Nitro

I don't see the point for the Bulls, honestly. Too much to give up for Iggy and his contract. I'd rather wait and see how this current team pans out, and if there is an oppertunity to make a deal at the trade deadline, then pull the trigger.

Eh...I respect them a ton for saying and doing that, but at the same time it's hard to cause yourself to lose out on a 25 year old back-to-back MVP. But definitely respect Chicago a lot for that.

He was what, 21 when he said that? Before the Cavs screwed themselves by having no developing young pieces besides Hickson, unproven post-season veterans, and no cap flexibility. Now he's 25, and even though that's young, you never know when an injury or other unexpected things can happen to ruin your career.

He choked against the Magic? He averaged 39/8/8 that series, hit the GW 3 in Game 2 and took over Game 5 in the 4th quarter. That's a ridiculous statement. He gave up against Boston...but him giving up still translated to a 27/19/10 triple double in a loss. And Kobe had that same stigma when they lost Game 7 in 2006 to the Suns, and wanted to be traded a year later. The difference? Time. Once the Boston thing is erased from people's minds with a few typical dominant LeBron playoff series' and maybe a ring, it'll mean nothing. People have very short-term memories.

Not happening. He won't get a better offer than the Lakers will put on the table, and if he gets low-balled by both he'll take the team where he's been the majority of his career and is a proven commodity. Honestly, it would be a pretty decent move for the Heat if he took the minimum, but for what he wants it's not worth it.

Here's my problem, though- why does he HAVE to be the undisputed #1 guy if it means he has the best chance to win multiple rings? Because Jordan did it? LeBron isn't Jordan, and he's not even a similar player. The only thing keeping him from being top 10 all-time is championships. That's it. He proved he can bring a crappy team to the Finals. He proved he can put up legendary stats. He proved he can win multiple MVP"s. He proved he can be on All-NBA First Teams and All-NBA Defensive First Teams. Hell, even if he doesn't win ONE more MVP he'd end up with more than Shaq, Hakeem, Robinson, Stockton, Walton, West, Baylor, Barkley, Dr. J (though he did win 2 in the ABA) and Garnett, and possibly even Kobe. And he's already tied with Duncan, Karl Malone, etc... And he's only 25! My point is by the age of 25 he's proved he's one of the best individual players to ever play the game. Now it's time to win championships, which is where he doesn't have ground on most of those guys I mentioned. That's where the legacy comes from. And he'll still play at an MVP-level with the Heat, just not with such inflated numbers. He'll be the same damn player. It's all semantics about who's the leader and whatnot.

Great signing, exactly what they needed. The Bulls are going to be a very, very dangerous team next season.

When T-Mac was 25, he was a back-to-back scoring champ who put up LeBron-like numbers with 32/6.5/5.5. By 28, he was a slightly better Joe Johnson. Now he's a veteran's minimum player at 30, still a second-round virgin. KG said it best...loyalty is great and all, but you can NEVER get back your youth. And you can NEVER predict how a player's career will pan out. LeBron has the MVP's and put up legendary stats already, now it's time to win. Instead of praying that the Cavs could do something that they were unable to do in 7 years, which is build a championship-level team with a bright future, he went to a team that has a chance to win multiple championships for years to come. And I stand by the fact that in a few years and few championships later, no one will really care about this. No one looks down on Shaq for bolting to LA from a Finals team in the Magic at a similar point in his career that LeBron is at. And he did it for far more selfish reasons. If LeBron wins a few rings and plays at the same MVP level (maybe not 30/8/8 stats, but still MVP caliber), he'll be remembered in a more favorable light than if he didn't win in Cleveland, even if he does have Wade and Bosh.

If they push that CP3 trade to the max and fail to get it, Felton isn't a bad option B at all. Not the 3pt shooter or speedster that D'Antoni would probably prefer, but he should fit in nicely.

The thing is though, Magic was able to do it without the defensive ability, length or athleticism LeBron has, or the legalization of zone defense. As I said before, LeBron AND Wade are going to have to adjust their defensive games up a bit to make it work on that end of the floor. LeBron will have to take a page out of Kobe's playbook and learn how to play off the quicker PG's, but his length will bother jumpshots even if he has to play off them a bit. To me, the Heat will figure things out defensively regardless. Since Wade came into the league the Heat have been a top 10 defensive team virtually every year, regardless of supporting cast. System and coaching is so impactful on that end, and they have such a talented core that Spoelstra and/or Riley will make it work to the point where they won't have a glaring defensive weakness. The bigger issue is offensively and on the boards, and I don't think there is any doubt that playing LeBron at PG would vastly improve each area. It just makes too much sense from those aspects IMO.

So, I've been seeing this idea tossed around since LeBron joined the Heat, and supposedly Riley sold James on playing a similar role to Magic Johnson, so I think it's worth the discussion. Personally, it's very intriguing to me. For almost any other forward in NBA history, I would disagree with the decision. The issue would normally be defensively. Most forwards just don't have the speed and athletic ability to keep up with quicker PG's, and against quick PG's that can actually shoot the ball, it's very difficult to simply play off them like Kobe did with Rondo and Westbrook. Also without a natural PG, the fastbreak game will also be greatly diminished. Sacrificing speed for height isn't always the greatest decision. However, on this Heat team, I feel it could be the best decision. Five reasons why it could be a great move- 1) He has the passing ability, court vision and IQ to do it. Most players who fans think could play that PG role in a forward's body are very good passers, but just not on the level of LeBron, and not as savy. He is very efficient passing the ball, averaging 8.3APG last year to only 3.4 TO's, which is made even more impressive considering he also dropped 30PPG. In other words, he had the ball in his hands ALL THE TIME and managed less than 3.5 TO's. That tells me that while his point production will dip, his assists will either rise and TO's will stay constant, or his assists will stay constant and TO's dip. 2) For now, he has the athletic ability and length to defend quicker PG's without having to give them wide open looks. In a few years that may change and it may be wise to switch him back to SF, but for now his versatility is key. What also is key is Wade's versatility at SG, who can be switched onto PG's (and his opponent counterpart stats at PG were fantastic last season, even though it's not a huge sample). Both players will have to adjust their games defensively a bit to make it work really well, but the beauty of it is they have the versatility, willingness and IQ to get it done. 3) Playing LeBron at PG minimizes the impact of signing a average to below average Center. When Kareem started to decline and was grabbing less than 5 boards a game, the Lakers were still outrebounding teams by a huge margin with only AC Green grabbing more rebounds than Magic at 9 per game. The reason was because Magic's rebounding ability wasso far ahead of any other PG in the league. LeBron can have this same impact, and is arguably a better rebounder than Magic was. Rebounding is going to be wildly important against the Celtics, Magic and Lakers, and putting LeBron at PG will make having an average Center much easier on them. 4) Putting LeBron at PG can give this team an identity. Right now, if he plays SF, there will be a huge question of who gets set plays called for them, who gets iso's, etc... Giving LeBron the reigns at PG allows them to play Wade off-ball (who does so much better than LeBron, and will minimize Wade's TO's), and will help give them a foundation to play team-ball, which won't be easy early on. 5) It's a lot easier to find a great 3pt shooter at the SF position than it will be at the PG position, and a great 3pt shooter in that starting lineup will be absolutely necessary for them to beat a team like the Lakers. They'll need floor spacing to allow Wade, James and Bosh to operation near the basket, where each is most effective. If the Mike Miller rumors are true, that's an absolutely perfect signing. An assassin from deep that is a willing passer and a pretty good defender. Anyway, thoughts?

As I said, you guys might not have much of a choice, but I don't think at anytime that both Wade and LeBron will be off the court for more than 2-3min of gametime. The entire big 3 will still probably be averaging at least 35MPG. You guys need players that can feed off them, not vice versa (which is the way T-Mac works, which is why Adelman hated him).

I'll be going to a Heat-Nets game this year as well, just don't know when or what seats. It'll actually be the 2nd time I seen Bron on a new team (saw him as a rookie, and again in the 2007 playoffs). Also have seen Bosh (2007 playoffs) and Wade (2006 regular season and 2006 playoffs).

T-Mac was my favorite player, I watched him religiously since since like 2001. I know his game well. I agree he has amazing court vision and passing ability, but last year he had a very hard time getting to the rim, couldn't shoot the ball with any kind of efficiency, does not move off-ball (why he didn't work with Adelman well), can't defend with the loss of athleticism, and he's not a guy who does all the "little things." All of those things will be necessary playing alongside 3 of the top 10-15 players in the league who all need the ball in their hands to be very effective. I'm not saying the Heat shouldn't sign him, because at this point they are going to really need to dig around to get quality players around Wade/Bron/Bosh, which will be tough to do with their salary situation. All I'm saying is that it wouldn't be a good fit on that team unless T-Mac changes his game; something he seems to think he doesn't have to do yet, and something he hasn't had to do since he was a teenager. Honestly, T-Mac would be a much better fit in LA, even though I don't even know if that's the best idea in the world.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n12/MiamiCondoInvestments/miami-skyline-and-biscayne-bay-view.jpg I'm jealous.

T-Mac would be a horrible fit, even though I want to see him win a ring. He can't shoot the ball efficiently, needs the ball in his hands to be effective, is injury prone and an average defender WHEN HEALTHY. Bad fit alongside Bron/Wade/Bosh.

Honestly it won't take a whole lot to find a big-man that can defend/rebound well and finish off dunks. Honestly, if they got really desperate a guy like Jason Collins would even work (hell, he even shut Bosh down in the 2007 playoffs). They could always stick to Joel Anthony, consider signing Shaq, maybe try for Big Z (I believe he's unrestricted), Magloire, etc... They don't need much out of the position, just a big, serviceable body who won't kill chemistry. The beauty of this new super-team is they will have plenty of hungry veteran FA's lining up to win a ring or two. Look at the 2008 Celtics and the PJ Brown signing. I don't see this team having a problem with playing scrubs many minutes. They'll get an extra 3 solid role players (already got 2 in Miller and Chalmers) to compete against the Lakers. You beat the Celtics because they couldn't score in the halfcourt; partially because of the Lakers' defense, partially because of the Celtics offense. You're talking about a team who scored 100+ points in only 3 of its last 21 games. Defense is key to championships, but so is having star players that can score in halfcourt situations. That's where the Lakers really beat the Celtics IMO, Kobe + Gasol was too much. And please don't compare this Heat team to those teams. The Suns had horrible defensive talent, were way undersized, and played a system that didn't take defense seriously. The Kings didn't have enough talent defensively or a star that could dominate end of games (they choked so badly in 2002). The Mavs never had this kind of talent as well. It's not that this team will be scoring 110PPG or locking teams down like the Celtics...but when you have 2 of the 3 best players in the league, and also a top 10-15 player, and soon to be a perfect role player in Miller, you're going to find ways to win games. As Kobe said at the end of the season it's just about winning games. When you have that much talent that the Heat will have, they will find ways to win games. I'm assuming their identity will be a defensive one based on Spoelstra/Riley's history, and the fact that since the 2008 Olympics where they won Gold by dominating team on defense, the Big 3 will make it a point to do the same here. I think Wade/Kobe would cancel each other out, they always seem to play each other very evenly. Kobe would probably be more productive point-wise considering circumstance of teammates, but Wade will be more efficient from the field. LeBron ain't Durant...he'll take it right at Artest and won't be forced into volume shooting, and we all know how awful Artest is offensively. Gasol will probably outplay Bosh, but I don't see that being very lopsided. After that, you're trying to sell me on a supporting roster that you always bash? I'm sure you consider Miller a better player than Odom (at the very least more consistent), Bynum hasn't been healthy in the post-season in like 4 years, and depending on how Miami decides to use the PG position Fisher could be at a major disadvantage. IMO some of the other rumored FA's thinking about tagging along in LA to win a championship would be just as likely to try the same in Miami. And as I'm sure you can tell, Riley is damn good at selling that franchise haha.

They weren't scrubs defensively of course, but at the same time I think they were largely so effective because of the slowed-down, defensive gameplan Miami uses. Since Wade came into the league the team hasn't had a top 10 defensive rating only twice...once they were 11th (08-09), and the other time was the season that led to the drafting of Beasley. And LeBron is an All-Defensive 1st teamer, and I REALLY think based on what I saw in the Olympics that Bosh can do just fine defensively when it's a major focus of his. We don't know how the rest of the roster will fill out, but I do think the system alone will make them at least a very good defensive team. May or may not be absolutely great, but certainly enough. First off, you have to consider pace and such with rebounding. They were top 10 in the league in opponent rebounding, and 6th in DRB%. Secondly, I don't get how you think Bosh/LeBron will only grab 15-16 boards a game when Bosh alone averaged 11RPG last year (identical to Gasol in terms of boards and TRB%). LeBron grabbed 7.3 last season on a team that pounded opponents on the boards even moreso than LA, and I actually expect his boards to go up now that he won't have to drop 30+ every night. If they get Mike Miller like the rumors suggest, you can throw in another 4-5 boards on top of Wade's 4-5 as well. I'll low-ball it and say Bosh grabs 10, LeBron grabs 7, Wade grabs 4 and Miller grabs 4...that leaves about 15-16 more for 4-6 other rotational players to obtain. Not a very difficult feat, and I really think those players I mentioned will probably be averaging more boards than that.

I don't know, I could see the Thunder going through sort of a "sophomore slump" at the beginning of next season, hurting their overall W-L to the point where Kobe would scoop up another MVP. Also wouldn't be surprised if LeBron averaged a near triple-double, Heat win 60+ and the media rides him to a 3rd MVP.

Ha it's still a big-time triple double, and 8-21 shooting is roughly what Kobe shot against the Celtics the entire series (and both he and Kobe were pitiful in terms of TO's against the Celts, but LeBron averaged over 3APG more). My point was that in a "down" game or series for LeBron, he's still going to make a huge impact on the game from a production standpoint. And off-games for James are rare....I used the example in a James vs. Bryant thread where last season LeBron had 8 games of shooting sub-40% while Kobe had 22 (and for the people who preach Kobe's injury, he had 25 sub-40% shooting games in 2008-2009). And the offense they ran was honestly as effective as it was going to get. Good defenses exposed the Cavs every year since they had so little versatility in talent around LeBron. Hell, the guy averaged 39/8/8 against the Magic and the Cavs couldn't even get that series to 7. I really don't think you can blame LeBron for something Mike Brown should have prepared for. Ultimately if what they ran was not in the best interest of the team, that should have been on Brown to adjust. His game certainly has weaknesses, but even when those weaknesses are exposed he manages to do some amazing things. As I said before (maybe in this thread or another), I am going to love watching LeBron play that ultimate Pippen role. Everyone is going to miss his 30PPG scoring and such, but he will have a great oppertunity to show the attributes which truly make him great. Honestly would not be surprised to see him average a triple double.

Haha I'm looking through it right now and one of the first posts I see... "I hope this [expletive] [expletive]ing dies in a car fire, he can rot in [expletive]ing hell, he's a dog [expletive]ing piece of [expletive]. Never show your face in Akron again LeBron because I swear to God I'll slice it off with a [expletive]ing katana." Excited to see the rest

Yeah, I'm sure Miami fans are SO concerned about LeBron's career post-season averages of 29/8/7 and resume of taking the worst supporting cast in NBA history to the Finals. Or his crappy 29/19/10 triple double in a game he quit in against the Celtics. Whatever mess LeBron leaves, D-Wade will just clean it up anyway...

Again, why do you think Heat won't have a good defense? Spoelstra is a defensive minded coach and the Heat had one of the best defenses in the league last year with little talent. Add an All-NBA Defensive 1st teamer in Bron, Bosh who did great in the 2008 Olympics defensively when he didn't have to carry the load offensively, and fill in gaps in the defense-oriented system and they should be fine. As I said before, I think individually their defense will improve immensely much like the 2008 Celtics' players did because they won't have to shoulder all the offensive load. The rebounding will be the biggest issue, but the Heat outrebounded teams last year with their top rebounder averaging under 9RPG. I know this is a different team, but with a similar system and mindset I doubt they'll be getting killed on the boards or on defense.

Wow...HUGE signing. Perfect compliment to Wade/James/Bosh. I know Poe is all for Wright playing PG, but if they are in a little jam Miller could play PG. He'll be lethal getting so many open looks from 3, and he's a very underrated passer. Defensively they'd have to put LeBron or Wade on quicker PG's, but offensively he's a perfect fit.

Who cares? Just because he won't score 30PPG anymore doesn't mean anything if he wins. He's a two-time MVP at the age of 25 and brought a team to the Finals and two 60+ win seasons in his first 7 years. That's a helluva feat. The only thing keeping him from top 10 all-time is championships. And now more than ever his passing, rebounding and defense will come to the forefront. His scoring is what everyone always wanted to see, but the other things he does are what makes him so special and different from any player in the modern era. I'm really excited to see him doing more of the 'other things' than scoring/dominating a team. We've seen him do that before, now it's time to win. He just gave himself the best oppertunity to be a part of the dynasty.