I feel myself vomiting - Melo and Bron????

[Donoghus]

If Miami or Melo is serious about doing this (and I have great doubts), if I'm Miami, I'd seriously consider ditching Wade all together.  Take the money and build up a cast around Lebron/Melo/Bosh.  If Wade wants to come back dirt cheap, then fine.  However, I'd consider him expendable at this point.

[nacceltic]

Scenario time:  Say that somehow, with huge cuts for all parties, the Heat are able to add Anthony in the off season (win or lose vs the Spurs).

At what point does the Union care about this situation?  Does it affect the pay for "other" top tier players?  If Lebron only takes "x" amount, why should we pay Durant "xx" type of thinking?

At what point does the commissioner get involved, if at all?  While other posters have pointed out that there are some who like "dynasties", I don't think many people really appreciate this way of building it.  For the good of the league, does the commissioner have any power to keep this from becoming a four team league of sorts as those teams with the cash try to imitate the Heat, and the smaller market teams become more of a feeder bed for new talent to those super teams?

At what point do the fans say enough is enough?  Many have stated in these threads that they would turn away from the NBA (I'd be inclined to do so myself, but they are not losing much from me).  Any sport is only one generation away from going from "must see" to "must ignore".  Watching the All Star game can be a little fun once a year...but watching a super team beat a mediocre team 120-77 night after night gets boring quickly.

At what point does any of this happen....or does it happen at all?

Rak

Great post.

I agree with everything that is stated above...I also have a major issue with the "Big 4" in Miami, if it ever happened.  The NFL is the most popular sport in this country for many reasons, but parity is chief among them. At the beginning of every season, roughly 75% of NFL fans believe that their team has a legitimate shot at the playoffs and therefore a playoff run.  Yes, Seattle, Denver, SF and NE have become the favorites, but it's not a foregone conclusion one of those teams will win.

If the "Big 4" was constructed, the NBA would be harmed.  Honestly, who believes a team of LBJ-Melo-Wade-Bosh could lose in a 7 game series?  Sure, it's possible injuries get in the way, etc., but outside of that, that team is a Dream Team like we've never seen. Going in it'd almost be a fait accompli, and that's bad business for the NBA.

I don't know if Adam Silver can legally do anything about it, but I would imagine he would send strong word through his own channels that the Players Union should get ready for one heck of a scrap come CBA negotiating time. 

I would go as far as saying, if this happens, another lockout is surely on the horizon.

[Finkelskyhook]

"If the "Big 4" was constructed, the NBA would be harmed.  Honestly, who believes a team of LBJ-Melo-Wade-Bosh could lose in a 7 game series?"

I do. 
 

[D.o.s.]

"If the "Big 4" was constructed, the NBA would be harmed.  Honestly, who believes a team of LBJ-Melo-Wade-Bosh could lose in a 7 game series?"

I do. 
 

Do you have a nickname for Bosh?

[greg683x]

Meh, Lebron could sign for the league minimum and still make more than anyone.  For that matter, put these four together and they'll all make way more off endorsements than they ever could on the court.

As much as I'd like to complain about teams stacking, if the Celts somehow pulled Love, Melo and Asik to Boston, I wouldn't be too upset about it.  I know, those four aren't exactly the Miami four, but "any given Sunday" doesn't exactly apply in the NBA.

Mike

How would Melo be in both Miami and Boston at the same time?   

He wouldn't be.  My point is that it would be hypocritical of me to complain about Miami stacking its team with all these great players but cheer if Melo et al went to Boston, instead.

Mike

It's not hypocritical at all.  Melo to the Celtics would be a move by team management to try to contend and Melo would be paid his worth.  Melo to the Heat would be a move orchestrated by players taking pay cuts so that they wouldn't need to work up a sweat while cakewalking to a ring.

Talk about splitting hairs.

how the hell is that splitting hairs?

Three guys take a pay cut to make room so they can have 4 superstars which at this point there would be zero competition in the East vs. a team that would pay what your supposed to pay a superstar on a team that is trying to compete. That's what free agency was supposed to be for not so superstars can collude and all join the same team.

You don't think the Celtics would pay as little as possible for Carmelo Anthony if they could?

You don't think Rondo would've pitched 'Melo the idea?

To answer your questions.  Yes they would, and yes he would.  The difference and what's creating all the outrage is that the celtics haven't been in the finals the past 4 years and currently working on a three peat.  Rondo is a good but flawed player who needs a lot more help.  Lebron is the best player on the planet and has two all stars backing him up with quality role players as well. 

Every team in the nba would pay as little as possible.  People aren't mad about him taking a pay cut.  They're mad about how unfair this would make it for the rest of the league competitively.  The heat have been in the finals 4 years in a row.  They've won the last two and could still win this year.    They have the best player in the world on their team with two other stars.  They should be looking at other role players to bring in to solidify their weaknesses not another future hall of famer at a discounted rate, while any other team looking to make the playoffs or advance in the playoffs would have to pay an arm and a leg for him.

[D.o.s.]

What's creating all the outrage is a bunch of speculation and people decrying that 'that's not fair!'

What people are (willfully) ignoring is the fact that they're just complaining because its the Heat, not because they're inherently opposed to the practice.

[LooseCannon]

I'm not complaining.  Give me Love and Asik to join up with Rondo and go right at Miami.  Give me a wing enforcer who will give Dirty D-Wade a taste of his own medicine.  Give me an ensemble that will be greater than the sum of its parts.

[Moranis]

These guys have no sense of competition or interest in facing a challenge.  They want to be handed fame and glory the easy way.  They may earn a lot of titles, but they aren't champions. 
It's often said that if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best.  These guys are looking for a shortcut.  For that reason, the Heat and Lebron James in particular should never be remembered as one of the all time greats.

So because guys like Magic and Bird were lucky to be drafted by great franchise we should look at them differently than players that were drafted onto terrible franchises like (James in Cleveland).  Because HOFers would go play with Jordan in Chicago (like Rodman) we should treat him differently than James who couldn't even get one of his closest friends in Bosh to even consider going to Cleveland. 

Shaq left Orlando to go to L.A. because he didn't think he could win in Orlando long term (despite the fact that he had an All-NBA teammate in Penny).  No one says crap about him. 

This irrational hate of Lebron James is just plain silly.

Bird and Magic had to beat each other to win a championship.  They didnt join forces.  Shaq had to beat Olajuwon and Duncan, they didnt join forces.  Wilt and Russell were fierce rivals, they didnt want to play with each other.  Rodman was an elite role player, not a franchise type of player.
Lebron's natural rivals are Wade and Melo.  Despite being the better player, he doesn't want the challenge of beating them.  My disrespect of James is not irrational.

"There's no way, with hindsight, I would've ever called up Larry [Bird], called up Magic [Johnson] and said, 'Hey, look, let's get together and play on one team,'" Jordan said after playing in a celebrity golf tournament in Nevada. The interview aired on the NBC telecast of the event. "But that's ... things are different. I can't say that's a bad thing. It's an opportunity these kids have today. In all honesty, I was trying to beat those guys."

Wade, Anthony, and Bosh weren't James' competition in Cleveland though.  He didn't join his main competition.  It isn't like he signed with Boston or Detroit or the Lakers or San Antonio or even Oklahoma City. 

And Bird and Magic were already playing with multiple HOFers.  If Bird had been drafted to no man's land, do you really think he stays there.  Or Magic went to Utah (pre-Malone and Stockton) do you think he stays there.  Don't kid yourself.  Getting drafted to Cleveland and playing without a single HOFer (until shaq at the very end of his career) is no where near the same thing as Los Angeles with Kareem and Worthy, or Boston with McHale and Parish, or Chicago with Pippen (and Grant, Rodman, etc.).  I mean guys like Dennis Johnson, Tony Kukoc, Michael Cooper, etc. would have been James' best teammate and they were at best like the 4th guy on their teams.  You can't discredit just how bad Cleveland was when James was there.  It was horribly run.

[Aymanelgowainy]

Which starting 5 is better??
Rondo-AB-Melo-Love-Asik
OR
Chalmers-Wade-LBJ-Melo-Bosh

It's not even close.

LBJ himself is already > Rondo + AB + Asik

then you give him Wade, Melo and Bosh...yeaaaaaaaa, it's not going to be pretty

Well u could also say Lebron>Kawhi + Green + Splitter
And hes still getting his butt kicked in the finals

[D.o.s.]

I'm not complaining.  Give me Love and Asik to join up with Rondo and go right at Miami.  Give me a wing enforcer who will give Dirty D-Wade a taste of his own medicine.  Give me an ensemble that will be greater than the sum of its parts.

You'd better hope for the bolded if you're building your team around the players you've listed.

[Donoghus]

I really don't give a [dang] how the Celtics end up being constructed.  I just want a return to relevance and contending for a championship.  It doesn't have to be next year but I certainly would like to see an upward trend. 

Heat route,  New Three route, OKC route..... I don't care.

[Celtics4ever]

If Bird had been drafted to no man's land, do you really think he stays there.

If Bird had the extra foul shot subsidy LeBron had he would have averaged five more points a game.  Bird is a different animal he could have stayed in Boston and been a GOD for his remainder there.   Instead, he went home to work with the Pacers.   LeBron left home.

[fairweatherfan]

Idk why people keep saying its hypocritical for us to raise concerns. We did not want another superstar after our big 3. We just wanted a role player like David west type. That would have been sufficient.

*cough* Chris Paul *cough*

we wanted cp3 when these guys were well past their prime. When lebron and co are 34 and 35 I would be ok with young Melo on the heat. But right now all 4 are from team USA prime.

That's moving the goalposts a bit there - we didn't want a fourth superstar except for when we tried really hard to get one.  I'm sure we kicked the tires on Dwight Howard too, even though there was basically no chance it'd work out.  Teams want as many stars as possible, no matter how many they've already got.

But by the end of next season Wade will be 33, Bosh 31, LeBron and Melo 30, with Melo turning 31 during the playoffs, so it's not that different in age anyway.

We would've had to trade Rondo to land Chris Paul and still risk him not resigning here after one season.  Miami has to give up nothing and risks nothing. The Paul comparison doesn't apply.

It does when the original statement is "we didn't want a fourth superstar, three was just fine for us because we're too noble to want as many great players as possible".

And while Miami wouldn't need to give up talent, they'll be paying quite a bit of luxury tax to get Melo, and LeBron/Wade/Bosh would be voluntarily giving up millions.

[fairweatherfan]

These guys have no sense of competition or interest in facing a challenge.  They want to be handed fame and glory the easy way.  They may earn a lot of titles, but they aren't champions. 
It's often said that if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best.  These guys are looking for a shortcut.  For that reason, the Heat and Lebron James in particular should never be remembered as one of the all time greats.

So because guys like Magic and Bird were lucky to be drafted by great franchise we should look at them differently than players that were drafted onto terrible franchises like (James in Cleveland).  Because HOFers would go play with Jordan in Chicago (like Rodman) we should treat him differently than James who couldn't even get one of his closest friends in Bosh to even consider going to Cleveland. 

Shaq left Orlando to go to L.A. because he didn't think he could win in Orlando long term (despite the fact that he had an All-NBA teammate in Penny).  No one says crap about him. 

This irrational hate of Lebron James is just plain silly.

Yeah, I have a hard time grasping the logic that says that Larry Bird's front office going out and getting him multiple HOF teammates is A-OK, but if Larry had gone out and gotten those same teammates through his own efforts, it would somehow be a knock on him.  Doubly so if he was willing to - gasp! - take a pay cut to do it.  The latter situation would mean Larry played an even bigger role in his own success, instead of just landing in a good situation and making the most of it.  And if he had the same contract and free agency rules we have now, who knows, he might well have tried.

I think the real anger here is that first, it hurts the Celtics for this to happen, and second, a lot of fans are really uncomfortable with star players taking control of their own destinies instead of just passively accepting whatever their often incompetent management can put around them.

[fairweatherfan]

"If the "Big 4" was constructed, the NBA would be harmed.  Honestly, who believes a team of LBJ-Melo-Wade-Bosh could lose in a 7 game series?"

I do. 
 

I do too.  People thought Kobe/Howard/Pau/Nash would be "unstoppable" too.  Turns out too many older guys on the court at once (and the one young guy still limited from injury) isn't a great recipe for success, especially on the defensive end. 

Frankly if anyone gives up on the Celtics simply because another team looks too good on paper, the fan base will be better for their absence.