Stephen. A. Smith.: BOSH THROWS MONKEY WRENCH IN STAR TRIO, WORKING ON S&T WITH HOU

Duncan didnt really dominate that series much...his defense has slipped quite a bit. In the Dallas series, he had under 10 boards a game and blocked 1 shot a game. Shot terrible free throws and turned the ball over almost 3 times a game.

Bosh might not be the defender that Duncan is...but he is a much better offensive player.

 

I'm down with this. I hate the prospect of giving up Luis. There's gotta be a way around it.

The picks, Jared's expriring, and unfortunately, Chase and Jordan would probably have to go.

If we give up AB or Scola, it will be tough for me to get over.

I still have trouble forgiving CD for getting rid of Cat with the Tmac trade. We could have kept him around.

This is great news for the moment though.

 

posters should to stop talking like this...there's no reason for them to rush, especially on a holiday weekend...wouldnt surprise me if they just went on vacation and told their agents to hold off until monday...too much time left to rush it and do it on saturday. Even wade said he'd need the weekend to soak things up, at least.

 

i was just watching sportscenter...and when they talked about bosh...they did mention the rockets in the running to get bosh still

 

But if we get Bosh......

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Wait, what exactly are we talking about here? The possibility of Bosh coming to Houston or the possibility of Bosh and Wade coming to Houston?

 

Actually, it's about the possibility of Guns N Roses having a concert before the Rockets 2010-2011 home opener

 

I think it's hard to take anything out of the Stephen A claim, but there are some good claims worth considering here:

1. Bosh wants the full max, and preferably the full full max as in SnT 6-year deal. This may or may not have been enough of a priority for him to turn down the Miami deal as a result of having to sacrifice this component.

2. Chicago is trying hard to get Wade to sign straight up and Bosh to sign via SnT but Toronto is proving unwilling in this regard.

3. Bosh would prefer to be with Wade or Lebron as his top choice for future destinations. The Rockets are either a backup plan or a pawn being used for leverage and nothing else.

4. Everything's being held up by Lebron who can't make up his mind yet. But Wade is getting impatient and cannot rely on Miami being able to add other talent if it currently only has two players on rookie contracts on its roster, which is why the whole Chicago thing has come up so suddenly for him.

Up until now everything makes sense, is corroborated by stuff going on in the real world. Everything else in SAS' blog about Bosh trying to make SnT to Houston work, or about NY being a realistic backup for Wade (+ Stoudemire + Johnson) seems like pure conjecture at this point.

I could just as easily make up some logical conclusions like this:

5. At dinner Bosh and Wade talked about what Morey had told him, that three superstars and 9 minimums on a team would not lead to a title, and agreed that Miami was less likely and less prepared for a run than Chicago was. They both agreed to try to give it a shot to take turn their three-man summit into a two-man package to the best team that could support it. And Lebron didn't help either by being such a whiny little beeotch at their last summit meeting that did or did not happen. He can take his sob story for leaving the Cavaliers somewhere, anywhere else.

6. Chicago was deemed the team most prepared to win a title with the insertion of Bosh and Wade, and Henry Thomas was the guy driving this line of thinking from the beginning since he works in Chicago and is a closet Bulls fan though he can't tell his clients that. Bulls management jumped at the chance which they had just one day prior thought passed them by, and all sides were near an agreement until...

7. Toronto spit in their face and told them on no uncertain terms to screw themselves if Deng was their best offer for the SnT. Chicago reacted by hitting the phones hard, looking anywhere for someone that could take Deng off their hands the way Hinrich was moved. Hence that Portland rumor of Deng for Przybilla and Bayless. Chicago went to tell Toronto about the deal and got another flat out rejection since Przybilla and Bayless are even scrubbier than Deng (who isn't actually that scrubby but does make 12M per which would definitely harm a team trying to rebuild like the Raptors).

8. Chicago was left with no better options at the end of the night, and Bosh and Wade departed from the meeting with Henry Thomas and Bulls management without a commitment but a preliminary idea to start up negotiations again the next day with the Raptors and other teams to find a way to push through a SnT for Bosh.

9. Secretly after the meeting, the Bulls management decide to try to talk to Wade alone and let him know that Rose Wade Deng Gibson and Noah are still a stacked Eastern Conf team, and that by adding a non-max but still star-quality PF like Boozer or David Lee they could be just as much title contenders as any other. Hence the Lee rumors that have sprung up.

And that's where we are now. You have the entire story more or less, and you didn't need a faker like Stephen A Smith to fill in the gaps for you either. The Rockets are still #3 on Bosh's list behind Chicago and whichever team Lebron decides to go to. We have to hope that Chicago can't find any way to get Toronto to agree to the SnT, since everyone knows our offer is much better and that Toronto will be pushing Bosh to take the Houston deal. We also have to hope that Lebron doesn't sign somewhere that could put together a pretty good package to offer to Toronto in a SnT for Bosh. My current fear is New Jersey who could serve up Favors + expirings.

Did our chances improve over the past 24hrs? I think so. But it's still not great.

 

i wont believe it until i see bosh playing for rockets

 

oh no! we can't let Scola go.

 

eah baby!! Rock on!!! :grin:

 

Good post. Repped

 

Any news is good news....I jizzed right in my pantssss!!!

 

You help me sleep better tonight but I take it with a grain of salt from Stephen A Smith. Could be totally correct or just blowing smoke. I think he might be right this time.

 

Holy...jeez Carl...we go from G n R, take what you want, when you want it when you feel like it, to whining about the one that we couldn't get....is that what Morey would do?

 

Great Post!

 

Oh exploitable.

 

Here's some interesting tidbits from Feigen on the latest intel:

http://blogs.chron.com/nba/2010/07/bosh_mixes_meetings_and_tweeti.html

Bosh mixes meetings and tweeting. Rockets wait and wait.


In the chase for Chris Bosh, Daryl Morey always knew he would be at the back of the line.

The teams with cap room, among other things, would line up first. He had to hope to get a turn at bat before Bosh made a choice.

When Morey was able to get in Bosh's living room, it seemed that the prospects of Morey landing his top target had dramatically improved. But Bosh's agent set up the process as if the early morning contact — whether in Dallas or over the phone while Bosh was still there — was just preliminaries, with the real meetings the sit downs in Chicago that Bosh has taken since with the Heat, Nets, Knicks and Bulls.

The Rockets had to wait in the wings, but maintained hopes that they would get a chance to sell attributes that would win Bosh over.

They got his attention in Dallas, but still need that audience in Chicago.

That seemed increasingly unlikely when Bosh had his meeting with the Bulls at the United Center on Friday, and his buddy Dwyane Wade met with them a second time in the office of Henry Thomas, the Chicago-based agent they share.

If you think it is tough being on the outside looking in at the long shot Rockets pursuit of Bosh, imagine how Miami feels.

The Heat could put Wade, Bosh and LeBron James all together, and has seemed to be working to that end. But with Wade seeming increasingly serious about the Bulls, the Heat could be coming up empty, with even Amar'e Stoudemire already spoken for, too.

There is a long way to go before Wade jumps ship and returns to sweet home Chicago. He told the Florida Sun Sentinel that a decision was not imminent. But Wade would not have taken this so far if he were not at least considering the Bulls. And the Bulls no doubt want to nail down as much as possible heading into the Saturday pitch to James.

That brings it back around to Bosh and the Rockets' hopes.

If Wade is to make the jump to Chicago, someone could be eager to jump with him. Bosh could do a whole lot worse than joining a team with Wade, Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah (though he might not get his hands on a ball a whole lot with a Rose-Wade backcourt.) James could find the same deal appealing. And they all could try join forces in Chicago, a few pay cuts and sign-and-trades willing.

This can work for the Rockets, however, if Wade and James go to Chicago and there is no sign-and-trade that will work for the Raptors to send Bosh there, too. For that matter, Bosh would want a sign-and-trade to join Wade in Chicago whether James signs on with them or not.

If the Bulls cannot make a sign-and-trade deal with the Raptors (and I've been given mixed messages on that), the Rockets could get lucky with Wade in Chicago and James staying in Cleveland, or with both together with the Bulls. The Bulls' difficulty in getting a sign-and-trade for Bosh might explain their talks with David Lee. They can afford Wade or James with Lee.

For the Rockets, this is all like trying to fill an inside straight on the last card. The Rockets, however, are not the team that went all-in. That would be the Heat, who have to hope that when Wade comes home, it is to South Beach.

• • •

In some ways, Bosh seems to be in a no-lose situation. Play with James or play with Wade. Not bad.

But when you look at the gutted Heat, it still does not seem the best bet for a free agent to make that move, even with Wade there.

In this search for information, the Heat cannot provide much. They can be very impressive. Pat Riley does that better than just about anybody. They can win a player's confidence. They can show off their recent championship ring, the latest in Riley's collection. They have no state income tax.

But who is the center? Bosh wants to play power forward and no longer have to match up with, let's say, Dwight Howard in a long playoff series. OK, who is the center? Who is the backup center? Who is the small forward? The backup point guard?

The Heat might be able to draw enough veterans willing to play with Bosh and Wade with minimum contracts to be a good team. A championship team? Seems to sell everyone else short.

Then again, the Heat won a championship with Wade, Shaquille O'Neal, a few veterans and 'everyone else' types. They could understandably want to follow that formula again. But if you can pick through offers, why take the one from a team with almost no team?

• • •

There were reports that the Rockets joined the Amar'e Stoudemire chase. They didn't.

He was among the players that received informational "books," but according to Stoudemire's agent Happy Walters, the Rockets never made a push and never set up a meeting because they never had a sign-and-trade deal with the Suns, as had been reported.

The Rockets were always ambivalent about Stoudemire as a max contract guy. Their trade deadline talks with the Suns were late and limited (they were looking for a bargain) and ended when Steve Kerr told them Stoudemire would not agree to a physical or contract extension.

The Rockets, who like many teams had questions about his defense, rebounding and his future with a microfracture-repaired knee, believed that the offer they would give a free agent Stoudemire would not keep him, something that seems true now that he has his offer from the Knicks. They did not want him as a rental.

He is, however, an offensive force and might have been a good fallback option had he been still standing when the music stops. No chance of that now, if there ever was.

Now, if they can just keep anyone from joining him in New York, those picks would be looking much better.

• • •

The way things are going we might never get a chance to find out, but the Rockets' sign-and-trade deal would not send three veterans to the Raptors. They have the framework of a deal in place that would include two veterans, likely out of Luis Scola, Trevor Ariza and Shane Battier.

There was a report that the deal would include all three, but Ariza and Battier are due $13.7 million next season. Unless another player in addition to Bosh headed to Houston (and I'm told that is not the case) there would not be enough money in the deal for Scola to take a sign-and-trade offer. He can do better than that.

He could, however, get a rich offer from the Raptors and head that way with one Rockets veteran. It would not be two others.

• • •

All of which seems to offer a good time to pick up a suggestion in the blog yesterday.

Make your picks. And make them quick before more players make their decisions.

Where will Amar'e Stoudemire, Joe Johnson, Carlos Boozer, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James go? There is at least one gimmes in there, sort of like the points you get for signing your name correctly on the SAT. I left out Dirk Nowitzki because many could answer before he announces his deal with Dallas, but I wanted to give everyone else more time to make their picks.

So where will the magnificent six go? (Extra credit if you have Stoudemire not in New York and somehow get it right. Another bonus point if you can name who will commit first, not including Johnson or Stoudemire.)

As for me, I'll go with Stoudemire in New York, Johnson in Atlanta, Wade in Miami, Boozer in Miami, James in Cleveland, and for Chris Bosh — Chicago. And that can change before the sun rises.

 

Regardless of who reported it or whether there's a link, no one should believe Bosh is coming here at this point. There are just too many teams offering too much to him to believe anything until he announces his decision.