The way I see it right now, best case scenario Wade comes back at something close to 2 years at $40M. If not, as strange as it would be to see him on another team, I can live with him going to Denver. Same for Milwaukee. If he goes to Chicago I won't love it, but that team probably won't be very good anyway. If he goes to Cleveland that will change the way I see him. It could taint his career with the Heat IMO. If Wade does leave, it will be very interesting to see what Riley does next. They'll have plenty of room, but there really won't be anyone worth paying left on the market. Does he try and swing some trades? Does he make a play for Ezeli? Or does he just let things stand and give a much bigger role to J Rich and Winslow?
I wouldnt mind giving a call to OKC for Westbrook at some point. I think his style of an attacking PG matched with J-Rich 3 Ball (shot), Winslow Defense and Whiteside paint presence would be a match made in heaven. Side Note: I have a wierd feeling that if Westbrook does make it to FA, he will try and get out of the West, they were talking about it with Durant but I think Russell might capitalize on that. (If he stays in West, I see San Antonio all over it)
I think at this point Ethan Skolnick is right that there is something contentious going on between Wade's agent and the Heat. I would not necessarily go so far as to say between Wade and Riley unless someone can confirm that in detail and without merely providing cutesy innuendos and "writing on the wall" crap. I also think Wade is fully trying to get the best deal possible out of Miami. No more discounts, if he can help it. He's got to be feeling emboldened by the fact he basically played the full year injury free and he was dominant in the playoffs, pulling the Heat out of the clutches of defeat in all the right moments until injuries were just too much to overcome.
Lol when Durant met with Golden State, Durant asked how much championships can they win, and Draymond Green almost blew it by saying "we can win the championships without you", which gave a bad taste in Durant's mouth. Draymond can't keep those gums closed. Jerry West had to smooth things over the following day. That's why I agree with Stephen A Smith when he says this is the weakest move by a superstar ever. Golden State is the best team in the league by far when everyone is on the court and healthy, they will win with or without Durant.
Draymond was *****ing about shots last year. Klay is probably going to see the biggest drop in numbers. Both those guys signed under the old TV contract and are gonna see Steph and Durant making $30+ a year after next year. Gonna be interesting to see if they keep their mouths shut and let Steph/KD get the numbers or if they want to maintain their value and grumble a bit. Doubt they do. But it's all I've got to hold on to.
LeBatard yesterday and Skolnik today sort of saying what I was saying about the "HeatLifer" and "Heat Culture" stuff. If that's the selling point to FAs, can't do this to the biggest reason those 3 rings happened. Of course if you roll out Westbrook and Whiteside it might not matter.
Starting to think "the godfather" has began to wear on some of these NBA divas. Too many alpha males Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Had 3 parent teacher conferences with Mickey Arrison. Nice guy. super engaging, overly chatty. He's no Pat Riley. (Not that i was ever in a room with Pat Riley)
If Wade somehow ends up leaving I wonder if Miami will then resign Tyler Johnson? Perhaps they can offer him a deal that isn't so backloaded as Albert Random suggested. 12.5/yr for Johnson, while it sounds ridiculous, probably isn't considering the contracts being tossed around right now.
Could be. Not sure if just the total value has to be matched or year-to-year value. I'm starting to think you're probably right with the whole poison pill nonsense.
It's almost getting to the point where I'm starting to wonder if it isn't the best thing for Wade to go to Denver or Milwaukee. The Heat have a big opportunity to position themselves to be a championship contender again moving forward with the young players they have and the loaded draft class and free agent class coming up next offseason. Maybe it's just best to re-load instead of risking crippling yourself with a Wade contract.
I love D Wade. But I've been having the same thought. Clear house and bring a lot of $$$ to free agency next year.
I think Wade likely has more gripes with Arison than Riley. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk
I mean the best option from my POV. I don't really want him to go there, although I could stomach it. Just not Cleveland.
Oh yeah, agreed. From his perspective, he is big in China and they really like teams with red as one of their colors. One of the reasons they had that bizarre infatuation with Rose. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk
Wade is my favorite athlete ever. I don't want him to leave. I want him to play his whole career here. But if he should leave, I'd wish him nothing but the best. If he feels that some other situation is best for him at this point, then he has the right to go there.
Ira mentioned Haslem getting the mini-MLE if Wade returns. Wade on a 3 year deal (or at more than $20M per after a McBob trade), and Haslem at the mini-MLE is just about the worst case scenario at this point. You'd be crippling your team moving forward. If Haslem getting that is Wade's "win" and he doesn't get more than 2 years at $20M, then I guess I could live with that. In fact, that would probably save face for Miami and Wade better than any other scenario. It preserves the Heat lifer thing, and lets Wade re-pay his friend for the actual sacrifice that was made for this team.
I agree. Really, really don't want him to leave and ultimately I think he'll stay. While I think the media is blowing a lot of this out of proportion, I still wonder why Wade would play mind games by following the Cavs on instagram and that kind of nonsense...
I don't begrudge players trying to maximize their earnings. I'd prefer it not play out in the media, but you have to do what you have to do.
The thing is, I don't think playing it out in the media maximizes your earnings. I don't think it helps sway the Heat. In fact, if anything, I think it makes them go the other way. At the end of the day, playing it out in the media hurts the fans more than anything else, and I think that is BS.
Let's go down the rabbit hole here and say the Heat and Wade really do have a parting of the ways. What next for Miami? Do they keep Tyler Johnson? Is that a smart contract to take on regardless of Wade's status?
Love Tyler Johnson but not sure he is a must sign. Important to keep the cap flexibility for a deadline trade and, more importantly, a play at Westbrook next year.
IMO, keeping Johnson might be an even worse decision long-term than keeping Wade. Years 3 and 4 of that deal could be AWFUL. And that will come at the time when they need to pay Richardson.
20 million ion 2018 is 13-14 million last year. So riley has to be convinced Tyler is that kind of player..
By the way, just to reiterate how dominant Josh Richardson has been in his two summer league games: 1. He's #2 in scoring at 19.5 points per game among players that have played multiple games. 2. He's #3 in assists per game at 5.0. In 59 minutes he's 13 of 23 for 39 points, has made 3 of 7 (43%) from three. He's got 10 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 2 rebounds, 3 turnovers and 4 personal fouls. And by the way there were I believe at least two or three additional two point shots that went down where he just barely had a toe on the line. He thought they were three pointers when he shot them but his foot was barely over the line. I'd say he's closer to 56% on threes thus far. Justise Winslow has arguably been even better in his 55 minutes, though the stats don't reflect it (which is typical for him). He's 11 of 30 on field goals which includes 3 of 10 from three, has made 11 of 13 free throws, scoring 36 points. He has 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 steals, 1 block, 5 turnovers and 4 personal fouls. They're both scoring just under 24 points per 36 minutes.
The guy I talk about Rodney McGruder in 65 minutes is 10 of 19 for 26 points including 5 of 12 (42%) from three, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals, 1 turnover, 1 personal foul.
Nene signed 1 year 2.9 million to Rockets. Not sure what Haslem is seeking but hes not worth more than Nene, hes not even as effective as david west who signed the minimum
Dag gummit. Jarnell Stokes is gonna play for Spurs summer league. I've talked to Sec about him before, says Heat can't sign him until December at the earliest but they may scare suitors away by promising two years guaranteed where others will barely guarantee one. He averaged 20.6 points on 66.5%, 9.3 rebounds per game for Heat's D-League team last year.
NeNe is another guy who can get his own shot. Signing doesn't effect our 9 mil in cap room. A great veteran who can guide Capela on post moves. Excellent signing. Now we just need to trade Brewer or Ariza and bring in Ricky Rubio.
