NBA Free Agency: How John Calipari Could Shift the Free Agent Landscape

On Tuesday, Yahoo.com's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Kentucky Wildcats coach John Calipari is "intrigued with the Chicago Bulls’ coaching job and would be willing to listen to a pitch from management," according to NBA and NCAA sources.

A few hours later, ESPN reported that Kentucky and Calipari had begun negotiating how to "restructure [Calipari's] contract so that he's the coach of Kentucky until he retires." Conflicting reports much?

Calipari, never one to sit on the social media sidelines when he's making headlines, jumped onto his Facebook account to post the following: 

Throughout my career I've been mentioned for other jobs. Now that I'm here u won't hear about other colleges because I've got the best job. Every year you will hear my named mentioned for NBA jobs because I coached in the league before. I'm very happy at Kentucky. Go Big Blue!

So...how would he explain this information from CBSSports.com's Gary Parrish?

"Multiple sources close to Calipari have repeatedly told CBSSports.com that Calipari's goal is to someday coach LeBron James, and one source has even said Calipari would 'absolutely leave Kentucky, 100 percent, tomorrow' if that opportunity presented itself." 

Hmm. Doesn't LeBron James become a free agent in 2010? And couldn't LeBron theoretically go to Chicago, a team with cap room for a max free agent and a promising young core of Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, and Luol Deng to entice him?

Time will tell how this all plays out, but one thing's for certain: Kentucky fans shouldn't be sleeping easy until Calipari officially signs his life away to Big Blue.

After all, as Parrish aptly points out, Calipari pulled this bait-and-switch before.  

Last March, when his name started popping up linked to the Kentucky job, Calipari told the Memphis Commercial-Appeal, "When we win, and everybody loves to win, players go to the pros, and there are people that will come at me. That’s just how it is. I’m happy, happy with the program, happy with the people. I love Memphis. And like I said, I just need to kick back and hide from everybody for a couple days."

Well, gee, John. That sounds awfully familiar.  

Keep in mind, Memphis had begun renegotiating his contract right before he bolted for Kentucky.

The truth is, there likely isn't a single person on this planet who knows what John Calipari will do this time with his coaching future, besides, well, John Calipari.

Here's what we do know.

Calipari's ties to Chicago go beyond LeBron potentially leaving Cleveland for the Bulls this summer. Calipari coached Rose at Memphis in 2008, the year when the Tigers got to the *national championship game. (Asterisk'ed due to those pesky NCAA violations that seem to follow Calipari around.)

Calipari has also proven that his loyalty lies with money and personal opportunity first, not affiliation with a team. Talk to shell-shocked Memphis fans.

Here's where it gets really interesting.

Calipari also has ties to William Wesley, better known as "Worldwide Wes" or "Sketchy Guy Who Always Seems To Funnel Top-Tier Recruits To Calipari." A GQ article in 2007 called Wes "the most powerful man in the NBA."

You might remember Wes as the guy who restrained Ron Artest after the Malice in the Palace incident. Maybe as the guy who gets to pat LeBron's belly on the court? Perhaps you recognize him from a number of Memphis and Kentucky games?

Well, Wes recently decided to emerge from the shadows and officially sign as an agent with Creative Artists Agency—better known as the agency that has LeBron, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh as clients.

Connecting the dots yet?

Let's review. As of Tuesday, the Bulls have an open coaching job after firing Vinny Del Negro. They have cap space to sign a max-contract free agent this summer, and Rose, Noah, and Deng comprise one of the most promising young core groups of players in the league.

The three most discussed max-contract free agents this summer: LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh.

If LeBron goes to Chicago, they'd immediately become championship contenders in the East, at least for the next 3-4 years. (If LeBron got the Cavs to the Finals in 2007 with Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden as his best teammates, there's no telling what he could do with a group like Noah-Deng-Rose.)

The same holds true for Wade—the possibility of a Rose-Wade backcourt for the next five years should be haunting 29 NBA GMs leading up to July.  

And while Bosh enters the Summer of 2010 with questions about his ability to lead his team to a championship, he wouldn't have to singlehandedly carry his team with those three current Bulls as teammates.

There's no reason to buy into what Calipari is publicly saying, given his recent track record.

The truth is, if multiple sources from multiple leagues are telling multiple journalists from multiple publications that the Chicago job has piqued Calipari's interest, there's likely at least a nugget of truth in there.

This isn't to say Calipari's definitely packing his bags and leaving Lexington this week; it's to say that Calipari could be flirting with the Bulls behind closed doors in the coming days.

If Calipari takes the Bulls job, it'll be hard to tell who's more dejected in the coming days, Kentucky fans or Cavs fans.

Because if the Cavs don't win a championship this season, it's entirely conceivable that LeBron decides he'll never be able to finish the deed in Cleveland.

And with Calipari as coach, why wouldn't LeBron give strong consideration to jumping ship to the Bulls, where he can pay the ultimate homage to Michael Jordan by bringing the Bulls back to the top of the NBA?