Its based upon your mindreading . In order to rebut, they’d have to claim to be mindreaders themselves.
:dubious: how is it any different from all the talk about how Miami could have kept LeBron if the front office had done X, Y, or Z? That is also speculative; if I am right, none of that would have made any difference. But it is also possible that even if I am wrong, none of that would have made any difference.
I also believe there is more than mind reading (by which you presumably mean completely unsubstantiated speculation) behind my thesis. It makes a lot of logical and psychological sense; it fits with a close reading of LeBron’s statement; and perhaps most importantly in tangible terms*, the Cavs owner was quoted as saying he first heard of this possibility three years ago. Which, assuming he didn’t make that up, likely means that LeBron has been biding his time and waiting out his commitment for three years at least. (An alternate explanation, a little different from mine, is that it took a year of being in Miami before LeBron got homesick, rings or not; but that would still make null and void the proposition that the Heat could have kept him, or that they drove him away by the moves they made recently.)
*Though admittedly I felt confident of my theory of the case before I read this.
No, it’s pretty much pure speculation about his mental state. We can’t know that, though I personally think you’re wrong.
LeBron is signing a two-year deal for $42.1 million with the idea of revisiting his contract after the NBA’s new TV deal, which could lead to a big increase in the salary cap.
Carmelo is staying with the Knicks after all.
The Bulls are getting Pau Gasol on a multi-year deal for around $10 million a year. It’ll probably be a straight signing and Carlos Boozer will be amnestied. I like it!
LeBron made it clear he wanted a max deal, so Bosh and Wade were going to have to figure out how much less they would take. The “apron” is a hard cap, there’s no exceeding it.
You’re right that the entire point of the new luxury tax structure is to prevent what the Big 3 did from happening again. The taxes just become too punitive. But the bottom line is that the Heat cut payroll last season in order to reduce their luxury tax. There’s no disputing that. They amnestied Miller and dumped Joel Anthony in a trade, and tried to replace them with Michael Beasley (established headcase) and Greg Oden (never been healthy).
You could argue the basketball wisdom of those moves either way, what you can’t argue is that the Heat were able to replace the production.
You can of course think anything you like — but why is that not pure speculation as well?
And what about Gilbert’s statement that he first heard of this possibility a full three years ago?
As a Lakers fan, I’m sad to see him leave, but also glad he’s going to a better situation. I like Gasol, he’s a classy guy, didn’t get upset and go to the media after all the trade rumors he’s been involved him. I truly want him to do well. His salary just won’t fit with our rebuilding but he can still be a great piece on a contending team
Hopefully for Houston, Ariza can cover some of the defensive lapses by Harden. He’s a good wing defender, at least when he was on the Lakers, and his outside shooting will keep defenses honest.
ESPN is reporting that Houston plans to match Chandler Parsons’ offer from Dallas. Parsons and Ariza give them decent depth on the wing, but losing Omer Asik will hurt their already poor defense. Terrence Jones is a nice young offensive player, but was helpless against the league’s better (and beefier) power forwards, the LaMarcus Aldridge/Kevin Love types. Houston often reacted by playing Howard and Asik together, which they can no longer do. Now, though, they have the option to counter by going smaller, sitting Jones for Ariza, and trying to compensate with better offense of their own.
I have to wonder what Carmelo was thinking: all about the money, respect for Phil Jackson, or the belief that once Amare and Bargnani are off their cap next summer, the Knicks can build a contender.
I think it’s mostly about money for Carmelo, but Phil Jackson seems to have done just enough to make him think the Knicks can get better. Swapping Felton for Calderon is a big ugpgrade. Chandler for Dalembert sure isn’t, but I could understand if they had doubts about Chandler’s ability to stay healthy and he didn’t seem to want to be there last year (not that anyone else played with any enthusiasm). And they did well to get some draft picks and grab some players who should be useful. It’s definitely true that they’ll have all kinds of cap space next year, too.
And what kind of shape is the East in? Cleveland should be very good, especially if they get Kevin Love, but it might take them time to fit together. LeBron acknowledged this in his article. In part he was just tamping down expectations, but it took Miami time to become the team it ultimately became. Cleveland’s going to build off of what Miami did in part, but they’re also relying on some younger guys. The Bulls are better with Gasol and with (one hopes) a healthy Rose. The Heat will take a step back but they’re not going to stink if they have Bosh and Wade and Deng with guys like McRoberts and Birdman helping out. The Pacers will still have Paul George even though we don’t know what’s going to happen with Stephenson and Hibbert. Brooklyn had a good run in the second half and they’ll have Brook Lopez back even though I think the team overall is still a mess. Young teams like Toronto and Washington and Charlotte should keep developing. I’m not saying it’s as strong as the West, but the conference might be better and more balanced this year. So maybe he thinks the Knicks will have a shot this year and will really be near the top if they can make some big moves after this season.
Houston really lost out here. They kind of had to deal Asik because he was pissed about being a backup and he was not worth his contract if he wasn’t playing much or sulking all the time. It’s still an impressive team, but it’s hard to slot them ahead of San Antonio and Oklahoma City and the Clippers. They never stop wheeling and dealing, though. Neither does Dallas, which may take a shot at Lance Stephenson if they lose out on Parsons.
This seems to be the prevailing view in the press as well, but I think it’s easy in hindsight to pile on what has traditionally been a solid organization. With three highly paid stars Miami has had to be clever and a bit lucky to find cheap role players in Anderson, Chalmers, Battier etc. This year they took shots on Oden and Beasley, and they didn’t pan out. It seems obvious now that they wouldn’t, but Anderson was the same kind of bet a few years ago. At the same time, Chalmers disappeared, Battier was done, Cole never stepped up, and Wade aged in dog years all of the sudden. They sat Wade in the regular season and essentially tanked the one seed, thinking they could flip the switch when they needed to. Rashard Lewis was filling the Miller/Battier role in the playoffs, and everything was fine going into the Finals. San Antonio was lucky to split the first two games, and Miami looked like the stronger team at that point. Then the wheels came off.
Personally I thought the series turned on Lebron’s game 1 cramps. That’s not his fault, but it seems like the narrative is always that if he wins it’s because of him, and if he loses it’s because of everyone else.
Wow, Paul Pierce is going to Washington! I didn’t see that one coming. It’s a two-year deal for the midlevel exception, but he can opt out after the first year. I wonder what Garnett will do now.
This isn’t totally wrong, but I think you’re conflating two different types of guys. Players like Miller and Battier took pay cuts to join the Heat and win a ring and Haslem took a paycut to stay. Players like Andersen were smart pickups. (Chalmers and Cole were solid draft picks.) They won a title without Andersen but he made a big, big difference. This year they let Miller go, the paycut guys got old, and the cheap role players didn’t pan out. My argument is that they could’ve spent some more to get better help and that I don’t think we’d be having this discussion if they had done so. This year wasn’t a catastrophe and I am not suggesting it was, but I think they thought small.
I totally agree, but I still would have cut Miller. There are a dozen other guys like Steve Blake or Spencer Hawes or Chris Caman that were floating around that I’d rather have, although to your point they didn’t land any of those guys either.
Damn, I was hoping Pierce would end up on the Clippers.
what’s weird is he is going to a team that is worst than the Heat. The team he is going to can’t compete with the Spurs either
And he only signed a 2 year deal which means he will leave cleveland again in 2016
This year? Probably not - then again they’ll have at least a decent shot at getting to the finals and you never know what kind of injuries or matchups may shake out. If they start with a core of LeBron, Love and Irving and keep developing pieces around them, that’s a good start.
See upthread. He could go if they botch things, but salary cap flexibility is the bigger issue.
So if the botch things he can go somewhere else and fail?
I have a vague recollection of him winning there MVPs and two titles. Maybe I’m misremembering and that was Antawn Jamison. Anyway I think the odds say he’ll be there for the long haul.
Paul Pierce joins the Wizards.
As a Washington fan, I’m not really sure how I feel about this. All I know is that sentence look incredibly strange.
Not sure why he would want to end his career with a team like that
Probably because they have a dynamic back court and they should certainly be considered one of the 3 or 4 teams that could win the conference next season.
The same team who lost all 3 home games against Indiana?
Yes, also the same team that made it to the conference semifinals and took the number one seed to six games. Also the same team that has a backcourt that is a combined 44 years old and figures to get better, perhaps substantially so.
I haven’t looked closely yet, but my guess is that the Wizards will probably project to win around 48 games with some improvement from Wall and Beal. They’ll still be behind Chicago, Cleveland, Indiana, and probably Miami, and Charlotte is close on their heels, but they’re unquestionably a playoff team and I’m not sure the same is true of Brooklyn.