Lebron Still Thinking About Cleveland's Max Offer - Page 2 - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

Five-ofan · 07-10-2006, 12:28 PM

that sound you heard was dwyane wade changing agents after asking his agent why the hell he didnt think of this.

fluid.forty.one · 07-10-2006, 12:46 PM

haha definatly

sike · 07-10-2006, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Five-ofan

that sound you heard was dwyane wade changing agents after asking his agent why the hell he didnt think of this.

genius

V2M · 07-10-2006, 05:05 PM

I think it's a calculated risk on the part of Lebron... considering the injury risks (Amare anyone?) involved with this sport!

Wade, Melo and Bosh are probably aware of the option but still chose to sign the max deal. Bird in hand... you know!

vjz · 07-10-2006, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by V2M

I think it's a calculated risk on the part of Lebron... considering the injury risks (Amare anyone?) involved with this sport!

Wade, Melo and Bosh are probably aware of the option but still chose to sign the max deal. Bird in hand... you know!

Exactly.

This could easily backfire on LeBron. I doubt it, but you never know... it's a risk.

sike · 07-10-2006, 08:55 PM

he'll still be so young when the deal is up....nothing short of career ending injury makes this look bad...

V2M · 07-10-2006, 09:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sike

he'll still be so young when the deal is up....nothing short of career ending injury makes this look bad...

Knee problems that require microfracture surgery aren't necessarily career ending but I doubt if Alan Houston, Grant Hill, Webber, Penny, Kidd, KMart, etc. would have got a max deal post-surgery!

Tokey41 · 07-10-2006, 11:52 PM

As much as I love basketball these guys shouldnt be getting $150 million for 6 years... they make enough as it is and they shoudlnt even be making what they make now. All they do is entertain us, what exactly else is it that they do to make the world better? Seriously that IS frustrating, there is no job in the world short of curing cancer that deserves $25 mill a year.

dude1394 · 07-11-2006, 12:20 AM

who says they shouldn't? They are generating a ton of bucks for everyone, they deserve every penny that someone is willing to shell out.

bernardos70 · 07-11-2006, 01:15 AM

They do something no one else in the world can do at their level. When there's so few people capable of doing it like they do, they can demand whatever the hell they want.

Five-ofan · 07-11-2006, 08:30 AM

As far as the risk, he is risking one year to get to open free agency and the even huger(is that a word?) payday. 4 years are guaranteed due to the player option if he so wishes but he can get out after 3. That is a GREAT deal for him.

Knickfan · 07-11-2006, 09:19 AM

Quote:

That would be an interesting off-season. New York, Lakers would be going bonkers clearing cap room. Cleveland could do a lebron-rapist trade straight up! Yuck

If Isiah could pull off some trade and bring LeBron to New York, that man would actually fall back in my good graces again.... Well almost..

fluid.forty.one · 07-11-2006, 02:08 PM

If lebron went to the lakers, stern would set the parade rout himself.

Five-ofan · 07-11-2006, 02:10 PM

He wont. He is better than kobe and that would not work for kobe at all.

nashtymavsfan13 · 07-11-2006, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Five-ofan

He wont. He is better than kobe and that would not work for kobe at all.

Yeah, it would turn into a who can shoot more contest. Nobody else on the Lakers would get a shot. Not that they even do now

nashtymavsfan13 · 07-12-2006, 11:32 PM

LeBron, Wade take shorter deals now, hope to earn more down the road

By BRIAN MAHONEY, AP Basketball Writer
July 12, 2006

Fear not, Cleveland and Miami fans. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade say they expect to be with your teams for a long time.

For now, though, four more years is all the superstars will commit to.

Classmate Carmelo Anthony went for more guaranteed money.

New contracts for the class of 2003 players were announced Wednesday, the first day allowed after the NBA's moratorium on deals ended. But they weren't all the big-money packages that were originally expected.

Rather than choose the five-year extensions they were eligible for that would kick in starting with the 2007-08 season, James and Wade went for three years with an option for a fourth -- and the chance to become free agents sooner and potentially make even more money.

"It was a great business decision by me," Wade said. "As a young player, going for the three-year with a fourth year (option) is the better option."

Anthony and Chris Bosh of Toronto, also top-five picks from the '03 draft, could have gone the same route. But Anthony went for a five-year deal with Denver worth an estimated $80 million.

"I thought this was the best move for me as a young player and I'm looking forward to it," Wade said. "I think with everything coming with LeBron and Carmelo and Chris, we all make our own decisions. Of course, we all talk, no question about it, because we're all friends. ... But everyone makes a decision for themselves, thinking about their futures and their families."

That's exactly what Anthony said he was doing when he signed his deal.

"It was a no-brainer for me," Anthony said. "When all the rumors were out there saying I was signing this type of deal or that type of deal, my family called me and said, 'Look, are you crazy?' Growing up we don't have (much)."

Elsewhere, the draft-night deal sending Rudy Gay to Memphis was finally completed, New Orleans added Peja Stojakovic but lost Speedy Claxton, and the Los Angeles Clippers brought back Sam Cassell but watched Vladimir Radmanovic head down the Staples Center hallway to the Lakers.

But the biggest news, as usual, was made by James and Wade, the MVP of the NBA finals.

The five-year deals would have been worth around $80 million, but James and Wade settled for some $20 million less. However, when they become unrestricted free agents in the summer of 2010 as seven-year veterans, they can earn maximum contracts worth 30 percent of the salary cap under rules of the collective bargaining agreement. Players with fewer than seven years experience can earn only 25 percent of the cap.

"We did extensive research and with the way the CBA is set up, it makes the most business sense to sign this extension and then look at another new contract in four years," James said in an interview with the Cavaliers' Web site.

Both James and Wade said their decisions had nothing to do with wanting the ability to leave their teams earlier. And neither the Cavs nor Heat seemed concerned by the decisions their franchise players made.

"We did extensive research heading into this process and understood what our best options were to keep LeBron in a Cavaliers uniform while helping him capitalize on his financial opportunities," Cleveland general manager Danny Ferry said. "There is a mutual trust in putting together a commitment such as this and we are very excited about having LeBron in a Cavaliers' uniform for years to come and rewarding him appropriately."

Teams could begin negotiating with free agents on July 1, but deals couldn't be signed until Wednesday after the salary cap for the upcoming season was set at $53.135 million. That cleared the way for a number of signings and trades:

-- The Grizzlies acquired and then signed Gay, the eighth pick in the draft, along with Stromile Swift for forward Shane Battier. The trade means that five of the first eight players selected on draft night have been dealt.

But the Rockets lost out on another player they wanted when free agent Mike James picked Minnesota. Houston thought it was going to land the Toronto guard.

"I was surprised," Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson said. "He campaigned pretty hard to get here. As far as I know, we were right in there. It was a shock. Those things happen."

-- Dallas got Austin Croshere from Indiana for Marquis Daniels in a previously agreed-to trade. The Mavericks also worked out a deal with Denver guard Greg Buckner.

-- The Clippers gave a two-year deal to Cassell, who sparked them to within a game of the Western Conference finals last season. But Radmanovic opted not to return and will try to provide a perimeter threat for Kobe Bryant and the Lakers.

-- The Hornets acquired Stojakovic and cash considerations from the Pacers in exchange for the draft rights to Andrew Betts, to boost their outside shooting. Claxton, the runner-up for the NBA's sixth man award last season, left the Hornets for a four-year deal worth about $25.5 million with the Atlanta Hawks.

"Peja coming to the Hornets is perhaps the biggest offseason acquisition in the history of the franchise," Hornets owner George Shinn said in a statement.

-- Utah sent guards Devin Brown, Keith McLeod and Andre Owens to Golden State for guard Derek Fisher. The Jazz, who fell just short of a playoff berth last season, also re-signed forward Matt Harpring to a four-year, $25 million deal.

-- Ben Wallace, who bolted Detroit for Chicago in what was perhaps the biggest free agent signing, will be introduced Thursday by the Bulls.

chumdawg · 07-13-2006, 01:14 AM

The Pacers just acquired a very large trade exception, then.

nashtymavsfan13 · 07-13-2006, 01:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Five-ofan

that sound you heard was dwyane wade changing agents after asking his agent why the hell he didnt think of this.

Well, he took a page out of Lebron's book.