Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade and Lebron James: Pie In The Sky?
On being questioned about the possibility of him, Lebron and Wade playing together next season at Miami, Chris Bosh said “It sounds like pie in the sky to me”.
Well said, Mr.Bosh.
These three players of arguably the greatest draft class in the history of the NBA (please forget Darko Milicic momentarily) will decide the fate of many franchises and the future of the NBA as a whole in the coming months. Picks No. 1, 4 and 5 were well aware of this scenario. In fact, this is what they signed up for a few years ago. In the summer of 2006, these classmates of the 03 draft passed up maximum length extensions on their rookie contracts in order to be in a position to pursue free agency this summer. As acknowledged by Wade and James this decision was taken after a discussion between them. Many reports have indicated that such a discussion – “a free agency summit” will influence the outcome of the free agency frenzy this summer. There are numerous reports that such a summit has already occurred while the stars and their agents continue to deny this. Wade seemed surprised about the amount of speculation on this issue especially when the subjects involved – himself, Bosh and James have no clue of what is going to happen.
One wonders if we will see any of these three play together next season and if so, where? Here is a look at some scenarios.
1. LeBron and Bosh move to Miami
If there is any place where we could see all three of them coming together, it is Miami. This is so for two simple reasons.
Firstly, Miami is the only team with enough cap space to be able to sign more than one player on max contracts whilst keeping Wade. Of course, they will have to off load a majority of their current roster to achieve this. Secondly, in the form of Pat Riley they have a person familiar with handling all this talent on a team. It might be so that Riley would get the Head Coach itch again much like he did when Miami won it last championship with Wade and Shaq. Needless to say Riley also has a reputation for taking good care of his players and doing what it takes to win championships. Finally, it is pretty obvious by now that Wade isn’t going anywhere. If it isn’t a logical conclusion from the aforementioned points the fact that Wade has been actively scouting free agents on behalf of the Heat organization may be an eye opener.
2. LeBron and Bosh move to Chicago
Chicago is second in terms of cap space, their draft day trade of Kirk Hinrick and No. 17 pick, the French Kevin to the Wizards pushing them ahead of the rest. Either LeBron or Bosh would still make them serious contenders with the perimeter presence of Derrick Rose and the defensive-minded Joakim Noah. Chicago also signed Tom Thibodeau as coach, a time-tested Assistant who handled Defensive responsibilities in major championship teams. This does make it attractive for LeBron although the Bulls’ organization is definitely not the most admired in the league. Michael Jordan himself wasn’t a great fan of the ownership during his playing years and he was not treated with much respect afterwards.
There seems to be a notion among experts that Bosh would go where LeBron goes. Chris Bosh has already said that the emphasis is on winning and while it may still be important, being the franchise player and a max contract is secondary. This may be hard to digest but think about this, the last time Bosh was in a winning side it was in high school and in the seven years in the NBA so far he hasn’t advanced past the first round of the playoffs.
Of the three players being discussed here Bosh is the most likely to be displaced given that Toronto do not have the Benjamins and have virtually given up on him. Also, Bosh is desperately seeking the winning feeling, as his agent would have us believe. But it may still come down to the money which is why Chicago might not have enough to secure the services of Bosh and LeBron.
3. LeBron and Bosh move to New York
The Knicks have the money for two max contracts, and have been promising their fans a lot in return for their patience. Here is what the players get. LeBron or Bosh would be in the city with the highest basketball viewership, will gain almost immediate global icon status and if they win a championship they will be immortalized in the city. LeBron James in New York is what David Stern may be hoping for. It will do the NBA a world of good. If Chris Bosh and LeBron James go the Knicks (using the Bosh follows Bron theory) it will be even more spectacular. Now the best player in the world will have a genuine chance of winning multiple championships thereby cementing his status. This works for the NBA all too well, if Jordan helped put NBA on the world map, LeBron and the Knicks can take it much further.
New York is also the only place where both LeBron and Bosh may be able to get max contracts. Bosh following Bron to any other place may mean a pay cut for him. This makes it all the more likely that we will see this pairing in New York given that LeBron signs on.
