Saturday, July 10, 2010

3 Kings pay $50m ransom for kingdom

Ira Winderman (Sun-Sentinel):
No sooner was Friday night's extravaganza over at AmericanAirlines Arena, then a member the Miami Heat staff sought out a rare quiet space to whisper a fact that spoke volumes about the process that led to the landing of [ BoyzIIHeat ] and the retaining of Dwyane Wade.

"You have no idea how much these guys left on the table,"
he said moments after this summer's prime free agents spoke of sacrifice. "It's a lot more than anyone thinks. A lot more."

[The Heat had] the means to offer each of the three superstars contracts worth $125 million over six years, with 2010-11 starting salaries at $16.6 million.

But none will receive those figures. Not close.

Instead, James and Bosh took packages worth $110 million and Wade, who clearly does not have the moving expenses, took a deal worth $107 million. Each will carry a starting salary of about $14.5 million for 2010-11.
The additional flexibility will allow Heat President Pat Riley to next week sign Washington Wizards free-agent swingman Mike Miller, and leave enough spare change for a potential deal with Heat free-agent power forward Udonis Haslem.
In a league where "it's not about the money" is dismissed as idle chatter, James, Wade and Bosh did more than talk the talk, when they finally put pen to paper on Friday night.
In return for the players' financial sacrifice, the Heat had to sacrifice security. Each of the three players will have the ability to terminate their contracts after the fourth years and then opt out of their contracts after the fifth year. It is similar to Kobe Bryant's previous contract with the Los Angeles Lakers.
However, with a new collective-bargaining agreement to be in place when those escape clauses will become available, it might prove financially unfeasible to invoke those clauses.
For its part, the Heat also sacrificed in order to allow James and Bosh to receive 10.5-percent annual raises in their contracts, instead of the 8.5-percent limit on players who are acquired directly as free agents and not through sign-and-trades.
To complete the sign-and-trade for Bosh, the Heat sent its 2011 first-round draft choice to Toronto and also returned the 2011 first-round draft choice it previously had acquired from the Raptors in the 2009 Jermaine O'Neal- Shawn Marion trade.
To complete the sign-and-trade for James, the Heat agreed to give Cleveland the right to swap draft positions in the first round of the 2012 draft as well as 2011 and '12 second-round draft choice it previously acquired from the Oklahoma City Thunder and New Orleans Hornets.
The upshot is that over the next five years, the Heat will retain no more than two of its first-round draft picks.