There were two tidbits from Sunday that may be of interest. Mike McGraw is reporting that Lebron James had a phone call with Derick Rose following the Cav's elimination in which he expressed interest in playing for the Bulls: And secondly, RealGM is reporting that teams are allowed to negotiate sign-and-trades prior to July 1, provided that representatives of the players are not included in the discussions. Is Lebron James to the Bulls already a done deal?
It is all starting to make sense.... ...LeBron doesn't want to wear #23 anymore, changing to #6. MJ #23 in Chicago. LBJ could not wear that number in Chicago. I bet he had this move in mind prior to the season.
I would wager that the number change had a lot more to do with marketing than anything else. James could always select a number after he joins a new team. I'm sure Lebron's business team wanted a fresh number that they could define and promote.
Wade is possible, but doubtful I see him staying in Miami and they get a big man. We would already have two slashers in Rose and James. Wade doesnt shoot all that well. We could do better by getting allen or another SG that can shoot.
Trueblue: I agree with your assessment of Wade's skill set but not your conclusions. When you have a players as good as Wade and Rose, it doesn't matter how their skills fit together. Give them two months and they will make magic on the court. I also don't think you can discount how much having a defensive stopper like Wade would make in the win-loss column. I might, might, might rather have Bosh, but only because the players may be roughly the same caliber when you account for injuries and wear.
"RealGM is reporting that teams are allowed to negotiate sign-and-trades prior to July 1, provided that representatives of the players are not included in the discussions. " So are the players (Rose, LeBron) representatives of the players? Have the teams actually been in contact?
If they are Derrick Rose, Lebron James and Dwayne Wade, I would say yes. Talent takes over. Also, I think you underestimate all three players when you label them slashers. None of them are Tony Allen. They all have outside shots, and Lebron has solid range beyond the three point mark. The strongest facets of their games may not be shooting, but all of them have complete offensive games that would destroy opposing teams.
Deng's a slasher, too. How about a little fantasy... Deng for LeBron, S&T Hinrich for Joe Johnson, S&T Sign Bosh outright. Rose Johnson Noah James Bosh No bench, but who cares? Johnson would be the oldest guy in that lineup.
I read it as saying the teams are directly in contact with each other. EG John Paxson talking to Danny Ferry. The players and agents of players, I think, can't be involved. I think in reality, though, there's lots of crossing this line since a team could obviously talk directly to a player agent in a different context, and probably no one can prove anything unless it's taped. Anyway, I think these guys are free agents...
lol, this is off topic, but during the movie, Freddie asked Jason, "Why don't you die?" Very funny. I am sure some GM's wish that on some agents. lol
