What's more, according to someone in the know, LeBron is viewing the Bulls as a wild card challenger; no other suitor need apply.
Vescey: Bulls wildcard in LeBron sweepstakes
Vescey's thrown a lot of crap against the wall over the years, so I can't say I'm getting too worked up about the likelihood of this, but still...
"No other suitor need apply"? It sounds like he's saying Bron to the Bulls is a done deal if he leaves Cleveland. Personally, I'm struggling to see what he'd get out of going to Chicago that he wouldn't get even better by going to Miami.
Dwyane Wade + anyone is a better cast than what the Bulls have to offer. The one advantage the Bulls would have is that Derrick Rose could be more of a secondary attraction relative to Wade whom would be more of a 1a/1b option with LeBron.
Still, Miami has better weather, better taxes, and a better star to go with him. That being said, I'm not going to try and talk LeBron out of coming to the windy city. In fact, I'll pick him up at the airport myself.
Dwyane Wade + anyone is a better cast than what the Bulls have to offer. The one advantage the Bulls would have is that Derrick Rose could be more of a secondary attraction relative to Wade whom would be more of a 1a/1b option with LeBron.
Still, Miami has better weather, better taxes, and a better star to go with him. That being said, I'm not going to try and talk LeBron out of coming to the windy city. In fact, I'll pick him up at the airport myself.
28 Comments
PJ Brown said:
His sentence about the Bulls seems to even contradict itself. Nevertheless, mostly a piece to show that the Knicks are a crappy destination, which they are. The Bulls are at least a major market with a team in better shape than the Knicks. I don't see why the Bulls can't be a contender for his services if he's serious about playing the field, given that they have a huge market, a decent team and probably the money to make it happen, but I'm not exactly holding my breath waiting for this to go down.
Doug Thonus said:
I agree that the Bulls should be a contender. They'll have one of the better casts of the teams that can bid. I just think Miami is better.
chicagosportsguru said:
I know I'm a little late responding to this but you need to understand that Miami pales in comparison to Chicago when it comes to marketing prospects. Yes D-Wade has been marketed successfully in Miami, but the ceiling is much higher in LA/Chicago/New York. Lebron will either land in LA or Chicago, since both those teams would be Finals favorites the day he steps foot in town, and their markets are top 3.
Simeon2UC said:
I think it's a symbolic reason. Think about it.
Simeon2UC said:
Again, why would he go to Miami, of course all of that good stuff you mention but in basketball terms it doesn't make sense. Lebron was to be the one and not have that distraction of Kobe and Shaq scenario play out again. I think Bulls are just the best fit from a gain stand point for Lebron James. We have a humble Superstar that molds himself after "King James"(check the Simeon interviews). Plus, Lebron James had that experience growing up where he knew the impact Jordan had on people and this is his chance to do the same. Do we all want to be Michael Jordan? of course. MJ is established and obviously if this is true, then LBJ has a intimate relationship with his role model. I would like to walk through the same tunnel as MJ. Sit at MJ old locker. etc.
Doug Thonus said:
It's hard to say, but playing on a team where he'll likely never be considered the best player is kind of rough. The Bulls might be the only team in NBA history that he can play on without being the greatest player in franchise history.
avtar said:
would he be playing power forward/point forward? with roses finishing abilities, i like that combo. all we will need is a shooting guard.
Doug Thonus said:
You'd like to see better shooters around LeBron if we had him.
avtar said:
it'd be a really interesting line up. they'd be fun to watch. I could imagine a lot of running and finnishing with rose noah and lebron on the team. really we would just need to fill in some shooters and defenders. i'm not sure if they would need a post player?
Doug Thonus said:
Any lineup with LeBron would be fun to watch. I can't stand the guy now, but boy would I change fast if he were a Bull.
Newskoolbulls said:
Doug I was about to write that lol. The only down side to LBJ coming here would be all the fake fans who will proclaim they are bulls fans. I really doubt he leaves Cleveland, if he doesnt win buisness will be unfinished for him and this Cleveland team has no shot, he will want to stay and eventually win a ring.
Doug Thonus said:
I will accept as many bandwagon hoppers as want to hop on if it means the Bulls are winning titles.
Bigway said:
Honestly, I think that in todays NBA Lebron is evolving into a power forward. He looked as big as any Bulls player this past week in Cleveland.
So with him and Deng you have 2 guys who can play either position at the same time, they might be a perfect tandem.
also, once you get Lebron, you can spend every offseason, hiring the best available 3 point snipers.
Doug Thonus said:
I think you have to move Deng or rose if you get LeBron even if you play LeBron at PF. You can't have a team with no three point shooters around LeBron.
PJ Brown said:
I certainly agree that Miami is poised to do damage in the free agent market, Lebron or not, but Miami as THE place to be for him implies that Wade wishes to stay, which is not a given. Nor is it a given that Wade wants to be 2nd fiddle to Lebron. Without Wade, they're not a very attractive destination roster-wise.
Doug Thonus said:
It's hard for me to imagine a scenario where Wade says "No, I don't want LeBron here". So I think the idea of whether Wade wants to be second fiddle or not isn't really relevant.
You're right that Wade might leave Miami, but if so, I'd think he leaves for Chicago, which would also mean we're not getting LeBron.
souleater7 said:
I don't get the LeBron to Miami thing. First off they both need the ball and the limelight. Second thats awful for the league if it's two best players were on the same team in a arena where they put white T-shirts over the seats to look like people. Third they retired 23 in Miami. There is no chance in hell he's going to Miami.
He's either going to sat put or go to NYC, NJ, or Chicago. I'll say he stays in Cleveland. I don't think he's going to burn his home town like that.
Personally I think Chicago would be a great place for him to sign out of all the other options. The Bulls have a group of players he could win with for years to come. Noah, Rose, Deng. It would be amazing.
I just think he'll stay at home. But he'll flirt.
Doug Thonus said:
Does Derrick Rose play better off the ball than Dwyane Wade? I think not. They also retired 23 in Chicago last I checked as well.
I'm also fairly certain LeBron will sell out any arena he plays in, even Miami, though I guess you could argue that he won't given that Wade doesn't sell it out. However, he was when they had a legit chance to win the title.
In general, your arguments against Wade to Miami also seem true of LeBron to anywhere. There's probably no team in the league that's already got a cast put in place to work with Lebron.
Duke said:
Since this idea is so great, let's start playing with it as if it really could happen. What do you do with Deng in this situation? I mean, you could push him to PF but I don't know if he can do that for 82 games every year. And he's really too expensive (and if he keeps this up, good) to be on the bench.
souleater7 said:
Try to trade him for a big.
Doug Thonus said:
You trade LeBron to Cleveland as part of a S&T to get LeBron part of his max money.
Bigway said:
As I have been saying since the summer of 2010 stuff started it would be assinine if Lebron isn't the Bulls #1 priority.
There is Lebron, and there is everybody else. It isn't 1a and 1b it is night and day. Lebron is in the Jordan stratusfere, everyone else is a mere mortal.
It starts with Lebron any other consideration is secondary. If the Bulls land Lebron they will win championships again, anyone else and it is just a crapshoot.
Put Lebron on todays Bulls and we immediately challenge Boston, LA and Orlando for NBA supremacy
I am not saying don't have a plan B, but Make Lebron plan A-Z first, nothing else matters.
Unfortunately, I agree that Miami is the #1 destination, because of Wade and because it is Miami, a lousy sports town, but one that NBA players love because it is sexy.
However, after Miami, Chicago has as much if not more to offer than any other city not inhabited by Kobe. Maybe Lebron would relish challenging Jordans legend.
Doug Thonus said:
LeBron wants to be the greatest of all time. To do so, he'll need to win a boatload of titles. Whether it's in Chicago, New York, or Miami, if he doesn't win 6 titles as the man, he won't be considered greater than Jordan.
I don't even think that's necessarily fair, but it's true.
In that sense, challenging Jordan's legend in Chicago is no different than challenging it elsewhere.
Duke said:
As Doug mentioned later, the problem with making Lebron "plan A-Z first" is that it assumes you have infinite resources--or rather, that there is no opportunity cost to doing so. But you have to look at likelihood in this case. Let's say that going after LeBron first you have a 10% chance of getting him, but going after Bosh first you have a 80% chance. But if you go for LeBron, your chance to get Bosh drops, say to 30%, because you give Toronto/Miami time to talk to him and you make him feel slighted because he's not your #1 guy. Do you still go after LeBron with all your might in that scenario?
I still would like to see the Bulls go after LeBron if it's possible, but they need to try and figure out how possible that is before they go all in.
Morten Stig Jensen said:
I don't think it's even a question that the Bulls have LeBron James at the very top of their Free Agent list. But realistically I'm sure they know their best chance is with Chris Bosh or Amare Stoudemire. So while making a pitch to LeBron is obviously going to happen (the Bulls would be downright foolish not to) the question is simply if they can overcome the stacked odds and get him.
LeBron in Chicago alongside Rose, Noah and Deng could take the team to the Eastern Conference Finals immediately. The Bulls would still need better interior players, but having LeBron as your primary post scorer (ie. generating points in the paint though drives and dunks) would give the current big men an opportunity to focus entirely on defense.
This is obviously a dream scenario. LeBron to Chicago has a chance, but it's a very, very small one.
Doug Thonus said:
One interesting point about this is do you make a full out pitch to LeBron at 12:01 or do you make a full pitch to Chris Bosh or Dwyane Wade?
If you pitch a guy who's more likely to say yes to you immediately then your odds might be improved. If you make Wade/Bosh feel like the leftovers after you fail to get LeBron then that might hurt your odds.
Obviously Miami and Toronto will be pitching them at 12:01.
Morten Stig Jensen said:
Reinsdorf goes to Cleveland, Paxson goes to Toronto and Forman to Miami. Problem solved.
.. or something.
Duke said:
Also--how big of a twist of the knife would this be to Cavs fans? If LeBron (assuming he doesn't win this year) can't win a championship to Cleveland, then goes to the Bulls, who tormented the Cavs for years under Jordan, and runs roughshod over the East again?
That would be hard to take, I'd imagine.
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