Why LeBron To Chicago Works Best For the NBA

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We have less than a day and a half until free agency starts and front office members stop being so damn shady.  This also means just under a day and a half until LeBron James is officially on the open market.

The big story as of late has been the "Free Agent Summit" between James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

This has caused rumors abound that they will all decide to create a super team in Miami where they will win 38 strait championships and become the best tandem in NBA history.

While having a team like this isn't exactly a bad thing for the NBA, it takes it's big team and moves it to a market that generally hasn't been sports friendly in Florida.

Although they have had good teams, they rarely fill stadiums unless there is a championship in their sights, and even then, it's tough to sell out.

This also will greatly decrease the amount of success for two other teams, the Chicago Bulls and the New York Knicks.

Despite the fact that the NBA won't be hurt by a super-team in Miami, it could be greatly benefited by that super-team ending up in Chicago.

Let's first take a look at where the free agents will fall if the super-team does choose to go to Miami.

With the core of Wade-LeBron-Bosh, the Miami Heat are nearly unstoppable for the next decade or so and win many championships.

In Chicago, they will likely sign Joe Johnson and Amare Stoudemire or Carlos Boozer to max or near max contracts, killing their cap space for two players who aren't max contract worthy.

In New York, they have to sell their fans on a team that was saving for this past off-season and didn't come even close to delivering.

New Jersey will have to do the same thing, especially with the recent trade of Yi Jianlian to open up more cap space.

This means that you have Miami with 70 wins every season, Chicago doing good, maybe winning one championship, and being around a three or four seed every season and New York and New Jersey being stuck in the cellar still.

But the NBA's earning potential from this season's free agent crop may be best suited with the duo of James and Bosh heading for the Windy City.  Here is a look at how the free agents will fall in that situation.

With James and Bosh in Chicago, they now have the best team in the NBA.  They might move around some pieces and accommodate Johnson as well, but that is much less likely.

Wade re-signs with Miami and they sign free agent Carlos Boozer.  The Heat are contenders with two stars and they are able to keep Michael Beasley as well.

Johnson and Stoudemire will both likely sign in New York, giving them a solid team where they can contend year in and year out.

New Jersey is still out of luck, unless they steal those free agents from New York.

With Luol Deng a possibility for trade bait to open up cap room, the Bulls might be able to go after Wade or Johnson as well, but as stated early, that is less likely.

This gives the NBA two new contenders and keeps another in tact.  This would be the best situation for the NBA, as they still get a super-team and they have more good teams to put on good performances in the playoffs.

This also lets the NBA market LeBron James as the best player to come to the NBA since the last great Chicago guy, and this Bulls team being the best team in NBA history since the last great Bulls team.

Also, while doing this, you have rejuvenated the market in New York while keeping fans interested in Miami.

I know that the NBA can't publicly be rooting for a certain way for free agency to play out, but they should be quietly rooting for Chicago to come out the victor in the LeBron sweepstakes.

Update: Chris Bosh told the Miami Herald that he doesn't think that the trifecta in Miami is feasible, good news for Chicago fans, myself included.  Here is the link.

I'm Joe W.

Joe Willett also writes for The Daily Cub and The Chicago Perspective.