The NBA’s biggest free agency domino has finally fallen. Now come the many, many others. In the wake of LeBron James’ decision to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers, ESPN’s Marc Stein reports that the Houston Rockets believe they will sign Chris Bosh.
Source close to situation says Rockets believe they will have commitment "soon" for Chris Bosh to come to Houston
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) July 11, 2014
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Plan now for Rockets, sources say, is to complete their Omer Asik trade with New Orleans AND move Jeremy Lin by Sunday
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) July 11, 2014
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It’s been broadly assumed that Bosh would accept Houston’s max contract offer if James left Miami. Though that assumption was complicated when restricted free agent Chandler Parsons sign an offer sheet with the Dallas Mavericks, the timing of LeBron’s decision should give the Rockets an opportunity to sign Bosh and Parsons as long as the former commits quickly.
But it can’t be done without trading Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin. Houston already agreed to trade Asik to the New Orleans Pelicans, but the deal has yet to be completed because of minuscule salary cap issues. Assuming they shed Asik’s $8.4 million salary, the Rockets will then move onto Lin. An agreement between Houston and the Philadelphia 76ers has reportedly been in place with this specific contingency in mind, so it appears only a matter of time before that trade trade is finalized, too.
The plan of attack for the Rockets looks like this: complete the Asik and Lin trades; sign Bosh with the acquired cap room from those deals; match the Mavs’ offer to Parsons using Bird Rights; cry tears of happiness. But it all needs to take place within approximately the next 48 hours as that’s how long Houston has to match Parsons’ contract with Dallas. That’s the main potential frustration here.
It’s likely that Bosh has already made up his mind to play for the Rockets. And if that’s the case, these moves should be completed with relative ease and a legitimate championship contender will have emerged in Houston.
Would Bosh make the Rockets Western Conference favorites?
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