Wade and Bosh in Miami

[TallTitan34]

Let's see. They can resign Udonis Haslem. Doesn't suck, nice power forward. They could resign Joel Anthony at Center, nice 2nd year player. They have Beasley to score and rebound. They have the PG under contract
They have the mid level and veteran exceptions. Sign a PG and a lock down defender.

With Bosh, Wade, and Lebron there's no way they can sign everyone you name.

EDIT: And if Lebron doesn't go to Miami and they do sign those guys, all you have is last year's bad Miami team and added Bosh.  While Bosh obviously improves them does he make them a contender?

I still want Wade to win as many titles as possible wherever he is. I just don't think Miami is the best place where he can do that

[pbiflyer]

With Bosh, Wade, and Lebron there's no way they can sign everyone you name.

Actually, they can. You can go over the cap to resign your own free agents. Granted, they won't sign all of them. I suspect that Haslem will be back, Anthony will be back and they use the two exceptions.

And since the owner, Mickey Arinson is a billionaire, I think he could afford it.

[pbiflyer]

If they don't sign Lebron, they have a ton of room to sign better players. Let' see, a player can choose Wade and Bosh in South Florida (no taxes), or a bad Nicks team, a barren Nets team, the Clippers???. Cleveland is out of cap room if Lebron signs there.
The Heat will be just fine next year.

[HoopsMalone]

With Bosh, Wade, and Lebron there's no way they can sign everyone you name.

Exactly.  People who are good are not going to flock there.  Washed up players will maybe go there.  These kind of players are not going to take major pay cuts.  Otherwise they would do it every single season.  Does not happen.  

Heat would be better adding more players.  Not Lebron.  They will be fine if they don't add Lebron.  Heat's biggest need is interior defense.  Not another scoring wing player.  People will go to Miami if Miami pays them their worth.  No one worth it will take the vet minimum.

[ErickJD08]

Off the top of my head:

Helped Post Career: Bill Cartwright, Scottie Pippen, Jay Williams, Bob Love
Post Career Jobs To: John Paxon, Bill Wennington, Stacy King, Bill Cartwright, Pete Meyers, BJ Armstrong, Randy Brown

They also paid Jason Williams after his accident.

[HoopsMalone]

They also paid Jason Williams after his accident.

Weren't they going to pay Eddie Curry for the rest of his life a six figure amount every year too?

[RawdogDX]

I don't feel jilted Chicos.  

I've pegged bulls + boozer + ray Allen as a contender.  And more cash to resign our young studs.  Bring on plan E!

As for 2nd best. I know the nba is all about who has the best two players but it might be too early to say.  
They have 2 studs, 1 young but below avg player, 1 who should be a 7th man on a championship team and 3 probable busts.  They better make some good signings or that is too much weight i'd want to see two guys carry.  

We'll see if vets will play there for the minimum like people on espn seem to think.
They pretty much have to sign brad miller right?  

[MUSF]

If it was about winning, they'd be going to Chicago. The Heat have literally 3 players under contract, and those three aren't getting you a title.

If it was truly about winning, and not cash, these guys would be going to Chicago.

You are probably right but that doesn't adress my point that always going to the best team is, in fact, selfish.  

Would a world series title mean as much to Cal Ripken if he won it on the Yankees?

How about one more Stanley Cup for Yzerman on the Penguins?

If Malone would have won an NBA championship with the Lakers would it be a testament to how unselfish he was for leaving the Jazz to win a title?

I don't pretend to know what Wade's true motivations are but I'm sure he wants to get paid like one of the 5 best players in the league, wants to be the go to guy on his team, and wants to win championships.  He also may want to build something special in Miami because he loves the city and they love him.

[GoldenWarrior]

So I've also been thinking about how excited I am for just basketball in general and especially for the Eastern Conference!!  It seemed like for forever the Western Conference was always this dominant force that without question was better than the East and blah blah blah, but with all of these moves it sure looks like a lot of Eastern teams are getting better at the bottom, moving up in the middle and reach a top tier echelon few typically can!  It just gets me excited for the season to play out!

[HoopsMalone]

So I've also been thinking about how excited I am for just basketball in general and especially for the Eastern Conference!!  It seemed like for forever the Western Conference was always this dominant force that without question was better than the East and blah blah blah, but with all of these moves it sure looks like a lot of Eastern teams are getting better at the bottom, moving up in the middle and reach a top tier echelon few typically can!  It just gets me excited for the season to play out!

Agreed.  Phoenix looking down.  I don't see Dallas ever doing anything.  San Antonio is done. 

Portland and OKC are going to be the class of the West.  Denver too if they make the right moves.  Lakers are obviously the team to beat.

East is drawing even here.

[ErickJD08]

So I've also been thinking about how excited I am for just basketball in general and especially for the Eastern Conference!!  It seemed like for forever the Western Conference was always this dominant force that without question was better than the East and blah blah blah, but with all of these moves it sure looks like a lot of Eastern teams are getting better at the bottom, moving up in the middle and reach a top tier echelon few typically can!  It just gets me excited for the season to play out!

West is still dominant, pound for pound.  Sub .500 teams are still going to strap for the 8th playoff spot in the East.

[LAZER]

Boozer commits to the Bulls 5 years 80mil reported

[GoldenWarrior]

Sub .500 teams are still going to strap for the 8th playoff spot in the East.

Probably true, but I also think we won't see what we did this year with all 8 teams from the west being 50+ win teams either...

[GoldenWarrior]

Boozer commits to the Bulls 5 years 80mil reported

Not far off of a max contract for him if I'm not mistaken... Solid player that will help CHI though certainly

[Dish]

Boozer indeed signs with the Bulls. As I mentioned previously, Boozer has always wanted to play for the Bulls, and contract is not a max deal. It is 5 yrs, $80 mil. He could have gotten 5 yrs, $95 mil as a max.

[GoldenWarrior]

Boozer indeed signs with the Bulls. As I mentioned previously, Boozer has always wanted to play for the Bulls, and contract is not a max deal. It is 5 yrs, $80 mil. He could have gotten 5 yrs, $95 mil as a max.

When did he say previously he wanted to play for the Bulls?  jw?  I know u used to work in front office (if I'm remembering correctly from other posts here)

Yes, not a max, pretty darn close though.  I think a little above what he truly deserves, but in this market I think it's about right.  Like it in general, but leaves you undersized on the front line with Noah and Boozer.

[MUBurrow]

should officially signal the end of the Bulls in the LBJ running, barring a last second Deng move

[Dish]

I worked for the Bulls during 2000 and 2001 seasons.

Boozer (not publicly) has always had an interest in the Bulls. If you follow certain NBA insiders like Bucher/Broussard/Sam Smith, they'll tell you about Boozer always wanting to play in Chicago as well.

Confirmed with people at the Bulls that the Boozer deal still leaves enough cap space to sign LeBron (or trade for another max player). This is why it's a great contract for them, they didn't have to trade Deng (although they really, really would like to) to fit 2 max guys in.

[MUCrew]

should officially signal the end of the Bulls in the LBJ running, barring a last second Deng move

It's a longshot for LBJ, but the first year of Boozer's 5/80 starts at $13.7M.  The Bulls current cap situation is $30M so that gives them $16.3M for LBJ.  $16.6M is the max I believe.

[LAZER]

should officially signal the end of the Bulls in the LBJ running, barring a last second Deng move

It's a backloaded contract, they still have room for one more max contract

[MUBurrow]

my mistake.  i blame Bucher.

[GoldenWarrior]

This is why it's a great contract for them, they didn't have to trade Deng (although they really, really would like to) to fit 2 max guys in.

Who's the other max guy? (assuming LBJ signs as one of them)

[Dish]

Who's the other max guy? (assuming LBJ signs as one of them)

Only other max guy would be LBJ. Unless Denver would consider a Carmelo trade, Bulls most likely would use their remaining space on a Korver/Reddick type guy. Or Ray Allen on a 1/2 yr deal.

[HoopsMalone]

Nice!   I love this move by the Bulls. 

[ErickJD08]

Now its clear... LBJ to Bulls and they are the favorites from the East.  If LBJ wants a championship, Chicago is the destination.