Around the League: July 2014

[iLLmatic]

https://twitter.com/SamAmicoFSO/status/485975410099093504

[ShelC]

Well if LeBron leaves, at least the Heat drafted Shabazz Napier to soften the blow.

Also..let's say Bosh goes to Houston, LeBron goes to Cleveland...could we see Wade go to Chicago? Riley would really be left with nothing down there. A ton of cap space, but who could he sign?

[iLLmatic]

Pau Gasol...

[carey]

Ha. If all that happens then I see Riley retiring on the spot, like "fuck this." lol.

[SDC]

Pau Gasol...

what's wrong with gasol?

[SDC]

have you seen these vids? elfrid payton and marcus smart starting.

[youtube]trJg7FxOeHI[/youtube]

[SDC]

more vids

[youtube]TbVHDt5b0fc[/youtube]

[SDC]

the risk with going to cleveland is that

a) ill tempered david blatt and lebron might not work
b) the team may not be good enough to make it to the finals in the east. too young, no vets.

[iLLmatic]

Pau Gasol...

what's wrong with gasol?

He's a shitty consolation prize for Lebron?

[TOO]

More like a consolation turd, he's nobodies prize now.

[Gladiator]

Pau Gasol...

what's wrong with gasol?

From what I've seen, he's noticably slowing down, can't defend well and only plays hard when he gets the ball what he deems enough and in the right spots.
He is still a brilliant passer and talented offensive player, however.

[SDC]

Pau Gasol...

what's wrong with gasol?

He's a shitty consolation prize for Lebron?

funny. if we keep the team intact and signed pau for 12 mil (1yr deal), we have good shot against san antonio next season

[Ring_Wanted]

I think they're blowing it. They're going after names instead of reloading with young talent that can play off of the stars. They need some swings to take the onus off of Wade and LeBron, but more than anything, they need bigs. Let's say they have 12mil to spend. Why go after Deng for 10 or Marvin Williams for 7-8? Get a bunch of young, athletic guys on the cheap. For 12 mil, they can get James Johnson who can play 3 positions, Ed Davis for the 4/5, Al Farouq Aminu for 3/4. You can get all 3 for 4 mil each, if not less. They may not be huge names or proven veterans, but they've all played in the league, proven themselves at the NBA level and do things the Heat need.

Hell, for that 12 mil, they could've had Hawes and Patrick Patterson at 6 each, both of whom would've helped a ton.

Would the friends want to take a paycut for that kind of players? I wouldn't be surprised if they see it as having to groom them for contention, which would be far from desirable given their age and pressure to win every title.

I think Riley has also had a degree of bad luck, along with miscalculation. This years role players are getting 6+easily. That's half of his plausible cap space, unless the friends made a brutal sacrifice. To the tune of LeBron 18M, Bosh 10M, Wade 7.5M, which would give Miami ~20M of space.

Maybe a better way for the Heat would be trading cap space for role players under contract. Look at the Novaks of the L.

[iLLmatic]

Pau Gasol...

what's wrong with gasol?

He's a shitty consolation prize for Lebron?

funny. if we keep the team intact and signed pau for 12 mil (1yr deal), we have good shot against san antonio next season

I wouldn't mind Gasol instead of Bosh if we were to convince Lebron to sign on the dotted line.

[Ring_Wanted]

I'd prefer Pau to Bosh for those Suns, I'm telling you.

[Aztec Sunsfan]

Would the friends want to take a paycut for that kind of players? I wouldn't be surprised if they see it as having to groom them for contention, which would be far from desirable given their age and pressure to win every title.

I think Riley has also had a degree of bad luck, along with miscalculation. This years role players are getting 6+easily. That's half of his plausible cap space, unless the friends made a brutal sacrifice. To the tune of LeBron 18M, Bosh 10M, Wade 7.5M, which would give Miami ~20M of space.

Maybe a better way for the Heat would be trading cap space for role players under contract. Look at the Novaks of the L.

In order to do that, they have to give up the Bird rights of either of the Nice 3. Wade would be the most likely given his probable new contract, but at the same time he is the closer "sure thing" among those three to resign, so it could alienate him and backfire terribly.

[TOO]

Am I seriously the only person who saw Houston as a Bosh suitor before the whole Melo thing? I dont know why all of the media is so surprised. He's from Dallas for goodness sakes, max money in your home state = obvious connection here.

[ShelC]

Why is Bosh still considered a max player? Houston's offering 96mil over 4 years. Really? Is he the one that's going to get them over the hump?

[In2ition]

Am I seriously the only person who saw Houston as a Bosh suitor before the whole Melo thing? I dont know why all of the media is so surprised. He's from Dallas for goodness sakes, max money in your home state = obvious connection here.

Good call, and seems to be a good match for Bosh. He doesn't have to guard Centers any more, keeps space, would really play well off of Harden and Howard. I also think he would improve their interior defense to help out their perimeter defenders. Howard would have to bounce back defensively to really help them.

[TOO]

I dont know what Bosh is anymore, I dont know if he was just playing a role in Miami or he has regressed. He's still shown flashes of brilliance in his 4 years there, but he is sort of a puzzle now. He could still be a 20/10 guy IMO, if, and its a pretty sizable if, he's still motivated. I'd be worried about maxing a fat happy Bosh.