Scary Thought

[Celtics1990]

http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_ar...y_together

Inside sources, how reliable these sources are has yet to be seen, say LeBron and Bosh want to play for the same team when they become free agents next year. I don't know how any team would have enough money to sign both of these guys. Hopefully they both don't decide to take a pay cut in order to make it happen. That would be scary.

[MetroGlobe]

Actually Cleveland is going to be in a position to sign him, now that they traded for Shaq.  Shaq expires after this year.  They have other expiring deals too.  They'll have the cap room to resign LeBron and go after Bosh.  Now they won't have room for anything but minimum deals after those two.  But do you really need much more than those two to win a ring?  I can also envision them both signing slightly less than max contracts, a la Tom Brady, so that the team can afford other players to fill out the roster.

Indeed it is a scary thought.  And one that has a somewhat-to-high likelihood of happening.

[Jeff]

it is actually the most reasonable thing to expect out of next year

Wade is another guy that could double up with one of the others, and Miami has cap room and sandy beaches

[PosImpos]

I'm expecting  Wade+Bosh more than LeBron+Bosh.

I think LeBron+Bosh (or LeBron+Bosh) can be compared to Kobe+Pau.  A great combination that's not a guaranteed win but if the backup pieces are half decent and the finals opponent isn't incredible, they can win without too much trouble.

[bobdelt]

Bosh is overrated. Gasol is much better than him.

Lebron and Bosh doesn't necessarily mean they'll win.

[PosImpos]

Bosh is overrated. Gasol is much better than him.

Lebron and Bosh doesn't necessarily mean they'll win.

I agree, Gasol is better than Bosh.  However, LeBron is better than Kobe, a gap that is only going to widen over the next couple of years - and LeBron and Bosh are both young.

LeBron and Bosh is not a guaranteed win, but like I said, if they have some okay other pieces around them (the way that Fisher, Ariza, Bynum, Walton, Odom etc are overall just OK) and the opponent isn't incredible (2008 Celtics were really good, 2009 Magic not so much) they will win it all.

[Jeff]

just did a very quick look at salaries based on HoopsHype's page - as of now, the following teams can double-dip max contracts next offseason:

Miami
Cleveland
Houston (I think)
Memphis
Sota (yeah right)
New Jersey
New York
OKC
Portland

maybe I'm forgetting someone and obviously this will all change soon, but that's quite an array of options should 2 of the big 3 want to team up somewhere

imagine Wade and Bosh in OKC with Durant

I wonder if it is possible to triple-dip and get all three (though that would leave no room under the cap to fill out the roster

[Moranis]

If Cleveland signs Charlie V or Anderson for more than a year, they will not have cap room to add Bosh without a sign and trade with Toronto, unless Bosh takes a serious pay cut.

[toinewalka]

I see how this could be scary, but it could also be worse.  Labron has started to look like an Allen Iverson type player (albeit much larger, much better, and much scarier), but he needs the ball in his hands, and apart from being a good scorer, he doesn't run a great offense.  He is predictable and his decion making is his weak point.  Now, that doesn't at all mean he's not scary, or that pairing him up with a Bosh is not scary, but it just means that the combo will not be any greater than the sum of the pieces.  I think pairing Bosh with Wade, who knows how to play with other players and get them involved (ie winning a ship with Shaq), and works in a team oriented offense (it focuses on him, but it isn't strictly him as much as CLE is Labron) would be scarier.  I woul take my chances against that CLE team than that Miami team. 

(I also think the Wade/Bash/beaches will attract more FAs than the Labron/Bosh/CLE combo)

[LarBrd33]

just did a very quick look at salaries based on HoopsHype's page - as of now, the following teams can double-dip max contracts next offseason:

Miami
Cleveland
Houston (I think)
Memphis
Sota (yeah right)
New Jersey
New York
OKC
Portland

maybe I'm forgetting someone and obviously this will all change soon, but that's quite an array of options should 2 of the big 3 want to team up somewhere

imagine Wade and Bosh in OKC with Durant

I wonder if it is possible to triple-dip and get all three (though that would leave no room under the cap to fill out the roster

Could NY get far enough under the cap to "triple dip"... at that point I'd expect an aging Steve  Nash to also hop on board for the league minimum.

[toinewalka]

Could NY get far enough under the cap to "triple dip"... at that point I'd expect an aging Steve  Nash to also hop on board for the league minimum.

Now that is reasonable, and so far, the scariest situation I've heard.

[slamtheking]

I think Lebron/Wade would be more dangerous.  Neither one needs to be set up on offense whereas Bosh isn't the ball-handling type.  If NY could land all 3, that would really be a "big 3" for the ages.

[D Dub]

What scares me most is the potential in New Jersey.

Devin Harris
Courtney Lee
Lebron James
Chris Bosh
Brook Lopez

Now that has dynasy written all over it...

[JSD]

Could NY get far enough under the cap to "triple dip"... at that point I'd expect an aging Steve  Nash to also hop on board for the league minimum.

Now that is reasonable, and so far, the scariest situation I've heard.

The only way it's possible is if the Knicks find a Jarred Jeffrey and an Eddu Curry taker.

[toinewalka]

The NJ situation is a worrisome one, however, I don't think those guys are going to be making the little amount of money they do now outside of Bosh and Lebron.  Harris will most likely get a decent sized deal, and Lopez and Courtney could demand more money than expected on the market from a team clearing 2010 money and striking out on some of the larger names.