Chris Bosh sign-and-trade rumour blog (Live)

We will be updating this post over the next 5 days to bring you all the latest chatter regarding Chris Bosh’s possible destinations.

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1:33 PM July 9th

Luckily for us Chris Bosh really wants the 6th year and higher raises.
Reports finally indicate that a sign and trade for picks and a trade exception nearing completion.

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9:00 PM July 8th

All signs point to LeBron choosing Mia.
The Raptors are said to be balking at taking on a unwanted contract in a rumoured 4 team deal between Tor, Mia, Hou, Cha. Colangelo only wants picks and a TPE. Deal might die.

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3:47 PM July 7th

Chris Bosh has agreed to join the Miami Heat. As of now the chances of him signing outright seem to be about 50-50 especially if LeBron James is heading to the Heat as well; in this scenario no player takes the max or 6th year to be fair to LeBron.

Let this be said…., and heard: even if Bosh does not take 6th year and max money the Raptors can still land Michael Beasley……if Bryan Colangelo is willing.

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3:44 P.M July 6th

Two days passed, really nothing new to report besides wayward rumours with no credibility.

Lets start with what is certain:

Amare has agreed to sign with the Knicks which means NY is no longer on the list of potential Bosh destinations.

The list is apparently down to Mia, Chi, NJ….probably in that order. What LeBron does will affect Bosh’s decision.

Now for the rumour that has hit the TV as it was reported by ESPN:

The rumour from Chris Broussard stated that the Cavs and Raps have engaged in sign and trade talks for Bosh and that Bosh was the only one holding up deal as Toronto had agreed to deal.

“Raptors have told Cavs they would do a sign-and-trade with them for Bosh. Cavs and LeBron working to convince Bosh to join them in Cleveland”

I was not going to list it as it was laughable from the start but here is the subsequent debunking:

“Reports of a sign-and-trade agreement with Raptors and Cavs for Bosh very premature. Nothing on table. No players discussed.”

So much for that crazy report from ESPN. Even more laughable were the parts coming back to Toronto, but lets not bother with speculation on inaccurate reports.

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12:17 Sunday July 4th

Yesterday was an uneventful day, both Bosh and Wade finished up their meetings and Bosh returned to Dallas to mull things over.

Bosh’s insistence on a 6 year max deal is the reason we may not see a dream team in Miami.

Yesetrday we heard a bunch of speculation that the Raps may be tiring of Bosh’s twitter act and lack of communication and may be souring on a sign-and-trade. Never believed it so did not discuss, now that is has been debunked here is the rumour and debunking:

It’s long been believed that Chris Bosh, if he leaves Toronto for a new team, will do so via a sign-and-trade.But might the Raptors be thinking otherwise as Bosh’s decision nears?

ESPN’s J.A. Adande reports: “The Toronto Raptors have become increasingly disenchanted with the idea of helping Bosh obtain a maximum contract via a sign-and-trade deal, according to a league source … The Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs, Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks are believed to have submitted trade proposals for Bosh to the Raptors, and apparently none has impressed Toronto. Bosh’s Twitterization of the courting process, which included several tweets of anticipation leading up to the July 1 commencement of free agency, didn’t sit well with the Raptors either, the source said.

“But ESPN The Magazine’s Ric Bucher surmises that such talk by the Raptors might just be to get Bosh’s attention, and a sign-and-trade is still likely:

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10:12 PM Friday

Things got interesting the Chicago Tribune reported when Bulls representatives were at agent Henry Thomas office talking to both Wade and Bosh at the same time.

Wade, however left without committing, which means Bosh probably wont either (even though Chi is best fit for him).

Bosh should commit as with or without another superstar he still has all-star calibre point guard Derrick Rose.

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2:14 AM July 2nd

Rumour has it that the Rockets are preparing to offer Luis Scola, Trevor Ariza and Shane Battier for Chris Bosh in a sign-and-trade, contingent of course of Chris Bosh agreeing to go to Houston.

We feel BC will swap Battier for Patterson and pick up a pick, cash or an exception instead.

I am not a fan of the Battier inclusion as we do not project as a team who can advance in the playoffs and a vet like that would go to waste. Scola and Ariza would be ideal fits. Both are good rebounders and can play D

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11:01 PM July 1st

Very uneventful day, but we were never really expecting Bosh to pick a team today anyways.

Lets recap today’s news:

The Heat offered Bosh a contract hoping he would commit early i.e before seeing other teams, but he indicated he will still listen to other offers

He also physically met with officials from the Nets and Rockets (as discussed below)

Bulls are tomorrow.

No word on Saturday teams, if any, expect Bosh to commit over the weekend.

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7:28 AM July 1st

Chris Bosh has reported that he has already had presentations from Houston, Toronto, Miami and Chicago.

That still leaves Dallas, New York and New Jersey to make their pitches.

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1:11 AM July 1st

Daryl Morey GM of the Rockets tweeted that he just completed his free agent visit with Chris Bosh, following through with his promise to be wherever Chris was at 12:01.

The Rockets are a very interesting trade partner if Bosh chooses to go there as they have numerous pieces to offer such as: coveted rookie and almost Raptor Patrick Patterson, Luis Scola (RFA), Aaron Brooks and Jordan Hill…Kyle Lowry may also be a ‘throw-in’.

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6:56 P.M

The latest scuttlebutt has that Bryan Colangelo has ruled out the possibility of taking on the over-paid Luol Deng.

This is presumably because Bryan Colangelo is angling for a trade exception and taking on Deng at his cap hit makes little sense even if he may be a good fit. Money talks and Deng is just a little too expensive for a Raptors franchise looking to retool.

This is from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports:

“The Toronto Raptors have talked to six to eight teams willing to do sign-and-trades for Chris Bosh, but front office sources say general manager Bryan Colangelo has ruled out bringing back the expensive contract of Bulls forward Luol Deng.”

So Adrian says 6-8 teams. We have the Heat, Lakers, Bulls, Rockets, Nets, Knicks and Mavericks, not too sure who the 8th is but he said 6-8 anyways.

It is good to hear that BC is doing his due dilligence in case Chris Bosh has a last-minute change of heart and chooses another team interested in his services.

At this point all signs point to Miami, which is what we guessed in January, but LeBron James could change that.

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5:18 PM

Chad Ford of ESPN Insider reports that multiple G.M’s who are after Bosh now believe that Bosh is going to Miami.

“…multiple GMs who are after Bosh think he’s going to Miami now”

This much we agree with.

It is just a matter now do we take the incredibly talented but troubled Beasley or do we pass on his risk/reward and work with a $16 million dollar trade exception which can be used in a subsequent trade to take a player or players a team is looking to dump.

To be honest, there are some interesting scenario’s to fathom with a trade exception that big but Beasley and Chalmers address team needs.

I hope Colangelo doesn’t pass on Beasley and mess this up. Raptor fans will be kicking themselves and cursing Bryan Colangelo for the next 10+ years if he does.

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4:25 PM Wednesday

From Michael Wallace of the Miami Herald:

“Top-level source insists Raptors have no interest in Heat’s Mike Beasley or Mario Chalmers & seek $16 mil trade except.”

I for one hope it is not true, lets take on Chalmers and Beasley and take a $9 million dollar exception instead.

It makes zero sense to turn down a future stud in Michael Beasley and Mario Chalmers, especially when we need a new #1 and a backup point guard once we deal away Calderon or Jack and Banks.

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4:02 PM Wednesday

It seems a lot of people are confused due to the fact that both the Heat and Raptors representatives have denied that a Chris Bosh sign-and-trade is already in place.

They have to.

If they confirm the deal they will be charged with tampering and run the risk of league penalties.

So don’t be worried those of you who have warmed to this deal, it is still going down and this much will be confirmed in the coming hours.

Only 8 hours until the REAL madness kicks off….should be fun.

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11:11 AM Wednesday

Dan LeBatard of Miami 790 The Big Ticket reports that Chris Bosh in a sign-and-trade is a done deal.

He also suggests Joel Anthony was only extended a qualifying offer so he could be used in a sign-and-trade.

“I hear bosh-miami is done ..bosh-wade shared agent avoids tampering…its why beasley, chalmers, anthony still here…raptors get them”

You all know my feeling on Beasley, I think he is a top-10 talent in the NBA, he is just immature and hasn’t realized his potential yet.

Chalmers is a good defensive point guard who comes from a winning college program and will be a nice backup point guard behind either Calderon or Jack.

I am not sure we need Joel Anthony, but Canadians will love his acquisition, not only because he is Canadian, but because he works hard. If we land Anthony fan favourite Reggie Evans and his expiring contract will be traded this summer.

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10:00 AM Wednesday

When asked about playing in Miami with Dwyane Wade and LeBron James, Chris Bosh said he doesn’t think it’s possible.”I don’t see it happening,” Bosh told The Miami Herald.

“I don’t even know how it would work. It sounds pie in the sky. Pat Riley is known as a guy who is like a mastermind-type genius. He’s probably having a vision one day.

But who knows? I don’t see it happening.”As of Wednesday, the Heat don’t have enough cap room to sign three max players.

Bosh refuted reports that he will follow James wherever he signs. “I don’t even know where he wants to go,” Bosh said. “I have to make decisions based on how I feel.”

This is good news for NBA fans and teams in the Eastern conference, this would be a potential dream scenario for the players and some fans but would ruin what parity exists in the league.

As posited yesterday Bosh does not want to wait for LeBron and we expect him by all accounts to end up in Miami. Beasley!!

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9:00 AM Wednesday

This is from ESPN Insider:

“Sources tell the Chicago Sun-Times that the Bulls may try to sign Chris Bosh first as a way to convince LeBron James to come to Chicago and to keep Bosh away from other Eastern Conference teams.”

This is not new news as this has been rumoured, but this is the first official mention we have seen. Every team with space will be courting Bosh in order to woo LeBron James. Whether he like it or not he is being branded as a Robin by NBA executives.

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7:00 AM Wednesday

The New York Knicks are trying to unload the expiring contract of Eddy Curry so they can potentially land LBJ, Bosh and Joe Johnson.

They would have found a taker already if there was one. The problem here is, teams will gladly trade their bad contract for Eddy, but to add that salary to their roster for the season will take incentives which the Knicks haven’t ponied up yet.

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9:43 P.M Teusday

This is from the Miami Sun Sentinel:

The Sun Sentinel has learned that the three star free agents have gone as far as to acknowledge that it might not be possible for the Heat to clear the needed space to start each of the three at the $16.6 million maximum salary that they would be eligible for in the first year of new contracts.

According to the source, the three have agreed to consider to “split the money up,” if need be.

This is bad news for Raptor fans, especially if Bryan Colangelo is really dead set against making Micheal Beasley a Toronto Raptor.

This arrangement seems to be to lure the King who will not be able to work out a sign-and-trade with Cleveland and thus would have to take less money than Wade and Bosh, something his ego likely will not allow him to even fathom.

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7:20 P.M Tuesday

The Heat have extended a qualifying offer to Joel Anthony, a player who may come into play in possible sign-and-trade scenario’s with the Toronto Raptors if Chris Bosh chooses Miami.

Anthony is nothing to be excited about, but this is noteworthy due to the lack of players the Heat currently have on their roster.

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6:45 P.M Tuesday

Derrick Favors may actually be in play in a Chris Bosh sign-and-trade, this would be another ideal scenario.

Here is a quote from ESPN Insider Chad Ford’s latest chat:

[Comment From Ryan (Utah)Ryan (Utah): ]
Please tell me the Nets would be willing to send Favors to Utah as part of a sign and trade for Boozer
Tuesday June 29, 2010 6:18 Ryan (Utah)

6:18	Chad Ford, ESPN Insider: Keep dreaming. They’ll only use that chip if they need it to secure LeBron or Bosh.

Again this is from ESPN Insider Chad Ford’s live chat so take this information for what it is worth, but this would be a home run scenario for the Raptors as Derrick Favors ahs the chance to be something really special in this league and has no character issues (Beasley), seeming chronic knee issues (Bynum) or a bad contract (Deng).

Favors would be an excellent fit and would likely signal the end of the Andrea Bargnani experiment unless Bryan Colangelo was willing to deal Raptors rookie Ed Davis.

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We will be updating this post over the next 5 days to bring you all the latest chatter regarding Chris Bosh’s possible destinations.

Lets start off with what is already out there:

The Raptors want Joakim Noah in a sign-and-trade with the Bulls.
The Bulls will balk and offer Deng and Johnson and possibly a pick.

The Raptors want Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom and Devin Ebanks.
The Lakers will likely agree.

The Raptors, much to my dismay, do not want Beasley.
The Heat only have Beasley, Chalmers, Varnado, Pittman, Butler and Williams under contract to offer in a sign-and-trade.

There was no free agent summit this weekend as reported by ESPN.

Bryan Colangelo advised us to remember salaries do not have to match if a trade exception is involved.

Raju Byfield is a Sports Writer/Blogger for Raptors Digest. You can send him emails or comments at raptorcity@raptorsdigest.com. You can follow him on twitter at www.twitter.com/raptorcity. Raju also writes for www.WinMyFantasyLeague.com as a Fantasy Sports Analyst.