NBA Free Agency 2017: 5 teams that should be looking at Chris Bosh
By John Buhler
After a year of uncertainty with the Miami Heat, center Chris Bosh can now find a new home for 2017-18. Here are five teams that could be interested in him.
2016-17 was a frustrating season for future Basketball Hall of Famer Chris Bosh. After succumbing to scary blood clots for the second straight season, the Miami Heat’s medical staff refused to clear him. Bosh did not play a second for the Heat, and Miami missed the Eastern Conference Playoffs for the second time in three seasons.
According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, “Chris Bosh has told family members that an agreement has been struck among the NBA, the Heat, the union and himself for Bosh to part ways with the Heat at some point in the coming weeks, with the Heat receiving maximum cap relief.”
Miami expected to be a big spender in 2017 NBA free agency anyway. Now it seems that Bosh will be looking to join the third NBA team of his Hall of Fame worthy career. Should he check out medically, here are five playoff-caliber teams that could have interest in signing Bosh as a free agent this summer.
Los Angeles Clippers
West, Pacific
The Los Angeles Clippers have to do something different this offseason. As much as owner Steve Ballmer and head coach/president of basketball operations Doc Rivers would love to bring the same team back next year, Los Angeles has scraped its finite ceiling as a 50-win Western Conference Semifinalist team.
Three of their four best players in point guard Chris Paul, power forward Blake Griffin and shooting guard J.J. Redick will all be hitting unrestricted free agency this summer. Conceivably, Los Angeles could go way over the salary cap to keep its core intact.
However, Redick will certainly command more money on the open market than Los Angeles will be willing to pay him. Add in that Griffin and Paul are in essence mutually exclusive basketball superstar entities, and next year’s club could look entirely different.
Bosh could make some sense with the Clippers, as he would stretch the floor with his smooth stroke from distance. He is a committed rebounder and could provide more defensive bang for the buck in the frontcourt than Griffin, assuming he has his health.
Rivers loves to sign players that were really good back in 2010. Bosh fits that mold, as he was the star player with the Toronto Raptors during that NBA season. Floor spacing would be better with Bosh on the floor. He’d bring a standard of excellence to the Clippers locker room that still doesn’t understand how to win at the highest of levels. That being said, this feels like a landing spot that would be more advantageous for the Clippers than it would be for Bosh.