the team, even though the options are limited.
Morey played his hand too early, offering MAX made team feel desperate. 1. bosh is going to take less than that to be in MIA anyway if Lebron stays. 2. no other team was going to pay MAX for him that we're a contender if he left. 3. He's Not even going to sign until Lebron makes his choice. 4. Sell him on being able to add more players & make us a better team than MIA if Lebron left would've been best option 5. Would look like he's only coming for the money, not the type of player we need. Howard took less and believes this was best place
No way that McRoberts and Granger represent the kind of upgrade that LBJ is asking for. I think the whole jettisoning Bosh to sign Anthony is the sort of thing that LBJ would buy. So I believe that is what is going on. Bosh/Birdman McRoberts Lebron/Granger Wade Cole/Chalmers Is not much of an upgrade.
"If you're not first, you're last." If Miami disbands, Morey wants to confidently be number one on the list for Bosh. If Bosh is waiting out LBJ, he's going to be ready to move fast if LBJ goes another direction. We're positioned well if that happens. Do you really want to be among the feeding frenzy if Bosh becomes available? Maybe Morey heard something from Rich Paul when they had their conversation that made him feel like he needed to be aggressive.
It made sense for Wade to opt out to get more guaranteed money over more years I will add. LeBron will get the max wherever he goes so that is a non topic. It was necessary for the Big 3 to opt out to see what was out there to improve their team. And Melo from people that know him very well is all about the money. I can't see Melo taking a contract for $15 million with the Bulls, I could see him inking a similar deal with the Heat however. Basically whatever amount his contract lacked with the Heat, Melo would circumvent that with more sponsorship deals with LeBron. The Big 3 or Melo have yet to sign a deal yet so I guess we will see if my theory of money still being #1 with these most of these guys is true.
No it didn't. Everyone knows and knew that the Rockets intend to make a serious upgrade. Hell, the offer to Bosh appears to have sparked the Heat to speed up the process. If anything he is getting MORE than the Heat intended to give him, he has an 80 million dollar offer on the table. A number of teams would have made him a similar offer, including the Mavericks. Is irrelevant. Huh? Lebron is apparently insisting on the max, he is not the type of player we want? What about Jordan in Chicago and his last contract?
I disagree...he played his hand exactly when he should have. You can't just let bosh sit out there and let Riley set his value. Morey set bosh's value at the max. Let Riley low ball him now and not worry about him jetting to houston. We would be doing the heat a favor by not offering when we did. The hea is on Riley and bosh has to be itching. I bet bosh even had his own doubts to what he was worth based on all this pay cut nonsense Lebron and Riley were trying to bestow on him...he was probably wondering, "am I really worth the same as DWade right now?" Anyways...all hypothetical I know, but he played his hand when he needed to IMO.
