2014 Official FA Thread 2

[TheXgasm]

Yeah, that's basically what I was saying. Realistically they could get one really good player, like Pau or possibly Lowry, or two decent ones. Than they would have the MLE and minimum deals for the rest.

Cole/Napier
Wade
LeBron
Bosh
Pau/Haslem

Mid level exception guy (3 pt specialist)
Vets or young guys on minimum deals

I guess it doesn't look quite as bad detailing it out like that. That is a solid 8 man rotation plus the minimum deal guys.

You're right, it definitely doesn't look quite as bad when you write it out that way.

Then again, is it enough of an improvement over what they had this year? Is there enough interior defense at all? Will they be able to get quality shooters with that little of money? Is there enough there to play good, team basketball at a high enough level to win a championship?

Those are the questions I'm hoping will creep into Lebrizzle's mind, and those are the things I hope dissuade him from re-sigining a long term deal predicated on dedicating like 85% of their salary for the next 4 years to Lebron, Dwyane Wade's knees and Chris Bosh's lack of aggressiveness. Attrition of skill should be something he considers heavily about his teammates as well.

[DirtyDez]

Saw it on ESPN this morning - based on what the Heat currently have on the books, if Lebron takes the max, Bosh takes a paycut down to $15M and Wade drops all the way down to $10M, the Heat would have something like $9.4M. If they re-signed Haslem to a small deal, they'd have like $6-7M to spend on the entire rest of the team.

Obviously this is all theoretical, but I can't fathom how, if Lebron is looking to play team ball, he would even consider playing with Miami if that's the best they can do.

Unless Bosh and Wade took even bigger discounts, or unless Lebron also decided to take a cut, this would be stupid.

Yeah, that's basically what I was saying. Realistically they could get one really good player, like Pau or possibly Lowry, or two decent ones. Than they would have the MLE and minimum deals for the rest.

Cole/Napier
Wade
LeBron
Bosh
Pau/Haslem

Mid level exception guy (3 pt specialist)
Vets or young guys on minimum deals

I guess it doesn't look quite as bad detailing it out like that. That is a solid 8 man rotation plus the minimum deal guys.

Solid 8-man rotation until Wade and Pau miss a bunch games. Then Lebron is forced to carry them like last year.

Although Gortat is overrated he'd be a better fit there...

[bwgood77]

Lillard wants Frye in Portland.

I'm pretty sure the Suns end up with an S&T. Too valuable a piece, he'll be able to command more than MLE if we assist him, which we should.

Another first rounder? Eh? Eh? You know you want the sweet-stroking big to take you to da next level... all it'll cost you is the pretty little pick... won't matter much anyway with all those wins you're gonna rack up. Come on baby, gimme dat pick. Make it 2016, it'll hurt less.

I forget myself. Only really works if a team has a TPE or a non-guaranteed contract. Current TPEs: http://www.basketballinsiders.com/nba-t ... xceptions/. Looks like only OKC and GSW are in that game. Non-guaranteed contracts list adds no one to the list of possibilities: http://en.hispanosnba.com/transactions/ ... -contracts

Yeah, I have mentioned GS could give him quite a bit because of that big TPE they have. It expires on July 10th (not sure if that means the first day they CAN'T use it or the last day they CAN), which I thought was the first day people could sign. But I just realized that signing players begins on July 8th, so they definitely have time.

[TheXgasm]

If Gortat was willing to take $8M a year, yeah he'd work pretty well in that offense.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

Lillard wants Frye in Portland.

That's not good news. That's the ONE place I could see Frye really happy going to because he has a home there. GS possibly because of Kerr but I'd guess he'd prefer Portland to GS.

Channing wants to get paid. Best Portland can do is full MLE. According to the link I posted, GSW's TPE lasts til July 10. Frye to GSW for a future first works. We can claim we need it to make it worth it to us to empower an intraconference contender.

Edit: Jinx!

[bwgood77]

If the Suns really and truly want LeBron James to play in Phoenix next season, they don't need to talk to his agent and they don't need to talk with LeBron. What they need to do is have Eric Bledsoe call up LeBron and tell him he wants him in Phoenix and what the benefits will be. It's the same exact way Dwyane Wade called up LeBron and Bosh a few years ago and, in essence, orchestrated the Big Three in Miami. I'm sure the idea was all Riley's, but he had Wade set it all up. I'm positive players talking with players means more than team executives and agents talking with players. If Bledsoe enjoyed his time here last season and believes in Dragic, Hornacek, McDonough, Babby, Sarver, the medial staff, the city and the rest of the team..... he needs to sing those praises to LeBron. It's that simple. An endorsement by McDonough and company will never mean the same as an endorsement by Bledsoe.

Bledsoe is too quiet to do that.

Exactly what I was going to say. I also imagine the friendship to be a little more like LeBron is more of a mentor, not a guy Bledsoe would call up to try to convince doing something.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

Oooooooh better idea: Frye to OKC for TPE, and they gift-wrap McGary in return? Then I'd be open to trading Len for a future first.

That may be the best idea I've had in a while. Wonder if they'd go for it.

[SunsFanSSOL]

Looks like we're planning on signing Elias Harris. I saw this pic on the Suns website of when Warren and Ennis arrived in PHX.



Notice the names in the back, "E. Harris." There were some more names that were cut off that I couldn't make out. I assume that's the summer league roster. In another pic you could also see a question mark after "Bogdanovic", so I guess we're still unsure if we're going to bring him over or not. I know, not as big as the LeBron stuff, but I thought it was something interesting.

[bwgood77]

Yeah, that's basically what I was saying. Realistically they could get one really good player, like Pau or possibly Lowry, or two decent ones. Than they would have the MLE and minimum deals for the rest.

Cole/Napier
Wade
LeBron
Bosh
Pau/Haslem

Mid level exception guy (3 pt specialist)
Vets or young guys on minimum deals

I guess it doesn't look quite as bad detailing it out like that. That is a solid 8 man rotation plus the minimum deal guys.

You're right, it definitely doesn't look quite as bad when you write it out that way.

Then again, is it enough of an improvement over what they had this year? Is there enough interior defense at all? Will they be able to get quality shooters with that little of money? Is there enough there to play good, team basketball at a high enough level to win a championship?

Those are the questions I'm hoping will creep into Lebrizzle's mind, and those are the things I hope dissuade him from re-sigining a long term deal predicated on dedicating like 85% of their salary for the next 4 years to Lebron, Dwyane Wade's knees and Chris Bosh's lack of aggressiveness. Attrition of skill should be something he considers heavily about his teammates as well.

Well Pau was more of an example. If they thought interior D was the most important thing, they could likely address that instead.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

Looks like we're planning on signing Elias Harris. I saw this pic on the Suns website of when Warren and Ennis arrived in PHX.

"Curry" was in another picture. Guess that means Seth may be on our SL roster as well.

[SunsFanSSOL]

Looks like we're planning on signing Elias Harris. I saw this pic on the Suns website of when Warren and Ennis arrived in PHX.



Notice the names in the back, "E. Harris." There were some more names that were cut off that I couldn't make out. I assume that's the summer league roster. In another pic you could also see a question mark after "Bogdanovic", so I guess we're still unsure if we're going to bring him over or not. I know, not as big as the LeBron stuff, but I thought it was something interesting.

"Curry" was in another picture. Guess that means Seth may be on our SL roster as well.

Nah, he's playing with Orlando.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

Nah, he's playing with Orlando.

In the Orlando summer league, presumably. You can play for multiple squads in different leagues.

Not that this excites me, I don't give a ****.

[matt131]

Maybe I'm being way too optimistic but in the ESPN article (http://espn.go.com/nba/truehoop/miamihe ... mum-salary) only seven teams are able to give LeBron the max he so desires:

"Currently, seven teams have the cap space to offer James a deal starting at $22.2 million next season: the Heat, Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns, Utah Jazz, Philadelphia 76ers and Orlando Magic."

Is it just me, or is this a two team race between Phoenix and Miami? (I'm just trying to convince myself this will happen )

[ShawnBronald]

If the Suns really and truly want LeBron James to play in Phoenix next season, they don't need to talk to his agent and they don't need to talk with LeBron. What they need to do is have Eric Bledsoe call up LeBron and tell him he wants him in Phoenix and what the benefits will be. It's the same exact way Dwyane Wade called up LeBron and Bosh a few years ago and, in essence, orchestrated the Big Three in Miami. I'm sure the idea was all Riley's, but he had Wade set it all up. I'm positive players talking with players means more than team executives and agents talking with players. If Bledsoe enjoyed his time here last season and believes in Dragic, Hornacek, McDonough, Babby, Sarver, the medial staff, the city and the rest of the team..... he needs to sing those praises to LeBron. It's that simple. An endorsement by McDonough and company will never mean the same as an endorsement by Bledsoe.

Bledsoe is too quiet to do that.

Exactly what I was going to say. I also imagine the friendship to be a little more like LeBron is more of a mentor, not a guy Bledsoe would call up to try to convince doing something.

Maybe so, but most people around the league view Bledsoe as our lone 'superstar', or the closest thing we currently have to a superstar. That's not a knock on Dragic, at least not by me, but other players and the media make Bledsoe out to be a superstar or just a notch below. In that case, he is the player that needs to contact LeBron. When Wade reached out, he was the only player on the Heat that could do that. Do you think LeBron would have responded to Mario Chalmers or James Jones recruiting him to play in Miami? I just feel that if LeBron is considering playing here, part of it will be who else is on the team. Consider the friendship (regardless of what type it may be) between he and Bledsoe, a good word by Eric will only help matters. If LeBron doesn't hear from him at all, then I can't imagine him seriously considering Phoenix.

[bwgood77]

I don't know if we read completely different things in the media, but THIS year, Dragic was viewed by the media I read as a MUCH bigger star than Bledsoe. I don't know if most players in the WC at least would say Bledsoe is a bigger star. Dragic was unstoppable all year.

[gaspar]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Mike_Schmitz/status/483664939685396480[/tweet]

[SunsFanSSOL]

I don't know if we read completely different things in the media, but THIS year, Dragic was viewed by the media I read as a MUCH bigger star than Bledsoe. I don't know if most players in the WC at least would say Bledsoe is a bigger star. Dragic was unstoppable all year.

Dragic doesn't have the same swagger Bledsoe has though, which is what a lot of players (and media) notice.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

Dragic doesn't have the same swagger Bledsoe has though, which is what a lot of players (and media) notice.

I bet a lot of players noticed their defense getting shredded by the Dragon last year.

[Barkley6]

One thing worth noting:

Many people have discussed trading Dragic because he is a FA and will need to get paid next year.

HOWEVER, consider:

The Suns are currently paying Josh Childress 7.3m to sit at home and grow his hair. The Suns could easily DOUBLE Dragic's salary by paying him the Childress money without going into luxury tax territory (Depending on the moves this year). The tax is projected at 81m for 15-16 (http://cbafaq.com/blog/?p=304)

Now the Childress money doesnt count against the cap, however, Sarver would be paying no more money than he currently is, the only difference being that more of that money is ending up in Dragic's bank account.

Makes no sense to cut the cord on Dragic at this point. The Suns can easily renew him next year, and I doubt anyone is going to offer him more than 14.8m/per.

[BurningHeart]

I don't know if we read completely different things in the media, but THIS year, Dragic was viewed by the media I read as a MUCH bigger star than Bledsoe. I don't know if most players in the WC at least would say Bledsoe is a bigger star. Dragic was unstoppable all year.

Dragic doesn't have the same swagger Bledsoe has though, which is what a lot of players (and media) notice.

Says who? Have you even *watched* Goran Dragic play?

Jesus Christ.