There is no way we are taking on Turkoglu's contract, as has been said before. If Bosh is going to come here, it will be his choice- Toronto will have no leverage to be dumping contracts on anybody. As long as we give them enough to keep them from letting him walk, he'll be here if this is where he chooses to be.
Yeah we're not taking back Turkoglu ... Hill, Taylor, Jeffries & Battier"expirings" + NY picks should get the trade talks started (assuming bosh want to come here) without having to include Turkoglu "albatross contract"... --RB
That $30 million is leverage on Bosh, not necessarily us. That is just bait to convince Bosh to go the S&T route rather than signing outright with someone. If Bosh says he only wants to come here (or anywhere else in a S&T for that matter), the Raptors have two options: 1- Say no, let him walk for nothing and force him to sign with a team with cap room 2- Get young pieces and draft picks for him via trade. The downside to this is that they have to take on salary for next season (Battier, Jeffries in our case) that they wouldn't have if they had they let him walk. Morey and any other GM is probably going to give them a big "hell no" the second they bring up Turkoglu. It's possible that they would balk and threaten to let him walk, but I think the chances of them going through with that are very slim- our draft picks, Hill, and Budinger will be more attractive than nothing. It would be silly for them to turn that down considering the alternative.
I dunno, if we the only thing keeping us from getting Bosh is taking on Turkoglu's bad contract, I think you have to do it. The worst case scenario if that happens is that Yao for some reason is a shell of his former self (and if that's the case, he's on his last year). If the worst case happens, you have to think that we're a guaranteed 50 win team with a line-up of Bosh, Martin, and Brooks as your primary threats. If Turk is a shell of his former self, then he can play backup SF.
I can actually see that happening...getting him on the low-low. It really all depends on Bosh (yes, said for the 100th time). If he gives them the option of take something or I'm gone and you get nothing...then I'm sure they will take something. One thing working in Morey's favor is he usually does give up fair things in trades. His trades do always seem to help the other team out, even if we get the better end of the deal.
Actually no. Bosh has to first sign with Toronto in order to get the most money he can make (and the extra year). So Toronto does have some leverage. I mean, we can play the "Toronto has no leverage because Bosh can just sign with anyone" card. But Bosh would be leaving money on the table. And the other factor in this. Say Bosh gives the trade me or I walk ultimatum and the GM tries to call his bluff. Obviously he can't go to the Rockets because we don't have the cap room, so he has to choose somewhere else. Say he chooses Miami, and Miami offered Beasley, picks and a trade exception (rather than having to pay Battier and Jeffries). If Toronto likes Beasley more than Hill, then they would probably take that offer. I guess what I'm saying is, they could still call Bosh's bluff, and then in turn trade him to another team like Miami because Bosh wouldn't want to leave money on the table.
I like Scola too, but I would kick him in the nuts if it meant we got Bosh. Actually, I take that back Scola! I didn't mean it! But in all seriousness, Scola would be a free agent as well, we'd probably just let him walk I would imagine.
I disagree, because any team with caproom would gladly welcome Bosh this summer, except for maybe Phoenix (if Amare stays). So when Bosh bluffs and says I'm walking, it can be a legit threat to multiple solid teams. In the past there haven't been this many options with cap room to just outright sign a guy. NY, Chi, Mia, Okc off the top of my head....and those are all good options. Yes, he would be leaving $$ on the table but he would still get paid. If he just walks Toronto doesn't get jack spot.
I think that Miami scenario would be more likely than us taking on Hedo (I don't know how feasible that trade scenario is assuming they re-sign Wade though). If we have to take on Hedo, we are going to revoke a significant part of our offer...I would bet it would be cut in half (meaning they might only get 1 pick as opposed to 2, or only one of Hill/Budinger). I just don't see that happening from a financial perspective, though. And historically that is not the way sign-and-trades have gone down. Maybe Les would view this as a "championship" move and go for it, who knows. But with Yao's status still uncertain, I don't see us handcuffing ourselves for that long with Bosh at the max AND Hedo's contract on top of what we already have.
With Dirk's attitude about being traded, and Cuban's penchant for trying to undermine anything Morey tries to do (probably because he respects him so much and watches his every move), I could see Dallas making a strong push to outbid us for Bosh, if they can trade Dirk. However, it's doubtful Dirk would go to the Raptors, so a 3-way trade may be what it takes.
Like I said before, if we land Bosh, thats nice for jersey sales and stuff but after thinking about it, what has Bosh done they he even deserves a max contract and be considered a elite player. What has he done besides being in a couple all star games? He's 26. We got T Slack at 25. At that age he was already won most improved player, a couple start apperances and a 2 time scoring champion. But the one thing he does have in common with Mac is their teams never gotten out of the first round of the playoffs and when he did make it to the playoffs it was usually a very short stint. And was frighting is what happened to his team this year. They were in the thick of the playoffs race all the way into the final game when they let the Bulls slip by them. Just like Mac, Bosh's stats looks good but he's missing the heart to will his team to elite status. So for the people that want Bosh, just think back to 04-05 when landed Mcgrady. Having a team with superstar players don't always win. Just ask Dallas.
You could be right, and I'm sure plenty would agree that he isn't worth the max. He does bring an elite skillset, however, and that is why he will get paid the max. From the Rockets perspective, I think they have a lot of confidence in their system and Adelman's coaching so that it won't all fall on Bosh's shoulders like it did with Tracy. We have a lot more talent on this team now than we did in 2004. Bosh won't be brought here to become the face of the franchise ... he'll be a huge piece of the puzzle, but as a whole we won't be living and dying with Bosh. At least not while Yao is in the picture.
His team was better than anything Miami had. Yet Dwayne Wade got Miami the 5th seed. He could have at least made the playoffs.
What had Gasol done in Memphis before LA landed him for pennies on the dollar? No one is asking Bosh to pull a Hakeem and carry a bunch of role players to the postseason. We would be adding him to a team that won 42 games and hopefully is getting their star player back from injury....i.e. two major upgrades. Yao/Bosh/Ariza/Martin/Brooks is a contending team, assuming everyone is healthy. T-Mac (not Tracy) on this team would make us a contender, but our issue was we had him and Yao and nothing else.
Awesome, thanks for posting. We all know what happens when Morey has even the slightest bit of an edge over another gm.
