The idea of it sounds impossible, but it can be fiscally practical. LeBron James stated after his game against the Knicks that he would be open to the possibility of taking less than a max contract to play
They'd look so much better wearing the same uniforms
with a contending team. Chris Sheridan also wrote about it on ESPN.com. The Miami Heat have a lot coming off the salary cap this summer, and will have the room to re-sign Wade to a max contract, and then lure two other star players (Chris Bosh and Lebron James) that will take a non-maxed contract. Those non-maxed contracts will still be expensive, but they will be about $25 million dollars less than that player will get on another team. The Miami Heat can also just re-sign Wade and sign another star player to the max contract, but the dream to Miami Heat fans, like myself, is to arguably put the best combo of three players to ever play on a team on the same floor. If the Miami Heat re-sign Wade, and then convince two other players to take less than the max together, it can be a very tempting offer to players like LeBron and Bosh that want to play in a big city and a contending team.
Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and LeBron James will not only start for the Miami Heat, but they will start for the Eastern Conference All-Star team. Throw in Michael Beasley and Mario Chalmers, and you have an automatic contending line-up. You add a few solid bench players that won’t mind signing for cheap, and some will argue that the 2010 season will not even have to be played. Who will be Pippen and who will be Michael Jordan? I don’t even know if David Stern will allow this. Is it better for the NBA to have their stars scattered around, or have these three monsters together in one line-up? I know this is just a rumor, but hopefully it will catch some fire and these players will end up wearing the same uniform next year in Miami!
#1 by Monty on November 10, 2009 - 6:08 pm
It may be hard enough to sign two players to a max level contract with a third giant contact in any year, let alone with next year’s salary cap going to be smaller, your seems near impossible, and that’s just fiscally.
#2 by Rene on November 10, 2009 - 6:42 pm
Well that’s the thing, it’s not 2 max contracts…it’d be one max (Wade), and then LeBron and Bosh taking a pay cut to win..they’ll still get paid millions, but not the max contract that they could get from another team. I think LeBron would give up about $30 million to come to a contender, even though CLE has been a contender (he’s made the finals and the eastern conference finals), but they haven’t given him that other stud he needs, and I don’t think post prime shaq will do it either…
#3 by Darius on November 10, 2009 - 8:38 pm
This article is a load of garbage… do you really think LeBron is going to take 25 million less to play with Wade and Bosh…just so he can win a title?? Ya I understand that Wade has won a ring and all, but are you kidding me??? Lebron is looking to be crowned the king of the NBA and he will never get that title playing along side Wade…maybe with Bosh. I think both of theses young men are desperate for a ring…not stupid!
R.U. Kdinme
#4 by Rene on November 11, 2009 - 12:42 am
SportsCenter showed the interview of LeBron after the Knicks game and how he was saying that the max deal isn’t important to him, he wants to win, and winning is everything to him. The guy makes more money than 99.9% of this country on endorsements alone, I don’t think he’ll mind signing for about $20 million less to play with a contending team.
I personally think he’s going to stay in Cleveland, but the possibilities swirling around of him coming to the Heat are awesome. And Darius, LeBron has already been crowned kind of the NBA, even without a title, and if you think he won’t get a title playing alongside Wade, did you think Scottie Pippen wasn’t going to get one alongside Jordan? Wade and Bron won a gold medal together, I’m sure they’ll be alright…
I really don’t think why I spent time replying to you when you think Wade and LeBron can’t win together lol…Wade is top 3 in the game kid, so you have 2 of the top 3 players together and you think they won’t win?? Please, I’ll play PG and you can play C on a team with those two….
#5 by Darius on November 11, 2009 - 3:32 pm
I think you may have misunderstood what I was trying to say…the issue is not with Wade whom I think is pound for pound the best player coming out of the Class of 2003. It’s with Lebron! Wade is a class act, a champion, a proven winner in this league…it would be in Lebron’s best interest to play alongside someone like that. But he won’t… his ego is too big.
I apologizes if I disrespected your article Rene; however it really bothers me that Lebron is not being truthful…Lebron will not take less $$$ for a championship…regardless of what he is currently telling the media. His camp has already put it out there that he wants to be the first billionaire athlete… good luck!
I guess the truth will be in his actions towards the end of this season. A wise person once told me “Actions speak louder than words”…I don’t want to be a dream killer, but Lebron playing with Wade is nothing but a dream.
Don’t let the bed bugs bite – Peace!
#6 by Rene on November 11, 2009 - 5:38 pm
Gotcha, and I still see him re-signing with CLE, but as a Heat fan I will def. dream of the possibility, and that dream becomes more of a reality when the media hypes it up a bit, because then you know something can actually happen..unlike just us Heat fans talking amongst each other..
Let’s see if he shakes the hands of ORL players tonight!