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Posts Tagged ‘Dwyane Wade’

2010 Update: New Info On LeBron, Bosh, Wade

Jun 20th, 2009
by Dan L.
2 comments

Let’s take a momentary break from the Draft and focus on a few stories that have emerged over the last day or two regarding the big free agent class of 2010, which is after all, still the most significant horizon of the Walsh/D’Antoni era.

LeBron James:

Word is the Cavs are after Vince Carter.

I think Chad Ford is correct that the Cavs are in panic mode. First they allegedly target Shaq, who, at 37 is definitely in a decline and who probably won’t deliver a title to Cleveland. His contract expires after the upcoming season but then what? Shaq doesn’t really help short term, and the long term impact of a trade is a neutral (unless they resign him, in which case it’s negative).

Then comes word about a Vince trade. This one is even worse for the Cavs long term prospects. Does anyone think that Vince Carter would’ve helped the Cavs beat the Magic in the Eastern Finals? Maybe they wouldn’t have lost in 5 (would’ve been 4 if not for the game 2 miracle shot). Even if Vince could’ve gotten the Cavs into the Finals this year and then also gotten them past the Lakers, the guy is 32, and on the decline, just like Shaq.

Unlike Shaq though, Vince has $33.6 million left on a contract that goes through 2011. This trade saddles them with a long term deal for a declining wing and all but puts them out of the running to seriously improve in the long-term, which we all know is what LeBron wants to see.

Another rumored trade for Antawn Jamison has similar pitfalls in that there is no long-term upside.

Chris Bosh:

Sounds like Jerry Colangelo has resigned himself to losing Bosh:

What’s the situation with Chris Bosh and is there a possibility he signs a contract extension this summer?

“We’ll have the discussion, we’ll talk about the pros and the cons, he’ll most likely not sign it, and then we’ll get in to next season, we’ll figure out where we are.  In respect to the situation for him, there will be a handful of teams next year – I’m guessing between five and ten – which will have maximum allowable free agent money, which means Chris is subject to walk to one of those deals.  But, I have to reiterate the point that keeps being overlooked – we’re the only team that can offer him a full six years versus five years, 10.5% increases versus 8% increases… Basically equates to a $30 million dollar difference.  So, even if he wants to leave, he’s still better served, and we’re better served if he works a sign-and-trade with us where we can get some sort of an asset back from the team that he’s going to.  And, I think that’s probably the thing that we’ll both push for because he’ll benefit from it and we’ll benefit from it, and that’s why it’s probably not time to panic now and make a bad deal.”

Seems like Colangelo sees the writing on the wall and is going to, or even has been, fielding offers for Bosh. I still think he’s likely to wind up in Miami, where there is no state income tax, and has a team just about ready to compete, since it has, and will have, Dwyane Wade…probably…

Dwyane Wade:

Wade doesn’t seem happy idling in purgatory after losing to a Hawks team that got throttled by the Cavs. He’s growing impatient and has taken a shot across Pat Riley’s bow:

A day after Heat President Pat Riley said the team could not go forward with a major personnel overhaul without his star guard first agreeing to an extension this summer, Wade indicated he might seek such action by the team before making such a commitment.

“I’m there. Why not fast track this thing anyway while I’m there and let’s not give it a chance to get to 2010?” said Wade, who can extend his contract starting July 12, or can opt out an become a free agent following next season. “I’m in my prime right now, playing the best basketball I’ve ever played, and I feel as good as I ever felt. So let’s not wait. Let’s do it now if we can do it. So it’s not about me signing a contract.”

Riley, however, said it is about exactly that, that the Heat cannot move forward with a renovation amid uncertainty about the franchise’s foundation.

Wade took a contrasting view, that an aggressive personnel approach by the team this summer could lead to his signature on an extension before his potential 2010 free agency.

“They have to do everything they can to make sure they want me there for the future,” he said.

…

“I have a decision to make on my own and that decision has nothing to do with anything that anyone is going to say,” Wade said. “I always have the best interest of the basketball team every time I take the court. But in this stage, where you’re talking about contracts and free agency, you have to think about yourself and what’s best.”

Is Riley going to risk losing Wade by sitting on his thumbs? Is Jerry Colangelo going to get a better offer than expiring deals, draft picks, and Michael Beasley? (Maybe). Is a one-two punch of Bosh and Wade ultra competitive? (You bet).

One thing is for sure, neither the LeBron, Bosh, nor Wade situations are settled right now.

My GM Saved Up Loads of Cap Room and All I Got Was This…Carmelo Anthony

Mar 4th, 2009
by Jon.
6 comments

Frank Isola blogged this morning about the possibility that Carmelo Anthony might become available in trades this summer given the uneasy (testy, in recent days) relationship he enjoys with Nuggets coach George Karl. Isola urges that, should this come to pass, Anthony will become a Knick.

Isola contends that Anthony bears many qualities in common with some of our favorite bygone Knicks, and that acquiring Melo would be more in keeping with the spirit and history of the franchise (no rings in almost 40 years) than would say, signing Lebron James.

While Isola did make some arguments that appealed to me in a visceral sense, as he somehow managed to favorably compare Melo to Ewing, Sprewell, Oakley, Starks, Mason, Bernard King and Earl Monroe (seriously), he also contended that Melo is a vastly superior player to Chris Bosh. On some level I do view Frankie Ice as a sort of curator of modern Knicks history, but I’m going to have to respectfully disagree with him here.

Melo is a star player and I do think he could win a championship someday if he were to land in a situation similar to the present day Celtics where he was one of several star players working together. But if there were a “Lebron, Wade, Bosh, Amare, Melo Train”, there’s simply no question that Melo would be the caboose, and that ass would be dragging.

So here’s hoping Ice’s fearless prediction is way off base. Because, as much as I hate snitches, if DW is going to all this trouble to bring us…Carmelo Anthony, I think I’m going to be really, really sad.

Too Much to Overcome?

Mar 1st, 2009
by Jon.
16 comments

After last night’s brutal and devastating loss, I decided to sleep on it before I wrote anything about the game in hopes that rest might moderate my thoughts. I suppose it has in the sense that I don’t feel as angry as I did last night but I’m just as disappointed and I still feel totally frustrated.

It took a lot for me to invest myself in the idea that the Knicks might compete for a playoff spot. For most of the season I didn’t think they had what it took (I thought they were at least 2 players short and just not quite ready for prime time). It took even more to convince me that going for the playoffs was a good idea. I remain on the fence about this because as I’ve written here before, if the goal is to be competing for championships, I think a concerted playoff run forced DW and D’Antoni to at least delay certain long range moves that might have improved the Knicks chances to win championships in the future, if not miss out on the opportunity to make those moves altogether.

But after seeing the Knicks over the past several weeks I’d bought in. They’re far from perfect but the Knicks do have a talented young foursome that’s growing together. David Lee may not be a great defender or very physical down low, but his ability to give you the exact same dose of smarts and high-level productivity, night after night after night makes him a solid building block. Chandler may not have the personality to impose his talent on games the way he could and others might (like a certain #3 on the Miami Heat), but his multiple skill-sets and unselfish attitude makes him a perfect glue starter. Danilo Gallinari looks like he will someday become, health permitting, a multi-dimensional killer in the mold of Toni Kukoc. And Nate Robinson’s play over the last 10 games or so gave us reason to believe that we had a player who was (dare I say it?) on the cusp of stardom, capable of taking over games and putting them away at the finish.

All of that remains true. It’s not as though those players’ long term outlook has substantially changed simply because they took a grenade to the gut on the road last night (though I worry a lot about Nate- more on that in a minute). It may even make those players tougher in the future. But I think last night’s loss is the coup de grâce for this season.

The Knicks now find themselves 3 1/2 games behind Milwaukee for the 8th playoff spot but in 13th(!) place in the conference. So to make the playoffs, the Knicks would have to make up the 3 1/2 games (seemingly doable) while jumping over 5 teams ahead of them (less doable) in 23 games. To even give themsleves a fighting chance, the Knicks need to pull themselves off the mat and win their next 5 games. Consider the upcoming stretch beginning on Wednesday: Atlanta, Charlotte, at New Jersey, at Milwaukee, and at Detroit. What do those last 4 teams have in common? That’s right, they’re all teams that are fighting for those precious final two spots in the eastern conference. So each win against them is a huge boon to the Knicks’ fortunes and any losses during this stretch would be a disabling blow.

Can the Knicks rattle off 5 in a row against teams just as hungry as they are? I seriously doubt it, especially considering how they must be feeling right now. But that’s what it’s going to take to get us in. If the Knicks go even 3-2, we can probably start taking a much closer look at which guys from the 2009 draft would be a good fit with the young core.

A few thoughts about last night’s debacle:

– Larry Hughes is a good player. He definitely takes some mind-boggingly dumb shots but his defense is so strong and he’s got a very good floor game. If he ever just settles down and stops trying to create unmakeable jumpers for himself off the dribble, he could be a very good player in our offensive system. When he’s open, his j is decent. As it is, his overall game is going to be a help to the Knicks for the rest of this year and next.

– Kudos to David Lee for his strong finish to last night’s game. Until that unfortunate turnover at the end where he and Duhon got crossed up on the pick and roll, in the last 4 minutes he had snared every rebound and was ferocious on a tip-in that got the Knicks within 2. Now that he’s shown he can do it, Lee needs to impact the end of games like he did last night far more frequently.

– Chris Wilcox is a total non-entity so far. Looks completely lost.

– The Knicks really struggled when Jermaine O’Neal was out on the floor. They seemed to build their big leads with JO on the bench and then give them back when he came back out on the floor. His defensive presence makes Wade’s incessant gambling for steals much less damaging to the Heat. As a result, he makes the Heat much tougher to play. Too bad he’s almost never healthy.

– Nate rattled off yet another huge game last night (29 pts, 8 rebs, 4 assists) but his lack of composure in the final minutes is very concerning. As dominating as Nate can be athletically, this is what should worry DW and D’Antoni (and I’m sure it does) when they consider whether they want him to be part of the franchise’s long-term future. This is Nate’s 4th season in the league and he’s shown few signs that he’s ever going to be able to get his emotions under control. At some point you have to ask yourself whether or not you want to invest in a player like that. Imagine Nate in an intense game 7. Can you trust him? Does he totally melt down and ruin your season?

Walsh Eyes Anchor

Feb 2nd, 2009
by Jon.
2 comments

Landing Lebron is all well and good (ok, so that may be a bit of an understatement) but when it comes to choosing which second superstar to spend the rest of his 2010 scratch on, Donnie Walsh might be thinking big.

After the New York Post reported Dwyane Wade’s comments from over the weekend where he entertained the possibility of pairing up with Lebron in New York, several outlets shot the idea down explaining that Walsh considers a versatile, defensive minded big man to be the key piece that anchors any true championship contender. The dissenting chorus therefore speculates that Walsh will spend the rest of his money on a big.

I don’t think we should ever be overly dismissive of the idea that Walsh would sign Lebron and Wade together simply because it goes against some of his conventional wisdom. After all, I think he’d probably make an exception if he was given the chance to secure two of the three best players in the world. Also, Walsh might be able to acquire a big man that fills the need without paying him a max contract. So getting a big man anchor doesn’t have to be the exclusion of Wade or some other perimeter star from the 2010 free agent class (Joe Johnson, for instance).

But whichever side you think is right, the takeaway should be the same. It’s here in this quote from Walsh:

“[Y]ou have to have a big guy who can do the real important things. Scoring, maybe. To me, it’s more about rebounding and blocking shots and providing the intimidation inside. You need those things to contend.”

So regardless of whether Donnie gets his anchor in free agency (Bosh? Tyson Chandler?) or by acquiring one in a trade (Joakim Noah perhaps?) or by selecting one in the draft (Hasheem Thabeet?), now we all know that a defensive big who rebounds, blocks shots and controls the paint is a non-negotiable part of The Blueprint.

Lebron and Wade in 2010?! Wizard!!

Jan 31st, 2009
by Jon.
4 comments

Always fun to read these kinds of articles, even when they come from Berman who is, in point of fact, the world champion of articles speculating about superstars that will eventually become Knicks (over the years he’s pumped MJ, Magic, Webber, Kobe, Artest and on and on…).

What’s nice here, though, is that Wade’s actually saying it. Really gets the 2010 juices flowing!

Incidentally, Berman is also reporting this morning that Lee is likely to stick around. To support the premise, he pretty much just cribbed the research/logic from Howard Beck’s article from Thursday. My take on this theory is here.