From Mark Cuban to Pat Riley, Jay-Z to Donnie Walsh, NBA front office hustlers are ready to make deals with players who are looking to get made and paid. Armed with salary cap room and hype machines, teams are hours from unleashing furious sales pitches to sign a variety of all-stars. Championships won't be guaranteed, but ticket sales will.
Here's how the big front office players are stacked up on Free Agency Eve.
Once Dwyane Wade opts out of his contract, the Heat will have an astonishingly low payroll of less than $6 million for only 2 players, Michael Beasley and Mario Chalmers. They have the most cap room, Pat Riley's influence, the lure of Wade already being a winner there, and the weather and vibe of Miami. They are possibly in the best position to capitalize on this summer of the stars.
Jay Z and his Russian financier have gotten the Nets' payroll down to only $19.8 million. Rising stud Brook Lopez will only make $5 million over the next 2 years. Cap space is a plus but spending 2 years in Newark may be a challenge.
The Knicks have also slashed their payroll with only the last year of Eddy Curry's hefty deal weighing them down. Yet owner Jimmy Dolan has created an atmosphere of losing that may destroy the lure of playing in the so-called Mecca of basketball Madison Sq. Garden.
The Chicago Bulls are stuck with 4 more years of Luol Deng for $50 million, but they have Derrick Rose cheap for the next 2 years and one more season with Noah making $3.1 million. They have cap space and a storied tradition behind them, but loyalty concerns surround the franchise.
The Clippers have cleared decent cap space but they're stuck paying Baron Davis $40 million over the next 3 years. Chris Kaman is a decent big man, but also expensive at $23 million over the next 2 years. Factor in their history of disasters and who wants to play on a jinxed team with the underachieving and overpaid?
And then there's the sadness of the Mavs and Cavs. Dirk Nowitzki is opting out of Dallas and even without his huge contract, they're still maxed out with Dampier, Terry, Butler, Kidd and making $47 million between them. Cuban doesn't mind the luxury tax, but his team won't be much better with or without Dirk next season.
The Cavs are similarly strapped with LeBron opting out, leaving Cleveland with Antawn Jamison, Mo Williams and Varejao for multiple years of $35+ million combined. If they re-sign James, how will they improve? If they lose him, the franchise and city are heading further into an abyss.
Even more teams will undoubtedly play a big part in the coming roster shuffles. Speculation will happen, signing will happen and again, amazing will happen. This time next year, who will be the studs and who will be the duds? We're 82 games from finding out.
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