While Mikhail Prokhorov insists Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh will be paired in Miami next Autumn, the Newark Star-Ledger’s Dave D’Alessandro suggests Nets fans “might have to come to grips with the possibility that they™re not enamored of either David Lee or Carlos Boozer,” adding, “prepare yourself for not getting any of the A-listers if this LBJ-CB4 moon shot doesn™t come through.” How’s that for realism?
They’ve already decided that they won’t overpay for Boozer, because his age and mileage are factors. And they believe they cannot justify overpaying for Lee, because he doesn™t even complement Brook Lopez as well as Boozer does, or defend like it™s important to him.
A cautious approach? You could say that. And since it™s not our money, we have a hard time granting our assent: The 20-and-10 species is rare enough in this day and age to warrant an over-pay, and you can™t get spooked by recent history. This is not like Stefanski giving Elton $79 mil after he played eight games the year before. This is a 12-win team that needs someone who can score and rebound — often.
If the Nets allow these two to slide by, it doesn™t mean they™re going to do ™10-11 on the cheap, however. They™ll bide their time but stay aggressive, find some cost-efficient, short-term guys to bolster the frontcourt (Udonis Haslem, Kurt Thomas, et al), and keep their fingers crossed that Derrick Favors follows the same pattern he did at Tech by getting better every month of the season.