Nene says Free Agency isn't about money,wants a chance at championship

[Who]

I do think that Nene would see his production go down if he played beside Lebron, Wade, and Bosh.  The Heat averaged around 77 shots per game last year, with the "big three" averaging about 51 of those.  That leaves 26 shots to be divided among the other 13 guys on the roster.  Nene would probably see his 10 or 11 shot attempts per game drop to around 6 or 7. 

I think Nene's offensive production would stay about the same.

I reckon the drop-off would come from the Big Three rather than Nene. Most likely a small decline from both LeBron and Wade (say a point per game each) with Nene maintaining his production from Denver.

Nene is just (1) so good at playing off of others, of finding his shots within the offense and of complementing his teammates offensively (2) such a low usage guy to begin with ... that I think he'll be able to get a similar number of shot attempts in that Miami offense.

[KP43]

I think he mentioned something about being a team player...Boston plays as a team, Miami not so much!

He probably will not come to Boston but that would be awesome if he did. Then resign D-West, Baby, and pick up Hill or Prince and we would be great! 

Rondo\D-west or Bardley
Allen\Hill or D-West
Da Truth\Hill or Prince
KG\Baby or Rookie
Nene\JO or Rookie

we dont need 3 SF's.. (or 2, considering that none of them being green). we should keep green.. cmon, we didnt trade KP for nothing??


Rondo, Bradley, West
Ray, West, ?(Hill/Wafer/Redd?), E'Twaun Moore
Paul Truth, Green
KG, Trey-J, ?
Nenê, JO, Kwame Brown, Semih Erden (trade a 2nd rounder for him)

[KP43]

If he's going to somewhere for MLE money I'd think Miami would be more attractive. Though I'm sure the Celtics would also court him. Of the top tier teams in the NBA they could offer him the most playing time and also allow him to contend.

I'd be shocked if he's available for league average money though, no matter what the new CBA is. He's too good of a player for that size of contract.

He'd be the starter in either Miami or Boston.  I'm not sure his minutes would be significantly higher for the Heat, and I think that the personnel on the Celtics would allow him to get more touches and be a more integral part of the offense.

If I were Nene, and I were making a choice between the two teams, I'd choose the Celtics.

No you wouldn't, you would choose the Heat, as would anyone that didn't grow up in Boston and root for the Celtics (and then some that did still might choose Miami).  Miami is a much better situation with a much longer window for someone like Nene who essentially does role player type things (i.e. rebounds and defends).  A guy like Dwight who may want to be the man, might rather come to Boston because he can win the title with the old guard and then be the man when they retire and still be in a pretty good spot with Rondo to win more going forward.  An oversized role player like Nene will go to Miami if the money and role is equal (which I imagine both would be).

I think Nene sees himself as a step above a role player, I know I do.  He'd be in a great position to win a title next year, he'd be playing for a storied franchise with a great coach, three hall of fame veterans, and one of the best passers in the league.

Going forward, he and Rondo could form a great foundation that could keep them in contention post big three.  Rondo will make him a better player.  That opportunity seems like it would be extremely exciting and attractive to me.

While there would certainly be opportunities to win a title with the Heat, I think that playing with James and Wade could become frustrating for Nene.  He'll always be the 3rd (or 4th) banana.

Nene is a starter and a very good one, but he isn't leading a team anywhere which makes him a role player.  He can't carry a team.  Rondo and Nene are no where near a championship level foundation especially with teams that will be sporting Lebron, Wade, and Bosh or Amare and Anthony floating around the East.  If the goal is to win a championship then Nene will choose Miami over Boston ever single day of the week.  Miami may look to go with Dalembert or someone else (though I wouldn't if I were the Heat), but if the choice is Miami or Boston at similar money and similar contract length (in this case he might want less years so he can capitalize on one more contract) he will choose Miami over Boston.

haven't you heard? the heat is signing eddy curry..its the best for them, because the heat needs a big man, and with eddy, they'll get two. lol

[Celtics18]

Let's not act like Boston and Miami are the only 2 teams you can possibly win with.

Saying you will take less money to play on a winning team doesn't mean you go out and just the team favored to win it all next year.

While Miami and Boston would work, so does the Knicks.  Amare and Turiaf, neither of which are true centers, are like their only big men (or am I missing someone?).  Especially if Nene has a good relationship with Carmelo and Billups then the Knicks make even more sense.  Knicks are a team ready to win now (of course I hope they don’t) and Nene could really help them make the move to legit contender.

San Antonio would make sense too.  Who else do they really have down low besides Duncan and McDyess?  They both can use fewer minutes with another big in the rotation, and Blair, although tough, doesn’t have the size for center.  San Antonio probably makes as much sense as Boston does to non-biased observers.

But even if he would sign with Boston, would you really want him?  If he signs the mid-level (or new CBA equivalent if there is one), it’s not going to be for one year.  So I would think signing him would eliminate any chance of us getting Howard (as opposed to Miami who I figure has no chance of getting Howard).  You don’t sign major free agents to max year deals (this assumes Nene would sign for the max years possible) then ship them out after one year, unless it just isn’t a good fit.  What’s the dream scenario here?  Sign Nene, win a championship next year, then trade him away and sign Howard, and win several more championships?  You really think that would happen?

If we could sign Nene for the MLE, I would gladly see him given a multi-year deal and forget about Dwight Howard. 

[LooseCannon]

If you could do a sign-and-trade of Ray Allen plus whatever (Avery Bradley and/or a draft pick) for Nene, then get the best available MLE-level shooting guard (Jason Richardson?), how strongly would you consider it?  Or would you do it without hesitation?