LeBron Wants Bosh in Cleveland

[Forge]

TSN explains further why this S&T might not work:

The report says that Bosh, however, is cool to the idea of playing in Cleveland. Sources indicate that Bosh would prefer to play with James in Chicago, Miami, or New Jersey.

One possible sticking point for Bosh's potential arrival in Cleveland would be the position the Cavs would want him to play.

Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix is reporting that Bosh is apparently balking at the idea of playing centre and would prefer to remain at the power forward spot. According to Mannix, the Cavaliers would have to guarantee a legit centre would have to be in place before Bosh agrees to anything. This could pose a problem as both players who lined up at the five for the Cavs last season, Shaquille O'Neal and Zydrunas Ilgauskas are up for free agency, while Varejao who has played centre in the past may be involved in any potential deal to acquire Bosh.

http://www.tsn.ca/nba/story/?id=326733

[BoxMan]

bosh in cleveland is a long shot he could win a championship but he wants to be "THE MAN" so it aint gonna happen

[Bendit]

yeah, this kinda stinks like one man's wish (broussard).

i still have a hard time fathoming bosh playing with lebron, esp. in cleveland. it makes absolute sense that lebron would want him, but can bosh 'suffer' to be a clear 2nd banana, and do it in cleveland?

part of me wonders if the free agent 'summit' the three of them held wasn't so much to try to work out a way to get all 3 playing together, but to work out where each of them could - separately - increase their global marketing abilities, while also earning the super max, being 'the main guy' on their respective clubs, all while playing in the city they want with - at worst - a legit chance of winning a chip in the next 3-5 years. i honestly don't think they can handle stifling their respective egos over the course of 5 or 6-year contracts. it worked during the olympics, but it won't work long term - there needs to be a clear alpha, and while either wade or lebron would be that alpha if playing with bosh, the two of them together just wouldn't work. and i'm not sure bosh would want to be their robin...i think he recognizes that he's not at their talent level, but he also believes that if he were given a few complementary players that were just slightly below his level, he'd be able to compete for a chip.

I honestly dont know what to make of CB anymore. He is definitely not a "true" Alpha in the mode of LJ & Wade (these two would have a real problem playing with each oher long term) and I believe was the one most open to playing with the others in any combo. If he truly were a loner type he would have chosen Houston because I dont think the other options would want him at his price to be the sole signing. NY pretty much noted this in a piece I read (as usual from "sources") and signed Amare.

If he goes thru with this I think he will regret it in both prof. and personal terms.

[SCP0389]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5357607

NOT A FAN OF THIS IDEA!!

[Mess]

http://raptorsrepublic.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2758

Already a thread about that.

[Buddahfan]

Yeah, I just perused over the Cavs roster and it's full of shit from top to bottom. Maybe Varejao and JJ Hickson, but we're already set in the bangers category.

+1

[SCP0389]

1

[jeff_hostetler]

I feel the pain...but only if you stop at the obvious pieces coming back (I agree not the best fit) and not consider the flipping possibilities with other teams like NOH for players we would really want. At this point with all the talking that has happened BC should have a fair idea what other teams wants are or willingness to give up.

Yeah, flipping for other pieces, there's always potential. NO has options for sure to participate in a three way trade that would be good for the Raps. I suppose that scenario though (flipping the incoming players for others) precludes anyone really from criticizing any roster moves at this point.

All i can say is, as a deal that gets us Cavs players - and that being the end of it - this is no good. Other options are open (such as trading the incoming players), but all we can do then is add guesses to guesses.

[octothorp]

While I agree that the Cavs have pretty much awful assets, one piece I wouldn't mind seeing the Raptors acquire is Danny Green. I think that he has potential to be solid situational defender based on his college game, but of course he's buried on the Cavs roster. With only 20 games in the nba he's basically a raw rookie, but given time to develop... He'd basically be a throw-in to the other pieces of this trade, but I could see him fitting on the Raptors a couple years down the road.

[geebee]

Funny. After Broussard's comments about Bosh going to Cleveland, it seems nobody else at ESPN agrees with him:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/s...eAgency-100706

2 votes for Chicago. 3 for Miami. 1 for Houston. 0 for Cleveland.
(sorry Broussard)

[INFO]

I would seriously rather him walk than get back anything from Cleveland
Okay Hickson is alright but thats seriously it....
Unless they give us draft picks for the next 3 years im not a fan of it

[benitonicoya]

Anywhere Bosh goes with Wade or Lebron he will be the 2nd banana, no question about it;

Problem is this: Bosh wants to go to Miami with Wade
but he will not get the 130 millions there that he wants because the Raptors are now saying they do want to do a S&T with Miami.

One thing is clear Lebron does not want to play together with Wade; So, each of them is trying to pull Bosh to their side

[Mr.Grinch]

.

[Mr.Grinch]

Chris Bish

[Mr.Grinch]

?

[James Ballswin (Realizar)]

A S&T with CLE for Bosh would have to involve a third team.

[jeff_hostetler]

How this could work for the Raps:

To Toronto:
Darren Collison
James Posey
Emeka Okafor
Antawn Jamison

To New Orleans (immediate savings of only 5m, but they rid themselves of Okafor's long term contract as well as Posey's, swap backup PG's and get an expiring contract, as well as a starting C in Varejao who makes a good pair with West):
Jarret Jack
Anderson Varejao
Marco Bellinelli

To Cleveland:
Chris Bosh

We could then try and move Jamison somewhere. I'm sure there would be takers. Ideally for a 2 or 3.

[smushmush]

From Batman in Toronto to Robin in Cleveland.
Wow.

Somehow when he curls up at night under his "Playoff MVP" security blanket, I doubt that's the kind of free agency scenario Bosh dreamed about. In fact, I strongly suspect that ending up in Cleveland would be one of his recurring nightmares.

What is wrong about being a Robin to a Batman? Ask Pau Gasol, Ron Artest, Scott Pippen, Dennis Rodman, how they feel about the rings? I'm sure stars like Barkley and Elgin Baylor who did not win rings, would have liked to be a robin to a batman for a championship ring. Bosh is clearly a robin and the earlier, he recognizes that, the earlier he gets his championship ring and playing with an unselfish superstar in LeBron(almost 8 assists average last season for an SF!) is what Bosh should be wishing for(a Pau Gasol to a Kobe) as long as he is willing to play better defense than he did for the Raptors like his defense in the Olympics, rebound the ball and set screens, he will be good for a championship chip in 2-3 years and multiple rings as Pau Gasol.

[Mess]

How this could work for the Raps:

To Toronto:
Darren Collison
James Posey
Emeka Okafor
Antawn Jamison

I know you said later we'd get rid of Jamison, but in this trade we'd end up with 3 pretty bad contracts with Posey and Okafor.

What is wrong about being a Robin to a Batman?

You don't need to convince anyone here of this. You need to convince Bosh.

[jeff_hostetler]

Contracts matter less then the players themselves. It's not your money, and if we're gonna be over the cap, we might as well be over the cap - so long as those contracts aren't crippling. Okafor, while having a long and expensive contract, is a fantastic defensive centre - ie, perfect for pairing with Bargnani. We will either have Okafor for the full five years, by which time Johnson, Davis and Alabi will be in - or emerging soon into - their primes. In other words, Okafor is a partial and decent medium term solution to our defensive problems. or, in a few years his contract will seem less harsh, and he would be likely tradeable. Remember, much of the concerns NO has with Okafor is not so much his play, but in the cash-strapped nature of the Hornets.

Posey's contract hurts a bit more, but comes off the books the year after the next one. He can hit the 3 and play defense, and is a multi-champion veteran. Not bad addition to a very young core of players, few of which are over 25, while filling a roster need to boot.

And the Collison aquisition obviously speaks for itself - point guard now and in the future.

All in all, i think that's probably one of the better scenario's T.O. is likely to be able to achieve. Jamison, again, would probably be better if he was traded somewhere else, but he's certainly not someone you should be upset about having on your team.