The rookies already factor against the cap. And each year you get an exception to sign your rookies. And you can sign as many minimum salary players as you want once you're over the cap.

And I'll be suprised if anyone takes a paycut.

Like if you really wanted a title, you could just sign with the Lakers for 6m(the Midlevel exception) and be pretty assured of winning a title.

I don't mean a cut from his Cavs pay. But less than a max. Unless that's not a possibility in this situation, once again, I'm ignorant on the NBA :).

Theoretically yes, it could happen. Realistically it won't happen.

Just a small clarification. You can sign as many minsal players you want as long as you're over the soft cap, in no form at all may you be over the hard cap.

I guess the ESPN reports are bullshit. Wade was in Chicago all weekend. They even had a reporter talk to him at the airport on Sunday. He was at the White Sox game on Saturday.

Does ESPN just make shit up now? They have been real bad when it comes to NBA. Time to hire some legitimate reporters.

there is no hard cap.

I know he's a disaster now, but Arenas took below max (not way below, but below) when he signed his last extension.

16m/6years isn't chump change i suppose.

You can sign minsal guys to go over the cap, as well as MLE. So you would spend the $49mil on the big three, then you'd get $10mil more to spend on whoever you want, and THEN you could sign a MLE and minsal guys. So you could have the other two starters be legit players and then fill with minsal guys.

Would be an interesting experiment to see if a team could win without a bench at all.

nah...once you go under the cap by more than the MLE you don't get a mle. You get one the next offseason

Ahhh thanks. So the Heat can have three stars, one medium-salary guy, plus your first-round pick, plus minsal scrubs.

80s Celtics

Mind you as a Bulls fan, while the thought of adding Bosh and Lebron is amazing to think of, I still am uncomfortable with aspects of it.

These superteams may ruin the NBA for people. Sure it's fun to have a dynasty, but doesn't it just destroy any hope for most of the teams. I think I'd prefer that each superstar went by themselves somewhere and maybe brought a 2nd tier guy like Joe Johnson, Amare, Boozer with. Wade, Lebron, and Bosh would be fun to watch, but it would suck for parity.

If\when LeBron leaves Cleveland, where ever he ends up he's probably going to get his Pippen, but I think after that it's going to be a bunch of Buechlers and Dickey Simpkinses.

I'd be very uncomfortable with my team giving Bosh a max contract under any circumstances.

Yeah - I think it would be great for the fans of that team, but overall it might hurt the league and drive down viewership and attendance overall. In the long run. Say like...over the 6 years of the contracts length or whatever.

lebron/joe johnson and lebron/wade are the two dynasty combos. Lebron/Rose is potentially there.

You're assuming that lineup is unbeatable... I see three guys who love to score and may not play nice with each other. The big three in Boston fit way, way better together than that big three ever would. Garnett defense and rebounding, Pierce all around scorer and Allen outside shooting. Once you drop the money on those three guys, you aren't going to be able to surround them with anything resembling the cast that Boston had either. You are basically looking at one other starting caliber player, a couple of exceptions and then scrubs to fill the roster out. I just don't see this dream team dominating the way everyone thinks they will.

Joe Johnson? The same Joe Johnson who was embarassed in the playoffs? He's a good player, but not even the best on his team. Hardly a dynasty maker there.

You'd have 3 top 10 players in the league in their prime (something Boston didn't have). Including 2 of the top 3 players in the game. They'd be unbeatable.

in free agency this year I mean. And if the Cavs would have called the Suns bluff on Johnson 5 years ago, we'd have won a few titles.

The 2004 Olympic team had a lot more than that. You can't build a team around similar players with nothing else and expect it to dominate. Of course it would matter who else they had on the roster. If we're talking completely bare cupboard I don't think they dominate. If you get a solid inside presence (ala Kendrick Perkins) and some good perimeter defenders on the cheap, then yeah it's pretty hard to see anyone beating them. It would be interesting to see who else would jump on board and take huge pay cuts/exceptions just to get in on the act and win a title.

I kind of hope you are right though. It would be hilarious watching Stern squirm through 5 years of one team dominating the league. I wonder how "bad" the refereeing would suddenly get to even things up :lol:

Yeah, this is what would worry me about Bosh/LeBron. Garnett and Ray Allen sacrificed big parts of their games when they got to Boston, but that was OK because the roles they were asked to play is what they were best at anyway, as Garnett is a strong defender and Allen is one of the best 3pt shooters in the league. What's Bosh's strength? His scoring ability. He's a good rebounder but he's hardly known for his defense. What's Wade's strength? His scoring ability. LeBron is versatile, but he's also going to be the leading scorer wherever he goes.

LeBron fits the Pierce-mould at the Celtics in that he'd still be the one asked to create his own shots, but Bosh and Wade would be playing roles they haven't had to play before, and I don't think either guy compliments LeBron very well.

I just can't see LeBron sharing the spotlight with Wade and Bosh. He wants to be Kobe or Michael, guys that were the sole reason the team was championship caliber. He might share with Bosh, who doesn't seem to have a superstar mentality, but a part of a big three doesn't make you a global icon.

maybe the whole "players summit" thing has been puffed up by the media assuming they all are talking because they want to be together and in reality they're talking because they don't all want to end up in the same place?

i mean probably not...but i dunno.

Lebron and Wade have shown they can be good teammates. Neither is really a big ballhog. If anything, Lebron was too passive in the playoffs.

Yeah ok, a super team would hurt viewership... the same way the Jordan Bulls did, right?

Or it could be that 3 megamillionaires in their 20s have plenty of reasons to hang out together in Miami during the summer.

PUSSAY

They all want to hang with me in Miami. I know where the best weed, sex and strippers are in Miami.

Your mom's house?? ;)

:lol::lol::lol::lol:

The idea of having three superstars on one team while nice in theory is a recipe for disaster. Wade and LeBron are similar players and both are considered Tier 1 level players. Unless one of them decides to serve as the number 2 man it is not going to work.

A combination of Bosh/Wade or Bosh/LeBron would workout best simply because they would compliment each other best. I don't consider Bosh a Tier 1 talent although he is a high level Tier 2 player. A situation similar to the Lakers would be ideal for both Wade and LeBron, a player like Bosh who is the man for a small team but serves as a willing and happy number 2 a la Paul Gasol.

I would not give Joe Johnson the max at all, he is not worth it.

SEXY TIME!!!

lol

i'm glad you realize i was just joking around.

I thought I saw an interview with Bosh where he says he wants to be the #1 on a team...

C - Channing Frye
PF - Bosh/Amare/Boozer/Dirk
SF - Beasley
SG - Wade
PG - Chris Duhon
6 - Ray Allen

I believe this is a realistic lineup and while it won't be an automatic championship contender. If the Heat were smart they would trade Beasley for a draft pick and a solid vet.

Word is that Ray Allen is happy in Boston and doesn't want to leave though.

Not a problem. I was just thinking we could get a nice solid vet who is similar to Ray Allen talent wise.

At this point I'm not sure who would take Beasley, though Washington is apparently taking everybody's unwanted parts at the moment.

RealGM: Basketball Wiretap Archives: Pierce Will Opt Out, Listen To Offers From Other Teams

Paul Pierce is now a free agent.

Not a surprise. He was always going to opt out so that he could get one more contract before retirement. Better to do it now than a year from now coming off who knows what kind of season.

He's been on-the-record as saying he intends to retire as a Celtic though, so I'm not losing any sleep over this.

Yeah, I've heard that a couple of times.

So Bosh is saying he wants to play for a lottery team?

Well, it's what he's used to after all.

hxxp://bossip.com/261286/david-letterman-gives-jay-z-a-dose-of-reality-theres-no-way-in-hell-lebron-james-will-win-a-ring-with-the-nets/#

Letterman was hilarious with Jay-Z the other night.

This.

A smaller trade :

Nets trade Yi and 3 mio in cash to Washington for Quinton Ross to get even further under the Cap.
2nd time the Wizards steal a solid rotation guy for cap relief. Yi showed some glimpses last year and imo really can play.

Wizards are under the cap as well and would stand at around 32 mio if they let Foye (4.5 Qualifying offer) and Howard (12 mio team option) walk with Wall, Arenas, Hinrich, Nick Young, Yi, Blatche, Thornton, Booker and McGee under contract.

Yao picked up his player option, since the Rockets aren´t under the cap anyway that´s propably best for both parties (otherwise renegotiating a smaller and longer contract would have been nice).

Morey might swing for the fence and try to do a sign & trade for someone.

Superstars win in this league and there aren't many out there available. He's a top 10 player and if it assures you Lebron, you have to do it.

Washington needs to do anything in their power to rid themselves of Gilbert. He will be a cancer to Wall. I do like what they're doing though by putting together a nice team around Wall. Hinrich is a solid 30 minutes a night and it is definitely worth taking a flyer on Yi for that price.