3:23pm: Bosh tells Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald that he, Wade and James have never discussed the idea of recruiting Anthony to join them on the Heat, casting the idea of all four playing together next season as “very, very unlikely.”
THURSDAY, 8:13am: Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel downplays the notion of Miami making a run at Anthony, writing in his mailbag column that while the Heat are thinking about trying to sign him, the same is true of Miami and virtually every other potential free agent. Winderman doesn’t think the stars would give up enough money to make the possibility feasible within the Heat’s budget.
WEDNESDAY, 6:52pm: The Heat will attempt to turn their “big three” into a “big four” by making a run at Carmelo Anthony this summer, sources tell Brian Windhorst and Marc Stein of ESPN. ‘Melo holds a player option for the 2014/15 season that he would need to decline before Miami could purse him in free agency, and we heard earlier today that Knicks were pitching a run at LeBron James in the summer of 2015 to try and persuade ‘Melo into sticking around in New York.
In order for such a scenario to come to fruition, James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh would need to exercise the early termination options in their contracts this summer and then re-sign with the team at a discount. Reports have suggested that the trio of All-Stars were interested in opting out to search of more lucrative deals, but sources tell Stein and Windhorst that the “leading players” of the team, presumably the Big Three, have started to explore their options for creating sufficient financial flexibility to make a run at ‘Melo feasible.
Since the only contract guaranteed to be on Miami’s books next year is Norris Cole‘s $2MM pact, the Heat could find themselves with more cap room than any other team this summer. Cooperation from Udonis Haslem and Chris Andersen, both of whom possess player options, is instrumental in the pursuit of Anthony as well, but it’s certainly feasible the Heat find a way to clear enough room to make Anthony a tempting offer.
James, Wade, Bosh, and Anthony have at least discussed the idea of playing together one day, writes Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated (on Twitter), who also tweets that while the idea of the quartet of stars joining forces might be a hard one to swallow, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility. Meanwhile, Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio opines via Twitter that there’s “no way” ‘Melo joins the Heat this summer. If ‘Melo were to sign in Miami this offseason, the Heat would lay claim to four of the top five selections of the 2003 draft.
Sign Darko!!! #tbt
…and then the NBA died. Really? The thought of this happening is so freaking pathetic. Four of the top 5 from a single draft, none of whom could win on their own (minus Wade), forced to join a single team to chase titles? What happened to competition?! What happened to Bird vs. Magic? Jordan vs. the entire league? The NBA should be embarrassed that this is even being discussed as a possibility.
wow…you’re pretty mad…
I’d say more sad/bummed out. It just makes the NBA boring, I want guys to want to destroy each other on the court, not team up with each other to make ‘super’ teams. It’s a telling indicator of these athletes’ competitiveness.
If I were a fan of another team, I’d want Miami to add Melo. That just means more times that LeBron doesnt have the ball in his hands, and more of an open spot defensively…It also doesnt make the NBA boring. There is a reason that I called the San Antonio Spurs the best team in the NBA all season. If you play the right way, you can beat anyone. “Teams that play together beat those teams with superior players who play more as individuals.” -Dr Jack Ramsay
Miami already has three stars they don’t need 4 superstars. I guess some people hate competition. Lebron quit on the cavs 4 years ago and Bosh used a injury to sit out the rest of his season while his team just missed the playoffs
what?? lol…
He makes a valid argument. I don’t like Bosh or Lebron, and it has nothing to do with them going to the Heat. Lebron did quit on Cleveland, his hometown, which speaks to his character. I understand why he did it, but I also don’t have to like him for it. It’s something I personally find abhorrent. A lot of people would agree. He’s free to make whatever choices he wants, and we’re free to dislike him for it. Freedom.
As for Bosh, yeah. He totally quit on his team during the season when he made up his mind he was leaving. He could win five straight MVP’s and he’s still trash. If I dislike Miami, it’s because they’d hire someone like Bosh. If he were on my favorite team, I’d boycott until they released him.
ROFLMAO
What don’t you understand? I guess you do bath salts which would explain how dumb you are.
Wade got Shaq (the rightful 2005 MVP owner) that year, don’t forget. Please STOP with the “win on their own” thing, it’s such BS. Just because Bird, Jordan, and Magic lucked into amazing supporting casts (not saying they’re not transcendent players) does not make any of Bron & gang’s titles less significant.
apparently, Kareem and James Worthy or Kevin Mchale and Robbert Parrish were scrubs…dont forget Scottie Pippen…
he pointed out how a team needs a 2 star but nothing about a 4 star which would happen if Melo joined them. wow you must be a crack head but considering you are from florida that really isn’t a stretch.
and you must be illiterate. Considering your moniker is Johnnydubsack, that really isnt a sretch
None of those guys had to literally collude with their best friends to get onto the same roster, so stop. Don’t equate the situations when they aren’t analogous. Bird and Magic wanted to beat each other, not play with each other. I shouldn’t have used the phrase “win on their own”, because that obviously doesn’t happen in the NBA; Pippen is a top 50 player of all time. But that still doesn’t make it the same.
And this isn’t anti-Heat or anti-Lebron, so you don’t need to get sensitive. It’s just a comment regarding the general state of the league, and how guys view competition.
I still think you’re missing the point in that these guys are super competitive, regardless of “colluding” to team up. Incompetent executives and terrible ownership/guidance are to blame, as well as talent dilution/too many teams in the league. Bird had Auerbach orchestrating everything, a terrific basketball mind who assembled a team with four top-100ish players of all time (Bird, McHale, Parish, and DJ). The late Dr. Buss and Lakers era Riley were also savvy guys, getting three top-50 players of all time (Magic, Kareem, Worthy) and great role players. They didn’t wanna team up because they didn’t need to! Cleveland and Toronto’s incompetent front offices and moronic owners ultimately forced their hands. Imagine having a job where your boss is so incompetent that he/she limits your aspirations by not providing resources for you to advance. Along comes a fantastic mind/saving grace in Heat era Riley, and any player in a similar situation would do the same. How are they going to have a chance to contend with teams like the Spurs otherwise? Also, I say this all as a MAGIC fan, not a Heat fan.
Come on, really? That would be quite a team to say the least. Hard to imagine them losing.
I would rather pursue Trevor Ariza
There is almost no chance of this happening, and even if it were possible from a financial perspective that Lebron would take that little money, they’re still not the best possible fit for Carmelo who would form a better roster in Phoenix, Chicago, and Washington.
Also, this only works if EVERY Heat player opts out. Not just the big three. Why on Earth would players like Udonis Haslem opt out of guaranteed money (Haslem himself has $8 million left on his deal) to let the cap space get eaten and then resign for minimum? It’s simply not going to happen.
I think James should join Anthony in New York, not Anthony join James in Miami; the Knicks are the ones who need to get better to win a championship, not Miami. Miami already has won three championships and New York has not won one since 1973.
What else? Dirk to Miami off the bench? Some of these rumors are just LOL-worthy.
As a matter of due diligence, I don’t see a problem with the Heat checking in to see if they can do this, but they’d have four scorers (good), 1.5 capable defenders out of those four (not good), no big worth mentioning other than Bosh (bad), and your only other roster player of note being Norris Cole and maybe their first round pick (if they don’t trade it to get out from under that salary).
If the Heat were going to pilfer the Knicks, they’d be better off trading for Tyson Chandler. At least he fills one of their needs (rim defender with veteran experience that wants to win a title). Not that New York would ever give Miami the pieces to win another title (and I’m assuming the salary cap stuff works, so don’t kill me if if doesn’t), but Chandler/+1 player (pick from Felton/Shumpert/Prigioni) for Haslem (assuming opt-in)/Cole/1st (or someone else on Miami’s roster Signs & Trades on an inflated deal) would be a better deal for the Heat than signing Anthony, because it addresses some of their needs. Heck, it even addresses the Knicks’ needs too (a point guard not named Felton and a 1st rounder, and I think they get out from under Haslem’s salary in the summer of 2015). Even with that done, Miami still needs to convince a PG of some worth to sign for either one of their mid-levels or minimum. But the Heat are a better team after that deal, even if they experiment with Shump as a PG and it fails.
Literally none of what you said is close to truth/could or would happen. To say that Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade are bad defenders is a joke. Chris Bosh was probably our best defender this season. He is one of the most versatile players in the NBA. What he has done to change his game, is more than commendable. I’ve gone into much further details in the past a bunch of times, so listing things again would just be redundant. I will just end by saying that people overlook those guys b/c of how they sacrifice on this team….Heat dont need Tyson Chandler