NBA Free Agency/Offseason

Off Topic
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What’s most likely to happen, ideal signings, how mcuh a players worth, discuss it here.

I typed up a small summary of things to look out for:

Superstar Players:
LeBron James: Knicks, Nets, Chicago, Cleveland, Mavericks all want him. Most coveted player this offseason.

Joe Johnson: Dope player. Could be signed by one of the same teams that want Wade and Bronbron.

Dwayne Wade: Coveted by almost exactly the same teams as LeBron [I haven’t heard anything about Dallas wanting him, and Cleveland].

Chris Bosh: WANTS to play with a premier guard/foreword. This means LeBron, Wade, and to a lesser extent Kobe or Joe Johnson. Allegedly gave the Raptors a list of five teams he’d like to be on so they could work on a sign and trade: Raptors, Knicks, Heat, Lakers, Bulls.

Ray Allen: Probably isn’t expecting a salary as high as the other elite dudes on the market, but the Celtics may not be able to afford him anyway in their need to resign their other free agents.

Amare Stoudemaire: Player option. I not entirely sure which teams want him especially, but he’s a great player who could turn a good team into a contender.

Dirk Nowitzki: If he opts out of his deal like he can. The NBA has to come up with a new Collective Bargaining Agreement aafter next year, which could lower potential NBA salaries, so this could be a good option financially for the German.

Paul Pierce: If he opt out of his deal this year. Same thing as Dirk. If he opts out Boston’s in deep shit.

Below Elite But Still Good: Carlos Boozer, Jermaine O’Neal, Derek Fisher, Manu Ginobli, Channing Frye [player option], Grant Hill [player option]

Old Dudes/Tired Dudes: Shaquille O’Neal, Tracy McGrady, Allen Iverson.

Coaches: Phil Jackson [???], Doc Rivers [???]-- both might leave their teams, not so much to go elsewhere but to have time off/retire. Boston’s in deep shit money wise already, so it’ll be hard to court Rivers. Along with Bryant and Fisher, Phil Jackson’s been the only constant in the Lakers Titles in the past decade. You have to wonder how a potential Jackson departure would hurt the team as a whole and the players individually.

If I missed something or got something wrong feel free to point it out.

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BTW, I don’t watch College ball, so I don’t know much about the players in the draft who are most coveted or which teams they’d fit in well with. If anyone does feel free to discuss that too :D.

3

Lumping Jermaine O’neal in the “good” category is a bold move. I’m pretty sure Manu isn’t a free agent for like 3 more years as well…

FWIW, I think Wade stays in Miami, Bosh follows Lebron to the Knicks (or possibly sign and tra, Chicago overpays for the Joe Johnson + Carlos Boozer poo-poo platter, Pierce stays, Dirk or Amare gets lured to the Nets by the crazy Russian.

The underrated subplot is that Melo is a FA next year. I don’t think Chicago is getting Lebron, so if they were smart, they wouldn’t overpay for one of those mid-level guys when they could make the run at Melo next year. I think he would be the perfect running mate for Derrick Rose. If they were able to work out a sign-and-trade (Deng would have to be the main piece) for Bosh this year, a frontcourt of Noah+Bosh+Anthony with Rose at the point would be a title contender in '11.

I have also heard rumors of the Jazz dealing Kirilenko to the Nets.

4

As a Mavericks fan, I can tell you the money is a near non factor for Dirk. Of course hes not gonna play for peanuts but he wants that ring bad and he only has a few good years left.

5

LeBron will go to Chicago.

Bosh & Wade to NY.

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Yeah Manu already signed an extension with the Sours, hes not a free agent. But I have a problem with you putting him in the “below elite” echelon considering hes better than Ray Allen, Joe Johnson and Paul Pierce. I forgive you though for not being able to look past him not being black and looking like a baller.

Players from small markets don’t get the respect by fans they deserve. The only reason Pau is the best big man in the league right now is because Dwight Howard sucks offensively and KG and Tim Duncan are old.

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Dwight could be fucking amazing…but he’s just inconsistent. He doesn’t always play like a big man, in my opinion.

You think Pau is better than Nowitzki? My friend has a man crush on Dirk, it’s kind of sickening.

And don’t use the rationale that Pau has a ring; that has little weight in my opinion on comparing gameplay during regular season.

8

I think LeBron could go to Miami since he and Wade are friends. I read a rumor that Pat Riley told Wade to let LeBron know that Riley would coach Miami if LeBron came. I don’t know if that’s true.

I think LeBron and Wade on the same team would be nuts.

9

Alright we’ll start with LeBron:

I can all but guarantee you he’s not staying in Cleveland. My guess is NJ. Him and Jay-Z are boys, new owner in Prokhorov, new coach in Johnson (which players in Dallas liked AJ) and a team that already has a decent core with Harris and Lopez. Harris I think would be the perfect sidekick for LBJ. They also have the #3 pick in the draft, hopefully they pick Derrick Favors from Ga. Tech. So you’re looking at Courtney Lee, Devin Harris, LBJ, Favors and Lopez as the starting five. Looks decent to me.

D-Wade: staying in Miami

Bosh: he’ll go where another big star is. My guess is the Heat with D-Wade

Amare: Bulls

Dirk: Suns (replaces Amare, reunite with Nash for one last title run)

Joe Johnson: stays in ATL

Allen and Pierce: both stay in Boston

Manu: Spurs for life

Fisher: stays with Lakers

Phil Jackson: coaches Lakers next season

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Good predictions, tmoney.

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You think Lebron is going to go to the Nets where he is going to play in Newark, NJ aka the World’s armpit for 2-3 more years? And a decent core? They won like 3 games last year!

I think it’s either the Knicks, or he stays in Cleveland. Don’t forget that Cleveland has Shaq’s expiring contract coming off the books, so they could potentially add a guy like Johnson or Boozer.

I think there’s no way Lebron will be on the same team as Wade. I think he has too big of an ego and wants to be the Man, not have any question about who the #1 guy is. I think he would play with Johnson or Bosh, because they would obviously defer to him. But not Wade. Plus, as good as both of them are, I don’t think they would mesh well together. They are too similar in that they both dominate the ball and want to drive to the basket. Johnson would play fine with either of them (although not as well with Wade since they are both better at the 2), because he can function as a kick-out shooter, and Bosh would play well since he’s a forward. I can’t see Lebron and Wade on the same team though.

One thing I’ve also heard is that San Antonio might deal Tony Parker. He would be an expiring contract (although not a max deal) and George Hill is a more than adequate replacement. Supposedly Dantoni wants him in NY.

P.S. How nasty would the Celts be if they hadn’t traded Joe Johnson for Tony Delk and Rodney Rogers…

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Yeah, I got it wrong about Manu, he’s got at least 3 more years on his contract.

Great predictions guys, especially Gettinitdone predicting that I was hating on Manu because he’s not black.

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[quote]jtrinsey wrote:
You think Lebron is going to go to the Nets where he is going to play in Newark, NJ aka the World’s armpit for 2-3 more years? And a decent core? They won like 3 games last year!

I think it’s either the Knicks, or he stays in Cleveland. Don’t forget that Cleveland has Shaq’s expiring contract coming off the books, so they could potentially add a guy like Johnson or Boozer.

I think there’s no way Lebron will be on the same team as Wade. I think he has too big of an ego and wants to be the Man, not have any question about who the #1 guy is. I think he would play with Johnson or Bosh, because they would obviously defer to him. But not Wade. Plus, as good as both of them are, I don’t think they would mesh well together. They are too similar in that they both dominate the ball and want to drive to the basket. Johnson would play fine with either of them (although not as well with Wade since they are both better at the 2), because he can function as a kick-out shooter, and Bosh would play well since he’s a forward. I can’t see Lebron and Wade on the same team though.

One thing I’ve also heard is that San Antonio might deal Tony Parker. He would be an expiring contract (although not a max deal) and George Hill is a more than adequate replacement. Supposedly Dantoni wants him in NY.

P.S. How nasty would the Celts be if they hadn’t traded Joe Johnson for Tony Delk and Rodney Rogers…
[/quote]

Playing in Newark is better than playing in Cleveland. At least Newark is close to NYC.

I’m interested to see if Boozer would actually be welcomed back in Cleveland after the whole free agency fiasco.

Completely agree on LBJ/Wade on the same team, it just wouldn’t work. Two superstars in their prime wouldn’t mesh together well, and I don’t think either guy would concede to the other on being the star.

Interesting re: Tony Parker. George Hill really stepped it up this year. Seems like Parker wouldn’t want to leave San Antonio, but I’m just speculating.

14

[quote]jtrinsey wrote:
The underrated subplot is that Melo is a FA next year. I don’t think Chicago is getting Lebron, so if they were smart, they wouldn’t overpay for one of those mid-level guys when they could make the run at Melo next year. I think he would be the perfect running mate for Derrick Rose. If they were able to work out a sign-and-trade (Deng would have to be the main piece) for Bosh this year, a frontcourt of Noah+Bosh+Anthony with Rose at the point would be a title contender in '11.

I have also heard rumors of the Jazz dealing Kirilenko to the Nets.[/quote]

Those are two interesting ideas.

If Melo opts out of his contract next year [I think he can] the Nuggets are still in great position to resign him, as Kenyon Martin’s contract finishes next year as well, and he’s either leaving or taking a big pay cut. EDIT: Also, at the end of next year, the team has an option on Billups that they can choose to not exercise. So they’ll have a lot of money to revamp and resign Melo.

15

[quote]tmoney1 wrote:

[quote]jtrinsey wrote:
You think Lebron is going to go to the Nets where he is going to play in Newark, NJ aka the World’s armpit for 2-3 more years? And a decent core? They won like 3 games last year!

I think it’s either the Knicks, or he stays in Cleveland. Don’t forget that Cleveland has Shaq’s expiring contract coming off the books, so they could potentially add a guy like Johnson or Boozer.
[/quote]

Playing in Newark is better than playing in Cleveland. At least Newark is close to NYC.

[/quote]

The fact that the Nets have new ownership and will move to Brooklyn in a few years makes me thing that from a business side of things it may interest LeBron. And LeBron is a guy who clearly has his finances in mind as well with all of this. He wants to be a billionaire athlete and has started a marketing company, these things interest him a lot more than other guys.

If they can build a strong team in the next 2-3 years -and they definitely have the money to- the move to Brooklyn could make the Nets a marquee team in the league. They’ll never compete with the Knicks in terms of popularity in NY, but it’s a big market, so they could still do great.

Of course, this is all still a risk, but like you I could definitely see him taking it.

16

[quote]PonceDeLeon wrote:
Dwight could be fucking amazing…but he’s just inconsistent. He doesn’t always play like a big man, in my opinion.

You think Pau is better than Nowitzki? My friend has a man crush on Dirk, it’s kind of sickening.

And don’t use the rationale that Pau has a ring; that has little weight in my opinion on comparing gameplay during regular season.[/quote]

Dwight’s got a seriously limited arsenal and he can be soft at times. That’s a bad combo, but if he worked at it he could be a problem. He’s got all the size and athleticism to be an all time great when he’s all said and done.

Pau and Dirk play too differently to compare IMO. Dirk’s more important to his team, but the Lakers are a much better team than the Mavs.

17

[quote]tmoney1 wrote:

Amare: Bulls

Dirk: Suns (replaces Amare, reunite with Nash for one last title run)

[/quote]

These two cases would be DOPE.

[quote]ADvanced TS wrote:
LeBron will go to Chicago.

Bosh & Wade to NY.[/quote]

I think Bosh will join Wade as well, as opposed to LeBron.

18

[quote]tmoney1 wrote:
Alright we’ll start with LeBron:

I can all but guarantee you he’s not staying in Cleveland. My guess is NJ. Him and Jay-Z are boys, new owner in Prokhorov, new coach in Johnson (which players in Dallas liked AJ) and a team that already has a decent core with Harris and Lopez. Harris I think would be the perfect sidekick for LBJ. They also have the #3 pick in the draft, hopefully they pick Derrick Favors from Ga. Tech. So you’re looking at Courtney Lee, Devin Harris, LBJ, Favors and Lopez as the starting five. Looks decent to me.

D-Wade: staying in Miami

Bosh: he’ll go where another big star is. My guess is the Heat with D-Wade

Amare: Bulls

Dirk: Suns (replaces Amare, reunite with Nash for one last title run)

Joe Johnson: stays in ATL

Allen and Pierce: both stay in Boston

Manu: Spurs for life

Fisher: stays with Lakers

Phil Jackson: coaches Lakers next season[/quote]

if you think the knicks aren’t getting lebron, dwade or bosh, you’re crazy.

19

my prediction for the offseason… The Lakers rest up and come back next year with the 3peat! hahahaha lol too soon? :slight_smile:

.greg.

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I think bosh and wade would make a good combo. I really think Lebron and anyone else would make a great combo because he is so ball dominant. If he learns to share the ball and pass more (before the last 5-6 seconds of the shot clock) he could do some SERIOUS damage with a Robin to his Batman… But right now with his current game I don’t see that happening. This is definitely going to be a big offseason and I’m really looking forward to seeing what happens.

I think everything depends on what Lebron does. Thats going to dictate pretty much the entire offseason. How long do you guys think it’ll take James to sign somewhere and get the free agency ball rolling?

.greg.