Category Archives: Dwyane Wade
Read the “5-0n-5 questions” here.
“…3. Which sophomore would you rather have: Michael Beasley or Danilo Gallinari?
Abbott: Beasley might be one of the only potential future MVPs who can be had on the cheap. But Gallinari is one of the biggest and best spot-up shooters in NBA history, and he plays some D, too. Any team could use a guy like that. Another question: What’s more likely to go haywire: Gallinari’s back or Beasley’s judgment?
Broussard: Beasley. His talent is greater than Gallinari’s and though he’s got a long way to go, he’s showing signs of maturity. Gallinari’s a great shooter, but Beasley’s got more versatility.
Ford: Beasley. He’s a more complete player. He rebounds, he can score inside and he doesn’t have a bad back.
Hollinger: Beasley. Gallinari is a better shooter, but Beasley is the better athlete and has more ways to develop his game in the future. Additionally, there’s the issue of Gallinari’s back. Gallo will be a great shooter for many years, but Beasley is the only one of the two with All-NBA potential.
Sheridan: Beasley. I’ll take the multidimensional player over the one-trick specialist every time, and it’s a bonus that Beasley can shoot 3s, too. Plus, Gallinari gets attacked every night on defense…more“
Pass...
Actually, I’ll ring in on the Beasley/Gallo stuff. The idea that this question is even presented shows that Gallo has started to open people’s eyes. Anyone with any sort of talent eye knew Beasley was a top 2 talent. Period.
But let’s not get carried away, the guy is shooting 20% from three point range this season.
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“…Magic Johnson said he believes LeBron James will decide to leave Cleveland to play for the Knicks — but urges Knicks team president Donnie Walsh to lure “The King” by first signing a marquee free agent such as Chris Bosh or Amare Stoudemire.
The Hall of Fame point guard/businessman, asked by The Post for his gut feeling on LeBron in 2010, said: “I think he’s going to go to New York.
“They’re in the lead, they just have to make it [attractive] for him. LeBron will come to New York if he knows they’re gonna win. . . . So, if they sign a free agent first, that would probably seal the deal, I believe. They should have somebody else on their radar to make him want to come.”
Someone not named Dwyane Wade.
“Him and Wade can’t play together, I don’t care what they say, because they both dominate that ball,” Magic said. “You want somebody like a Chris Bosh. . . . You want somebody like Stoudemire to go along with LeBron. You got Yao Ming, if he’s healthy, I’d take a look at him as well…” (more…)
“…Dwyane Wade doubts that he’ll be teammates with LeBron James, but acknowledged on Wednesday that such a pairing isn’t impossible.
“It’s something we’ve talked about, of course,” Wade said. “No question, it’s a long shot. He’s put in position in Cleveland where he has the opportunity to compete for a championship now. I’m in Miami, where I’ve won a championship and this is where I love to be. So it’s not like we’re both looking over our shoulders saying we want to get out of here. So it’s a long shot. But at the end of the day, it is a shot.”
The Cavaliers will travel to Miami to play the Heat on Thursday night in a highly-anticipated game.
“Me and D-Wade have been friends for seven or eight years and have talked about a lot of things. [Playing together] may have come up in a conversation. … It doesn’t come up all the time,” James said…”
As I’ve repeatedly said, the idea of them playing together, as cool as they think it may be, isn’t happening.
Nor is the idea that Lebron will end up is Chicago. Really? Why would he chase Jordan? It’s the same rational of him playing with Wade and being a ring behind.
Lebron is his own man and good for him for focusing on a the task at hand. July is a ways away. (more…)
Now, I’ve been away from workable computer all day (thanks Sprint/Dell) and I just saw Biggie’s link to the Weekend Dime. They describe Lebron’s suitors and mention 
some intell that I dropped several hours ago from my blackberry. Now, let’s just say that I did not get what I heard from an agent or an exec, I don’t have ESPN’s corporate card, but I got mine from a serious mole.
“… New York
There is no greater evidence to convey how far the Knicks have fallen than the fact that ESPN hasn’t chosen to televise a single game from MSG in more than three years.
And we all know Knicks jokes have replaced Clippers jokes from coast to coast.
However …
Dismiss the lure of Madison Square Garden and the Mike D’Antoni-Donnie Walsh partnership at your own peril.
MSG will forever be a basketball mecca, with or without its forthcoming expensive renovation, because Jordan declared it so. The Knicks also happen to have a coach who has undeniably strong street cred; D’Antoni is admired by just about everyone he’s worked with on Team USA. For all the valid questions about what the Knicks will be able to put around him, after stripping their roster all the way down to create maximum cap space, D’Antoni and Walsh are going to have a legit shot at LeBron.
Perhaps I’m a hopeless (and gullible) romantic, but I even believe that the prospect of being the guy who resurrects the Knicks and MSG appeals to LeBron almost as much as the aforementioned Cleveland-curse-lifter scenario.
What has to worry the Knicks — even before they get to the obvious nightmare scenario of missing on LeBron, D-Wade and Bosh and then manufacturing a passable Plan D — is how much and how quickly the landscape has changed.
The leaguewide consensus for much of last season, when you broached this subject with league executives, pegged this as a purely Cleveland-or-New York decision for James. Not any more.
The Knicks might quietly have the first seeds of a quality supporting cast in their possession if Danilo Gallinari keeps developing and they find a way to re-sign David Lee, but they legitimately can’t even be sure that they’re still the Cavs’ biggest threat…”
I personally believe, and have been thinking about this for weeks, that Lee won’t be on the team next year. Just my feeling, but the media continues to shine Lee as the only real asset on this team. (more…)
“…You’ve heard tons about the infamous memo dispatched by the league office in July warning teams that the salary cap for the 2010-11 season could drop from the current $57.7 million all the way down to somewhere between $50.4 million and $53.6 million.
What hasn’t been widely publicized is that more teams than not, at this early stage, expect next season’s cap to wind up closer to the higher figure.
The NBA’s public position on the matter has not changed. Commissioner David Stern re-iterated again last week in briefings with reporters leading into opening night that his number-crunchers continue to forecast overall league revenue in 2009-10 to decline from 2.5 to 5 percent.
Yet as one Eastern Conference executive told ESPN.com this week: “We are projecting a number somewhere in the 52-to-53 million range. We had been working off the doomsday 50.4 [million] number, but now … we think 53.6 [million] could be very realistic…”
A lot of what’s happening is depending on if the owners agree to let Victor
Prokhorov and his 9.5 million dollar net worth into the league. There has been talk of some shady things surrounding Prokhorov, and with discussions about tainted referees still lingering, it’s going to be interesting to see if the league can knowingly expose itself to the threat of more bad publicity. If the deal goes through then the Nets have to obviously be considered major players in the Lebron sweepstakes.
The Knicks are second, behind the Nets, in cap space.
“…2. NEW YORK
$53.6 million salary cap: $23.4 million in cap space
$50 million salary cap: $19.8 million in cap space
What it means: It’s worldwide common knowledge, as D-Wade noted, that the Knicks’ original free-agent fantasy was signing LeBron along with another max player (such as Wade or Chris Bosh) in the summer of 2010 to start over under coach Mike D’Antoni, who is beloved by James, Wade and several other members of Team USA from their time with the national team. But with first-year salaries for the big names expected to be in the $16 million range, New York can only afford one max player … unless it can (gulp) move Eddy Curry for an expiring contract during the season. This, furthermore, is a best-case scenario for the Knicks that assumes unrestricted free agents-to-be David Lee and Nate Robinson are no longer on the payroll…”
Obviously, Stein forgot to mention the possibility of moving Jared Jeffries off the books for an expiring, as well as Curry…
As I’m writing this article I have a smile on my face. For what you might ask? Due 
to the fact that we are mere hours away from the New York Knicks starting another one of their always interesting seasons. Tonight they head down to Miami to play the always-hated Miami Heat. First lets take a look at the starting lineups:
New York: Chris Duhon (PG), Wilson Chandler (SG), Jared Jeffries (SF), Al Harrington (PF), David Lee (C).
This is the best starting lineup that coach D’Antoni could throw out there. In previous seasons the thought of Jeffries in the starting lineup would make me cringe. However, due to his limited success in the pre-season combined with our need to showcase him for a possible trade it was a great move. Now to the Miami Heat…
Miami: Mario Chalmers (PG), Dwayne Wade (SG), Quentin Richardson (SF), Michael Beasley (PF), Jermaine O’Neal (C).
First off let me give a worthy congratulations to Quentin on winning the starting job. That was no easy task on a competitive Heat team and he deserves a pat on the back. I felt terrible how the offseason treated him and am happy that he ended up in a place he will enjoy. Moving on… The last second decision by coach Spoelstra to replace Beasley for Haslem caught me by surprise. What would be the reason for killing the confidence of your veteran big man before the season even starts? It was extremely unprofessional in the manner in which the situation was handled. You don’t tell a veteran they are yanked from the starting lineup just hours before the season starts. I’m going to keep an eye on the situation down there in Miami because this team could become fragmented over this decision (although it is way to early to tell).
If the Knicks can give the Heat a run for their money tonight maybe Wade will think twice about coming to New York next season. As the Knicks take their team on the road all season long each game must be thought of as an audition for the plethora of talented players that will be available next summer. If they believe the Knicks are just one or two players away from being a contender it will certainly increase our chances of landing a game-changing player. Jason Kidd, Andre Miller and Grant Hill all passed on the New York Knicks because they simply weren’t convinced that the team would be able to compete even with their additions. If next season is going to be a success we must increase our win total THIS YEAR. A majority of the fans and sports writers are simply overlooking this season as insignificant and as I wrote in my previous article this couldn’t be a bigger mistake. The entire league and all of the free agents for next season undoubtedly are keeping track of which direction the Knicks season will go compared to last. For this we are lucky to have a coach with such a competitive spirit. We could be 0-81 and D’Antoni would still be clawing and scratching for that last win. That is why he is one of the best coaches in the league and for that I am grateful. (more…)
ESPN.com contributors voted on where the top four free agents of 2010 (Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, Amare Stoudamire, and Chris Bosh) will land. Just more speculation, really, but ESPN’s prognostications are obviously going to be more accurate than everybody else’s, right?Out of 52 voters, 35 said he would stay in Cleveland (how shocking?) and the Knicks came in second with 8 votes. Miami got 3, New Jersey got 2, and Boston got 1.
“Despite the cards Cleveland holds, some still see New York as King James’ destiny. And they might have a leg to stand on, thanks to LeBron himself, as he has become the master of the mixed message. That was heard again most recently in his interview with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols, in which he avoided the opportunity to express loyalty to Cleveland and pointedly said his heart was in his hometown of Akron:
“My loyalty is to Akron. I’m looking forward to this upcoming season, but I’m looking forward to the summer of 2010, too, to see what may happen. No matter what happens that summer, I’m still here. I’ve got a nice big house here that I’m always coming back to. I love this city and I’ll always give back to this city no matter what my profession, if it takes me somewhere else.”
So if that leaves the door open for an exit to another team, how could Knicks president Donnie Walsh pull off his miracle play?
First, he’ll try to move Eddy Curry and Jared Jeffries to create enough cap space for LeBron and another free agent to leap directly to New York; that’s been Plan A since Walsh arrived. Short of that — and moving those two contracts will be exceedingly difficult — he’ll try to work out a sign-and-trade, perhaps involving David Lee, to bring in a second star such as Chris Bosh or Amare Stoudemire as a teammate for LeBron. And no matter what, he’ll tell LeBron all about the potential cap room the Knicks will have in 2011, at which time Walsh will be able to round out what could become a championship roster.
The other cards in Walsh’s deck are pretty obvious as he makes his pitch to LeBron: Come to so-called Basketball Mecca and we’ll build championship teams around you in the World’s Greatest Arena, paving the way to greater glory, riches and Global Icon status. And oh, by the way, you’ll be playing for Mike D’Antoni, the guy who won about 60 games a year in Phoenix, who helped mastermind the success of your Olympic gold medal-winning team and who will set you free in the open court to run up and down in the up-tempo offense you’ve always dreamed of.” (more…)
It’s tough to really feel bad for Dwyane Wade, based on the fact that he’s 
been playing games with the Heat in terms of next summer. But, in his defense, the selection of Michael Beasley was a terrible one for the organization. Granted, he was clearly the second best talent in last year’s draft, but the problems that Beasley’s going through now are nothing new.
I was at the rookie symposium, which took place at Doral Arrowood in Rye Brook, NY, last year on different business, when two players were punished for marijuana. Rumors were that Beasley was hiding in the bathroom when the other two players Darrell Arthur and Mario Chalmers were caught in the room.
And I was told from staffers that Beasley was offering to pay employees to take him off campus to search for nocturnal entertainment.
Anyway, Fanhouse wonders how the recent events will impact Wade’s tenure in Miami. (more…)
The shrewedest move of the offseason may have been the Nets shedding 
Vince Carter‘s contract. As the team looks forward to the 2010 free agency period, they may be more attractive than the Knicks.
“…The Knicks have appeal, especially with the whole New York package, Wade claimed. But don’t discount the Nets — at least for other free agents.
“It’s a good organization,” Wade said of New Jersey. “It’s a class organization and when the time is right, they’re going to go get the players they need to get. I think people around the league see that. They’ve had success, especially when J. Kidd was here . . . so everyone knows this organization has the want to be great. It’s just about if they get the players. They’ve got some now. Devin Harris is a great, great star. He’s a centerpiece.”
There’s a problem for the Knicks: the roster. Both the Nets and Knicks will have $20-plus million to spend. But the Nets have Harris, Brook Lopez and Courtney Lee, all young studs, already in place.
“Guys know they (Nets) will be in the mix because they’re setting themselves up to be there,” Wade said. “It’s not a bad city. There’s going to be some chatter about the Nets when they come around. I know the main chatter right now is about the other side, New York, but I’m sure the Nets are going to get some love as well…”
It’s hard not to like Rod Thorn, the guy can build on the fly. But my moles are telling me, which Kerber recently reported, that Bruce Ratner is actively looking to sell the team. Ratner got caught up in the idea of taking advantage of the lack of Knicks success thinking he could pull fans to Brooklyn and enlisted the help of Jay-Z. If Ratner does sell, one has to wonder what will come of the Jigga-man.
Harris may have the best contract in basketball and the team does have an option on Yi (sayonara!) so they are primed to get in an even better cap situation.
But, again, the Knicks have some pieces too. They don’t have Harris, but if they add Sessions they would have a competitive core.
Nice pull by Vincent Mallozzi, who got some great quotes from Dwyane Wade regarding free agency:
“…Wade, who played for Mike D’Antoni on the United States Olympic basketball team in Beijing — D’Antoni served as an assistant to Mike Krzyzewski — is confident the Knicks coach will revive a once proud franchise that has become a laughingstock.
“It’s a great system that Coach D’Antoni runs; it gives players a lot of free rein, a lot of freedom to utilize their skills,” Wade said. “I don’t want to say too many nice things about Coach D’Antoni’s style of play because every time I do, people take it as if I’m coming to the Knicks.
“But eventually, everything will even out around the league, and the Knicks will be back soon…”
Wade confuses me. Pat Riley is pulling his hair out trying to re-sign the guy and get him talent, then he scoffs at a potential suitor.
I always thought Chicago was a more likely destination than New York, but again, everything is moot until he signs somewhere.
