I guess if Portland has no choice they'd take the deal. All those guys except McBob are expiring. And McBob has value. We'd be real thin. But this also solves the Wade problem. 2016 is NOW. Give him the $60 million. Who cares?
Wouldn't say easily. First, this is a big longshot. Second, he comes off the bench, still playing 30-35 minutes per night. And also, he becomes the most valuable trade piece in the league. I love Hassan. But I get this. 2016 is NOW.
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Tell you one thing though, Pat Riley sure makes the earth quake. Soon as the Woj Bomb hit the twitter-sphere, the whole f*cking country went apesh*t and started trembling. Doesn't even matter if it doesn't end up happening, one Pat Riley mention and the **** hits the fan.
But this only proves why Riley is among the best, if not the best. He doesn't stop. Ever. Everything he does is a move to win RIGHT NOW.
I got to tell you, that package to Portland is actually quite attractive. A nice mix of vets who can keep them at least non-embarrassing competitive, while clearing tons of room for next year.
The fact that they're even getting a meeting is crazy. I still don't see how it works, though. If Riley pulls this off, that's it right? He would go down as the best GM ever, right? Also, count me among those welcoming a Whiteside (5), LA (4), Bosh (3), Wade (2), Dragic (1) lineup. I just really hope Winslow isn't part of the package to get LA.
You know the other thought is that with the way the playoffs went, and the fact traditional big men are sort of being phased out, maybe Riley just doesn't see it wise to pay a traditional big man $90 million when he could have two interchangeable "shoot from anywhere" bigs on the floor at the same time the next 4 years. And again, I love Whiteside, but I completely get this line of thinking
And the one thing I guarantee....unlike the Lakers, Pat Riley will be able to explain EXACTLY how this will work basketball wise with Aldridge
Per Marc Stein: LMA/Riley meeting confirmed. They will dine tonight in LA Anybody ready for the midnight Woj Bomb?!
Also, how much more professional is Riley going to look when the second pity meeting with the Lakers is over?
This has to be more than just Deng/Rio/Bird/McBob. The Heat won't be able to pay Whiteside next year if they give LA the max, right? They don't have his Bird rights.
Maybe I'm the crazy one here but anything that might take minutes away from Whiteside is something I have a hard time getting down with and I doubt he'd be happy to lose his starting spot and we can't offer more then other teams when it comes to resigning him. Plus who do you play in crunch time? Do you run out a goren wade bosh lma whiteside line up? I assume this means the heat have given up on thoughts of Durant is or their a way to make that work too? Maybe I'm just having a hard wrapping my head around this.
It would be a small pie, true, depending on wade ultimately does. If he takes the one year max, we would have enough to sign Whiteside and then sign wade over the cap. But we might not even want to do that. Whiteside becomes an incredibly valuable trade chip.
I'm sure Riley and Spo know exactly what the fit would be. It makes perfect sense if you're looking at the next wave of what NBA teams are going to look like.
I don't know. You're giving up a 26 year old who has rare ability at the center position to bank on a 31 year old coming off a serious medical issue, and a 29 year old with injury issues. I love Bosh and LA, but that's risky.