Today has been a huge day for the NBA. We all know that LeBron James will announce his future plans tomorrow night during a press conference, but I will get to that later. The big headline of the day was Dwyane Wade's decision to stay in Miami and Chris Bosh's decision to join him. I speculated, along with many other NBA fans, that this would eventually happen, and now we know for sure. Later in the day, Carlos Boozer agreed to a five-year contract with the Bulls worth $80 million. This signing gives Chicago hope to land LeBron, as it seems up for grabs now. Ray Allen also agreed to a two-year extension with Boston, which should keep the Celtics as contenders. Even Kevin Durant signed an extension with the Thunder today. One of the busiest days all year in the basketball world will most likely be followed by one of the biggest NBA decisions in recent history. But let me get back to today's top story.
Of the "Big Three" free agents, Dwyane Wade was most likely to stay with his former team while Chris Bosh was most likely to leave. That's exactly what happened, and it worked out well for Miami and Heat fans around the world. Now that Miami has two perennial All Stars, I think they are one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference. However, it takes more than just two guys to win a ring, so I think they still have some work to do. Adding LeBron would be nice, but I honestly think they would be better off using the rest of their money on some role players. They still need a true center (Bosh should thrive as a power forward) who can go up against Dwight Howard, Kendrick Perkins and all the other big men out there on contending teams. Brendan Haywood may be a good fit, and then if they could add a point guard like Raymond Felton and maybe Richard Jefferson or Josh Howard at small forward, they would be a force to be reckoned with in May and June of 2011.
Then there's LeBron James. The King. The Chosen One. Whatever you want to call him, tomorrow night has been talked about for two years. In less than 24 hours, at 9:00 at night, LeBron will hold a one-hour press conference to announce his plans for the future, with his decision coming in the first ten minutes. I really couldn't tell you where I think he's going. One thing to take note of is that the meeting is in Greenwich, Connecticut, which is very close to New York City. The Knicks would make sense, especially with the recent acquisition of Amare Stoudemire. Chicago still seems like a good fit with Carlos Boozer and some young talent like Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah. Miami has been brought up as the front-runner now that they have Bosh and Wade. And of course there is Cleveland, his home for the last seven years of his life.
Today's events may shape the NBA for the next few years. It's hard to believe so many big deals were agreed to all within the same day. LeBron's decision will definitely lead to the signings of David Lee and the rest of the bigger free agents. All I can say is that I absolutely cannot wait for the 2010-2011 season, and I know I'll be watching tomorrow night.
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