Holy crap, Lebron is going to chi-town for sure. I called this scenario upthread!
Man, that Boozer contract is stupid. Has he done anything since he was with Lebron in Cleveland?
Sigh. I think I’m going to give up cheering for the Knicks. I stupid is as stupid does, but even stupid would hesitate to give big money to someone coming off of microfracture surgery. I don’t think anyone was able to return to their previous level of play after that.
Yeah, I’d say Boozer’s done a fair bit since leaving Cleveland, although he’s been hurt a lot. 20 and 11, super-efficient, good defender, top 20 player in the league. He’s not Bosh, but he isn’t that far away.
No. If he announces in Ohio, people will assume he’s staying in Ohio. And I think he’ll do stay anyway but for maximum drama (such as it is), he can’t tip his hand that way.
I’m glad the Bulls are getting Boozer. It’s a position of needs and he’s very good, although I see this as yet another sign they’re out of the running for LeBron. The consensus seems to be that he’ll go to Miami if he leaves Cleveland. And I’m glad they’re not giving Boozer $100 million. They can use that money to pick up some other pieces they need and this could be a very productive offseason even if they’re missing out on the biggest names.
I don’t agree people would assume that. Like I said, he’s made all his big announcements from his old high school, no one would think anything of that at all.
Yeah, I saw, he received his MVP awards and announced that he was going pro at his high school. That’s not the same announcing your choice of where to play next. Who would expect him to go to his old school and announce he’s leaving his hometown team? He’d look like a huge asshole.
Omniscient, seriously, you’re going over the top here. I’m not the biggest LeBron fan but he is clearly an outstanding player, and Cleveland’s failures to this point have not been his fault. The team has had the wrong mix of players and I think the wrong offensive setup.
I agree the Hawks overpaid for Johnson, but they needed him. The Darko deal is ridiculous considering he’d announced he wanted to go back to Europe. A lot of the other contracts so far are puzzling - I mentioned Drew Gooden upthread. He got a five year deal worth $32 million from the Bucks after scoring 11 points a game last year.
Alright, maybe, but I think the whole hour-long thing is kind of stupid either way.
It does. And now they’re saying he’ll announce his plans within the first ten minutes, maybe to keep prevent people from watching something else until 9:55. I don’t know what they’re planning to do to keep people watching after minute 11.
No Bosh and no Wade make **Enfant Terrible **something something…
If there’s not going to be an LBJ signing tomorrow, I wonder if it’s too late to pull the Hinrich trade off the board. No one else left is worth a max deal, and you’ll need a combo guard to back up Rose and Ray Allen(projected).
Deng-Boozer-Noah-Rose-Allen, bench has Gibson, Miller, Hinrich. Good enough for fifth in the East, eh? But oh what might have been…
How about this for wild predictions.
LeBron stays in Cleveland. That isn’t wild, it’s just gonna happen. You have my word on it.
But, next year, Carmelo comes to Cleveland. How would that be?
Fuck fuck FUCK. Somehow I convinced myself LeBron’s thing was tonight because I wanted this ridiculous bullshit to END ALREADY. Now I see it’s going to drag on for another 24 hours. On the one hand I guess that’s good because it means the Bulls and Boozer still have a chance to try to grab him, and so do the Heat - for some reason I’d rather see him to go Miami with that crazy triumvirate - but in the end I think he’s staying put so I’d rather get this over with already.
I don’t think Allen is leaving Boston. I like Hinrich but I’m okay with trading him- although trading him and a first-round pick for a second-round pick is still ridiculous. He’s going to make $9 million this season and they don’t need to pay that much for a backup point guard. If nobody else is worth a max deal they can get two guys.
So…what did he decide?
???
Not until tomorrow.
Oh, I see.
Shows my interest level.
ESPN is reporting that Ray Allen will stay in Boston on a two-year, $20 million deal. Shaq is supposedly talking to a few teams including the Spurs and Hawks. And Pat Riley is not going to coach the Heat, at least according to Dwyane Wade. And since Chris Bosh has Toronto over a barrel they are apparently talking to Miami about a sign-and-trade deal. I think everyone is agreed that Miami would trade Beasley to Toronto, and the Raptors would get a $16 million trade exception they could use during the year. That trade would leave Miami with three players under contract and three unsigned draft picks.
Oh, and Kevin Durant signed a five-year extension with Oklahoma City. That’s not a big story because ESPN has to tell us all about the details of the LeBron Dog and Pony Show. I’ve been wondering this evening if ESPN actually not has an incentive not to break the LeBron story if they get it ahead of time. Say ESPN reporters manage to confirm at 4 p.m. tomorrow that LeBron is staying in Cleveland. They have two reliable sources backing their story. Do they go ahead with it, kill the ratings of their own “Special” show, and possibly upset LeBron? Or do they sit on it? I think they’re choosing access and exclusivity and having the rights to LeBron’s announcement over the news here.
Guys, I don’t think your hearing what I’m saying and I’m apparently not being clear enough. I never said James sucks. I’ve said in pretty much every post that he’s an excellent player and he’s an amazing athlete. While I don’t dig the guy I’d be perfectly happy to have him, warts and all, in Chicago. What I’ve been saying is that LeBron is very overrated.
James has been getting the full on hype since he entered the league and for the last 5 seasons or so has been pretty much anointed the “best player in the league”. Thus far that’s patently absurd, and I think it’s pretty crazy to say that he’s better than Wade or Kobe (or KG, Duncan and Dirk 2-3 years ago).
LeBron can do things on the court that no one else can but he also makes a ton of mistakes and his flaws are a very big reason why the offense in Cleveland often struggled, moreso than the coaching and management. I think that LeBron isn’t very coachable and his insistence at playing a point-forward position is a serious detriment to the team over all. It makes him look good often but it makes his team fairly easy to defend. James is a good passer but not a great one and his floor presence and command of the offense aren’t there. He’s basically trying to be Magic Johnson but he doesn’t have the point-guard chops for it. That, above everything else, is why he’s fallen short in the postseason.
All that can be true and LeBron can still be a great player. He’s not otherworldly, and he’s not clearly the best player in the league, but he’s still great. I get that.
He has been a total disappointment thus far based on his hype and the expectations upon him. For him to have not won a title and to have only played for one at this point in his career falls WAY short of the credit he gets. Clevelanders should be very frustrated that he’s not been able to get past the Celtics and Magic, for all the talk he gets as a superstar that’s just not acceptable.
Some people think he can still improve and some people blame all his flaws on his supporting cast. I think the latter is difficult to argue at this point, and I think that the former is false hope. There’s probably room for debate here, but I see LeBron as a finished product and any team that has him needs to compensate for his flaws and stop trying to fix them or wait for him to outgrow them. Realize that he’s not the greatest player ever and build around him, not on top of him.
If he comes to the Bulls and lets Rose handle the ball maybe he can become even better. If he gets a frontcourt that can run with him and spends less time playing the “stand back and watch” offense (and stops letting LeBron call for that) maybe he can win multiple titles. But LeBron isn’t a force of nature and he isn’t going to get any better than he is now.
That Boozer contract is actually pretty great considering. The Bulls are in a lurch and his agent might have been able to hang them over a barrel for a max deal if they come up dry on LeBron. He’s getting about $20-25M less than Amare, Johnson, Nowitski and Bosh. I think he’s at least 80% the player that those guys are and that makes his contract something of a value.
Agreed. Boozer isn’t exciting but he’s about as steady as they come when he’s healthy. He fills a hole perfectly and his game meshes with Noah and Rose really well. Gibson and Noah can hopefully learn a little about the post game and if he can find similar chemistry with Rose as he had with Williams we’ll be pretty productive on offense and really stout on defense and on the glass. Lee might have more upside but I don’t think he fits as well and he has more bust potential.
The Bulls are still $18M under the cap. They need another piece, but I hope they don’t do anything crazy and tie up that money long term on anything short of LeBron. They can move Deng and stay flexible and perhaps be in the running for Carmelo next year or some other shooter with size.
ESPN now claims to have sources saying LeBron is going to the heat.
If he does a one hour show to shit on Cleveland, someone might just blow him the fuck up.
I heard that Beef, and I also heard that Miami would be stupid to sign him (from a winning perspective) because after signing he and Bosch, they have no money left for anyone else and that they basically have a bunch of nobodies other than Wade, Bosch and King Drama.
A former player also said on ESPN that he didn’t think that Wade and LeBomb could play together as their offensive styles were too similar (needing the ball all the time).
Fuck, why am I allowing myself to get drawn into this discussion! I hate the NBA!
If Lebron goes to Miami, that will make it easy on the networks. They can show the Heat in the first game and the Lakers in the second. No need to cover those other pesky teams!
Three great players and two warm bodies might just be able to win in the NBA. I don’t know if it’s an indictment on the NBA that that statement’s true, but I can see it.