Where will the King and his colleagues go?
Dwayne Wade
My Pick: The Heat. Not much else to say other than he will sign a fat deal with Miami at some point early in July.
Confidence: *****
Wild Card: Basically no chance of this happening but something crazy could happen with the other big boys (Lebron and Bosh) that lands all three in Chicago or New Jersey some how...
Joe Johnson
My Pick: The Knicks. After they swing and miss with Lebron look for the Knicks to overpay Johnson to lure him out of Atlanta.
Confidence: ***
Wild Card: The Nets bring him in with somebody like Boozer and they have legitimate team with new coach Avery Bradley. Also Chicago doing the same thing would give them a great lineup (Rose, Johnson, Deng, Boozer, Noah)
Rudy Gay
My Pick: The Clippers. They already have a decent starting lineup that could turn heads this year. Gay is a great young talent to go beside Blake Griffin and the Clippers will give him plenty of money after LBJ says no thanks.
Confidence: ****
Wild Card: The Nets have one big signing day bringing in Gay and Johnson or Gay and Boozer.
Amare Stoudemire
My Pick: The Suns. Why leave Nash and a team that just went to the Western Conference Finals? Oh and he can get max money with Phoenix
Confidence: ***
Wild Card: My pick for where Amare would land back before the Playoffs started was Miami. I thought it was a lock for him to end up there but now its just a possibility ( about 50-50)
Carlos Boozer
My Pick: I think the Heat will find themselves with limited options when Bosh and LeBron sign elsewhere so look for Miami to sign Boozer to help Wade out. Boozer has playoff experience and would love to land in Miami, it just makes too much sense for this not to happen.
Confidence: ** My pick might be more of the wild card but I just have a feeling
Wild Card: I've heard a lot about Boozer heading to the Nets or the Knicks. The Nets make the most sense and would love to have him down low with Brook Lopez.
Dirk Nowitzki
My Pick: He'll be a Maverick next season. He just wants to opt out so he can get a new deal under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement. Look for Cuban to lock him up in a long term deal.
Confidence: *****
Wild Card: Again, no chance but wouldnt it be cool if the Suns found a way to sign him. Nash, Richardson, Amare, Dirk, Lopez along with their stellar bench...Look out LA.
David Lee
My Pick: Congrats on being like the only white dude in the NBA but I don't think many people even know he's a Free Agent. I picked the Knicks in my ESPN free agent predictor but Im feelin' Toronto might be the place to land Lee after Bosh departs.
Confidence: *
Wild Card: The Suns could save some money by signing Lee and letting Amare go.
Chris Bosh
My Pick: I think Chicago makes the most sense for Bosh if his primary concern is winning like he said but do keep in mind he has yet to sign the max deal in his career so money might be more important than he has originally said.
Confidence: ****
Wild Card: There are a couple of different wild card scenarios for Bosh because of his current situation. He's gonna want make money so a sign and trade from Toronto to New York is a possibility. There's also a pretty good chance that Bosh could team up with Wade in Miami.
LeBron James
My Pick: DA BULLS. It's gotta be Chicago with Bosh. The Bulls have proved they can make it to the playoffs and compete, just imagine if they landed LeBron and Bosh. James has said time and again that all he wants to do is win rings and I think this could be a great place for him to pick up a few. He can get max money here and have a team that could be in the Finals next season.
Confidence: ****
Wild Card: Again there are a couple of different factors that can push things one way or the other. Chicago is the best situation for James but a lot of this also rests on Bosh. If Bosh doesn't sign in Chicago you could see Lebron even think about heading back to Cleveland or heading to Miami. The Nets chances would improve as well but would need to sign another talent like Joe Johnson or Boozer to entice LeBron. The Clippers put out a "bid" early Thursday but I see them as having little to offer to James besides living in Cali. The Knicks have about the same chance as the Clippers in my mind.
Side Note:
I believe both Ray Allen and Paul Pierce stay in Boston with Doc Rivers making the announcement that he will return for next season.
Jace P.
My ESPN Free Agent Predictor
http://games.espn.go.com/bballfapredictor/en/entry?entryID=51892
No comments:
Post a Comment