The NBA’s long-awaited free agency period opened early
Thursday, with teams such as New York and Miami focusing their attention on
California.
Now all eyes will be on Ohio.
James was set to welcome the New Jersey Nets and the Knicks to his home state, with
additional teams awaiting a later
audience with the King.
The Clippers have scored an invite, proving even longtime losers have a
chance for a transformation in this highly anticipated shopping season.
Teams could begin making their pitches at 12:01 a.m. EDT,
and some got started quickly. Chris Bosh heard from four of them, including
presumed favorites Chicago and Miami.
Atlanta’s Joe Johnson was expecting early visits in Los
Angeles from the Hawks and New York Knicks, with the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution reporting that the Hawks were prepared to offer the
All-Star shooting guard a maximum salary contract.
James could get multiple offers Thursday as the head of
perhaps the deepest class in history.
It includes other All-Stars such as Dwyane Wade, Bosh, Dirk
Nowitzki, Amare Stoudemire and
Carlos Boozer; veterans such as
Shaquille O’Neal and Ray Allen; and young up-and-comers such as Rudy Gay and
David Lee.
“We’ve never had anything like this in my time that I can
remember,” New Jersey Nets president Rod Thorn said. “There have been big-time
free agents before, but never this many teams that are trying to woo them. So
it’s unprecedented.”
Teams were headed around the country to speak with players,
though the Mavs were saved a long trip when Nowitzki informed them he would meet with them Thursday in Dallas—with
the message arriving while president Donnie Nelson was at the airport preparing
for a flight to Germany.
Showing they planned to be active, the Knicks confirmed on Twitter they would also meet with Wizards
swingman Mike Miller in Los Angeles. But they did so without team president
Donnie Walsh, who went directly to Ohio in preparation for Thursday’s meeting
with James.
Pat Riley and a Heat contingent also began their free agency
tour in California, where teams were hoping to meet with Stoudemire. Miami also
planned to meet with Johnson.
It promised to be a wild first few days of July, with plans
changing by the minute.
“You’re not in control, as much as you would like to be,”
Timberwolves president David Kahn said. “I don’t think any team feels right now
they’re in control of the situation. There’s too many teams with room. Too many
fine players out there. I think in those types of situations, it’s best to be
really nimble and change course if need be.”
Kahn said early Thursday that Gay would visit Minnesota later
in the day and Lee would arrive on Saturday. Gay is a restricted free agent, so
Memphis can match any offer for him.
Lee was an All-Star this season in New York, but may not be
back since the Knicks are hoping to land two bigger names.
So are the Clippers. General manager Neil Olshey announced
in a statement the team had already contacted several players and confirmed it
had been invited to meet with James.
“At that time, we intend to present the many reasons why his
joining our organization is the best possible choice he could make,” Olshey
said.
The Cavaliers might have a new reason for James to stay
home. They are in “serious talks” with former New Orleans coach Byron Scott, a
person familiar with their search told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
James can earn perhaps $125 million over six years by
staying in Cleveland; $96 million over five years if he goes. (The exact
figures can’t be determined until next season’s salary cap is set in July). But
leaving could put him in a better position to win a championship.
He’ll first meet Thursday with the Nets’ traveling party
that includes new owner Mikhail Prokhorov, coach Avery Johnson, president Rod
Thorn and hip-hop superstar Jay-Z, a part-owner and James’ longtime friend.
Then the Knicks will drop in. They can afford to pay him and
another classmate the maximum next season, which might be what they need to
finally get going again after a franchise-record nine straight losing seasons.
“We’ve had to live through some tough times in order to get
where you think you start rebuilding the franchise,” Walsh said. “We have that
opportunity now. How well, how fast we can rebuild the team can be shortcut by
getting great players.”
They’ll have plenty of competition. The Heat, Nets, Bulls
and Clippers also can afford to offer a player about $16.6 million next season,
which is the maximum someone with James’ amount of NBA experience can make.
Chicago and New Jersey made trades in recent days to push them closer to
joining the Knicks with enough to offer two max deals, and the Heat can keep
Wade, give an additional max contract and have enough left over for another
quality player.
Top players rarely leave via free agency because NBA rules
allow their teams to offer them more money in the long run. The difference
comes not in the first year of a new contract, but in the raises.
A player signing with his own team is eligible for annual
increases of 10.5 percent, while a new team can offer only 8 percent bumps. The
home team can also offer six-year deals, whereas players joining new teams can
get only five-year contracts.
Still, teams have been slashing payroll for years in hopes
players would move this summer.
“It is an ‘all-in’ strategy, in that even when it works,
you’re going to have to operate with a very low payroll,” Houston general
manager Daryl Morey said. “If it doesn’t work, it can be catastrophic in terms
of if you strike out, it’s going to be very difficult to be competitive.”
Morey used his Twitter feed to announce he’d met with Bosh
in the opening hours of free agency.
“He is about winning so I focused on how (with) Houston he
can win a championship,” Morey wrote.
Bosh also took to Twitter to inform followers he’d also
received presentations from Chicago, Miami and Toronto.
The Raptors expect to lose Bosh. If the All-Star forward
joins James or Wade, or both, that team figures to become an immediate
championship contender. Boston won the title the year after assembling its Big
Three—which could now be broken up
with Paul Pierce and Ray Allen on the market—and the Lakers have reached the
finals every year since acquiring Pau Gasol to complement Kobe Bryant.
Numerous teams are now dreaming of similar pairings once
deals can be signed on July 8.
“You look at the teams that have an awful lot of cap space,
there could be a lot of power shifting in this league,” Minnesota coach Kurt
Rambis said.
