Dwyane Wade will re-sign with the Miami Heat, and Chris Bosh is will join him. The new teammates announced their plans at a press conference this afternoon.
At this point it is unclear if Bosh will sign with Team Pat Riley directly or if he’ll be able to work out a sign-and-trade deal. It’s been clear throughout the process that Bosh prefers a sign-and-trade, which would allow him to make an additional $30 million over the life of his next contract. But Miami might not have the assets to put a deal together; according to some reports, Toronto general manager Bryan Colangelo isn’t a big fan of Michael Beasley – one of very few players the Heat have under contract right now.
Also unclear: whether or not LeBron James is planning on joining them in Miami. In order to make that happen, Riley would need to unload Beasley’s contract and get back nothing in return… or convince all three to take less money so they’d fit under the cap.
The latter scenario seems unlikely.
Another problem with the “Three Amigos” roster - Miami will need to put five guys on the floor at a time, and have a minimum 12 on the roster. Do we really believe the Heat can challenge for a championship with James, Wade, Bosh, Mario Chalmers and eight or nine minimum-salary players? Rotisserie leagues are won with the “Stars and Scrubs” strategy – NBA championships are not.
When the Celtics won the title with their “Big Three” of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, they still had defensive stopper James Posey, youngsters Rajon Rondo, Kendrick Perkins, Tony Allen, Glen Davis and Leon Powe and solid veterans like P.J. Brown and Sam Cassell on the roster. Chalmers, Dexter Pittman, Jarvis Varnado and Da’Sean Butler (who might not even play until 2011 after tearing his ACL during the Final Four) don’t compare to that crew.
If not Miami, where? Cleveland may still have the inside track, though the Cavs will be hard-pressed to make major improvements with Bosh, Wade, Amar’e Stoudemire and Rudy Gay all ready to sign to new deals. That could create an opening for one of the other teams that pitched Team LeBron last week – the Knicks, Nets, Bulls or Clippers.
Expect to hear rumors of LeBron’s interest in all four over the next 24 hours… if only because it will build the biggest possible audience for LBJ’s 9pm “Decision” special on ESPN.
Original Story:
http://blogs.msg.com/gameon/2010/07/0...
