At this point in the funhouse of mirrors that are the rumors of LeBron James' next move, reality has been hard to tell from dead ends and distorted reflections. Everything, every reaction looked like it could be the way out.But this afternoon, one tangible piece of evidence came though -- the Heat are working very hard, and are very close apparently, to trading Michael Beasley.
That is evidence LeBron is headed to South Beach. More than the reports from multiple sources. More than the booked cabanas at the W Hotel in South Beach for a LeBron James party. More than anything.
Miami needs to move Beasley if it wants to give LeBron, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh all max deal money. And Miami wants to give them max money. The fact they are busting this hard to get it done is a sign.
Ideally, the Heat would like to give Bosh a sign-and-trade max deal -- six years and $127 million. Same thing they can give Wade because they have his Bird-rights. LeBron would have to get by on a regular max deal, somehow.
But they have to move Beasley to make it happen. Apparently Charlotte wants Beasley -- they are in a good position to take a risk on potential, to hope that concerns about his next contract get him to play to his strengths and not coast through games.
Miami had tried to move Beasley for weeks, but the desperation at this time is telling.
The big three can come to Miami even if Beasley is still there, they just have to each do it for $1 million less a year and only five-year deals. But the Heat want their guys happy -- all max guys.
It doesn't mean LeBron to Miami is a sure thing. Nothing is a sure thing in this wildest of free agent periods.
But this is a sign, a real sign. And it points straight to Miami.
I disagree that this is a huge hint. The Heat have been shopping Beasley for months. Charlotte has been interested in him for awhile. Yes it does make sense but i fail to see this is the tell all sign.
Maybe Lebron said he will only sign with the Heat if he gets a max deal so to have any chance of getting him, the Heat are desperately trying to trade Beasley.
Maybe the Lebron puppet is signing with Miami while human Lebron stays with Cleveland...
Can someone explain to me how the hell they can have a full roster with these 3 signed at max deals...Unless Miami is planning on just playing 3 players all year.?
Yeah, this isn't a hint of anything except that Miami believes the rumors.
PAT RILEY SAID HE WOULD BUILD A DYNASTY THIS YEAR AND THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HE MEANT. GET READY FOR AN INCREASE IN TICKETS THIS SEASON BC WE ARE GETTING LEBRON!!!
LeBron James announces that he will buy the Miami Heat, endorse the New York Knicks, marry two of the LA Clippers’ Spirit Dancers in a Utah ceremony in August, become Executive Vice President of Mining and Distribution for Polyus Gold (NJ Nets’ owner Mikhail Prokhorov’s gold empire) and play basketball part-time for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Read the FUNNY article here:
http://www.dailygoat.com/2010/07/lebron-james-gives-thanks-god-signing-10-year-100m-endorsement-deal-heaven/
Im just glad I dont live by the AA stadium any more. Next season gonna bring some crazy business to Miami...much needed.
It really doesn't matter where he goes. He is going to commit a crime in the near future and be unable to play. Just who in the NBA isn't a thug?
I have agreed to play for the minimum and my dog has agreed to play as long as he gets beggin strips after each game
Oh, you sould like a real winner yourself there Todd. yikes.
Dont you reporters know anything Lebron is going to sign with the 76ers
Boy, the hatred -- do you really believe everyone in the NBA is a thug? Really? Derek Fisher taking care of his sick daughter? Pau Gasol? Tim Duncan? All those guys giving to charity, helping out charitable causes, running basketball camps for youths? Boy, if all you want to see is the negative, then that will be not only what you see, but what you experience.
He won't have to go far to do community service! I hear Section 8 is prime real estate in Miami!
grrr...sound, not sould....turns out I'm a real winner too....can't even spell.
WTF are you talking about?!?!?!?
They cannot ALL get max contracts, do you forget they only have 1 player on their roster if they trade Beasley, Mario Chalmers.
That meaning they need 8 more players....
Think before you create a dumba$$ report straight from ESPN.
Bored now. So very, very bored.
I could care less where James ends up, I am just hopeful that David Lee will be with a tri-state team.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=coon_larry&page=salarycap-100708
The salary cap for next year is increased from $57.7M to $58.044M. The Luxury Tax increased from $69.92M to $70.307M.
What this means is that the Heat can afford all three at max contracts of $13M-$16M each max contact which is still around $48M for the 3. That leaves them $10M for FAs and they can also sign minimum contracts all they want...I don't think minimum salary contracts count against the cap.
But the article above says max contracts...but I don't believe all 3 will sign max contracts, but just below. That will allow them to sign almost any FA because they will want to play with the team that will get them a ring in 1-2 years.
For those complaining how they can make it happen, obviously they crunched the numbers to know that they won't be doing this unless they had the money and ability to sign players.
They can sign a shitload of minimum contract veterans
hehehehehe well said. After Jordan there was not a single gentleman. Its now a bunch of 6.5 ft thugs who run the show. the game has become a disgrace and the media only feeds mor eof the same. Its hight time we brought these rascals to reality...Le Bron n co ...and cleaned the game up. Boycott him n his false ego
but here you are, telling us about it
I hope someone signs him soon because I am so sick of hearing about it. He plays basketball, not brain surgery, curing cancer, second coming. You would think he could walk on water they way people are carrying on about him...
Sorry Bill, but Lee is coming to Warriors. Strangely I am a Warriors fan first and Miami fan second. It is being reported that there is an agreement in principle that Lee will go to the Warriors for Randolph, Ronny Turiaf and Keleana Azubuike. I am pissed we are losing Randolph and Az...they will be great. Az will be the next JRich. I hope Lee is good because we gave up a lot to get him.
Actually they all CAN get max contracts.
Salary Cap: 58.044 Million
Bosh, Wade, James (16.6 each)= 49.8 million
James Jones Buyout= 1.55 million
Chalmers= .873 million
Anthony Qualifing Offer= 1.06 Million
7 required cap holds to fill out roster (.473 each)= 3.33 million
Total= 56.613 million (less then the Cap)
If the Heat trades Beasley, they have enough to give all 3 guys the Max, keep Chalmers and Anthony and still sign 1 more player for around 2 million dollars before they need to start offering minimum contracts.
That's why trading Beasley is such a big deal.
This will be the greatest trio in the history of any sport PERIOD!!!!!!!!
Viva Los Heat
More speculative garbage from self-proclaimed pundits.....
Beasley is expected to make I think 5-6.5 million this year. If the can move him then they can all be max guys. If they do not then they talk about a pay cut. I dont care what anyone says, how many of you would want a extra million a year?
Someone please take a look at Bosh's body of work....of course he'll have certiain higher averages in Toronto but on a better team with better talent, he's merely another NBA role player who will still get outplayed by the likes of Perkins, Odom etc.
I smell a backfire and I think it would be nuts for LeBron to sign with the Heat. As Bill Simmons has said, he should be able to smell the rings in Chicago from miles away...
Fabulous! ROFL
Lebron actually performed surgery on my brain cancer. Totally true.
HAAHAHAHA Thats great He gave me a root canal the man doe sit all TOTALY TRUE !!
and he did it all while holding an egg on a spoon during a an old-school sack race. totally true.
Who cares. Even if by some miraculous way they make it to the finals they still have to go through the Lakers. LeBron will never get a ring. He singlehandedly killed what was left of his already tarnished image. He's all season, chokes in the playoffs.
I decided.
Who is MIami going to have at center? O'neal is now with the Celtics. They have no one viable left.
I can't see a team with no center and no bench making the finals.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH Thats GREAT
Really bright comment, dickhead.
LeBron is the lord of the rings. Someone just has his prescious.
"After Jordan"? You think you know Jordan? What a freakin' dick. Livin' in a fantasy world of hatred with a little penis. Feelin' better now?
I saw Bosh go up against Perkins in the state championship game in Texas when they were in high school. You rarely see one player run circles around another like Bosh did that day against Kendrick P. I don't buy your argument. I think these guys only make him better, forcing teams to not double team him.
I saw LeBron dunk on Optimus Prime...twice....then roundhouse kick Chuck Norris...thrice.
Lebron blows
I don't think the Lakers are going to sweat it . As long as only one ball is used in a game the Lakers still have the advantage . Kobe - LeBron even .....Gasol over Bosh .....Bynum-Artest over Wade....James Blake PG over any minimum paid player the Heat have .
Not only that , the Heat will never get past the Orlando Magic in this decade. so go ahead Heat ..no Center no title .
it's true! He does! One time he blew his nose so hard and knocked off Chuck Norris' toupee by accident.
you must be kidding. the king of what?? big mouth,bigger ego,big
dreams. that's all they are king, dream on. you can't win with anyone bcause you fail to see you are a show,just a show. not a winning ticket, reruns over and over agin. 2 mvp's you gotta be
kidding. No last shot clutch shooter, just a chest beater and money hungry thug.
They can sign players at the league minimum, that means they can have 3 superstars and the rest of their team will be players who don't play even on the worst teams in the NBA. Does that look like the blueprint to winning? I personally don't think so, 1 inury, or foul trouble in the playoffs spells complete disaster. Barring both of those the bench production would be abysmal. Really hope he keeps his pretentious self out of Miami.
LeBron has as many championship rings as I do. He had 5 chances to do something in the playoffs and choked everytime. The King???More like pretender to the throne until he has more championships than a dead man. The Heat is Wade's team; can't see LBJ being happy if he's not the alpha dog. Party hearty, Miami - you're getting a guy who has proved absolutely NOTHING.
ya know they say lebron and chuck norris are the only two people who can perform brain surgery during mid-coutis
anyone else catch that analyst on espn today compare Lebron and the other players to "inmates" and the NBA as "the asylum"
stereotyping black basketball players as inmates is a really bad idea. For a lot of reasons.
agree 110% just shows they dont know where hes going and want to be ready... I still say chicago
WHO CARES!!!! SERIOUSLY WHO CARES!!! LEBRON DOES NOT ENTERTAIN ME HE ANNOYS ME ON HOW REDICULOUS THIS COUNTRY HAS GOTTEN. COME PLAY BASKETBALL IN THE NBA WHERE YOU CAN BE MEDIOCORE AND WE WILL PAY YOU A RETARDED AMOUNT OF MONEY TO SIT ON THE BENCH. OWNING A PROFESSIONAL SPORTS TEAM HAS GOT TO BE A HORRIBLE INVESTMENT UNLESS YOU OWN A BIG MARKET TEAM OFCOURSE, OVERPAID ATHLETES ARE BORING AND I WOULD RATHER WATCH PAINT DRY!!! BY THE WAY HE IS FAR BEYOND MEDIOCORE BUT HE IS A PRODUCT OF ME ME ME ME ME AND NOT TEAM! EXAMPLE BOSTON SERIES THIS SUMMER HE GAVE UP LIKE A LITTLE BITCH!!! YES I AM YELLING:):)
Very ignorant comment to make. Unfortunately some athletes have not been the best role models. But there are plenty of entertainers, musicians, and political leaders who have fallen in that category as well. When all is said... We are human and we make mistakes.
Really, WGAF? He throws a ball through a hoop. It's not like he's a teacher, soldier or nurse.