NBA Off-season 2016 thread

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by KCChiefsFan88

Paying "out of loyalty" rather than making smart business decisions is no way to run a franchise.

If the Heat were loyal to Wade and gave him $25 million/year for the next two years and he ended up missing 30 games a year (a high probability given his age and injury history), the Heat would be stuck in the middle as an average/mediocre team with minimal financial flexibility.

Now they can take their lumps this season, and have significant financial flexibility next summer to sign a top-tier free agent.

Pat Riley/Micky Arison + financial flexibility generally have a good track record of getting results.

Have we learned nothing from the last 3-4 years?

Teams don't get to eat shit and still get FAs to come to town. Now maybe Riley is actually a wizard and the draw of Miami is stronger than the draw of LA or NY (or X player's hometown team). But then again, maybe Riley just ends up clearing the decks and eating shit like several teams before him have done over the last several years.

In the era of superteams that can all offer roughly approximate $$$, nobody wants to cash a check to suck. Riley's gambling big time here and recent history suggests it's a bit of a fools errand.