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Bosh seems to be going to MIA, sign-&-trade or not.
He would bet his 6th year with a sign-&-trade only.

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As it will also help signing other players, it makes MIA a serious contender to one of the two best team in the East, something ATL would need to secure a second round home court advantage.
ORL is still ORL for the moment, BOS was clearly on a higher level than they show in regular season, like SAS did in the past, and if CLE keep James and others, they are better than ATL.
There was also MIL just behind ATL last season, now they will have Bogut back, maybe Redd too, and kept Salmons, add Maggette and Gooden.

So isn't it better to see James going to MIA ?
It would at least keep CLE out of the contender but we could not pass the ECF for a long time.

All that said, James to MIA or staying in CLE, we are in trouble if ASG doesn't make something bigger than just use the MLE.
We know that using it leaves us under the tax, or just paying a bit.
I hope if they use it, they would also don't come cheap with Childress and get something from him or match his offer, and if possible do some trade.


EDIT: James is now on the verge of joining them.

At this moment I don't think there's nothing ATL can do to get over tha hump, other than just having an edge chemistry wise with pretty much keeping the same core of guys. I still see ORL as 1, who ever has Lebron 2, Mia 3, ATL or Bos 4-5, with NY 6.

gasoldierboi wrote:At this moment I don't think there's nothing ATL can do to get over tha hump, other than just having an edge chemistry wise with pretty much keeping the same core of guys. I still see ORL as 1, who ever has Lebron 2, Mia 3, ATL or Bos 4-5, with NY 6.

I honestly LOL'ed at this. Having a superstar or 2 at the top of your depth chart is nice, but if you don't have anything to support them, then you're not going to go very far. MIA has not passed us... yet. They could with a few more astute FA moves, but a roster of Wade, Bosh, Beasley, and Chalmers doesn't make me think "Championship". The same goes 2x for NYK. Amar'e is a nice piece, but him alone won't get them into the playoffs. I'm sure that HOU is laughing right now...

theatlfan wrote:

gasoldierboi wrote:At this moment I don't think there's nothing ATL can do to get over tha hump, other than just having an edge chemistry wise with pretty much keeping the same core of guys. I still see ORL as 1, who ever has Lebron 2, Mia 3, ATL or Bos 4-5, with NY 6.

I honestly LOL'ed at this. Having a superstar or 2 at the top of your depth chart is nice, but if you don't have anything to support them, then you're not going to go very far. MIA has not passed us... yet. They could with a few more astute FA moves, but a roster of Wade, Bosh, Beasley, and Chalmers doesn't make me think "Championship". The same goes 2x for NYK. Amar'e is a nice piece, but him alone won't get them into the playoffs. I'm sure that HOU is laughing right now...

Thats cool, i never said that they'd win Championships, but giving what we know, how do u think ATL would beat n e of them.. THey had to go 7 with just WADE, they had to go 7 with a Bucks team without they 2 best players, so what i know and seen thus far a WADE and a Bosh is better than what the Hawks will trot out...I'm a Hawk thru and thru but sometimes gotta look at it for what it is..Maybe Drew no something we dont...While the do see the East as Orl to lose the Hawks are not ready to dethrone... If the reports are true that Lebron is considering the heat, Me and U can go suit up for them in the starting 5 and still beat the Hawks and N e other team for that matter

gasoldierboi wrote:At this moment I don't think there's nothing ATL can do to get over tha hump, other than just having an edge chemistry wise with pretty much keeping the same core of guys. I still see ORL as 1, who ever has Lebron 2, Mia 3, ATL or Bos 4-5, with NY 6.

Amare alone does not push NY to 6th.

We barely beat the Heat last year when they only had Wade. I don't think his team will be able to handle Bosh/Wade in the playoffs.

Don't sleep on Milwaukee and Chicago. Unless NY lands Lebron I don't have them in the top 8. As far as Miami goes I'm waiting for the dust to settle before I evaluate.

theatlfan wrote:

gasoldierboi wrote:At this moment I don't think there's nothing ATL can do to get over tha hump, other than just having an edge chemistry wise with pretty much keeping the same core of guys. I still see ORL as 1, who ever has Lebron 2, Mia 3, ATL or Bos 4-5, with NY 6.

I honestly LOL'ed at this. Having a superstar or 2 at the top of your depth chart is nice, but if you don't have anything to support them, then you're not going to go very far. MIA has not passed us... yet. They could with a few more astute FA moves, but a roster of Wade, Bosh, Beasley, and Chalmers doesn't make me think "Championship". The same goes 2x for NYK. Amar'e is a nice piece, but him alone won't get them into the playoffs. I'm sure that HOU is laughing right now...

I don't think Miami will win a championship....but they could certainly beat the Hawks next year. The Hawks took 7 games to beat the 2010 Bucks and 2009 Heat when they had the best player at 4 of the 5 positions.

gasoldierboi wrote:Thats cool, i never said that they'd win Championships, but giving what we know, how do u think ATL would beat n e of them.. THey had to go 7 with just WADE, they had to go 7 with a Bucks team without they 2 best players, so what i know and seen thus far a WADE and a Bosh is better than what the Hawks will trot out...I'm a Hawk thru and thru but sometimes gotta look at it for what it is..Maybe Drew no something we dont...While the do see the East as Orl to lose the Hawks are not ready to dethrone... If the reports are true that Lebron is considering the heat, Me and U can go suit up for them in the starting 5 and still beat the Hawks and N e other team for that matter

This was kind of hard to read, but I think I got the gist...

Remember the quote: "It's never as bad as your worst day, it's never as good as your best" - there's a lot of truth in old cliches. It was pretty obvious that the Hawks didn't play well after the playoffs started a few months ado. I dunno why - maybe it was that our players were tired, maybe they were unhappy with their roles, maybe they just didn't believe they could do more, maybe they just didn't care to. But there was a stark difference between the basketball we played during the regular season and after. Only looking @ the playoffs doesn't give you the whole picture - nor does only looking @ the regular season.

Do I think that we're so far behind ORL that it's insurmountable? No, I really don't. Of the games I watched (and I admit that I couldn't watch the entire horror show), I saw a team that just didn't look like the team I saw in the regular season. We didn't move the ball well; we didn't look for the open shot; we didn't play D the way I know we know how. Honestly, it looked like we had 5 players on the court always trying to be individuals instead of a team trying to win the game. We had "leaders" who seemed to decide that to take the entire weight on their shoulders - then couldn't handle it when the fans lashed back; we had "leaders" simply pack it in and go for stats. It was like the team went from being the Hawks we knew during the regular season to being a bunch of prima donnas. These are things that I just didn't see much in the regular season. Basically, what I saw is that when we're not playing well, not playing as a team, then we're very bad, but I already knew that. We've seen that plenty of times in stretches - generally lasting only a few minutes, maybe as long as a quarter.

But does this mean that we're automatically behind a MIA team that loses 90% of their roster and has one very good acquisition? Or we should just bow to a NYK team that has just 1 (so far) acquisition to a handful of OK players on rookie contracts? No. A new coach, a new contract for JJ, a "true C", promoting our prospect PG to the court - any of these things could be the catalyst we need so that the team would come together in the playoffs, or even one of a number of things that we've yet to even hint @ this off-season. All we need to do is show how we can play when we play together, and that's something that has been consistently lacking the last 2 playoffs.

yea I got ahead of myself with NY being 6 i was thinking they had some1 else with Amare, who IDK lol noway is NY better than CHI or Mil yet...but its all good.....Point is the games have to be played out and while its fun to assume and guess whos better we wont know till they play..My thing with the Hawks are they've been better than alot of the lower teams the past 2 seasons and its hard for me to say with confidence that they'd beat a 2 powered star team with a buch of fillers...Under Larry Drew the Hawks very well could be over the hump with a change in philosphy (sp?) but only time will tell..

Space Jam wrote:We barely beat the Heat last year when they only had Wade. I don't think his team will be able to handle Bosh/Wade in the playoffs.

We are not the same team that we had 2 years ago. I think unless the Heat add some major pieces that we can beat them. JJ and Bosh is nice but they don't have a 3rd guy who scares you offensively.

uga_dawgs24 wrote:

gasoldierboi wrote:At this moment I don't think there's nothing ATL can do to get over tha hump, other than just having an edge chemistry wise with pretty much keeping the same core of guys. I still see ORL as 1, who ever has Lebron 2, Mia 3, ATL or Bos 4-5, with NY 6.

Amare alone does not push NY to 6th.

I agree, they've improved obviously but not 6th seed improvement. They still have a lot to go, maybe fighting for 8th.

When KG and Ray Allen went to Boston, all people talked about is how they couldn't win without a true team (myself included). They still needed a PG and a C. People said Rondo wasn't all that and Perkins wasn't very highly regarded at the time. Guess what, when you have 3 great players, you really can put some young cheap guys around them and win.

If Lebron joins Wade and Bosh they will just put those 3 second round picks around them and a veteran or two seeking rings and be in contention for eastern conference and probably championship. If Lebron doesn't join them, they'll still be a top 4 team in the east, easily.

IMO

saloonyk8 wrote:When KG and Ray Allen went to Boston, all people talked about is how they couldn't win without a true team (myself included). They still needed a PG and a C. People said Rondo wasn't all that and Perkins wasn't very highly regarded at the time. Guess what, when you have 3 great players, you really can put some young cheap guys around them and win.

If Lebron joins Wade and Bosh they will just put those 3 second round picks around them and a veteran or two seeking rings and be in contention for eastern conference and probably championship. If Lebron doesn't join them, they'll still be a top 4 team in the east, easily.

IMO

Eh, when Ainge got Ray, people took notice - or at least should have. BOS had a LOT of young talent - much of which went to acquire KG. After KG though, they went to championship good. You also underrate the young pieces they kept: Perkins was my favorite FA as a RFA that year (always wanted a "true C", even back then); Rondo was coming off a rookie season where he showed a ton of promise. No, BOS most definitely had the pieces in place when they pulled the trigger on Allen and KG.

Now, if LeBron joins MIA, then yeah, I'll take them very seriously. If not, then I don't think they'll be substantially better than this season... depending on what they do with the rest of their cap space. Just some 2nd round picks, Chalmers, & Beasley won't get it done around Wade and Bosh. OTOH, I really don't know how much Wade has, so they best get it together quickly.

if Lebron chooses Miami, it will not only be the worst thing for basketball, but it will also the worst thing for his legacy.

any championship that these three will get or might get, will be meaningless .

Shaq got championships on his own, so did Duncan, and Kobe has cemented his place in history with the last championship (the ones with Shaq don't count, and the Orlando one doesn't cout because KG was injured, but the last one was the most meaningful).

Kobe is great, but not better than Jordan. Lebron is the only guy who has a legit shot who could possibly get ahead of Jordan when his career is over. If Lebron decides to join Wade and Bosh, i could never consider him the best basketball player ever, even if they end up winning 8-10 championships in a row. Russel went up against Wilt and Pettit, Bird and Magic. Jordan dominated all of his peers like Barkely, Ewing, and Malone. to be considered the best ever, Lebron, like Jordan will have to dominate his peers, like Bosh, Wade, Kobe, Paul, Dwight. he hasn't been able to dominate Wade, Kobe, or Dwight, and joining this mini dream team will just hurt his legacy and no matter how many championships he gets, i would not be able to put him ahead of Kobe or Duncan, or even KG, maybe on the same level or alittle ahead of Dirk and Nash.

LeBron choosing Miami won't be bad for basketball...but you're right about his legacy. He's not going to be able to put his stamp on the titles he does win and he's opened himself up to get DESTROYED if they don't win the championship.

It's look like

"Please guys help me to win this Ring!!!..Please!!!! "

^ i understand that Lebron needs a Pippen, but this is like Jordan, Barkley, and Malone on the same team, so really, what is the point of winning a meaningless ring.

What happens to his legacy if the Heat do not win championships? This is a bad deal for LeBron. 3 guys who are great and 10 who fill out the roster. I think the NBA will lose it's luster for everyday fans.

Harry10 wrote:^ i understand that Lebron needs a Pippen, but this is like Jordan, Barkley, and Malone on the same team, so really, what is the point of winning a meaningless ring.

This is why I have a hard time believing it. My theory from the start was that winning a title in Newark or winning a title w/ Wade would minimize the prestige of the title. It seems like the 3 logical teams from him to choose from are Cleveland,Chicago,and NY but who knows what he's thinking.