What the heck! Supposedly the big 3 all took 15million less than the max in sign and trades so Miami has cap room to get Mike Miller and keep Udonis Haslem. Next the are talking about signing Derek Fisher. They are going to be the best basketball team of all time.... I thought they would have all mininum contract players this year.... this might just be too much. The only good thing in terms of being able to one day beat the heat is they had to ship out 4 first round picks to do the sign and trades including Toronto's pick so that at least reduces some of the future talent the team will have. But I guess most of those will be late picks you can buy anyways........
Just another reason why this league is way below every other major sports. At least two people who are worth the max, should be getting them, and another who should be getting paid a good amount, but instead, take less so they can put nicer pieces then they really should have around them. If a small market team tried this Stern would not allow it. Fuck the NBA and fuck Stern for being a fucking idiot.
Might as well give them unlimited salary cap room and let them sign whoever they want to however much they want. The Heat might be unbeatable for the next five years. Scary.
I do not know what he can or cannot do, however, it doesn't present much of a challenge for the Heat if they can get away for signing three guys all deserving of the max for much less just so they can put better players than what they should actually get for at least the first year. You might as well have no salary cap. Other teams not named Lakers don't stand much of a chance. Perhaps we could, but Oden has to be a beast and stay healthy which the latter is not exactly looking to promising. If, and it may a big if, but I wouldn't be to shocked either, another super team were to form such as Carmelo, Amare, and Chris Paul or something like that, but basically a team with three superstudstars. The NBA is going to lose a lot of its hardcore fans who like other teams other than the Lakers, Heat, and potentially another team with studs who are trying to counter the Heat to win it all.
In the 1980s, the Lakers and Celtics superteams didn't seem to hurt league popularity. That was one of the best eras for the NBA, in terms of popularity.
Let me get this straight....... you guys are cracking on these players for NOT being selfish?!?!? For taking LESS then they could in order to bring in more talent? This is something you don't see in sports today and should be commended.
But they did nothing wrong. I can understand being frustrated that your favorite team is not going to win a championship, but don't blame the Heat organization for it.
I'm with HCP on this. If it were Dirk instead of James that had been the third guy to go to Miami for a paycut enabling these signings, there would be a lot less backlash.
I am not blaming the Heat organization. I never once said they cheated the system or anything like that. However, this league just went down the tubes. The great thing about professional sports is the suspense and the opportunity of potentially seeing your favorite team go the whole way. Now the suspense is done and it is either going to be the Lakers, Heat or possibly one last run by the Celtics. Saweet, why have a regular season again? Our chances were not looking good to begin with since Oden is pretty much always hurt, however, at the chance he stays healthy and even becomes a super beast, I still see us having a tough time trying to beat the super team, mainly because I would definitely think Oden would be called for so many phantom foul calls because you just breathe on poor Wade or LeBron it is a foul. The refs will only help the Heat, not hurt. I am only interested in Oden's progression this upcoming season, nothing much matters, though, as this league just got a lot less interesting and suspensful. Edit: I could see why fans of teams who are not good currently would not care about this since they aren't making any serious threat anyway, and honestly, I would still watch more as well if the Blazers were not good, however, when your team is good and has the chance only to get the window which would have been opening soon to pretty much shattered, it hurts and sucks that much more.
People should be giving these guys props for this! How many players who are in the prime of their career, and who are MAX players ever leave money on the table. None! In the world of professional sports, this may be the ultimate example of teamwork and unselfishness!
And you are allowed to have this opinion. I on the other hand am a basketball fan first, Blazer fan second. Nothing could tone down my anticipation for any upcoming season.
What? It's Stern's fault that the players are more concerned about winning than about making as much money as possible? That's a fucking joke. Ed O.
Why is players taking less than the max a problem again? I didn't hear people complaining when Dirk did the exact same thing with his latest extension. Usually, this is a positive thing as it shows that people care about more than just money. I really don't get the backlash against Miami, or the league as a whole over this.
