It's a Two-Team Race for LeBron James in 2010

When LeBron James signed only a three-year contract extension in the summer of 2006 instead of the maximum five-year like the ones his 2003 draftmates Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and Carmelo Anthony had agreed to, this exact scenario playing out right now is what LeBron had in mind—the Knicks, the Nets, the Pistons, and virtually half the rest of the league clawing at each others' faces to steal him away from the Cavaliers when he can become a free agent in 2010.

'Melo, come on! Everyone's doing it! Just extend three years!

First, though, I have to praise the financial merit of that decision.

The tradition had been that a top-tier rookie would always sign for the maximum extension allowed for the longest time and the most money.

That's what Anthony did. The 2003 rookie contracts expired in 2007, and he signed a five-year extension with Denver for the maximum salary that would pay him 25 percent of the salary cap until 2012. Bosh and Wade originally had agreed upon the same thing with their respective teams.

LeBron held out, though, because some brilliant mind must have gotten through to him and told him that was a conservative choice that left money on the table.

In 2010, James, Wade, and Bosh will have completed their seventh years of NBA service, making them eligible for new max contracts worth up to 30 percent of the salary cap.

With the salary cap projecting to be quite a bit over $60 million for the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons, that means James's new contract would be worth over $6 million more than Anthony's old one over those two years.

Of course, putting two years on the line is risky in case the player gets injured or turns out not to be worth that kind of money—but this is LeBron James we're talking about here. His deal was so clever that Wade and Bosh immediately renegotiated their extensions to three years as well. (Anthony, as usual, wasn't on the ball.)

Of course, the big news for NBA teams is that LeBron James will also have a player option in 2010 to become an unrestricted free agent. Joining him will be the other titans of the 2003 draft, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade.

This news is so seismic that it has completely overshadowed the fact that an army of other NBA All-Stars—like Amare Stoudemire, Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash, Manu Ginobili, Joe Johnson, Paul Pierce, Yao Ming, Ray Allen, Tracy McGrady, and Michael Redd—could also be on the market.

But the big fish in this ocean is definitely LeBron, making him the biggest free-agent prize since Shaquille O'Neal ditched Orlando for L.A. twelve years ago. There are a ton of teams who could end up with enough cap space to sign LeBron in 2010 (Chinese marketing fans, imagine if Houston let T-Mac go and signed both LeBron and Yao)—but four teams this year alone have already made big moves to get him.

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