Which New York borough is LeBron's favorite? Will he sign with the Nets because of Jay-Z? Will he be tempted to flee to Europe if Olympiakos make a big enough offer?
While most of the talk regarding the NBA's 2010 free agent class has been around King James and where he will choose to settle his throne, there are other stars who could be switching cities as well. One of those stars is Toronto Raptors' forward Chris Bosh.
Several days ago, the Chicago Sun-Times' Jay Mariotti wrote an article that listed possible destinations for the free agency class' top stars. He reports that in 2010, "[Chris] Bosh will flee Toronto and look at Orlando and Western Conference teams."
While brief, that statement got me thinking. Why wouldn't Bosh want to come play for the Magic?
With Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis, Jameer Nelson, Mickael Pietrus, and Courtney Lee being the only players locked up through the 2010-2011 season, the Magic could afford the big man.
Combined, Orlando's total committed salary sits at $49,990,263. Compare this to Boston's cap numbers last season ($78,019,509) and you can see that anything is possible. (Sorry KG, I had to.)
Now let's take a look at some other things that could factor into Bosh's decision.
First of all, it is well known that he and Dwight Howard have been close friends ever since they bonded while playing for Team USA in 2002.
"After we talked I saw he was a lighthearted guy, he loves joking, and he just plays hard on the court. He's my good friend," said Bosh.
Upon securing the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference as well as a playoff matchup against Howard and the Magic last year, Bosh joked that he would "tell [Dwight] I'm really excited to be coming down there, and to open up his home, let me visit."
But this isn't just about two friends having fun together. Both players know that their skill sets complement one another perfectly.
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18 days ago
That would be sick. Bosh and Howard will be scary as hell if they were on the same team.
18 days ago
The 2008-2009 salary cap is $58.68. Salary cap would need to increase by $10+ million by then to make this viable. Sure the Magic could sign Bosh, but that leaves MIP Hedo Turkoglu out of the mix and the Magic at the salary cap with only 6 players and a weak backcourt.
18 days ago
"Another thing that will help Orlando in their push for Bosh is that Dallas (the forward's hometown) won't have the money in 2010 to pursue a big name free agent of Bosh's stature. As of right now, they have $65,527,724 committed amongst six players. In comparison, Orlando's total salary for this upcoming season will be $66,576,798 split amongst 12 players. Basically, the Mavericks will barely have the money to fill out their roster, let alone splurge on an up and coming star."
First of all, Orlando's salary for this season has nothing to do with their cap space two years from now.
As for the figure you use for Dallas, $65,527,724, I can't tell if you are claiming that is their figure for this year or for 2010. (The previous sentence talks about 2010, but the following sentence talks about this year, so the Dallas number could apply to either year.) Either way, the figure is wrong. Dallas's six highest-paid players will be making a collective $75,019,094 this year. (Of course, Dallas's total payroll is higher that, what with the other players on the roster.)
As for 2010, Dallas has $38,659,524 committed at this point. If Dirk Nowitzki opts out of his deal that summer, which is fairly likely, Dallas will have about $17,146,000. Orlando, on the other hand, has $50,400,774 committed in 2010. Neither of these figures include draft picks or the rights to unsigned draft picks (Fran Vasquez.)
So as it stands now, Dallas will have between $20 and $42 million to spend on free agents in 2010, while Orlando will have about $7 million.
from 18 days ago
I'm not sure where you got those numbers but according to the following links, these are the committed salary of Dallas and Orlando for 2010:
Magic salary numbers: http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=9152
Mavs salary numbers: http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=9182
from 14 days ago
Regardless of who is correct here, the underlying factor is Magic won't have the cap room to sign Bosh straight up.
18 days ago
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/trademachine
go to that and click on dallas.
You can see that the only players guaranteed contracts beyond 2010 are Diop, Dampier, Terry, and Dirk. If Dirk opts out and you round the other 3 salaries up then you'd have $6, $12, and $10 million contracts respectively. Thats $28 million, and take that from the $56 million salary cap and you've got $28 million. The way the cap is structured you can resign your own players and exceed the cap. That being said Dirk could opt out, they sign Bosh to a lucrative deal, and then resign Dirk and go over the cap. Bosh would look great in a mavs uni!!
17 days ago
hehe this is the funniest thing i read all day!
17 days ago
Hehe, this is the funniest thing I read all my life! CB4 will remain with the Raptors.
15 days ago
Unless things suddenly take a dramatic turn for the worse, I don't see CB4 leaving the Raptors. If everything plays out as it should, the Raps should be a legitimate contender by 2010. Until I hear something about Bosh being unhappy in Toronto, I think he'll wanna stay.
15 days ago
this is simply retarded, bro find another hobby you suck at journalism!
14 days ago
Man shut up Zig, write something before you critisize others, anyway, that would be absolutely insane. As a Raptor fan I hope it doesnt happen, because Bosh is the team, but I am also a Magic fan, not as much, but it would be insane...twin towers times 2.
14 days ago
hahah they are hardly twins and bosh is uglyyy ass sht hahah but that don matter
But I think with a gm like colangello in toronto, nothing crazy is gonna happen.
And if bosh does haven intentions of leaving toronto, i dont think he will leave
without giving back anythin to the raps. I am sure colangelo would consider trading him this up coming year and get something back and i am sure he wont us settle for a couple of draft picks
for bosh :P
I am sure one way or another it looks good for raps. If he stays it is good
for the team as they have been building around him for the past several years
and if he leaves, I am curious to see who colangelo would bring in.
A rasheed wallace type of player would be nice without the attitude and the problems and
well the age!!! A good solid player who can shoot, drive and literally do everythin
8 days ago
No way hes goin to leave raps
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