Bosh Wants S&T To Houston?

[Jammin]

Same article as I posted in the other thread, but that was about Miami, this is about Houston...

 

All along, Pat Riley’s plan as President of the Heat was to convince Wade to take a paycut and offer all three (Wade, LeBron and Bosh) deals averaging approximately $15.7 mil….with opt-outs after three years. But since Bosh wants the max at all cost (and he’s trying to get it in a sign-and-trade deal with Houston), it changed the game for everyone. Especially Miami and New York.

 

http://stephena.com/?p=953

Edited July 3, 2010 by Jammin

[YugoRocketsFan]

Would be awesomely amazing.

[Riot]

Does kinda make sense. He could be looked at as the number one guy for them, if that's what he really wants. Plus he is from Texas. Good, go out west please, lol.

[Dash]

Its Stephen A Smith. I won't believe it till someone with credibility confirms. However, Houston does make a whole lot of sense for him.

Edited July 3, 2010 by Dash

[Built Ford Tough]

I think that Houston is Bosh's third choice at this point. I think Chicago is his number one choice and after Chicago his second choice would be wherever the hell LeBron ends up.

 

Despite his talk about wanting to be "the man" on a team, I believe he intends to team up with LeBron or Wade somewhere, particularly Chicago. If that doesn't work out then I think he will turn his attention to Houston because they clearly want him, are willing to offer him the max and work out a S&T with the Raptors to get him the 6 year max. The only question is will the Rockets be willing to part with the Knicks draft picks in a S&T deal because I can see Colangelo holding out for those and not agreeing to do anything unless they are involved, or at least one of them combined with Brooks.

 

I think Bosh is using Houston as a backup plan in case things fall apart in Chicago or somewhere with LeBron/Wade, or he is using Houston as leverage to try and get Chicago to bite on whatever it is Toronto is asking for hin a S&T (I'm guessing Noah).

 

Above all else though, I believe that Bosh's number one priority is to get a 6 year max and by the sounds of it, Colangelo is playing hard ball. He isn't going to simply hand Bosh over to another team in a S&T unless he is getting what he deems as a fair return for him. With New York and Miami essentially gutting their rosters (and NY supposedly signing Amare, effectively eliminating any chance of Bosh going there), Chicago being reluctant to include Noah and New Jersey focusing all of their attention on LeBron, all of a sudden Houston is looking very desirable for Bosh.

[xx.]

Wont happen, you know why? The Raptors dont want to help Bosh out and giving him the extra money.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5352236&campaign=rss&source=twitter&ex_cid=Twitter_espn_5352236

[Dash]

Wont happen, you know why? The Raptors dont want to help Bosh out and giving him the extra money.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5352236&campaign=rss&source=twitter&ex_cid=Twitter_espn_5352236

 

Raptors are just trying to force teams to add more to their offers. I seriously doubt that they would rather let Bosh walk and get absolutely nothing in return than get some assets in a S&T.

[Built Ford Tough]

Wont happen, you know why? The Raptors dont want to help Bosh out and giving him the extra money.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5352236&campaign=rss&source=twitter&ex_cid=Twitter_espn_5352236

 

The Raptors will help Bosh out if they receive an offer that makes sense for them. Colangelo isn't going to just hand Bosh the max and let Bosh dictate what Colangelo is able to do.

 

Colangelo will listen to S&T offers for Bosh, but if he doesn't like what he is receiving then he will tell Bosh to simply sign elsewhere.

 

For instance, if Chicago wants Bosh, BC will tell them that it is Noah (or Rose) or bust. If Houston wants Bosh it is the Knick draft picks and Brooks or bust. If Chicago or Houston won't bite, then I think Colangelo would tell Bosh to either convince them to change their minds or sign for a 5 year max.

 

I could be wrong, but I highly doubt that Colangelo and the Raptors management are completely shutting the door ona S&T. This is just posturing to create more leverage on their part. They are making it known that if you want Bosh you are going to actually have to give the Raptors something that they want.

[Dash]

Somewhat of an update...article is from Clutch of Clutchfans.

 

The early road was a bit bumpy.

 

Chris Bosh Houston Rockets

The Rockets feel Bosh "changes the entire game" for them

The Rockets free agency caravan, while a great idea, had unfortunately backfired by Wednesday, the day before teams could negotiate with free agents.

 

The Rockets expected Bosh to be in Miami when he was actually a relative stone's throw away in Dallas. The caravan had been Florida-bound for two days, creating an awkward Airplane II "tad off course" moment when the news thudded in.

 

Why the bad intel? The mistake occurred primarily because Henry Thomas, Bosh's agent, was shutting out the Rockets.

 

It was a pretty wicked curveball -- as a result, the Rockets cancelled an event scheduled for that night and considered turning the trucks around. As late as early Wednesday, the Rockets were scrambling to find out the exact details of where Bosh would be in Dallas. It is a testament to Daryl Morey and staff that they found Bosh in time, delivering an informal pitch along with an IPad loaded with the recruiting videos we reported last week that they were putting together.

 

While the agent initially focusing on teams other than the Rockets is a bad sign, it doesn't mean there is zero chance for Houston. Two reasons jump out as to why his agent pushed Houston back:

 

1. Thomas' other star client, Dwyane Wade, is also a free agent with full Bird Rights in Miami. Thomas himself is based out of Chicago. It could serve all three in marketing and on-court opportunities to get both players on the same team. They have to explore those avenues first.

 

2. Houston does not have cap room. The Rockets are the only team in the mix that doesn't have the space to sign them outright. For a free agent and his agent, leverage is only created with their existing team (in Bosh's case, Toronto) if the threat to walk away clean exists. You can't do that with Houston.

 

While Bosh is an impact free agent, the bigger pieces are LeBron James and Wade, so Bosh's decision will likely come after those dominoes fall.

 

Based on conversations I had Friday, I would not say the Rockets are overly optimistic about their chances, but it's definitely not ruled out (and for that matter, I'm sure a lot of variables have changed by today). We have not gotten wind of the sign-and-trade stage yet, and not a single free agent will want to leave a dime on the table. That's where the Rockets are a strong player. Houston has the type of trade pieces that could work for just about any team, ranging from rebuilding to contending.

 

 

Stephen A. Smith's Comments

Former ESPN talking head Stephen A. Smith created quite a stir at ClutchFans late Friday night when he went on Fox Radio and said, among many other things, that Bosh was exploring a sign-and-trade with the Rockets.

 

Fox Radio's producer sent the audio of the broadcast to ClutchFans, and I've included it for you below to listen in.

 

Smith had originally reported that James, Wade and Bosh would all join forces in Miami. He called in to Fox Radio to talk about a new scenario unfolding, and part of that, according to Smith, is that Bosh does not want to take a penny less and is exploring a max deal via sign-and-trade with the Rockets.

 

"Chris Bosh wants the max, which is $126 million. He wants that extra $26-30 million, at all costs," said Smith. "Because of that, that has thrown a monkey wrench into the game plan [to join forces in Miami]."

 

Smith later added: "You basically have these scenarios: Chris Bosh, working out a sign-and-trade deal with Houston that would give him 126 million dollars, so he can get the max deal that he wants because he doesn't want to settle for less."

While it's certainly interesting, and it's exactly what the Rockets are hoping for (the only way they can get Bosh), Smith talks possibilities more than he reports specifics here. Despite the authoritative tone, Smith outlines multiple scenarios -- with Bosh working out a sign-and-trade with Houston as one of them. He didn't rule out Chicago or Miami for Bosh.

 

Frankly I was more concerned about the scenario of James joining forces in New York with Joe Johnson and Amare Stoudemire. That would have a crippling impact on the value of the draft pick obligations the Knicks have to the Rockets.

And to continue the misinformation age, ESPN's J.A. Adande is reporting that the Raptors are losing interest in a sign-and-trade deal, a clear ploy by the Raptors to increase the offers from other teams.

 

http://www.clutchfans.net/news/1562/chris_bosh_houston_rockets/

[Dash]

Chris Broussard just said that Houston has a very good chance of landing Bosh via sign and trade. He also said that the Raptors are willing to do a S&T despite the earlier report.

[Built Ford Tough]

Chris Broussard just said that Houston has a very good chance of landing Bosh via sign and trade. He also said that the Raptors are willing to do a S&T despite the earlier report.

 

The report never said that the Raptors weren't willing to do a S&T, it just basically said that they aren't going to do one for the sake of doing one.

 

For example, I doubt they would do a S&T to Houston for Trevor Ariza and Louis Scola, but I have no doubts that they would be interested in doing one that centered around Aaron Brooks and the Knick draft picks.

 

I think teams figured that the Raptors would bend over and take it in the [expletive], but that isn't the case. If they want Bosh through a S&T they are going to have to make it worthwhile for the Raptors

[Dash]

The report never said that the Raptors weren't willing to do a S&T, it just basically said that they aren't going to do one for the sake of doing one.

 

For example, I doubt they would do a S&T to Houston for Trevor Ariza and Louis Scola, but I have no doubts that they would be interested in doing one that centered around Aaron Brooks and the Knick draft picks.

 

I think teams figured that the Raptors would bend over and take it in the [expletive], but that isn't the case. If they want Bosh through a S&T they are going to have to make it worthwhile for the Raptors

 

I highly doubt that the Rockets' final offer will be just Scola/Ariza. The entire hype around the Rockets this offseason has been about the loads of assets they have at their disposal. Houston is the point where they need to turn these assets into a quality player or an all-star for next season.

 

As long as we're not selling our souls, we need to do whatever it takes to get Chris Bosh in a Rocket uniform even if it means parting with Aaron Brooks.

[Bleed Green]

Houston was the first team Bosh met with, so it makes sense. I would love to see Bosh pair up with Yao. They would be able to give LA's bigs a good run. Maybe they could go after a Richard Jefferson/Josh Howard type with the MLE?

[Built Ford Tough]

I highly doubt that the Rockets' final offer will be just Scola/Ariza. The entire hype around the Rockets this offseason has been about the loads of assets they have at their disposal. Houston is the point where they need to turn these assets into a quality player or an all-star for next season.

 

As long as we're not selling our souls, we need to do whatever it takes to get Chris Bosh in a Rocket uniform even if it means parting with Aaron Brooks.

 

I was just using that as an example. Nobody really knows what the offer was (it has been speculated that it was Scola, Ariza and Battier, but who really knows). All we know is that the Raptors didn't think it was worthwhile for them to make the trade, which is what my main point was with that post.

 

From what I gather, teams have been trying to lowball the Raptors with their offers. Colangelo is floating the idea that he isn't completely concerned about moving Bosh in a S&T out there so that not only do the teams who want Bosh have to make better offers, but if Bosh himself wants the 6 year max, he is going to have to convince these teams that it will be in their best interest to move pieces that they may not be willing to move if it means that they get him. For Chicago this probably means Noah, for Houston this probably means Brooks and the Knick picks, for New Jersey it would probably mean Favors etc...

 

I think it ultimately comes down to Colangelo and the Raptors taking a stand and demanding legitimate value in return for Bosh while opposing teams, and even Bosh himself, figured that the Raptors would just cave in and accept any offer to whatever team Bosh wanted to go to. Good on the Raptors for not caving in.

[Erick Blasco]

So that's another strike against Stephen A.

 

Now all I'm waiting for is Jalen Rose's "Book it, done" guarantee a year and a half ago that LeBron and Bosh are heading to New York.