NBA Offseason Thread.

[thrill]

That sounds right. Lawyers?

Either way, if you're not under contract you can talk to whoever you want about whatever you want.

Except those guys are under contract until July 1. They could be fined for talking to each other about where they want to go. It's impossible to police since these guys are friends and hang out in the offseason, but I guarantee they've been told by the league to stfu about this stuff to the press going forward.

I hope so. Wade hasn't been able to keep his mouth shut since his midseason ultimatum to Riley.

[Socnorb11]

I'm firmly in the Joe Johnson-aint-that-good camp. The guy has flashes of greatness, but he should be the second or third best guy if you want him to play for a championship. He just doesn't bring all his game enough.

I'm officially sick of this LeBron-can't-go-to-Chicago garbage. So the Bulls are never allowed to have another HOF quality player because of Jordan? What the biz? Are we 'allowed' to have a quality big man like Bosh, then?

They're allowed to have one, but only by the team's choice (draft), not the player's choice.

[thrill]

That sounds right. Lawyers?

Either way, if you're not under contract you can talk to whoever you want about whatever you want.

Except those guys are under contract until July 1. They could be fined for talking to each other about where they want to go. It's impossible to police since these guys are friends and hang out in the offseason, but I guarantee they've been told by the league to stfu about this stuff to the press going forward.

I hope so. Wade hasn't been able to keep his mouth shut since his midseason ultimatum to Riley.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/commenta ... id=5229374

Did you feel that? Or did the newest paradigm shift in the NBA blow right past you without your picking up the vibration?

These movements can be stealthy, after all. Sometimes they arrive in the subtle form of a new contract clause, an opt-out or no-trade sentence that sets the tone for future superstar negotiations. Sometimes it's simply the height of a money stack that either changes things or changes the way people look at those things.

And then, every once in a while, a person like Dwyane Wade puts it right out there for everyone to see, hear and feel.

Wade's recent words to the Chicago Tribune, in fact, were as innocuous-sounding as they were enormous. He described the new power structure in a few casual sentences, making the whole thing seem no more significant than a coffee klatch with some buddies at the local Java Joint.

But make no mistake: When Wade talks about sitting down with LeBron James and Joe Johnson (and perhaps Chris Bosh) to discuss free agency and where each of them will wind up playing, he is absolutely suggesting that a tiny handful of elite players could conspire -- that's the familiar use of the word, not the legal -- to determine the future direction of the league.

Moreover, Wade has no problem saying exactly that. Read again his precise words. As Wade told the Tribune's Fred Mitchell, "You don't know what guys are thinking and where they're going. I think we'll all sit down, and before one of us makes a decision, all of us will have spoken to each other and [listened to the] thinking."

The kicker? "A lot of decisions [will be based on] what other players are willing to do and what other guys want to do. So it's not just a 'me' situation here. We all have to look and see what each other is thinking."

Wow. That's your modern-era power grab, that is. That's the top handful of free agents in a supposedly open marketplace conferring about what each of them will do, which is essentially the same as those free agents pooling their bargaining power to leverage decisions around the NBA. If the owners did that outside of a collective bargaining session, they'd have a grievance slapped on their noggins within the hour.

In this case, it's apparently perfectly acceptable. Heck, it even has its roots in a time-honored act.

Be afraid, NBA owners. Be very, very afraid.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/ ... leId=33441

The LeBron effect could add up to as much as $2.7 billion if he plays here for six years, estimates University of Illinois at Chicago economist John Skorburg. The catch: He'd have to take the Bulls on deep, annual playoff runs, sprinkling in at least a few NBA championships along the way.
Longtime Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf — mum on the chances of King James bolting Cleveland for Chicago, per league rules — would be hard-pressed not to dream of the 13-straight sellout seasons he enjoyed with MJ, when the United Center's luxury boxes bustled with corporate bigwigs.

[MrSaigon]

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/ ... leId=33441

The LeBron effect could add up to as much as $2.7 billion if he plays here for six years, estimates University of Illinois at Chicago economist John Skorburg. The catch: He'd have to take the Bulls on deep, annual playoff runs, sprinkling in at least a few NBA championships along the way.
Longtime Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf — mum on the chances of King James bolting Cleveland for Chicago, per league rules — would be hard-pressed not to dream of the 13-straight sellout seasons he enjoyed with MJ, when the United Center's luxury boxes bustled with corporate bigwigs.

I don't know the exact details, but it seems like it would be more than worth it for some teams to sign James and just pay the luxury tax. Or are there rules in place to prevent that?

Apparently Miami could sign three of these guys if they take reduced pay. It doesn't seem likely at this point in their careers, but who knows.

Also, if LeBron is switching numbers for cash, I think there is reason for hope in Chicago, Atlanta and Cleveland (is 23 retired anywhere else?). It wouldn't make sense to switch teams and numbers in the same year.

Hedo wants out of Toronto. He would have been better in Portland, but man, am I glad Portland wasn't good enough for his wife. Rudy is whining about his role in Portland, but he had his chances with Roy out to step up this year and choked. I wonder if he has any trade value.

[Maclowery]

http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nba/n ... id=5254978

Bulls offer their head coaching job to so-hot-he's-cool Tom Thibodeau. If he's as awesome of a defensive coach as people are cream-dreaming over him being, it sounds like a good plan. I hope he chooses Chicago. Now let's get two major badass FAs and make a freakin beast of a team.

[thrill]

They must know something about what LeBron thinks of Thibodeau because it's certainly a contradiction to what they said their "only someone with head coaching NBA experience" criteria was.

[vinsanity]

They must know something about what LeBron thinks of Thibodeau because it's certainly a contradiction to what they said their "only someone with head coaching NBA experience" criteria was.

Or they think LeBron will resign in Cleveland or elsewhere.

Does seem odd to blatantly go against the previous statement.

[thrill]

Done deal. Really odd hiring. I'm not against it, it's just odd. Thibodeau was who everyone thought they'd hire when they went with Vinny.
http://blogs.bulls.com/chicago_bulls_bl ... bulls.html

[ndistops]

The hire they should have made 2 years ago. The best name that was currently available if you ask me (I'm not enamored in any way with Mike Brown, JVG or the other ex-head guys out there).

[docellis]

Kobe is revolting