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LeBron James announced on national television Thursday night that he is signing with the Miami Heat
The free agent NBA superstar forward has spent his entire career with the Cleveland Cavaliers, but he’s decided to join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in South Beach.
It’s a gathering of two superstars in LeBron and Wade and a star in Bosh.
The three know each other’s games quite well and familiar with their strengths and weaknesses.
The AP reports:
Carlos Boozer is headed to the Chicago Bulls.
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A person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press that the two-time All-Star forward agreed to a deal on Wednesday and is leaving the Utah Jazz after six seasons. The person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the contract doesn’t become official until Thursday, did not reveal the terms…
With about $30 million in salary cap room, the Bulls were looking to make a big splash in free agency after back-to-back first-round playoff exits.
Adding Boozer strengthens their standing in the Eastern Conference and maybe makes them more attractive to James.
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Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant is signing a five-year contract extension.
The young superstar quietly revealed the news on Twitter Wednesday morning, one day before the start of the NBA free agent signing period.
According to ESPN, the five-year deal is for $86 million. It will keep him with the Thunder through the 2015-16 season. Durant still has one season left on his rookie deal.
According to the Oklahoman, Durant’s deal is guaranteed through the 2015-16 season and has no player option. It is worth between $85M-$86M depending on the 2011-12 salary cap.
The NBA world is busy waiting to hear where LeBron James is going to sign. Multiple reports today said that the Miami Heat are expected to land both Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
Durant last season averaged 30.1 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.0 blocks per outing. He played in all 82 regular season games.
Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.
Thursday night at 9 p.m. ET, Cleveland Cavaliers free agent LeBron James will announce to the world which team he is signing with. The event will be a one-hour special.
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The teams who may win LeBron’s services are the Cavs, Bulls, Heat, Knicks, Nets and Clippers. And I listed those squads in order of who I think has the best shot to get him.
I believe that LeBron’s signing is worthy of being on national television. Simply because everybody cares about it. The world wants to know. So, put it on TV!
That’s it. There’s nothing more to it.
There’s a good chance I will not pay particularly close attention to the early stages of the special. It could be great stuff, but as someone who follows this stuff closely and covers it for a living, I probably already know everything that’ll be said. There will probably be some cool highlights to glance at. I’ll keep it on in the background with the sound up while I work on my laptop or something.
But, I will listen. And when the announcement does come, I’ll rotate my desk chair and stare right at the TV. So will you. And that’s why it deserves to be televised.
UPDATE: It appears LeBron plans on making his decision early, within about 10 minutes. We’ll see!
–Jeff
SportsDayDFW.com reports:
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While a number of the NBA’s finest are trying to secure millions in the free agent market, the Dallas Mavericks’ Shawn Marion is trying to get millions in a different way: at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.
Marion participated in Day 1 of the Main Event on Monday. Due to the growing popularity of the event, there are four separate “Day 1s” where players begin the tournament. Monday’s was the first possible day to start. A number of other athletes and celebrities will also try their hand over the next three days. According to a report in USA Today, former Cowboy legends Emmitt Smith and Troy Aikman will both play during Thursday’s Day 1 action.
Brian Windhorst of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports:
LeBron James’ free agent meetings are in the homestretch, the Cavaliers hoping the focus is on the “home” part.
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The Cavs met with James for around 90 minutes Saturday, making perhaps their final pitch to re-sign him in a meeting that focused on the team’s familiarity with the star and his comfort level with the franchise.
New coach Byron Scott, general manager Chris Grant, assistant general manager Lance Blanks and owner Dan Gilbert were the principals in the meeting. In addition to presentations from Scott and Grant about their plans, sources said the Cavs also planned to show James a cartoon featuring him and his friends as characters.
It was made in a Family Guy style, which is one of James’ favorite shows, and featured some inside jokes related to the team. Those who know James personally know that he loves cartoons, inside jokes and cheap laughs. The central part of the Cavs’ pitch is that they know him the best.
“We can only surmise how the meeting went from our standpoint, and from our standpoint, it went very well. We approached it in a very honest and direct way, and we felt that their reaction was considerate and receptive.”
“We’re not going to go into any details about the meeting’s specifics. But it was our goal to present tangible and very obvious reasons as to why we think LeBron choosing our organization is his best option: we clearly have the best team already in place for him to join, we have the best city, the best arena, the best practice facility – overall the best situation.”
“By communicating all of that in a sincere way, we accomplished our preliminary goal.”
“Now what we can do is wait and see how it all resonates, plus continue to be comprehensive in our efforts to improve our team for the upcoming season.”
“No matter what, we’re getting at least one great new player this summer: his name is Blake Griffin.”
The AP reports:
Former NBA All-Star Antoine Walker pleaded not guilty Wednesday to criminal bad check charges alleging he failed to repay almost $1 million in gambling debts and penalties to three Las Vegas casinos.
A Clark County District Court hearing master, Melisa De La Garza, set trial for Nov. 22 in Las Vegas. Walker and his lawyer, Jonathan Powell, said nothing to reporters after the brief arraignment.
Powell has said he and the Clark County district attorney’s office were negotiating toward resolving the Nevada case without sending Walker to prison. Walker could face probation or up to 12 years behind bars if convicted.
The Miami Heat announced today that they have made a qualifying offer to Joel Anthony, making him a restricted free agent and giving Miami the opportunity to match any contract offer he receives.
Anthony, a 6’9”, 245-pound center, was originally signed as a free agent by the Heat on July 3, 2007, after going undrafted out of UNLV, and then re-signed with Miami on July 20, 2009. He has appeared in 169 regular season games (45 starts) during his three-year stint with Miami, averaging 2.6 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.38 blocks and 17.0 minutes while shooting 47.8 percent from the floor and 66.8 percent from the foul line.
Anthony concluded the 2009-10 season tied with John Salley for ninth place on the Heat’s all-time blocked shots list with 233. Additionally, he has appeared in 11 postseason contests (two starts) with the Heat and has averaged 2.1 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.09 blocks and 15.2 minutes while shooting 75 percent from the field and 83.3 percent from the foul line.
During the 2009-10 season, he appeared in a team-high 80 regular season games (16 starts) and averaged 2.7 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.43 blocks and 16.1 minutes while connecting on 47.8 percent of his field goal attempts and 71.7 percent of his free throw attempts. In addition to topping the Heat in games played he also led the team in blocks with 109, the 15th best total in the NBA. Anthony also saw action in each of Miami’s five postseason games in 2010 and averaged 2.6 points, 1.8 rebounds, 1.00 blocks and 15.8 minutes while connecting on 71.4 percent of his field goal attempts and 75 percent of his free throw attempts.
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The Miami Heat announced today that they have requested waivers on forward James Jones, a 6’8”, 220-pound forward, was signed by the Heat as a free agent on July 9, 2008.
He appeared in 76 regular season games (seven starts) during his two-year stint with Miami, averaging 4.1 points, 1.4 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 14.9 minutes while shooting 36.6 percent from the floor, 37.6 percent from three- point range and 83.1 percent from the foul line.
Additionally, he appeared in eight postseason contests (seven starts) with the Heat and averaged 8.6 points, 2.0 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 30.5 minutes while shooting 51.5 percent from the field, 47.8 percent from three-point range and 92.3 percent from the foul line.
During the 2009-10 season, he appeared in 36 regular season games (six starts) and averaged 4.1 points, 1.3 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 14.0 minutes while connecting on 36.1 percent of his field goal attempts, 41.1 percent of his three-point attempts and 82.1 percent of his free throw attempts. In his lone 2010 postseason appearance he had two points in nine minutes of action.
The seven-year NBA veteran, and University of Miami graduate, was originally drafted in the second round of the 2003 NBA Draft by the Indiana Pacers with the 49th overall pick. He has appeared in 366 career games (65 starts) and has averaged 6.4 points, 2.4 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 18.9 minutes while shooting 39.8 percent from the floor, 39.5 percent from three-point range and 86.1 percent from the foul line.