With the 2010 NBA free agent disaster behind us, there have been some clear winners and some clear losers across the board. Let’s take a look at a few of them…
WINNER - Chris Bosh. Chris Bosh isn’t nearly as good as you think. Chris Bosh is not a headliner and I think even Chris Bosh realized that. By joining forces with Lebron and D-Wade in Miami, Bosh can continue to ride the coat tails of his two talented friends and not worry about leading a team by himself… something that Bosh is completely incapable of doing despite being the highest paid player on the team.
LOSER - The Chicago Bulls. The Bulls had dreams of pairing their young core of talented players with Wade or Lebron in hopes of matching the success of their Jordan led teams of the ’90’s. Unfortunately for the Windy City, they were left at the alter by The King and D-Wade and had their hand forced to over pay an aging Carlos Boozer.
WINNER - Carlos Boozer. Boozer walks into a fantastic situation with the Bulls. Boozer is still a productive scorer and though he may never again perform like an all-star caliber player again, he was certainly paid like one. His 5 year $80 million dollar contract assures that he will be raking in the cash into his mid-30’s… Why do I have a feeling that in a few years, someone will write an article about the worst salaries in the NBA, and Boozer’s $17 million at the injury riddled age of 35 will be the lead dog?
LOSER - The New York Knicks. Amare’ Stoudemire is a nice addition, though I would speculate he will also be on that list with Mr. Boozer. Amare flourished with Steve Nash on the offensive end of the floor, but will not be able to lead this band of Big Apple misfits anywhere near the top of the Eastern Conference. All the cap room in the world couldn’t help The City land Lebron or a chance to contend anytime soon.
WINNER - The Oklahoma City Thunder and Kevin Durant. Durant signed a 5 year extension with his team, showing that some star quality players still know what it’s all about. Durant has the swagger to believe that he can win in OKC without relying on someone else, and for that he has quickly become one of the most respected player in the league. Durant signed his contract without an “opt out” clause, something Lebron never did. By doing so, free agents won’t be afraid to sign a deal with OKC for fear that Durrant would leave before his contract was up.
LOSER - The New Jersey Nets. With Chicago and the Knicks getting the two best consolation prizes in the Lebron James Sweepstakes, the New Jersey Nets clearly got the short end of the free agency stick. Russian billionaire Mikael Prokorov and hip hop mogul Jay-Z weren’t enough to lure ANY of the top talent to the Garden State, despite a solid young core of players and the promise of relocating to Brooklyn. Keep your head up, Jersey… you’ve still got Snooki!
WINNER - Dwayne Wade. Wade recruited James and Bosh to come to HIS team, offered to take less money to help build a formidable roster, stayed where he started his career, and continues to come off smelling like roses despite the implications that Wade had been a “spy” for Pat Riley and the heat! If Wade, James, and Bosh end up winning 5 titles, Wade still will have one more than all of them, thanks to his 2006 run with Shaquille O’Neal. And more importantly than that, Wade doesn’t come off looking like a cowardice, pompous, egomaniacal rat traitor to an entire nation.
LOSER - Lebron James, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and The NBA. The Cavs obviously took a shot to the gut with their favorite son leaving for perceived greener pastures in arguably the most classless way ever, but the clear loser here is Lebron James. By turning his back on an organization that gave him everything, James left close to $30 million dollars on the table. On top of that, James has forever tarnished his legacy as a man who couldn’t get it done alone. The Miami Heat will never be “Lebron’s Team.” It will simply be a portal for this shallow, self involved, ungrateful man-child to pad his resume with hollow championship rings that should come equipped with a giant asterisk in the record books. No real NBA fan outside South Florida could possibly be excited about watching this Miami team win multiple titles… and unfortunately that is what is in store for the National Basketball Association over the next decade.
WINNER - Me. Football season is right around the corner. See you in ten years, NBA.
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HERE WE GO BROWNIES HERE WE GO!!!!!!!! Boston was actually a winner too, they resigned Pierce and kept their team in tact. Mike Miller was a winner too.
wow… worst article ever… you seem to have no knowledge of the NBA Bulls over paid for Boozer? 5 years 75 million is not over-paying for someone who averaged 19 and 11 and played the whole season last year…. Amar’e got 100 million that’s over-paying. Also Boozer’s contract ends when he’s 33 because he’s 28 right now so i don’t know about aging, Wade is 28 also how come he’s not aging?
besides not getting lebron or wade, bulls were winners in this. boozer is just what they needed, then add great role players like kyle korver, ronnie brewer, possibly reddick and mcgrady. pretty solid team.
i love the bulls but boozer isnt the piece we need. dude is old and his knees are whack. he is basically the same player as noah.. except no defense. wish we could have got lebron. oh well.
Boozer is 28 how is he old? the only serious injury he’s had was like in 04-05 which was a hamstring injury that kept him out in games during the 04-05 and 05-06 seasons and he’s played more than 75 games in 3 out of the 4 past seasons. He is also way different than Noah he can shoot and score on the block and is a beast on the pick and roll. He struggles guarding guys that have length on him like Pau Gasol but that isn’t much of an issue in the eastern conference especially when noah will guard the other team’s best post player.
boozer ain’t all u r makin him 2 b jack. he is ok but ur makin him jordin. he cant win in playoffs 2. bulls should be ticked at wade cuz he was da bitch about spyin and s**t
I think the Lakers are winners as well with them fortifying the bench. Check out my article on the winners and losers of free agency http://pardonmybias.com/winners-losers-fa/
Jack, still think Boozer wasn’t overpaid? Are you watching this?