Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and Udonis Haslem all opt out

[jterrell]

Houston, unless he's an idiot.

He was clear it was HOU if Bron left.
No doubt about it at all now.

 

[jterrell]

I agree with this. Championships are all about matchups. It may not indicate how good or bad a team might be, although I do believe it showed how weak the Heat were at Guard. If SA had faced Indiana in the finals, instead of the Heat, I believe that would have been a much better series but that's just an opinion on my part.

Very fair point.

But the use of margin of victory is funny by Spurs fan considering the r1 series with Dallas was a razor thing margin virtually every night until game 7.
Dallas actually had cumulative total going into game 7.

 

[zrinkill]

exhibit A. Spurs homers are maybe worse then Sooner or Longhorn homers.

Still crying in your Lebron jersey?

 

[Jenky]

Chris Bosh is reportedly finalizing an agreement to return to Miami on a five-year deal worth $118 million.
Wow, looks like Bosh is going to remain loyal to Pat Riley. If Bosh had elected to sign with Houston he would have been leaving $32 million on the table, so perhaps there was a bit of financial incentive at play here. Miami has a lot of cap space, and they can bring in another high-profile free agent to play alongside Bosh and Dwyane Wade. Bosh will now take on a much larger burden with shouldering the offensive workload in Miami, and he could be in for a fantastic fantasy season. Jul 11 - 5:51 PM
Source: Adrian Wojnarowski on Twitter

 

[jterrell]

Crazy deal for HOU with Bosh staying put.

 

[burmafrd]

Chris Bosh is reportedly finalizing an agreement to return to Miami on a five-year deal worth $118 million.
Wow, looks like Bosh is going to remain loyal to Pat Riley. If Bosh had elected to sign with Houston he would have been leaving $32 million on the table, so perhaps there was a bit of financial incentive at play here. Miami has a lot of cap space, and they can bring in another high-profile free agent to play alongside Bosh and Dwyane Wade. Bosh will now take on a much larger burden with shouldering the offensive workload in Miami, and he could be in for a fantastic fantasy season. Jul 11 - 5:51 PM
Source: Adrian Wojnarowski on Twitter

who is left that Miami can get that would really make an impact?

 

[jterrell]

who is left that Miami can get that would really make an impact?

they are reportedly close to signing luol deng.
thats not terrible and perhaps a lower tier playoff team in the east.

 

[Rockport]

who is left that Miami can get that would really make an impact?

Miami's toast for several years to come. It's hilarious. They bought 2 championships but now it's all fallen apart. So much for LeMe's "we're going to win 4, 5, 6,.... championships."

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Miami's toast for several years to come. It's hilarious. They bought 2 championships but now it's all fallen apart. So much for LeMe's "we're going to win 4, 5, 6,.... championships."

I wonder how much the Spur beat-down had to do with all this... I'm thinking it lit the fuse.

 

[jterrell]

I wonder how much the Spur beat-down had to do with all this... I'm thinking it lit the fuse.

I think it was more that the Heat refused to use either exception last year.
The big 3 all took less money to max out the talent they could acquire then the owner coming off a couple titles was trying to save sheckels??

No one wants to go to war undermanned.

I also think LeBron was always gonna be drawn back to Cleveland.

 

[zrinkill]

I wonder how much the Spur beat-down had to do with all this... I'm thinking it lit the fuse.

Everything ....... Lebron saw how his team lay down and he was the only one playing.

 

[Manwiththeplan]

MLE is every year.
Miami had both MLE and Bi-annual exception available last year but passed.

I know teams have the option of signing a guy long term using the MLE, which ties it up for the duration of the contract. That may not have been the case here, but I think it was

 

[Manwiththeplan]

By the same token a team that wins 4 games by 20 but loses 3 games by 15 is hardly dominating.

A sweep is the most impressive way to win a series.
The Spurs did the next best thing winning big.

yea, a sweep is more impressive considering the other team failed to win a game.

 

[jterrell]

I know teams have the option of signing a guy long term using the MLE, which ties it up for the duration of the contract. That may not have been the case here, but I think it was

Yup, Miami had both the bi-annual exception and the over the cap MLE available.
They didn't use either and instead just added vet minimum guys like Greg Oden that were huge question marks to play at all.
By not having 8th and 9th men who could actually enter a game they got the slobber beat out of them by the Spurs depth every single game.

 

[Manwiththeplan]

Yup, Miami had both the bi-annual exception and the over the cap MLE available.
They didn't use either and instead just added vet minimum guys like Greg Oden that were huge question marks to play at all.

http://espn.go.com/nba/truehoop/miamiheat/story/_/id/8156692/ray-allen-rashard-lewis-sign-miami-heat

In 2012, they used their mimi mid level exception to sign Ray Allen to a 3 year deal (must have had a voidable season), which made that exception unusable in 2014. Also, as a tax paying team ($80 million pay roll), they could not use a full mid level exception. The Bi annual exception was available, but I doubt it would've made a difference in 2014 or in Lebron's decision.

 

[burmafrd]

Still crying in your Lebron jersey?

you sold that Honey Boo Boo T Shirt yet?

 

[zrinkill]

Honey Boo Boo

Is that your pet name for Lebron?

 

[zrinkill]

I cannot believe Riley gave Bosh a max contract ....... he must be going senile ....

 

[MichaelWinicki]

I cannot believe Riley gave Bosh a max contract ....... he must be going senile ....

I agree with that premise.

He doesn't look interested in getting the tough points or with rebounding. All he seems to want to do is hang around the 3-point line.

In addition he's 30's years old.

The Miami franchise got scared. And now they're going to throw all sorts of money at a guy (Wade) who's body is shot.

 

[jterrell]

http://espn.go.com/nba/truehoop/miamiheat/story/_/id/8156692/ray-allen-rashard-lewis-sign-miami-heat

In 2012, they used their mimi mid level exception to sign Ray Allen to a 3 year deal (must have had a voidable season), which made that exception unusable in 2014. Also, as a tax paying team ($80 million pay roll), they could not use a full mid level exception. The Bi annual exception was available, but I doubt it would've made a difference in 2014 or in Lebron's decision.

Your linked article explains it well.
There are two exceptions Miami had access to and did not use.
The Taxpayer MLE which is a mere 3m per and can run 3 years. That is what they used on Allen in 2012 and had it available again in 2013.
Every team has it every year they are over the tax apron.
They also passed on the bi-annual exception which every team has, which is 2.7m and runs 2 years and is available only every 2nd year.

Rashard signed as noted for the vet minimum and they can sign those guys until they have 15 players. There is no limit other than roster spots.

That absolutely had an effect on the team as a 3m salary could have brought them a number of low rotation level vets chasing a ring.

I think it is pretty obvious with Riley agreeing to BOTH exceptions he had available BEFORE the decision it was clear to him LeBron was displeased with not using them the previous year.
Rumors were out there LBJ was pissed about it. Combined with Riley's actions I think we can accept it mattered.

LBJ wanted to go home. He had been planning that move in some sense for a good while but Miami shorting the roster for 5m in tax money and 5m in salary probably made it much easier to walk away.