Chris Bosh re-signs with Heat instead of bolting to Houston

UPDATE [July 13]: Wade’s deal starts at a reported $15 million for the 2014-15 season, and moves up to $16.125 million in 2015-16 according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. His deal allowed the Heat to sign Luol Deng in place of LeBron James.

While the organization has yet to officially confirm the signing, Wade posted a photo to his Instagram account with the heading, “Home Is Where The Heart Is... My Home,My City,My House..#HeatLifer”:

Still, this was, and always was, a marriage of convenience as much as anything else. Once the ancillary pieces started to break down, there was little else that Riley could do. And once the financial realities came into play, the clock started ticking.

Riley was still offering Riley, however, and that meant a stable organization. As one GM said a few days before the landscape of the league changed, “I just don’t think LeBron will be able to say no to Pat.”

Wade met with the Bulls during free agency in 2010 but re-signed with Miami. James and Bosh are both preparing for returns to their home states, and Wade may have the option of doing the same for himself.

One wouldn’t blame Wade for being upset, but he doesn’t appear to be. Instead, he reportedly is at peace with James’ decision.

This contradicts previous reports that Wade was unaware of James’ decision at the time, but the idea that Wade knew is more plausible. He probably didn’t want to spoil James’ announcement.

In an attempt to open up max cap space for free agent forward Chris Bosh, the Houston Rockets are on the verge of trading point guard Jeremy Lin to the Los Angeles Lakers, according to Marc Stein of ESPN and Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski. The return package is believed to be cash and rights to some overseas players, according to Wojnarowski, but no salary back. The Lakers are expected to receive a future Rockets first round pick and other draft assets in return for taking on Lin’s contract. The first round pick Houston is sending to the Lakers is reportedly their own 2015 first round pick, according to David Aldridge of NBA.com.

Update: Bosh, Miami finalizing 5-year contract

A top four of Bosh, Howard, Harden and Parsons would be stacked and a certain contender in the Western Conference, even with some shaky depth. Bosh is a perfect fit as a stretch 4 next to Howard, and that duo would be a terror defensively down low.

The Houston Rockets have offered Chris Bosh a four-year maximum contract, according to ESPN’s Chris Broussard. Bosh is currently weighing the offer while waiting on LeBron James and Pat Riley to offer some clarity into the Miami Heat’s situation.

Bosh’s situation is intrinsically tied to James’, but the Rockets are hoping they can take advantage of James’ uncertainty to swipe Bosh away for more than the Heat are willing to offer. Bosh has said he’d like to take a pay cut to stay in Miami, but he and Dwyane Wade have reportedly been in the dark about James’ plans. If James is not going to stay in Miami, the situation becomes much less attractive for both players.

Yet Bosh has been undervalued for so long and so amenable to performing a tertiary role that his stealth free agency has played out according to type. He has taken no meetings, and until the BronBomb late Thursday night that LeBron and his agent were planning to meet with other teams, there have been no rumors attached to the big man.

Wade represents something of an unknown, because it has always been assumed that Bosh would do whatever was necessary to make the numbers work. That’s strange in that Bosh is far more important on the court these days. Big men who can do what he can do and who don’t complain about doing it are the rarest and most valuable players in the sport after superstars like LeBron and Kevin Durant. If he wanted, Bosh could upset the entire rhythm of free agency by making a decision ahead of the other available stars.

Are Wade and Bosh really back in the fold already? We break down this rumor:

Bosh and Wade each gave up a lot of money when they decided to opt out of their deals. Wade was set to make over $40 million over the next two years, while Bosh had an option for over $20 million next season. They were never going to give up that kind of financial security without an assurance from Miami that they would make it all back. From that perspective, this rumor passes the sniff test.