The Nets decided to stand pat at the trading deadline this year, but it seems like they were the only ones. There were a lot of teams clearing space at the deadline, and now the Nets aren’t the only ones with a lot of cap space available going into this offseason. Now that the dust has settled, I think it is important to look at the teams with newly discovered capspace and compare their situations to the Nets.All numbers moving forward are based on an estimated salary cap of $53 million next year.
Sacramento Kings
Breakdown
By shipping Kevin Martin out, the Kings have freed up slightly less than $19 million (before taking into consideration the contract of a lottery pick). This can make them a player for a a real good second tier guy. It has long been a plan that if the Nets can’t get a max contract guy (Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Chris Bosh), the Nets would end up “settling” for a second tier guy like Joe Jonson, Rudy Gay, or Carlos Boozer (this is if any of them are willing to take less than the max). The Kings can now sneak in and take away one of these guys.
Advantage
So why would a player go to Sacramento over New Jersey? There is a pretty special player named Tyreke Evans over there. There has to be a shooting guard out there just salivating about the chance to play with him, plus they have another lottery pick coming this year. A nice little core building in Sacramento.
Los Angeles Clippers
Breakdown
The Clippers deals of Marcus Camby three days ago and Sebastian Telfair & Al Thornton yesterday has cleared up right around $20 million. This is enough to get a max guy, so you can now list the Clippers as participants in the LeBron sweepstakes.
Advantage
Until the trade-deadline, the Nets were considered to have the nicest core of young players to match up with a max-contract guy. However, now that the Clippers are in the running, I say they leapfrog the Nets. I mean look at who they have starting for them next year. Baron Davis, Eric Gordon, Travis Outlaw (if resigned), Blake Griffin and all-star Chris Kaman. Throw in a guy like LeBron or Dwyane Wade, and you have a championship contender in LA not named the Lakers (how weird will that be). One thing that should be noted though is that Donald Sterling is their owner. Now I know Nets’ fans think Bruce Ratner is the worst owner ever (He is pretty bad), but Donald Sterling is worse, and it isn’t even close. I think his status as the owner could scare players off, because they don’t know when the next fire-sale will be coming.
Chicago Bulls
Breakdown
The Bulls got rid of John Salmons in a salary dump, and when they traded away Tyrus Thomas they ended up not taking any salary back. This puts the Bulls right around the $20 million mark as well (not counting draft picks signed), so not quite enough for a max contract, but they are in a similar situation as Sacramento in where they can take a second tier guy away from the Nets.
Advantage
Derrick Rose is an All-Star point guard that many free-agents would love to play for. Also, the Bulls have been linked to Dwyane Wade for the past couple of years now and it wouldn’t surprise me if he doesn’t sign for the max, taking a hometown discount (I doubt it happens, but it wouldn’t surprise me) and signing to the Bulls. The head-coaching situation could cause some free agents to shy away from Chicago though.
Cleveland Cavs
Breakdown
The Cavs definitely upgraded their roster with the acquisition of Antwan Jamison, but is it enough to keep LeBron? I don’t know, I think that if Amar’e was in Cleveland right now, there would be no question that LeBron is staying. Now, I think the Cavs need to win a championship to keep LeBron. We haven’t seen Jaminson play with the Cavs yet, but I think his acquisition gets them closer to a championship this year.
Advantage
LeBron seems to really like his team, and with this being his home I think it is going to be really hard for him to leave…especially now that they have a very realistic chance at the title.
Miami Heat
Breakdown
For the past couple of days, Dwyane Wade has been openly pleading for the Heat front office to acquire someone at the deadline. They were in the Amar’e talks and apparently their talks with Boozer really heated up, but they ran out of time as the 3:00 deadline passed yesterday. Dwyane Wade is stuck with subpar talent for the rest of the year.
Advantage
Pro athletes who play in Florida don’t have to pay income tax (or it is very low, I can’t remember which one it is), and Miami also has the ability to sign a max guy and then re-sign Dwyane Wade. So those NBA fans hoping to see Wade and LeBron play together, this might be the best spot for it.
New York Knicks
Breakdown
Ah, the Knicks. After dealing Jared Jeffries and Jordan Hill, the Knicks now have right around $36 million if cap space (if they don’t resign David Lee). With their deals yesterday, the have now leapfrogged the Nets and have the most cap-space for this offseason.
Advantage
None. I am being serious here, yes the Knicks can bring in two max guys, but who are they going to play with? They have 4 guys on their roster for next year, and one of them is Eddy Curry. Well at least they have their draft pick for the upcoming year…wait a minute, they don’t. Plus they don’t have a first rounder for the next 15 years it seems. I am sorry, but even if they get two max contracts, I see the Knicks being a 6-seed in the playoffs at best, and with a situation like that, I highly doubt that they will get two max guys, let alone 1. There is just not a good enough core or future in New York.
