NBA Off-season

[aeu]

If it isn't Cleveland he will catch hell for this.

Excellent point!

I definitely agree with this and what Jaime said. This is ridiculous either way, but the only way it can work is if he stays in Cleveland and peppers the story with loyalty, go with your heart, Akron is home, etc..People can relate to / appreciate that.

This also goes well with what Yahoo reported earlier tonight: Apparently Cleveland officials were confident that LeBron decided to stay.

[Rhom]

Honestly I think it could be 42 minutes of him throwing chalk up in the air in slow motion and the ads would still sell like gangbusters.

What else could it be???

ETA: Poor Blake Griffen. First he tears up his knee and misses his rookie year... now the Clippers have subjected him to multiple years with Vinny Del Negro as his coach.

[aeu]

ESPN and Yahoo are both reporting that Wade and Bosh decided to go to Miami and will announce it formally later today.

I have to say, based on all the chatter the last couple of days, this was somewhat surprising. I also wonder if this makes LeBron think it over (assuming he had made his decision already.)

[Trebla]

wow...I'm actually pretty stunned that Bosh will join Wade in Miami. At least for this year it will be pretty much those two and a bunch of scrubs. Orlando and Boston still loom as the Beasts of the East.

I agree the Prime Time special points to LeBron staying in Cleveland. So for the Bulls? Boozer and another player? That ESPN report mentioned Ray Allen or Mike Miller. You could see a team like that winning close to 50 games and getting into the 2nd round.

Bigger questions are how much better is Miami now and what can Cleveland do to get LeBron past the Celtics and the Magic?

[Arakasi]

Broussard was reporting on this on ESPN this morning. You'd have to say this seriously hurts Cleveland's chance. If he couldn't win with them the last 2 years, why would he be able to win with them now if there is no second player to bring in to help LBJ, now that they're all off the market.

This to me helps Miami and Chicago's chances. It even helps the Knicks chances, because right now their supporting cast is weak (despite a couple quality players) but next year they can add another 10-12 million player when they lose the big contract of Curry. The article linked above is a little silly, but there is a point to it that looking to the future Knick's have a lot of flexibility. Plus it probably makes James the most personal fame and money.

[Slurktan]

ESPN and Yahoo are both reporting that Wade and Bosh decided to go to Miami and will announce it formally later today.

I have to say, based on all the chatter the last couple of days, this was somewhat surprising. I also wonder if this makes LeBron think it over (assuming he had made his decision already.)

I find it amusing that apparently Bosh didn't like it that the Raptors were dictating how his free agency went. Well that's what happens when you are a greedy douche Chris. In a way I kind of hope they don't bother with the sign and trade just to fuck him out of 30 million. But I wouldn't mind a 24 million trade exception either. EDIT: 16 million trade exception I mean

Either way, unless Miami can manage to snag LeBron (unlikely with the TV show tomorrow) they are pretty much guaranteed the 4 or 5 spot in the east until Boston crumbles. They can't beat Boston or Orlando, Atlanta's deeper (if worse up front) so will have a better record, and King James will have a better record than them. Prepare to be underwhelmed by the power of Chris Bosh!

[Jaime L]

Very interesting. I'm surprised Wade's pull won out over Lebron's as far as getting Bosh though part of me suspects all along he just wanted to go to a big (American) city with night life and it doesn't hurt at all that Miami has South Beach and is warm in the winter. Honestly I'm not convinced this shifts power in the East all that much. Bosh makes Miami better, certainly, but how much? Just doesn't feel like a title contender to me and I wonder how the skillset of those two guys compliments one another.

The big surprise will be if Chicago gets shut out from all the big name free agents. That was to me the most intriguing destination for all these guys. If they only end up with Boozer that's just a nightmare.

This to me helps Miami and Chicago's chances. It even helps the Knicks chances, because right now their supporting cast is weak (despite a couple quality players) but next year they can add another 10-12 million player when they lose the big contract of Curry. The article linked above is a little silly, but there is a point to it that looking to the future Knick's have a lot of flexibility. Plus it probably makes James the most personal fame and money.

Yeah, with Bosh signing in Miami it means that if James goes back to Cleveland nothing is changing there. And yet I still feel like he's going to because of this press conference.

[Maithanet]

Either way, unless Miami can manage to snag LeBron (unlikely with the TV show tomorrow) they are pretty much guaranteed the 4 or 5 spot in the east until Boston crumbles. They can't beat Boston or Orlando, Atlanta's deeper (if worse up front) so will have a better record, and King James will have a better record than them. Prepare to be underwhelmed by the power of Chris Bosh!

They might be a little better than that, but overall I agree, they don't look better than Cleveland or Orlando at the least (I think Boston is finished).

I admit I'm late to the what-happened-to-Toronto party, but seriously, what happened to them? Bosh is supposed to be a Top 10 player. Turkgolu is pretty dangerous, and capable of handling the ball. Bargnani is apparently a promising young guy. Why was this team so terrible again? Do they just lack decent guards? Because I admit I'm skeptical that a team with some talent around him could be as bad as their record was this year if Bosh is really good enough to make a big impact in Miami. Shaq (in his prime) he is not.

[Arakasi]

Turko has a very specific skill set, which worked in Orlando but not in Toronto. Bosh and Bargnani can't play together (or play defense for that matter). Their guards have decent skills on offense, but also can't guard. So yeah just an all around weak team, which now is stuck with a horrible long term contract in Turk.

[Slurktan]

I admit I'm late to the what-happened-to-Toronto party, but seriously, what happened to them? Bosh is supposed to be a Top 10 player. Turkgolu is pretty dangerous, and capable of handling the ball. Bargnani is apparently a promising young guy. Why was this team so terrible again? Do they just lack decent guards? Because I admit I'm skeptical that a team with some talent around him could be as bad as their record was this year if Bosh is really good enough to make a big impact in Miami. Shaq (in his prime) he is not.

Their defense was awful, that's the biggest reason. Turk hated it because the ball sticks to Bosh in the offense so he didn't get to run the show.

And then there's the subtle thing which all the players(even Turk!),the Coach and Management, all except Bosh have talked about in the press where one person got hurt right after the all star break and then gave up on the team. No one ever has come out and said a name but it doesn't take a detective to figure out it was Bosh.

Bosh is a top 10 player offensively, defensively he's as shitty as any other Raptor that isn't Calderon. Bosh likes to hold the ball for 8-10 seconds at the elbow before doing anything. Bosh is very good for the most part when doing that and is really efficient but it really killed everybody else's scoring besides Bargnani. I'm very curious to see how his style of play works with Wade because from a preliminary glance as one who has watched every game of Bosh's career, it won't work well for him. Bosh really does not play well when the ball is not in his hands; or at least he didn't on TO. He played well in the Olympics in that situation.

I'd also be concerned about his knees. Granted he was pulling a Vince this year but it's happened before, his knees get banged up and then he turns into a pure jump shooter.

Arakasi,

Bosh and Bargnani worked perfect on offense actually, Bargnani either sucks the big man out to the 3 pt land so Bosh has free reign to work inside; or Bosh gets the big man who he can abuse on the wing. Just defensively they were such a sieve.

Despite the fact that everyone else on the team had sub par offensive years the Raps still had a top 5 offense in the league and that was entirely due to Bosh-Bargnani.

[Rhom]

Wasn't this the same Miami franchise that on draft day had the potential to drop down and have only 3 players under contract on the roster going into free agency? I don't see how you strip a team that bare and expect to leapfrog Cleveland and Orlando.

Despite their failures against an inexplicably resurgent Boston team in the playoffs, I still think the Cavs were the best team in the Eastern Conference (as born out over the course of an 82 game season by their record). Chicago might be a better chance to win immediately with their personnel, but I don't think its drastically better from top to bottom than Cleveland.

I'd also be concerned about his knees. Granted he was pulling a Vince this year but it's happened before, his knees get banged up and then he turns into a pure jump shooter.

Speaking of Vince... Is there another team (since Toronto and Vancouver entered the league) that has been more of a farm system for other teams than Toronto? They had Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, Chris Bosh, and a host of other talented players up there. They've actually drafted fairly well, but no one wants to play there. To the point that Stevie Franchise forced a draft day trade to Houston rather than play for the Raptors.

[Slurktan]

Speaking of Vince... Is there another team (since Toronto and Vancouver entered the league) that has been more of a farm system for other teams than Toronto? They had Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, Chris Bosh, and a host of other talented players up there. They've actually drafted fairly well, but no one wants to play there. To the point that Stevie Franchise forced a draft day trade to Houston rather than play for the Raptors.

Hehe well Bosh did choose to stay in TO for an extra extension as did Vince, even though both quit on the team later. TMac only left because he didn't want to be second banana to Vince. Stevie franchise refused to play for Vancouver, not Toronto.

[Arakasi]

True on that Slurk. Bosh and Barn's problem was never offense. They are very skilled there, and they have other good offensive players on the roster. I was more talking about the defensive issues which killed them. I think Toronto would do well in having a banging big man with more inside moves to compliment Barn. I don't know if Amir is that player, well he sort of is with the rebounding, defense and inside game. But the problem is he isn't strong enough and fouls at much too high a rate. Someone like a healthy Tyson Chandler would be fairly ideal though for the team imo.

[Rhom]

Stevie franchise refused to play for Vancouver, not Toronto.

My mistake. One North Mexican town is the same as another I guess. :rofl:

[Slurktan]

True on that Slurk. Bosh and Barn's problem was never offense. They are very skilled there, and they have other good offensive players on the roster. I was more talking about the defensive issues which killed them. I think Toronto would do well in having a banging big man with more inside moves to compliment Barn. I don't know if Amir is that player, well he sort of is with the rebounding, defense and inside game. But the problem is he isn't strong enough and fouls at much too high a rate. Someone like a healthy Tyson Chandler would be fairly ideal though for the team imo.

I agree wholeheartedly. It's why I didn't mind the high price for Amir and loved the Ed Davis pick. They are want you want playing between Bargnani and Turk. Turk has even come out and retracted his trade demand and apparently is looking forward to playing so who knows, maybe he can salvage something of his shitty contract. (That's the Bonus for Bosh leaving, this change of heart by Turk has come in the last two weeks when it has become obvious that Bosh is leaving.)

[Slurktan]

How funny would it be if Wade was pulling an Elton Brand here? It's not going to happen but it would be hilarious if he recruited Bosh to come play and then went and signed with Chicago.

[aeu]

Wasn't this the same Miami franchise that on draft day had the potential to drop down and have only 3 players under contract on the roster going into free agency?

I believe they currently have two players on their roster: Mario Chalmers and Michael Beasley.

eta:Thismade me laugh

Put aside for a moment the sheer lunacy of James, an Akron native, using a one-hour infomercial on ESPN to announce to the world that he's turning his back on Northeast Ohio -- and stabbing its collective fan base between the shoulder blades while he's at it. (The fact that proceeds, per a request by James' camp, will go to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America hardly would soften the blow.) Although one high-profile agent said of James, "With an egomaniac like that, you never know," I just can't wrap my mind around it. I can't see James going to such provocative lengths to transform himself so instantly and publicly into a villain.

[Greywolf2375]

In non-Lebron news....the C's are looking into getting Shag to fill up the middle. he's expressed interest and is amenable to the mid level exception. I'd be...entertained...to see him in a C's jersey, but not sure I'd be excited. Little worried we'd get another Rasheed - 'I'll play when it's important, even though it means I'll be out of shape when it's important.'

Who knows...maybe signing up for the Green and having a shot to take a ring away from Kobe would be a Fountain of Youth for the Big Blowhard.

[Jaime L]

eta:Thismade me laugh

Yeah think it would be the ultimate hero to most hated villain story in professional sports. Even bigger than Favre going to the Vikings becaues a ) Lebron grew up in Ohio b ) is entering his prime and c ) a lot of people feel like Lebron's presence alone makes a tangible impact on the city's economy and self-image. And I kinda think they're right. He leaves and Cleveland goes back to being seen (both internally and externally) as the ultimate sports loser city. They already have all those justifiable hang ups over The Drive, The Fumble, the Browns leaving, the Indians not having won in 60 years, Jordan ripping their hearts out all those years. And for their homegrown Jordan to leave to either Chicago or New York...that would be too much to bear. There's so much riding on Lebron's decision for the city, and then to raise the stakes one more level with this primetime event.

If he signs elsewhere.....sweet Jesus.

[Rhom]

Its interesting to me that all of the FA movement seems to be in the Eastern Conference. No one in the west looks to be making any moves. Somewhat surprising when you realize that Utah as so close to knocking off the Lakers even though they were undermanned.