If Cavs drop out...?

[Hards Alumni]

well, I could see LBJ play somewhere for 2 years (Cleveland or Miami) then going to Brooklyn when the move and arena is finally complete.

[reinko]

Slow down on them adding John Wall, at least until tomorrow night.

Almost hoping for Minnie to win the lottery, they would either draft John Wall and be stuck with 3 PG's or trade down 1 spot to nab Turner.

No matter what Khan will eff it up.

[GoldenWarrior]

I've heard more and more the past couple days about Wade, Bosh, and James planning to get together and possibly find a way for all three of them to play in the same city. One thing no one seems to be thinking of is that the NBA has a soft cap. The Bulls haven't previously gone over the luxury tax because Reinsdorf doesn't want to pay the tax if he doesn't feel he has a chance to win the title.

My guess is that if they go for James, it will be in a sign and trade deal, likely sending Luol Deng the other way, possibly Hinrich as well to keep the contracts in line. That would mean they still have enough money for one max player and one mid-level without going over the cap. But if they wanted to break over the cap, that would allow for all three.

The problem with this theory is that the Bulls bringing in all of the big three free agents would kill their ability to simply put together a roster. It'd give them a starting five of Rose, Wade, James, Bosh, and Noah, but their bench would only have Taj Gibson and James Johnson. Add in two rookies in the draft (dream scenario for me is Gordon Hayward and Jordan Crawford). After that, maybe a rookie free agent joins the bench (another dream, Lazar). That leaves five roster spots still to be filled. Joe Alexander may stay as a minimum player, possibly either Rob Kurz or Chris Richard, but that's a bench with pretty much no experience or quality, and unless Reinsdorf really doesn't care about the tax, I can't see any way all three would fit, though considering it is a soft cap, two could be a very realistic possibility.

That could put Wade in Chicago as well. Him and my dream of Lazar would be nice to have them close to home for recruiting purposes.

And before everyone blasts me, the dream scenario could also play out in Miami, New York, or New Jersey.

Oh, and willie, I think with Cleveland it's all about the title. They haven't been able to win one and rather than getting closer, seem to be getting further away. My guess is he'll sign elsewhere, but he'll only sign a three year deal. If he joins Chicago (or New York, or Miami, or the Clippers) for three years, he is then eligible for a Larry Bird rule contract. But if Cleveland can find a way to bring in another heavy-hitter free agent, there's every chance he could stay. But it won't be for money. He's got more money than he knows what to do with already, and an extra million a year for him would be the equivalent of one of us getting a ten-cent raise. At the end of the year, the extra couple hundred bucks might be nice, but you won't notice it on a weekly basis.

I would say that the chances of Cleveland helping LBJ leave them are <0.01%... they wouldn't do a sign and trade plain and simple.

There are specific ways teams can "break through" on the cap and I don't think this is how it is handled, it's not just a "Hey I wanna sign a ton of GREAT players so I'm going to do it"... this is what the new Nets owner isn't quite catching too 

Concerning the money, LBJ has made it clear that money does speak to him, he has stated that he wants to be the first billionaire athlete.  That's why he hangs with the likes of the Oracle of Omaha. Also, it's easy for us "average Joe's" to say that $1M can't be that big of a deal to comeone making that much already... and a million is a million still and you're kidding yourself if you honestly don't thin money speaks to these guys.  I will say, it probably doesn't to the same scale as it does to us, but it definitely still speaks.

[RawdogDX]

I'm not trying to convince you of anything because we all know that won't happen.  I'm just saying that I don't think it's all that unreasonable to say that Jennings is not very far behind where Rose was after Rose's first year in the NBA like some people seem to think it is.  I also think Jennings has more room for improvement than Rose does (Rose already has the body fit for the NBA, while Jennings is really slim; Rose already has a great shot selection, while Jennings doesn't).  IF Jennings can improve on those things (which I think he can considering he just turned 20 years old), I think he has the potential to be the better all-around point guard.  Right now I would take Rose in a draft of point guards because he has proven that he has the shot selection and consistency that Jennings does not yet have.

I also think you make blind statements with no proof of them at all (see your statement about Rose's defensive potential vs. Jennings's...I can all but guarantee that you had no clue Jennings averaged over 1.2 steals to Rose's 0.7).  You make these statements like they are fact when you evidently do not have much knowledge of Jennings's game and numbers.  My guess is that you only watched Jennings play at most 4 times during the regular season (when they played the Bulls) and MAYBE 4 or 5 of the Bucks' playoff games.

Another of your blind, matter-of-fact statements that you make is that Evans isn't even in the same league as Rose.  You say you won't even address him because of this.  Please do.  I will as well.  Here are their numbers this year (Rose already has the HUGE advantage of having a year in the NBA behind him as well).
Rose: 20.8 ppg, 6 apg, 3.8 rpg, 2.78 turnovers/gm, 49% fg, 27% 3 point, 77% ft, 0.7 steals/gm
Evans: 20.1 ppg, 5.8 apg, 5.3 rpg, 3 turnovers/gm, 46% fg, 26% 3 point, 75% ft, 1.51 steals/gm
That's really not in the same league?  Don't give me the "Rose is the focal point of the defense every night and gets double teamed all over."  So does Evans.  At 6'6", 220 lbs, compared to Rose's 6'3" 190 lbs, Evans has a higher ceiling in both defense (over double the steals/gm) and rebounds.  They are pretty equal in their playmaking ability and their scoring ability.  I'm not sure I understand how Evans isn't even in Rose's league, so please address this.

Why do you get so mad and aggressive?  Chill out.  You sound like how you describe chicago fans. I just told you I thought your man was going to make 3-6 all star games and you respond like a dick.  Let me put it this way, I think he'll have a border line hall of fame career.  Is that good enough?  What the hell do i have to say?  Fist ballot?

And my guess is that you didn't watch rose play more than 9 times this year. 

If all you are trying to do is convince me that Bj had close to as good of a rookie year as rose and not take into account his sophmore season than fine.    I thought that the fact that i had jennings in up to 6 all star games would be an indicator that i thought he was good and had a good rookie year. 

Rose is 2 inches taller and 20lbs heavier with a bigger verticle and is as quick as they come.  That is why i think he has a higher defensive apex.  And no, you are once again wrong about me, I looked at a player page and saw the steals stat before making the post about defence.   

Fine, I'll retract evan's comments.  There, you convinced me of something. Who's a big winner?

[wadesworld]

Why do you get so mad and aggressive?  Chill out.  You sound like how you describe chicago fans. I just told you I thought your man was going to make 3-6 all star games and you respond like a dick.  Let me put it this way, I think he'll have a border line hall of fame career.  Is that good enough?  What the hell do i have to say?  Fist ballot?

And my guess is that you didn't watch rose play more than 9 times this year. 

If all you are trying to do is convince me that Bj had close to as good of a rookie year as rose and not take into account his sophmore season than fine.    I thought that the fact that i had jennings in up to 6 all star games would be an indicator that i thought he was good and had a good rookie year. 

Rose is 2 inches taller and 20lbs heavier with a bigger verticle and is as quick as they come.  That is why i think he has a higher defensive apex.  And no, you are once again wrong about me, I looked at a player page and saw the steals stat before making the post about defence.   

Fine, I'll retract evan's comments.  There, you convinced me of something. Who's a big winner?

Like I said, I'm not trying to convince you of anything.  I'm just trying to point out that you don't know how Jennings's 2nd season will go, so I'm not sure how you can say that Rose has a better one already when Jennings hasn't had a 2nd season yet.  And I'm not sure how you can say Evans isn't even in the same league as Rose when he clearly is.  Responding like a dick?  Sorry I gave that vibe away, wasn't intending to.  Maybe it's just because you saw that you were wrong and thought I was a dick for showing that.  I'm pretty sure your response about "owning me regularly" (speaking to your blind statements with no merit behind them) was more of a dick reply than any I've posted.  But again, just my opinion.

[RawdogDX]

Like I said, I'm not trying to convince you of anything.  I'm just trying to point out that you don't know how Jennings's 2nd season will go, so I'm not sure how you can say that Rose has a better one already when Jennings hasn't had a 2nd season yet.  And I'm not sure how you can say Evans isn't even in the same league as Rose when he clearly is.  Responding like a dick?  Sorry I gave that vibe away, wasn't intending to.  Maybe it's just because you saw that you were wrong and thought I was a dick for showing that.  I'm pretty sure your response about "owning me regularly" (speaking to your blind statements with no merit behind them) was more of a dick reply than any I've posted.  But again, just my opinion.

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