Not every great player in the NBA could change teams in the next week. It just seems that way.
LeBron James, probably the best (and best-known) basketball player in the world, is the biggest of names atop the list of NBA free agents. But the homeless superstars go about 10 deep, and where they decide to settle down, in the coming days or weeks, could reshape the league quickly and profoundly.
NBA executives have seen this coming, and at least eight clubs have spent most of two seasons manoeuvring to clear tens of millions of dollars of space under the league's salary cap - even at the cost of damaging their short-term prospects - so that they can make a run at Someone Special in the summer of 2010.
The long build-up to the mad chase is finally over; free agents were allowed to begin negotiations with any team in the league at 12.01am (New York time) this morning.
Thus begins the mating dances of teams and players, and the permutations are endless.
The linchpin is James, the freakishly gifted Cleveland Cavaliers power forward who has been the league's Most Valuable Player for the past two seasons. Until he picks a home, clubs will be hesitant to make offers, and players to accept them, which they can do beginning on July 8.
"We don't know how long the process is going to be," Ernie Grunfeld, the president of the Washington Wizards, told the Associated Press.
"The top of the heap is LeBron, and depending on what he does I think will dictate the rest of free agency."
James has modestly conceded that his career goal is "global icon" and he seems well on his way, at age 25.
But the next waystation on that preferred path is a matter of speculation, unless we are to believe reports that James and Chris Bosh, the Toronto Raptors forward, already have agreed to join the Chicago Bulls, and few do.
James has many options, including:
?Staying in Cleveland with the Cavaliers, the only franchise he has known, in his home state of Ohio. This also offers a chance at the biggest possible contract.
The NBA's complicated free-agency rules allow a player's most recent team the chance to offer a six-year contract, compared to only five years by any other team. Hence, the Cavaliers could guarantee James something like US$125 million (Dh459m) through the 2015/16 season. That is real money, even for James.
?Jump to a franchise with at least one of the other two top-three free agents.
The most likely scenario involves Dwyane Wade, the Miami Heat guard, who is thought to prefer to remain in Miami and is recruiting James (and perhaps Bosh) to join him, if the Heat can figure out a way to pay each of them $16m or so per season.
The other two-stars-to-one-team scenarios seem to focus on Chicago, where two fine young players in Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah already are in place and, some insist, James and Bosh already are committed; and, yes, New York, the US media capital and in theory the NBA's beating heart.
But the Knicks are a franchise with nine consecutive losing seasons on the books and an erratic owner, James Dolan, who is thought to be viewed with alarm by players.
What was expected to be the summer when the Knicks bought their way into the championship discussion ... could turn into bitter disappointment.
?Do something surprising. Such as joining the New Jersey Nets, a downtrodden franchise in the New York City market that suddenly looks far more interesting as Mikhail Prokhorov, the Russian billionaire, takes control of the team and turns loose one of his co-owners, the rapper Jay-Z, to recruit James, with whom he is close.
The possibility of upheaval has led to strange times in the NBA.
James, Wade and Bosh, friends since playing for the US at the 2008 Olympics, apparently convened in Miami last weekend to discuss their options in an unprecedented superstar summit, which led to even more speculation that the three would attempt to land on the same team, and plenty of rattled owners.
Several owners and general managers are thought to be prepared to make the pilgrimage to James's estate in Ohio to plead their cases with the young star and his small group of advisers.
Meanwhile, fans have been creating websites aimed at keeping their players or luring someone else's, while other supporters have recorded songs recommending their city as a destination.
In Dallas, a long-shot landing spot for James, the "Bron Bron Song" can be heard at LeBronToTheMavs.com. In Ohio, several elected leaders have recorded something entitled "Please stay LeBron", which is sung to the tune of the 1980s charity video, We Are the World.
Several other outstanding players are available, including Dirk Nowitzki, the Dallas Mavericks forward; Amare Stoudemire, the Phoenix Suns forward; Carlos Boozer, the Utah Jazz forward; Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, the Boston Celtics guards; and Joe Johnson, the Atlanta Hawks guard. Also, a big centre named Shaquille O'Neal is uncommitted for the coming season. Not that anyone has noticed.
poberjuerge@thenational.ae
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Ponti
Sharlene Teo, Pan Macmillan
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Barcelona v Liverpool, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE).
Second leg
Liverpool v Barcelona, Tuesday, May 7, 11pm
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Did you know?
Brunch has been around, is some form or another, for more than a century. The word was first mentioned in print in an 1895 edition of Hunter’s Weekly, after making the rounds among university students in Britain. The article, entitled Brunch: A Plea, argued the case for a later, more sociable weekend meal. “By eliminating the need to get up early on Sunday, brunch would make life brighter for Saturday night carousers. It would promote human happiness in other ways as well,” the piece read. “It is talk-compelling. It puts you in a good temper, it makes you satisfied with yourself and your fellow beings, it sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week.” More than 100 years later, author Guy Beringer’s words still ring true, especially in the UAE, where brunches are often used to mark special, sociable occasions.
New process leads to panic among jobseekers
As a UAE-based travel agent who processes tourist visas from the Philippines, Jennifer Pacia Gado is fielding a lot of calls from concerned travellers just now. And they are all asking the same question.
“My clients are mostly Filipinos, and they [all want to know] about good conduct certificates,” says the 34-year-old Filipina, who has lived in the UAE for five years.
Ms Gado contacted the Philippines Embassy to get more information on the certificate so she can share it with her clients. She says many are worried about the process and associated costs – which could be as high as Dh500 to obtain and attest a good conduct certificate from the Philippines for jobseekers already living in the UAE.
“They are worried about this because when they arrive here without the NBI [National Bureau of Investigation] clearance, it is a hassle because it takes time,” she says.
“They need to go first to the embassy to apply for the application of the NBI clearance. After that they have go to the police station [in the UAE] for the fingerprints. And then they will apply for the special power of attorney so that someone can finish the process in the Philippines. So it is a long process and more expensive if you are doing it from here.”
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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