2014 Official FA Thread 3: The Hunt For LeBron Continues...

[matt131]

@ESPNSteinLine: Sense I'm getting is Houston is fully focused on Melo front & merely on outskirts of LeBron chase as much as they'd like to be factor there

Bodes well for us. Granted, Stein "senses." There's no real confirmation


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[DirtyDez]

The Suns could also go over the cap with either the mini-mid level or full mid-level exception to bring in additional players. I am not sure which mid-level exception they would have this year. Regardless, they can get veterans to back up the forward spots and/or another veteran center with that money.

Could be wrong but the CBA only allows the MLE if you're over the cap to begin with. Signing 2 stars then going over to sign Bledsoe I think leaves us the MLE. Next summer we would have it.

[PhxSunsFan1234]

Sarver: "I admit it Rich, I messed up bad in the past and I want to make amends to myself, the city of Phoenix, my family, and the Shaolin Temple. I am prepared......no, no......I will spend every last dime I have to win multiple titles; that I promise you; money is no object. After Lebron comes aboard, the city of Phoenix will embody its namesake and rise from the ashes. The King may ordain the player of his choosing to aid him and his little brother Eric in reaching the pinnacle that the Suns' organization and the city of Phoenix have desired for over forty years. I am sure he is willing to cement his place on basketball's Mt. Rushmore by doing something no other player has ever done in the annals of the NBA.......leading the Phoenix Suns to a NBA championship. I know he is willing to accept this challenge and once he accomplishes this monumental feat, then and only then will he be truly the KING!"

Rich: "Gulp!"

Poor sarver, I truly believe he's always had good intentions for the suns. He says he doesn't care what fans think of him but he does. I think he's been a great owner that has tried for better or for worse to keep the suns competitive.

I don't see the hate behind him. Wasn't he the one who said no to Amar'e and Marion?. Worked like a charm. So he sold late 1st round picks? Why pay guys who won't play when you can pocket $3 million for the stars you have on your team.

He was cheap when they sucked? Who wouldn't be? No fans show up. Team isn't competitive, why waste money. As much as you'd like to think its fun and games, it's a business. The goal is profits. When we were winning, he was spending. When we were losing, he wasn't. Simple as that.

[Jdiddy701]

According to Yahoo, Suns met with Lebron's Agent on Wednesday. Houston Dallas, and Cavs today.

[nevetsov]

Once again, the Suns are the only team in the league that can offer Lebron a full max and give whichever player he wants to pair with (Carmelo, Bosh, Love) a full max as well without dismantling the team.

If that is the case, the Suns would only have to shed a total of about 5 million to make the contracts work for everyone. They could trade the Morris Brothers and have enough.
...
The Suns could also go over the cap with either the mini-mid level or full mid-level exception to bring in additional players. I am not sure which mid-level exception they would have this year. Regardless, they can get veterans to back up the forward spots and/or another veteran center with that money.

Is it just me...?

[PhxSunsFan13]

According to Yahoo, Suns met with Lebron's Agent on Wednesday. Houston Dallas, and Cavs today.

You're a little late to the party.

[aIvin adams]

Does anyone have a photoshopped photo of LeBron in a Suns uni?

wait thats not it

[letsgosuns]

Once again, the Suns are the only team in the league that can offer Lebron a full max and give whichever player he wants to pair with (Carmelo, Bosh, Love) a full max as well without dismantling the team.

If that is the case, the Suns would only have to shed a total of about 5 million to make the contracts work for everyone. They could trade the Morris Brothers and have enough.
...
The Suns could also go over the cap with either the mini-mid level or full mid-level exception to bring in additional players. I am not sure which mid-level exception they would have this year. Regardless, they can get veterans to back up the forward spots and/or another veteran center with that money.

Is it just me...?

What do you mean is it just you?

[PhxSunsFan1234]

@ESPNSteinLine: Sense I'm getting is Houston is fully focused on Melo front & merely on outskirts of LeBron chase as much as they'd like to be factor there

Bodes well for us. Granted, Stein "senses." There's no real confirmation


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Houston confuses me. They had a solid team last year and the ONE thing they lacked was depth. So what do they do? They trade a great backup (who should be starter) C for a future 1st round pick, and are willing to lose Parsons and Lin just to get Melo and have absolutely zero bench.

Don't teams learn from the Spurs. A solid bench and limiting your minutes is what makes you win. Use the money you're trying to give Melo on 2-3 solid role players who can help the team out. Hell, they should have went after Afflalo and Gasol. Now they'll end up without Asik and a pissed off Lin and still no bench.

[Barkley6]

Yuk, no way do I want to commit ~$40m per to LBJ and Bosh, that's how you end up with depth issues. Plus, you can't justify paying 4 players $10-20m per each, there's only one ball and one or two won't live up to their deals.

Give me Frye at $7m and $10m in my pocket, rather than Bosh at $17m. I'll put that $10m towards keeping Dragic and the bench together next year... So we don't end up like Miami.

That's a high number for Bosh. By all accounts the Suns have approximately $38m to spend (JD...Can you confirm if the $38m takes into account the cap hold for Frye?) . Lebron carves out $21m, meaning we have $17 left. Bosh can come for $15 (more than the Heat are offering). Gives us $2m to play with still, or we bring back Tucker and only go around $3-4m over the cap.

That might work for one year, but what happens next year when Dragic commands a raise of ~$7m per, and we have pretty much our entire bench (Green, Kieff, Marcus) expiring? Even if we go up to the tax line/ into the tax to retain some of them, we'll have a bunch of holes on our team, with a bench comprised essentially of rooks and second year players.

And FYI, if Bron leaves, Miami will up their offer to Bosh, because they will have more to spend. I expect they will give him his $16m per/4 to retain him in South Beach. Wade will get $12-13m per.

It depends on the season we have of course, but in 2015, you re-sign Goran for sure. You base your decision on the Morrii on their play during the season and how deep we go (If we win the Championship and they play a strong part, you bring them back for any reasonable price). The hope would be that Goodwin would be entering his 3rd year and ideally is ready to take over the third guard role from Gerald Green, Len would also be ideally beginning to peak, and might push Plumlee to the bench or at least become a rotation player and you'd have the MLE to spend to get a bench player. We also dont know what we'll get from Ennis or Warren. The key is we hold the keys. We can choose to spend or not to keep the bench unit intact based on their play the year previous.

[PhxSunsFan1234]

Does anyone have a photoshopped photo of LeBron in a Suns uni?

wait thats not it

[PhxSunsFan1234]

Once again, the Suns are the only team in the league that can offer Lebron a full max and give whichever player he wants to pair with (Carmelo, Bosh, Love) a full max as well without dismantling the team.

If that is the case, the Suns would only have to shed a total of about 5 million to make the contracts work for everyone. They could trade the Morris Brothers and have enough.
...
The Suns could also go over the cap with either the mini-mid level or full mid-level exception to bring in additional players. I am not sure which mid-level exception they would have this year. Regardless, they can get veterans to back up the forward spots and/or another veteran center with that money.

Is it just me...?

Why does everyone assume the Morris brothers have to go together. You can trade just one of them you know.

[Son of Ra]

Does anyone have a photoshopped photo of LeBron in a Suns uni?

wait thats not it

I lol'd

[Jdiddy701]

According to Yahoo, Suns met with Lebron's Agent on Wednesday. Houston Dallas, and Cavs today.

You're a little late to the party.

Well next time invite me.

[Dalerax]

Houston wasn't granted a meeting and has moved on, according to Woj in his latest Yahoo article:

Phoenix met on Wednesday and Cavaliers officials met on Thursday with Paul. Houston Rockets officials spoke with Paul by phone, but were not granted a meeting and have moved on with their pursuit of Carmelo Anthony, sources told Yahoo Sports.

Link: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/lebron-james--agent-tells-teams-james-might-meet-with-them-if-heat-don-t-improve-roster-soon-030029268.html

[Barkley6]

Can someone explain salary cap situation in 2015 off-season if we don't land a big FA (Bosh, Melo, James, Love). We re-sign Frye ($4-5 million per year), sign Bledsoe to similar Lowry contarct ($12-$13 million) and at the end of the year we give Goran similar deal. Do we have any cap space left for a big FA next year? Or is it go all in right now?

I think we'd end up with about $14-17m (not including cap holds and assuming Dragic takes a deal in the neighborhood of 12-14m) in cap space depending on what the new cap is in 2015. But we'd also have the Morrii to possibly extend.

[Barkley6]

The Suns could also go over the cap with either the mini-mid level or full mid-level exception to bring in additional players. I am not sure which mid-level exception they would have this year. Regardless, they can get veterans to back up the forward spots and/or another veteran center with that money.

Could be wrong but the CBA only allows the MLE if you're over the cap to begin with. Signing 2 stars then going over to sign Bledsoe I think leaves us the MLE. Next summer we would have it.

That's correct. I believe there is a 'room exception' for teams who start under and then go over, but it's like $2m.

[PhxSunsFan1234]

Did the Lakers officially offer a max contract to Melo?

NVM. I just saw WT reporting that Lakers did extend a max offer to Melo.


Melo and Kobe on the same team equals a hot mess!

That's fantastic news. Ensures mediocrity and lowers their chance of bringing in Durant. Please let him go NY!

Melo has made the playoffs 10 of the 11 years he'd been in the league and was a freak Ron Artest shot away from going to the finals. He has more wins than losses in the playoffs. He's not some cancer. The Knicks sucked this year. Blame management. Not Melo.

[Barkley6]

According to Yahoo, Suns met with Lebron's Agent on Wednesday. Houston Dallas, and Cavs today.

Should we read into it that we were the first meeting?

[matt131]

@ESPNSteinLine: RT @Chris_Broussard: @ramonashelburne reports that Mitch Kupchak is flying to Cleveland to meet with LeBron's agent Rich Paul

So wait: stein retweets Broussard who says that Ramona reports that Mitch will meet with Paul...? Are the lakers just jealous and making up stories?


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