It\'s the summer of 2010, the one we\'ve all been waiting for. LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Amar\'e Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer, Joe Johnson, all free agents. Everyone is dying to know where they will all end up and I\'m here to tell you...that I have no idea, but Chicago Bulls Jordan Jersey I do have uninformed opinions. Now is the time to move on since the Bucks inked Drew Gooden, obviously the most sought-after free agent this summer, for 5 years and $32 million, ughh.
It\'s been well documented that the teams in the running for these free agents are their originals teams plus the New York Knicks, New Jersey Nets, Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, and Los Angeles Clippers (HA). As I said in my draft recap, I think New York really screwed themselves over by not adding any talent whatsoever to their team. The Bulls didn\'t do the right thing either but they didn\'t have to, they were lucky enough to win the Draft Lottery a few years ago and get Derrick Rose, their biggest selling point for a potential free agent, besides the media market. The New Jersey Nets have Jay Z, Russian billionaire, and a move to Brooklyn on their side so I wouldn\'t underestimate them even if their roster isn\'t great. The Miami Heat have (most likely) Dwayne Wade, South Beach, and then no one. I expect them to dump Michael Beasley soon. Finally, the Clippers have probably the most talented roster among these teams but they have an incompetent owner and franchise so they are pretty much out of the running. So what do I anticipate happening?
LeBron James to the Bulls
Unfortunately that\'s what I assume will happen, I just hope none of the other max players follow him there. His ego is big enough that he thinks he can take over Michael Jordan\'s spot in Chicago fan\'s hearts.
I do think it\'s a mistake for him to leave Cleveland. In my eyes he would be a failure because he was never able to finish the job, even if he wins 10 Championships with the Bulls. All the greats stayed with their original team to win a Championship. If he goes back to Cleveland, I think that\'s why.
Dwayne Wade stays with the Heat, Chris Bosh joins him
The reason I don\'t see James heading to the Heat in this scenario is because he wants his own team, it would still be Wade\'s team in Miami. Adding Chicago Bulls Jordan Jersey Chris Bosh and LeBron would force the heat to fill the roster with minimum salary players and I don\'t think that\'s appealing to them. I don\'t see a scenario where 3 of the max free agents end up on the same team.
Joe Johnson, Carlos Boozer to the Knicks
Knicks fans will certainly be disappointed but they have no one to blame but their own Front Office. Johnson and Boozer are nice players but not enough to make the Knicks a serious contender, especially when David Lee leaves.
Amar\'e Stoudemire to the New Jersey Nets
I don\'t want to underestimate the lure of Jay Z and the Russian billionaire, I think they have outside shot at LeBron James and would have a very good shot if they were already in New York. They will settle Chicago Bulls Jordan Jersey with Stoudemire and few more pieces and make a solid team.
All these moves make a clear power shift to the Eastern Conference, especially if someone like Dirk Nowitzski decides to come over. While there won\'t be a lot of players switching conferences it seems almost certain at least one \"mega team\" will be created in the Eastern Conference, one that will easily challenge the Los Angeles Lakers starting next season. It\'s just too bad the Bucks had to snag Drew Gooden or we would be looking at a potential dynasty for one of these teams.
