The James Game

Never have I seen a professional sports league revolve around one athlete the way the NBA is going to revolve around LeBron James in free agency this offseason.

There are around five to 10 teams with enough salary cap space to sign James. All 30 teams have a shot at obtaining James through a sign and trade, which is a less likely scenario.

Free agency begins on Thursday, July 1 at 12:01 a.m. and that’s when five reported teams: Cleveland Cavaliers, Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, New York Knicks and New Jersey Nets will reportedly start wooing James. No team can sign James before July 8.

It turns out that the team with the most likely chance of signing James isn’t necessarily the one that will give him the most money, but the team that will surround him with the most talent.

The Heat has the most available cap space with $44 million available. Following the Heat, the Knicks have $35 million open, the Bulls have $30 million open and the Nets have $27 million open.

The Heat has the unusual opportunity to sign three max-contract players. This would almost certainly include re-signing point guard Dwyane Wade. Of all the free agents, Wade is the one who’s expressed the most interest in remaining with his current team. The Heat could then add a third huge contract in a Chris Bosh or Amar’e Stoudemire type player.

NBA experts have expressed that this scenario might be the best for James to win a championship, but maybe not the most likely. James and Wade are the type of players where they should be their respective team’s best player. Some just can’t see Wade playing Scottie Pippen to James’ Michael Jordan.

Another likely scenario would have James going to the Bulls. This is the scenario that I predict will happen. The Bulls are a young team with all of the great makings of a championship contender if they added one or two pieces. Those pieces could turn out to be James and Bosh and then this team would shoot past the Orlando Magic and any others as the best team in the Eastern Conference and possibly all of the NBA. The starting lineup of James, Bosh, Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and Luol Deng would instantly be the best starting five in the NBA. Of course, this is just a prediction.

The other likely scenario would simply involve James re-signing with the Cavaliers. The Cavaliers would then likely have to acquire a Bosh-type player through a sign and trade.
The month of July is definitely going to be an exciting one in the NBA. After July the entire 2010-2011 season could be completely changed. Teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics could drastically fall and teams like the Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls and other could drastically improve and become championship-caliber teams.

The only thing that is completely clear at this moment is that at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday the James game is going to start.