Official Lebron, Wade, Bosh FA watch thread.

[rabbitproof]

Word is TMac is on the move there...

[Janett_Reno]

A guy that could reallu help Riley is a rookie named Jarvis Varnado. He is only 6'9" at center for Ms State but this guy can get off the floor very fast like a young Ratliff. He is the NCAA’s career leader in shot blocks. Ky was great with Wall, Cousins, Patterson, etc but this guy made it very hard for Ky to win the sec. He became the first player in the history of college basketball to score 1,000 points, total 1,000 rebounds and block 500 shots.

All this sounds good and he did impress me but in the nba he will meet alot of great players that are big. His problem could be to get any playing time because in many ways he is like Damp on offense and he would be used for defense. Now it looks like McGrady is going to the Het also. Have they got more money left to sign Shaq?

[mac222b]

Varnado is very good. theo ratliff is a good analogy

[Windmill360]

STEIN_LINE_HQ
Just filed to ESPN.com: Raja Bell will not be meeting with Kobe Bryant after all ... because Bell has been snapped up Utah

[scorched03]

pg: chalmers, pat beverly (R...was in euro), Kenny Hasbrouck
sg: wade, miller (confirmed not signed)
sf: lebron, dasean butler (R),
pf: bosh, , juwon howard, jarvis varnado (R)
c: haslem, big z, dexter pittman (R)

rumors for them: basically anyone older 35 is likely to play with them for a last hurrah...
pg: arroyo (closer), jason williams, earl watson, roger mason, dooling
sg: tmac, stackhouse (!!!!)
sf: none
pf: joel anthony, earl barron, randolph morris, etan thomas, josh boone
c: jamaal magloire, shaq, kwame brown,

they really need some bangers on the FC, a vet pg, and another athletic 4/5 would be nice if varnado doesnt cut it. jeez they filled out quite nicely.

and for 2011 they have 2 2nd's (no 1st), and 2012 worse of cavs/heat pick

grrrrr

[Big Boy Laroux]

Originally Posted by Janett_Reno

A guy that could reallu help Riley is a rookie named Jarvis Varnado. He is only 6'9" at center for Ms State but this guy can get off the floor very fast like a young Ratliff. He is the NCAA’s career leader in shot blocks. Ky was great with Wall, Cousins, Patterson, etc but this guy made it very hard for Ky to win the sec. He became the first player in the history of college basketball to score 1,000 points, total 1,000 rebounds and block 500 shots.

I agree (and i totally forgot Miami drafted him). I saw Varnado play a few times this year (against Vandy, then again in the SEC tournament in nashville). You don't set the NCAA block record while playing in a legitimately good basketball conference if you're a scrub. I can't believe he is listed at 6'9". The guy plays MUCH taller than that due to his wingspan.

[KINGBEEF]

I thought this was pretty funny when I read this:

Quitness, a beer inspired by Lebron James leaves a bitter taste in your mouth.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5387157

[aquaadverse]

Another log for the hate bonfire.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_yl...eeagency071610

[Windmill360]

CP3 to the Bobcats?

I'm intrigued... cause they have DUST. Who's got insider?

[fluid.forty.one]

Originally Posted by aquaadverse

Another log for the hate bonfire.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_yl...eeagency071610

WOW

[rabbitproof]

By my count, Miami has saved vs. the market:

6M (2M annually per big three)
3M (annually for Haslem)
2M (annually approximately for Miller)
1-2M (annually approximately for Z)
1-2M (annually approximately for James)
1-2M (annually for the rest of the roster)

Based on discounts, they're basically operating with 25-30% more cap room than the average team or paying about 75 cents on the dollar for the talent they are getting. I think a couple of these numbers are quite conservative, too.

Bastards.

[rabbitproof]

Originally Posted by Windmill360

CP3 to the Bobcats?

I'm intrigued... cause they have DUST. Who's got insider?

Holymoly.... I'm guessing the trade would be based around Wallace/DUST/picks for Emeka/CP3.

We don't have the "young" All-Star and weren't willing to part with Dirk for CP3 so we could never offer such a package. We definitely should've atleast got more out of the Chandler trade if that goes down.

The Hornets would be most likely slumming next year but it's not like they were going to do damage anyways. They would have several good young pieces (Thornton, Collison, their two first rounders this year) as well as multiple firsts in the next couple years to build around two not very old All-Stars (West @29, Wallace @27).

[jthig32]

Originally Posted by Windmill360

CP3 to the Bobcats?

I'm intrigued... cause they have DUST. Who's got insider?

There isn't a single thing in there about Paul and Charlotte. That Rumor Mill is the biggest waste of space on Insider. They make up headlines all the time.

[Underdog]

Two former All-Stars whom the Heat are far more likely to consider: Jerry Stackhouse and Michael Finley.

I could learn to hate two ex-Mavs all over again...

[LonghornDub]

J-Kiddo thinks the new Heat will hurt the NBA:

"Well, I think we would love to spread everybody out. We had 10 or 15 of the top players on separate teams, where guys were coming into town and they could sell tickets. It's not going to be easy for teams to sell tickets in Cleveland or Toronto now because those guys aren't on the team. I think everybody can say Miami will sell out wherever they go all year, but that hurts the NBA in the sense of selling tickets. It's just for them to go West, teams are only going to see them once, and then on the East coast they only go there twice, so it may be disappointing on that aspect but when you talk about just straight basketball it will be interesting and fun to watch."

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/bal...urn=nba,257087

[aquaadverse]

Originally Posted by LonghornDub

J-Kiddo thinks the new Heat will hurt the NBA:



http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/bal...urn=nba,257087

Nonsense. While the cities they left will unquestionably be hurt by the situation, the overall interest in the NBA is going to go up because of the situation. Will a game of Lakers and Heat have less viewers this Christmas?

The 1980's NBA was sure hurt by the Lakers and Celtics appearing in 13 out of 20 possible finals games, eh? Jordan's six rings and the Bull's dominance utterly ruined the sport didn't it?

"Super" teams piques the interest of people that otherwise wouldn't pay attention and some of them become more serious and the interest turns into another fan. You would think someone that works in the same market as the Cowboys would have a better understanding of the love and love to hate principle.

[Windmill360]

Report: Paul Has Demanded Trade To Knicks, Magic, Lakers

MORE

EDIT: I guess this might not be the right thread so move if you wanna.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by Windmill360

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/1...sis-with-paul/

Knicks, Magic, Lakers?

One of these teams is not like the others...

[fluid.forty.one]

How can he "demand" a trade to a specific team?

[mac222b]

mere days after we trade the Damp...

[MaVs 41 BaLler]

Originally Posted by aquaadverse

Nonsense. While the cities they left will unquestionably be hurt by the situation, the overall interest in the NBA is going to go up because of the situation. Will a game of Lakers and Heat have less viewers this Christmas?

The 1980's NBA was sure hurt by the Lakers and Celtics appearing in 13 out of 20 possible finals games, eh? Jordan's six rings and the Bull's dominance utterly ruined the sport didn't it?

"Super" teams piques the interest of people that otherwise wouldn't pay attention and some of them become more serious and the interest turns into another fan. You would think someone that works in the same market as the Cowboys would have a better understanding of the love and love to hate principle.

Wow, then that means the majority of the world are band wagoners!

[aquaadverse]

Originally Posted by MaVs 41 BaLler

Wow, then that means the majority of the world are band wagoners!

So what else is new? There were a lot of people who knew about Michael Jordan and wore his shoes without knowing what the difference is between a blocking foul and a charge.

Football didn't blow by baseball in popularity because of the game itself, it was because of Joe Namath and Howard and Dandy Don. A lot of people were pulling for New Orleans in this year's Super Bowl because of Katrina or wanted the Colts to win because they liked Peyton's corn-pone goofiness.

I'm personally amused at all the people who keep yammering about Jordan's drive to be the best ever and conveniently skip over his little baseball experiment when he had three rings and was far from a consensus best that ever played and the backhanded bitch slap he gave the fans, his teammates and the city of Chicago doing it. It doesn't matter if he did it to make a gambling investigation go away or it was his own reasons, a crapload of eyeballs were watching his first game back and it wasn't only Bulls fans.

There are going to be people watching games because of how the team came together, the South Beach location, Jessie Jackson, Cleveland getting punched in the nuts and all the other subplots and a certain percentage will become fans at some level.

[fluid.forty.one]

just wanted to give Minnesota some props for signing YET ANOTHER POINT GUARD.

sheesh

[LonghornDub]

If you guys haven't seen the Lebron James's Ego twitter, you should check it out. Some choice favorites:

RT @LebronJamesEgo MELO'S WEDDING WAS AIGHT BUT REALLY I FELT BAD FOR HOW SEXY I LOOKED. I TRY TO LOOK LESS SEXY BUT NO ONE IS PERFECT THOUGH USUALLY I AM.

RT @LebronJamesEgo CMON NOW I DIDN'T QUIT IN THE PLAYOFFS. I'D CALL IT MORE OF A TEMPORARY PERIOD OF LESS TRYIN, NOT QUTTIN YALL CRAZY.

RT @LebronJamesEgo CAN'T DECIDE WHAT TO EAT AT DENNYS. THE GRAND SLAM OR THE SIZZLIN SKILLET??? YO TIME FOR ANOTHER ANNOUNCEMENT BUT NO PUNK KIDS THIS TIME.

RT @LebronJamesEgo D-WADE SAID LAKERS ARE THE BEST, SO I RAN TO SHOW HIM HOW FAST I AM. HE SAID "WHAT ARE U DOIN" AND I WAS LIKE AW YEAH SO THAT SETTLES THAT.

RT @LebronJamesEgo MY REVIEW OF INCEPTION: MY OUTFIT WAS NICE CAUSE MY SHOES REALLY COMPLIMENTED MY SHIRT AND I GOT SOME RAISINETTES CAUSE THEY'RE THE BOMB.

http://www.twitter.com/LebronJamesEgo

[Underdog]

^ greatness

[FINtastic]

Good idea from Bill Simmons' mailbag today!

Q: I think it should be your job (and every other non-Miami NBA fan, media member, etc.) to cause as much dissension on the Heat as possible. As such, I suggest always referring to the team as:

(A) Dwyane Wade's Miami Heat;
(B) Dwyane Wade's South Beach Heat;
(C) Dwyane Wade and company; and/or
(D) NBA champion Dwayne Wade and his Miami Heat.

Just sowing the seeds,
-- Mike in Boston

We need to find some way to make this happen.

[Fidel]

Other nice tweets from LeBronsEgo:

CHRIS BOSH ASKED ME TO PUT SUN BLOCK ON HIS BACK AND AT FIRST I WAS LIKE NAH MAN, BUT THEN I THOUGHT I'M LEBRON THE SUN BLOCK KING SO I DID.

THE PARTY LAST NIGHT WAS DOPE! PEOPLE COULDN'T KEEP UP WITH ME DURING THE ELECTRIC SLIDE SO I WAS LIKE SORRY YOUR LIFE IS BAD ALL THE TIME.

[rabbitproof]

The caps make it work

So, One More Championship Than Lebron James Dwayne Wade's Heat signed Arroyo. Could still sign Jason Williams, too... ooga.

[Underdog]

ESPN axes LeBron Vegas story

link

ESPN on Thursday permanently killed an unflattering LeBron James profile it had previously published, and blamed the reporter for “not properly identifying himself” while researching the piece.

The article, by ESPNLosAngeles.com columnist Arash Markazi, depicted James as someone who “relishes being the center of attention” as handlers infantilize the 25-year-old.

“The more you hang around James, the more you realize he’s still a child wrapped in a 6-foot-8, 250-pound frame,” Markazi wrote in the story, posted at 9:40am ET Wednesday. It was pulled shortly thereafter.

One day later, with the story generating attention it may never have earned if it had been left alone, ESPN was forced to explain its decision.

“We looked into the situation thoroughly and found that Arash did not properly identify himself as a reporter or clearly state his intentions to write a story,” ESPN editor-in-chief Rob King said in a statement. “ESPN.com will not be posting this story in any form.”

That means it will be difficult -- though far from impossible -- for fans to read about James flirting with Las Vegas cocktail waitresses in clubs surrounded by naked women covered in rose petals.

Though constantly surrounded by an entourage of security, family and longtime friends, he was disappointed when a club offered him a male waiter, according to the article.

“I wish they’d have one of those girls with no panties do that instead of the guy,” he said as a waiter delivered another bottle of vodka.

Even fellow basketball players seemed shocked at James’ behavior.

In one nightclub, Boston Celtics forward Glen Davis walked past James’ group and surveyed the area “like a painting in a museum, soaking in the images of the go-go dancers…and the costumed man delivering bottles of champagne.”

Davis shook his head, and moved on.

Markazi, the author, accepted the decision in a statement released by his employer.

“I stand by the accuracy of the story in its entirety, but should have been clearer in representing my intent to write about the events I observed,” he said.

It was not be the first time ESPN flirted with James-related controversy. Its own internal watchdog blasted the sports network for what he said were ethical missteps in its recent broadcast of a program devoted to the star’s signing with the Miami Heat.

.

[DirkFTW]

"Hi, I'm a reporter. Can I join your nude women festivities for the purposes of an exclusive story?"

[aquaadverse]

Originally Posted by DirkFTW

"Hi, I'm a reporter. Can I join your nude women festivities for the purposes of an exclusive story?"

Don't know what the big deal is. As Drew Carey observed, "In Texas titty bars are considered health care."

[DirkFTW]

Originally Posted by aquaadverse

Don't know what the big deal is. As Drew Carey observed, "In Texas titty bars are considered health care."

Yea, but ESPN is a Connecticut company owned by Disney, so they ain't gonna understand.

[Underdog]

Karma can be a bitch...

Udonis Haslem arrested in Florida

link

MIAMI -- Heat forward Udonis Haslem was arrested Sunday for possession of marijuana following a traffic stop in Miami-Dade County.

Haslem, 30, was stopped in a 2008 Mercedes around 3:05 p.m. going eastbound on the Gratigny Parkway because of speeding, Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Sgt. Mark Wysocky said. The trooper smelled "an odor of marijuana from within the vehicle," Wysocky wrote in a press release, leading to the arrest of both Haslem and passenger Antwain Fleming, 33.

"After the subsequent search, Mr. Haslem and Mr. Fleming were placed under arrest," Wysocky wrote.

According to Miami-Dade court records, Haslem was charged with possessing more than 20 grams of marijuana, a third-degree felony which could bring maximum punishments of a $5,000 fine and a five-year prison sentence.

Haslem was released on bond shortly after 10 p.m.

Besides the speeding citation, Haslem was also charged with illegal window tint, Wysocky said.

Both Haslem's agent, Henry Thomas, and Heat officials said they were collecting information and did not have any immediate comment.

Court records said Fleming was charged with possessing less than 20 grams of marijuana, a first-degree misdemeanor that could bring a $1,000 fine and one-year prison term.

Haslem has spent all seven of his NBA seasons with the Heat, and the South Florida native signed a new five-year contract to stay with the team last month.

"He is our anchor, he is a true warrior and a great professional," Heat president Pat Riley said in July, after Haslem announced he would forgo higher-paying offers elsewhere to stay in Miami and not only continue playing alongside Dwyane Wade, but stay to be teammates with marquee acquisitions LeBron James and Chris Bosh as well.

During his NBA career, Haslem has averaged 10.0 points and 8.1 rebounds for Miami, plus helped the Heat win the 2006 NBA championship.

[Big Boy Laroux]

Antwain Fleming is lebron's alias...

[Dirkadirkastan]

What kind of name is Antwain Fleming?

[fluid.forty.one]

I don't see why Anthony would want to go to a NJ team that wouldn't have Harris or Favors anymore.

[Dtownsfinest]

Originally Posted by fluid.forty.one

I don't see why Anthony would want to go to a NJ team that wouldn't have Harris or Favors anymore.

That's what i'm wondering. Same thing I was wondering with the Noah and Bulls move. If Noah's not on the Bulls the move didn't make sense. But hell atleast they would still have Derrick Rose. The Nets have Brook Lopez but goodness the Nets won't be anything with just a core of Melo and Lopez this season.

[GermanDunk]

Jerry has got a new home...

[12 Tone Melodies]

Anthony Tolliver Tweaks LeHype
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...tml?xid=si_nba

[tdn]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvgD9HNTMkM