Chicago's trade of Kirk Hinrich to Washington expands the Bulls' salary cap space to attract James and another top free agent. Longtime Knick Grunfeld made the deal for Washington, hurting his old team. Lots more as free agency talk grows.
Cavaliers forward LeBron James goes to the basket between Chicago's Joakim Noah and Luol Deng.The Cleveland Cavaliers hope, of course, to keep two-time NBA MVP LeBron James as their own. The Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks and Miami Heat have the wherewithal to sign James, and the New Jersey Nets and Los Angeles Clippers have longshot chances to pull off a coup, too.
The landscape was altered - some say significantly - when the Bulls and Washington Wizards agreed on Thursday to a trade that would send Chicago guard Kirk Hinrich to Washington. The deal is expected to become official when a trade/free agency signing moratorium ends on July 8. Chicago will then be freed from Hinrich's $9 million contract, putting the Bulls that much below the salary cap and abel to offer a maximum contract to one star free agent and a near-max pact to another.
Chicago may find the wiggle room to turn the second contract offer into a maximum pact, too.
So, a lot of people around the NBA -- especially those in the free agent chase, and specifically those wanting James -- aren't very happy with Washington team president Ernie Grunfeld. The Knicks have surrendered any chance of winning the last two years to put themselves into salary cap position to grab James, and now they feel dissed by Grunfeld for enabling Chicago to take, maybe, the pole position in the James' chase.
Ernie Grunfeld, of all people. Grunfeld, who is from Forest Hills, New York, played seven years for the Knicks and as a front office executive helped put together their contending teams in the 1990's.
Ian O'Connor writes about the impact Grunfeld's trade with Chicago makes on his old team:
And aiding and abetting the Bulls, of all teams? The same dynastic foe you spent every waking New York minute scheming to topple?
"I'll have to give Ernie a call; has he lost his mind?" joked Dave Checketts, the former Garden and Knicks president who had helped Grunfeld build the contender of the '90s before firing him at the close of the decade.
"Ernie and I hated Chicago more than anyone. We wouldn't do one thing to help them when we were running the Knicks. In fact, we even tried to kill deals we heard the Bulls were working on. We'd call agents and tell them, 'Why would you send your player there? Are you kidding? Don't you know what's going on inside that organization?'"
In the Knick of time
The Knicks better not wait long on James, jeopardizing their chances to land other top free agents, Alan Hahn writes for Newsday.com:
If you ask those close to James ' inner circle, the Knicks need to be aware that they shouldn't spend too much time trying to convince the two-time MVP to leave Cleveland for the big city. One person with close ties to James ' "team" said the person with the most influence on James - his longtime friend and business manager, Maverick Carter - wants nothing to do with the Knicks and views remaining with the Cavs or going to Chicago to join Derrick Rose as the better options.
What's he know?
Paul Silas was the Cavaliers coach during James rookie season and most of his second season. Chris Tomasson writes for NBA.Fanhouse.com that Silas thinks there's a strong chance James will sign with the Knicks:
Silas said he believes James will depart Cleveland as a free agent, with the Knicks the most likely destination.
"I do believe he will leave,'' Silas said. "What he really wants is to become the first basketball billionaire. So, I think that's very difficult to do in Cleveland. So, I think we're looking for him to go to New York or New Jersey or somewhere like that.''
A million here, a million there
Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich tries to wrestle away the basketball as Cavaliers guard Mo Williams yells for a timeout.Chicago Tribune reporter K.C. Johnson breaks down the numbers in the Hinrich trade:
Though the trade can't become official until the Wizards can absorb Hinrich's $9 million salary into its cap space July 8, the Bulls will enter the free agent recruiting period a week earlier knowing they have roughly $30.8 million to burn. If they hadn't dumped Hinrich's contract, that number would have stood at roughly $22 million.
A maximum free agent contract is expected to start between $16.5 and $16.8 million once the NBA league office sets its official numbers. Thus, the Bulls will have more than $14 million to offer a second free agent while trying to lure two superstars to join All-Star Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and Luol Deng.
Elsewhere about James
Barry Jackson writes for the Miami Herald that the draft strategy for the Heat was based on maintaining maximum salary cap space.
New York Post reporter Lenn Robbins writes that teams wanted to impress free agents with their draft picks.
Chris Sheridan writes for ESPN.com that the Knicks maintain a confident front in their pursuit of free agents.
New York Daily News reporter Frank Isola writes about Knicks' coach Mike D'Antoni's hopes of getting James.
Marc Berman writes for the New York Post that the Knicks' draft strategy was driven by their pursuit of James and other free agents.
Adrian Wojnarowski's report for Yahoo! Sports that James and his inner circle are wielding much influence on a chaotic NBA summer.
John Jackson writes for the Chicago Sun-Times that the Bulls are playing an "all-in" game in their chase of free agents.
A report that James is about to launch his own headphones line.