From Ken Berger of CBS Sportsline via TrueHoop:
Henry Thomas, the Chicago-based agent for Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, joined forces with Leon Rose, the agent for LeBron James, at Creative Artists Agency.
In a move that the parties involved have attempted to portray as unrelated, William Wesley -- the ubiquitous "World Wide Wes" -- will be joining the coaches' division at CAA. Wesley, one of the most connected and influential men in basketball due to his ties to James, Kentucky coach John Calipari and essentially every tentacle of the game, will go from being unofficially powerful to officially powerful in the next 2-3 months, according to a source familiar with his plans.
There's more analysis behind that TrueHoop link and more info from Berger but the long and short of it is that the three biggest free agents plus the most influential behind-the-scenes player in the league are all negotiating from within the same organization in a summer where more free agent cap space will be available than has been seen in recent memory. This reminds me of being on the Oregon coast and watching seagulls swirl around somebody's leftover lunch. Except in this case a bunch of mammoth-sized seagulls are going to band together and fly in formation, swooping down to beat up some guy and steal his entire bag of groceries.
Initial thoughts:
1. These guys are going to carry expensive price tags.
2. Blazer fans can forget any thin thread to a Chris Bosh pipe dream no matter who we offer in trade.
3. Unless these stars really want to make it happen and take a cut in salary, years, or terms I'm not sure anybody can [reasonably] nab two of them at once as occasional rumors have suggested.
4. The trickle-down effect on salaries could be significant given the amount of money available among teams who won't get any of these three players. Teams who saved money for the shopping spree may not see it going as far as it used to. I wonder also if some other free agents might not hold off on signing until they see what these guys get.
5. You can almost see the owners making a frustrated clenched fist like Colonel Klink when Hogan pulled off some scheme or other. In an era where less is supposedly going to be the new more these guys are going to fight to make MORE the new more. Not a bad move from the players' perspective.
6. I wonder how much more contentious this might make negotiations between the two groups.
Any thoughts?
--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)