Free Agency/Off Season Thread

[Triplexxx23]

Source: [Wojnarowski] Miami Heat closing in to secure free agent forward Luol Deng on a two-year, nearly $20 million contract.

So, I guess that means in 2 years we get to make a run at LeBron again?

Lebron won't do it.. He would look so stupid bouncing back and fourth...the only way i see him coming back is him missing all the fun he had with wade and bosh... And the cavs are just losing with no team chemistry...

 

[Andresrenee]

No way Lebron ever comes back. That ship has sailed. Trust me. Also, I agree Deng will need to be given a little more than $10 million to sign but with his injury history not sure other suitors outside of Phoenix would drop that sort of coin on him. Heat should go no higher than 11 million with 3rd year team option...LOL. For some reason, I am not sure we get him. Also, hearing that Anderson is more loyal to Riley and Spolestra than Lebron since it was them who looked for him and took a chance on him. Really hope he stays and hope that he is rewarded. Him and Bosh played extremely well together.

 

[Andresrenee]

Does anybody know who we go after if not Deng? Really curious.

 

[Triplexxx23]

Does anybody know who we go after if not Deng? Really curious.

Greg monroe... Doesn't seem like he wants to stay with the pistons but Detroit is willing to match any offer... Might have to be a sign and trade if he is that unhappy.

 

[Logicallylethal]

Yeah at this point if Deng requires 11 or 12 mil a year we need to give it to him. Ariza is already off the board so there's not another quality wing of Deng's caliber. If an extra 1-2 mil a year prevents us from signing Deng I'm going to be a bit irritated by management!

 

[bksballer89]

 

[Flauge]

we are going to be fine. But the current roster is not championship material. but the roster isn't don't yet. Deng will go a long way to helping. If we get Deng and nothing else major (outside of Wade/Haslem) we should be able to get the 4th/5th seed in the East and advance out of the first round. We get boozer.. we are talking 2/3 seed likely.

But if not Deng.. who? I mean Granger is solid backup, but I don't want him starting. I like the way James Ennis is playing, but he is completely unproven at this level. If offering Deng 2 yr 22 or 24 million get's this deal done, we should do it.

 

[Flauge]

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: LeBron Can?t Go Home to Cleveland Again - TIME

Kareem wrote a piece on LeBron return. Good stuff. First piece I've seen that even acknowledges the Miami fan base and the slight that was given to us.

 

[Paolo305613]

Follow @AlbertRandom1 for heat/salary cap related stuff

 

[Andresrenee]

Good news and eh news....from people that I know it appears that barring something unexpected, Birdman will be with us next season. However, still too far apart with Deng.

 

[bksballer89]

We don't know how far apart they are with Deng. I don't think Atlanta/Phoenix are offering him more than 10 either. He's just trying to get more money out of us I believe

 

[Retroram52]

I would think Boozer when he gets amnestied would be a good selection. I still say, get Oden going and have him play behind Bosh coming off the bench. He is a big body at 7+feet and he plays pretty good D. There is an untapped player there and I just think he if he starts playing on a regular basis, he will be pretty good.

 

[Paolo305613]

Any possible way we can please the guy and give him the money he wants and still have room to continue to improve the roster?

It would suck to miss out on him but also have to miss out on other guys as well because we are spending too much time on this

 

[Paolo305613]

Any word on when Boozer will/has to be amenstied by ?

 

[Andresrenee]

Any possible way we can please the guy and give him the money he wants and still have room to continue to improve the roster?

It would suck to miss out on him but also have to miss out on other guys as well because we are spending too much time on this

Not sure, it is wise to pay too much for him. He has Achilles issues and Wade has knee issues. Have to be careful here to be able to round out a deeper roster without James where the pieces fit. Also, need to reword the loyalty of some of our guys who have stayed with us. The only challenge to him at that price may be Phoenix if they are making a push for a big trade to land Love or Dallas if they do not sign Parsons. Honestly, I want Deng to happen because he would be a good fit. However, a bit concerned to make sure we don't overpay. We don't have much at that position.

 

[Paolo305613]

Miami Heat front-runner to land Luol Deng - ESPN

 

[bksballer89]

Any word on when Boozer will/has to be amenstied by ?

It must be done by Wednesday

 

[Heatles84]

I love the latest Ask Ira. It is still a wait and see if Wade will return or not, and if he does we will have to continue to work him through the annoying “ maintenance program” but I dont think it will be as drastic as last season. And, if Wade can accept a lesser role(reserve player) the program wont be as annoying for me or even significant. Thats not to say he wouldnt be less important off the bench, but if we can get a quality starter to replace him then we are good.

I know there is some sense that part of the reasons Queen James left is because he was tired of playing with a declining Wade, but I always felt that the reasons gave little important to the regular season was not only to take care of a fragile Wade but also a fragile Queen James. In a sense, for all the help James provided Wade, I also felt he was also a bad influence at timees for him on the court. I think now that he is gone, we will see less of that. Less complaining, less acting jobs and a lot more basketball of which we all feel D-Wade has a decent amount left in him of.

Another thing to point out in this latest Ask Ira which I have also seen a lot of on social media is people blaming Spo for LB being gone and calling for his head because of it. Spo has nothing to do with LB or any one who leaves this team - he/they are gone because they have their reasons for leaving. Spo is a great coach who will continue to get better. He did a great job managing a team full of egos and he will do the same with whatever the make up of the new team is. This fan base just needs to learn to apperciate better. Apperciate the work the coaches and staff does - not just the players/star players. We have a lot of guys on this team that do the little things some of the big name guys refuse to do.

I agree with you here. I also think another reason why he left is because Irving's on his last year of his rookie deal this upcoming season which allows Lebron to come onto the Cavs and still get his max deal. Which is why guys like bk, andre and I are calling bullshit that he just came to this decision a couple days ago. This was likely in the making for months, but I digress.

Wade and Bosh are going to be able to operate more freely which should allow both to go back to their natural position and I have faith that Spo will be able to modify the offense to their full strengths. We obviously won't be as good as we were last year when you take the best player in the world off the team. But we'll still be pretty decent, depending how the roster rounds out.

 

[Flauge]

Amnesty is two days away. July 15th. Not sure if it is the morning or evening midnight.. or if it is noon. But it is 2 days away. Bulls have to amnesty Boozer if they cant find a trading partner. A trading partner would also have to have cap space and be willing to eat boozers contract which is 16.8 million. He is an unrestricted free agent next season. If bulls amnesty him.. he would sign for minimum.

How it works is this (if I am wrong, someone correct me, but this is my understanding). He can sign for whatever he wants. But whatever that amount is.. let's say 5 million.. the difference between that salary and the bulls salary is paid to him by the bulls, at 5 million it would be 11.8 million. With this in place, it makes sense for Boozer to sign at the minimum because no matter what, he is getting his money.

Perfect scenario we land Deng for 10 and Boozer for minimum. Then we can frontload Wade and Haslem and still fit under the cap. Which would also free up room next year to resign Boozer if we like what we see from him.

 

[Flauge]

BK is right. it is wednesday