RaptorBlog.com featuring Scott Carefoot







Revisiting the Bosh to Miami trade idea

6/24/09
by: Scott
Permalink
RSS feed for RaptorBlog.com

I know this is a weird time to bring this up again — what with the draft and all — but I just read last week's John Hollinger chat on ESPN.com and this part raised my prodigious eyebrows:

Ed (Toronto):Why would Bosh sacrifice his pay day to be second fiddle to Wade or LeBron. He wants to get paid too and BC doesn't do a sign and trade out of the goodness of his heart.

John Hollinger: That's still the biggest point in Toronto's favor -- they can offer more money than anyone else. But remember, some of that advantage is eroded by Florida's lack of state income tax. It's not what you make that matters, it's what you keep.

Add this to the several other reasons (2010 cap space, location, Wade, championship possibilities) why Miami is most likely the biggest threat to steal Chris Bosh from Toronto after next season.

It was a RaptorBlog commenter who first suggested a version of this trade, but I'm sticking to my guns that a Bosh + filler for Micheal Beasley, Udonis Haslem and Mark Blount swap would be something that both Miami and Bosh would agree to. Miami would love to have Bosh as a second banana to Wade, and Bosh would almost certainly agree to sign an extension with the Heat after next season.

Most of the other Bosh trade scenarios I've read have failed to take into account whether or not Bosh would actually want to re-sign there. Golden State inevitably comes up as an alternative, but Bosh would be far from certain to extend with that team, and I'm not interested in a trade with the Warriors if they're not willing to give up Anthony Randolph (who I believe would be the first overall pick in tomorrow's draft if he had stayed at LSU for a sophomore year).

The return on the Miami trade is appealing to me because Beasley is a 20-year-old who averaged 20.1 points and 7.9 rebounds per 36 minutes with a .472 FG% and .407 3P% last season. Plus, Haslem and Blount would come with $15 million in expiring contracts after next season.

I've heard the complaints that a Beasley/Bargnani frontcourt would be horrible defensively, but I'm not suggesting that those two should necessarily comprise the Raptors' "frontcourt of the future" for the next five seasons. If Beasley develops into the 25 point, 10 rebound per game stud I think he's capable of being, then the Raptors could certainly consider trading Bargnani (arguably a natural PF anyway) and replacing him with a high-quality defensive center through that trade or through free agency via the cap space provided by the Bosh trade.

I'm sure I've made these arguments before, but I thought the "no state income tax in Florida" wrinkle made them worth repeating. I'll try to avoid bringing this trade proposal up over and over, but I'll definitely be following Beasley's development next season to see whether or not this was a good idea. 

Bookmark and Share

 

(Comments are moderated)

Join the discussions in the RaptorBlog Forums

Return to the home page


 




 

This website is a Toronto Raptors fan site and is not affiliated with the Toronto Raptors or the National Basketball Association. This is not an official news source and, as such, information on this site should not be considered as fact. More specifically: I'm only kidding, so don't sue me. All content and images on this site, excepting that which has been attributed from another source, are copyright © 2002-2009 Scott Carefoot and RaptorBlog.com.