Revisiting Decision Day II
The four top NBA free agents in 2014 with early termination options (ETO) are (a) LeBron James, (b) Carmelo Anthony, (c) Chris Bosh, and (d) Dwyane Wade. Ironically, the four superstars are accustomed to being linked together because of the 2003 NBA Draft when they were top five draft picks. In 2010, many teams coveted The Big Three in the free agency class. Now four years later, the Miami Heat are in the same position that the Cleveland Cavaliers were in when LeBron had his ill-advised “The Decision.” LeBron wanted to win championships, so he bolted from Cleveland to Miami. Now that LeBron has won two championships with the Miami Heat, what will be his motivation to stay or leave. It was very clear in 2010, as he desperately tried to recruit Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to form the Big Three in Cleveland. However, Dwayne had his roots in Miami and was not going to Cleveland, so LeBron broke the hearts of the Cleveland fans and “took his talents to South Beach.” Chris Bosh he could have easily gone to Cleveland or Miami; he just wanted to escape Toronto Canada. On the other hand, Carmelo Anthony free agency this year is vastly different than the Big Three; Carmelo took a different path to his free agency. Carmelo has never experienced free agency before. He was drafted by the Denver Nuggets, after playing one year and winning the National Collegiate Athletic Association Championship at Syracuse University. His first major decision after signing his rookie contract in 2003 was to sign an extension with the Denver Nuggets. Carmelo opted to sign a max deal of five years, 80 million dollars. Whereas, the Big Three signed three years, 60 million dollars contract extension with a player option for the fourth year. In Carmelo’s early years, he never left any money on the negotiating table; however, the Big Three took less, guaranteed money to have more flexibility within the fourth year of their contracts and have ETO. Unfortunately for Carmelo signing his long-term contract would eventually cause a rift between him and the Denver Nuggets. During the 2010-2011 season there were speculation that Carmelo requested a trade; this was a big story from the beginning of the summer prior to the start of the new season. Carmelo’s contract would expire in July of 2011, and the Denver Nuggets offered Carmelo an extension but he did not want to stay and refused to sign an extension. Thus, he held the Denver Nuggets hostage, and they needed to trade Carmelo. There were many rumors about which team Carmelo wanted to play on, but from the very beginning his desired destination was the New York Knicks. Succumbing to the pressures of losing Carmelo without any compensation, the Denver Nuggets traded him on February 22, 2011 to the New York Knicks in a multiplayer deal. Subsequently, he signed a three year contract extension worth 65 million dollars with an ETO in the third year with the New York Knicks. Unlike the Denver Nuggets, the New York Knicks opted not to trade Carmelo Anthony because they firmly believed they could resign him or convince him to opt in his final year. However, Carmelo Anthony will now experience free agency for the first time. LeBron, Dwyane, and Chris already experience free agency, but this time there is more uncertainty than before because the circumstances are quite different than 2010. The Big Three took pay cuts to join forces, but will they take pay cuts to play together again. Is it realistically to expect Dwayne Wade to opt out of the remaining two-year contract at 40 million dollars when he is no longer considered to be a 20 million dollars a year player. Also, will LeBron consider taking less and playing with another team that potentially has more weapons than the Miami Heat. Furthermore, will Chris Bosh leave to be the central focal point instead of being the third wheel. Finally, will Carmelo think about his legacy and the ability to win championships instead of taking a max deal. Even though, these four superstars took different paths to get to this point, they all have major decisions to make that will forever change the course of the NBA.
