The King is still in his castle listening to pitches from potential suitors. Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh had dinner last night in Chicago and Bosh tweeted he felt like someone was missing. These are the facts. It remains to be seen whether the three will pair up, split up completely, or who will go with who. So much speculation that I thought I’d be turned off by it, but I’m actually enjoying it.
Let’s review the signings so far…
Rudy Gay will accept a 5-year/$82 million deal to stay with the Memphis Grizzlies. Gay could have easily gone to a better, contending team but it’s doubtful he would have landed that kind of cash somewhere else. He took the money – good for him. The Grizzlies will still be garbage either way.
Drew Gooden agrees to 5-year/$32 million deal to join Milwaukee. So far, this is the second worst signing of the free agency period (we’ll get to the first soon). Gooden has shown over and over that he’s a complimentary player that really doesn’t compliment anybody. His relationship with Scott Skiles (together in Chicago) may have helped him get paid… lord knows it wasn’t his basketball acumen.
Darko Milicic steals a 4-year/$20 million deal from Minnesota. Here is your worst signing. Yes, this is the same Darko that was drafted before Carmelo, Bosh, Wade and many others. The Timberwolves were “enamored with the 7-foot center’s potential” according to an article on NBA.com. The fact that I’m even typing this is astounding and making me believe (even more) all the horrible things Bill Simmons writes about GM David Kahn.
Amir Johnson signs 5-year/$32 million deal with Toronto. Chris Bosh said he was happy for Johnson and the he deserved this contract from Toronto. That’s fine, but if I told you a guy named Amir Johnson would get a 5-year/$32 million contract from any NBA team a week ago, you’d have petitioned to shut down this web site. Just goes to show teams are ready and willing to continue signing players to ridiculous contracts just because they can. Is Johnson a good player? Absolutely. But not that good.
Paul Pierce looks to be re-signing with Boston. No surprise here. Reports say Pierce will get his final big contract – 4 years/$61 million. I’m not sure he’s worth that, or will be worth that for any longer than 2 more years , but Boston had to do it.
A few other quick hits that aren’t breaking news: Yao Ming picked up his player option to return to the Rockets; Grant Hill is returning to the Suns; Tyson Chandler is staying with the Bobcats.
